I just woke up and what an interesting thing to see today as I opened Google.
Today’s Google Doodle is actually a little RPG Game featuring a cat hero who joins one of many teams focused around the theme of the Tokyo Olympics using folklore and mythology from Japan as the basis for a short little story. You’ll see famous legends such as Tanooki, Otohime, Kappa, and more as you walk around a fairly large sized world and engage with the various animal spirit inhabitants who live there, all while playing some fun mini-games like “Artistic Swimming” which is basically like DDR.
The first time I tried it using the default control settings it was difficult for me, since I’m on a laptop. My arrow keys are tiny and in a weird place on my keyboard and very close together.
But then I found out Google went above and beyond and even let you set up your own controls (Click the compass and you’ll find more settings you can configure). So I switched my keys to WASD which is more comfortable for me on a compact keyboard.
There’s tons of anime-inspired cutscenes, and an interesting, sometimes even sad story such as one woman wants to send a letter to her dead son underwater in Otohime’s palace. There’s sidequests like this and lots to do – unfortunately I only have about 20 minutes right now before I need to start work. But from what I saw, there’s tons to do, you could play all day.
I’m not even a big sports or Olympics enthusiast, but I am a big Tokyo Japan enthusiast and with the cute Retro RPG vibe and animal spirit villagers, this might be Google’s best Doodle yet.
Are you going to watch the Olympics? I’ll probably watch some of them myself. My fiance is really into sports and so we’ve watched the last few Olympics together. It should be fun to watch. It is unfortunate that Japan is still struggling with the Corona Virus and not allowing spectators at the Olympic Games. 48 Hours ago they declared a state of emergency and shut down their borders to foreigners – I read on Google. I thought their borders were already closed – at least to those of us in the USA – because I had a trip planned there and had to cancel due to the virus. But maybe they opened and reclosed them, or still had them open to certain countries – but now it’s a complete travel ban. Last I heard only like 20% of their population had been vaccinated. And with everyone in such close proximity at all times, that’s a recipe for disaster. Thoughts and prayers for everyone’s safety over there.
Anyways, since you can’t be there to watch the games, check out Google’s Doodle today – It’s a real gem.