Okamiden

But, after an unremarkable start, Okamiden finds its feet. It helps that the stylus makes for a perfectly natural Celestial Brush; it's easy to go through your entire supply of ink pots during the larger battles simply because it's such fun to use. It can be a little too exacting when it comes to interpreting your scribbles, but once accustomed to its idiosyncrasies, you'll be earning the top rankings in battle on a regular basis.

Okamiden is also right at home in the dungeons. Getting to the bosses isn't too much of a struggle; puzzles are comparatively simple-minded next to the intricacy of the best Zelda riddles, but they're enjoyable to solve nonetheless. That said, all too often Chibi and one of the partners who accompany him – whose pathway can be drawn with the stylus, Spirit Tracks-style – will simply be asked to stand on two distant switches, and the game is a bit too comfortable leaning on prosaic elemental crutches. A flame-haired hero, a locked door and two unlit torches: it's hardly rocket science. Your stylus will likely remain unchewed.

But the guardians are another matter entirely. Screen-filling monstrosities with inventive methods of dispatch, they draw upon Capcom's long heritage and expertise with bosses to provide often lengthy but always satisfying tests of dexterity and skill. Chibi's two new abilities (the aforementioned path-drawing and a more flexible Vine technique) as well as each partner's individual powers ensure a different tactical approach for each battle, while the range of offensive options – power slashes, cherry bombs and good old-fashioned button-mashing – allows you to choose the best way of offing each one once they're stunned, or chipping away at that health bar until the weak point reveals itself.

Then, of course, you're treated to one of gaming's most heartwarming graphical flourishes, as the previously barren land is brought back to colourful life in a rush of petals and cherry blossom. As ever, it's the perfect reward for your efforts, and the praise orbs you're showered with – granting experience points to make Chibi stronger and his ink supply larger – are the moreish icing on the cake.

The script is just as delicious, too. After that hesitant start, Okamiden's story unfolds into a journey every bit as meaningful as the original's, albeit stripped of some of the unnecessary bloat. There's still a substantial 20-plus hours of adventuring here, and that's without stopping to smell the sakura. Dialogue is frequently witty and irreverent, there's plenty of slapstick visual humour, and it's not shy about venturing into darker corners, too. Even if Capcom over-eggs the bittersweet finale a touch, you'd have to have a slab of granite in place of a heart not to be moved.

There's something touching, too, about those awkward first steps. Okamiden's initial tentativeness speaks volumes about a game not quite sure of its future, and in Issun's failure to keep Amaterasu's memory alive, it's hard not to see a metaphor for Capcom's oddly noble attempt to revive the series itself. It might not be quite the game its predecessor was, but you can't help but hope that this charming follow-up sells well enough for its publisher to keep the wolf from the lore.