I only had a very brief time with Okamiden, but I got what exactly what I expected: a pared-down portable version of Okami that’s controlled with the stylus. Unfortunately, it seems just as talky as its older brother, Okami for the Wii and PS2.

Text could not be skipped, once again, a difficult thing to deal with on the fast-paced floor. Fortunately, it shares the same fantastic sense of style even on the DS. Graphics are lovely shades of cel (er, cel-shaded) with some impeccable design work. When I saw a family of fat calligraphy-inked birds with sweat drops pouring out I had to squeal inside a bit. Too cute.

There was one new thing i didn’t expect: the boy who rides Chibiterasu can be controlled via stylus, much like Zelda in Spirit Tracks. Controlling two characters and once, combined with the usual combat and world-healing ink, I imagine Okamiden will serve up some punishing (but fun) puzzles.