Videogame Art

Clive Thompson reviews Okami and discusses what separates art from games.

In other situations, I’d perform even more godlike stunts of creation. I drew gusts of wind to knock over a foe, a sun in the sky to transform night into day, and a heart in the air to make friends. I drew in the missing spokes on an old broken waterwheel — and in a burst of color and flower petals, it sprang back to life.

This is giddy, dreamlike stuff, and the experience never got old. Indeed, every time something poofed into reality, I felt anew the raw thrill of a toddler admiring his finger-painting. Okami neatly leverages the existential strangeness that underpins all art: You’re creating something from nothing. No wonder they have you play as a god!