It’s also from the era when people were expected to read the manual while the game installed, so the game never has tutorials for certain things, most prominent being fatigue. New players tend to run everywhere, drain their fatigue meter, and struggle to hit anything or cast a spell. Just reading the manual, as the devs originally expected, solves a lot.
Not exactly a suggestion, but why emulate Okami instead of just running the PC version?
Edit: If you get the PC version, you should be able to use the touch screen to draw the brush techniques directly thanks to mouse support rather than having to fuck with the sticks. You also don’t get the input lag from emulation.
The fully lit portions of this map have been fully NPCd and quested. You might have enabled the preview landmass, which includes (or included, not sure if they still distribute it) a bunch of mostly mapped exteriors with partial interiors and typically no NPCs.
You made a comment that is typically meant with complete seriousness without any indication you were joking. PETA, for example, has an entire anti-Pokemon campaign built on the premise that Pokemon is animal cruelty.