I have bought the original game for 3 different consoles over the years and I had Okamiden for the DS. I am seriously considering getting it from Steam too. I may have a problem.
I'm a couple hours in (recently finished Hana valley) and while I love the art style, the rest of the game feels kinda mediocre:
combat largely feels button-mashy
movement feels sluggish - probably more the art style than anything
puzzles so far feel too simple
story feels overly basic
I'm playing on a Steam Deck, so drawing feels a little awkward, but not terrible.
I guess I'm not seeing what's so special about it. It's kinda fun and I'm certainly enjoying myself, but it doesn't seem to really excel at much. Essentially, I'm pretty sure I'm going to forget about it soon after I finish, unless something big changes in the gameplay/story. Maybe it felt a lot better on the DS with the stylus? My guess is that combat feels bad because I essentially pause combat to use ink attacks (drawing with an analog stick isn't particularly smooth), so I tend to avoid that.
I've seen a ton of praise for it, so I'm obviously missing something.
This game was originally released on the PS2 so at the time using a drawing mechanic for fighting was a pretty new concept. I think Clover studios did a great job introducing such a unique mechanic using the joysticks while also allowing the use of buttons for combat. The mechanic itself fits very well with the storyline in that Issun is an artist teaching you his legendary brush techniques (which are actually powers that you once had). The re-release for the Wii brought this mechanic out even better with the use of the Wii remotes. The re-release for PS4 allowed for the use of the trackpad to input the brush strokes which was also neat. As for the feeling of the controls being clunky I can understand where you're coming from if you try to compare it to games today but I'd still recommend giving it a chance.
Also at this point in time the use of cell-shading and watercolor pallet was a lot more visually pleasant compared to the polygon characters of this era. This was one the earlier games that felt like you were playing a cartoon. I can remember being blown away by the visuals when this game came out. The cell-shading design definitely holds up better over time as well. Another really novel concept introduced was the ending to the first boss battle. The player is lulled into thinking that this is the end of the game but really it's not. There is so much more story and exploration left. The difficulty level ramps up as you make your way to the true ending however the progression is gradual. It really makes you feel like you're getting your powers back and at no point do you feel like you are grinding to get results. It's very very balanced in skill progression and storyline. By the end of the game you'll be doing more intricate fighting without even realizing it.
I'm considering getting it again for Steam because I am interested in mapping my own controls to see what I can do with it although I'm not sure if using the touchscreen for brush techniques would work in practice. The story itself is like reading a favorite novel for me at this point so playing around with it on Steam would be worth the purchase.
I particularly enjoyed it on the Wii with the ability to paint on screen using the nunchuck controller.
Does it have the same kind of control on the switch?