Okami, in addition to being a beautiful and technically impressive game, fulfilled the role of Zelda substitute for PS2 owners. The exploration and gradual acquisition of new abilities gave Clover Studios' adventure a similar feeling to 3D Zelda games, on a console that didn't have any Zelda games. By hewing to the same formula, Okamiden acts as a surrogate 3D Zelda for the DS, a system that has Zelda games, but only nontraditional, stylus-controlled ones.

I bring this up because it's a pretty simple shorthand for understanding how the game works: there are large field areas connecting towns, there are a series of upgradeable abilities, dungeons filled with puzzles that require the use of the abilities you just picked up, and partners who do all the talking for you.