HAVING reviewed videogames since 1992, it’s a tall order to answer that “best ever” question, but 2006’s Okami is certainly up there.
The water-coloured tale of a she-wolf was a calligraphy-fuelled adventure through Shinto legend, using Japanese folklore as its setting and gameplay aggressively influenced by Zelda.
But despite critical acclaim, Okami flopped at the tills, gathering awards and retail shelf dust when it appeared on PS2 and Wii. While one of its Guinness World Records is for “most critically acclaimed video game starring an animal character”, it’s also in the good book for “least commercially successful winner of a Game of the Year award”, having shifted just 600,000 copies three years after release.
While a bantamweight spin-off, Okamiden, landed on the handheld DS in 2010, fans have been hungry like the wolf for a full-blown sequel to the criminally ignored masterpiece. And, at this year’s Game Awards, original director Hideki Kamiya finally announced the bitch is back with Okami 2 in the works.
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The best Zelda Nintendo never made, Okami proved the brush is mightier than the sword, with players calling up a virtual canvas to slash through enemies and fix things for flummoxed villagers over 30-odd hours of lupine larks.
The best Zelda Nintendo never made, Okami proved the brush is mightier than the sword
Puzzles, secrets, and boss fights were all tailored around Amaterasu unlocking new brush techniques, with a final battle that tears your heart out. There’s never been anything quite like it since, though hopefully the sequel can bin Okami’s 20-minute-long walls of unskippable scrolling text and tone down the aggressive handholding during puzzles.
Capcom recently announced plans to “reactivate dormant IPs”, and Okami, along with the announcement of Onimusha Way of the Sword – the first game in the feudal slice ‘n’ dice series for over 20 years – proves they’re serious.
Unveiled with a brief cinematic that showcased the iconic white wolf pelting across a landscape leaving flowers in her wake, the trailer ended with the vaguely named logo of “Okami Sequel”, and confirmation that original director Hideki Kamiya is back at the helm.
Kamiya gushed “It will be some time before we greet you again, but we really hope you look forward to this project”, adding: “I didn’t think the day would really come, where I’d return to Okami and continue the story with my own hands.
“Like a strong rising sun, this project is finally in motion. But it’s still a small bud that is blossoming.”
Hopes are suitably high - Capcom are riding high as one of the most reliable studios around while Hideki Kamiya, who cut his teeth on the original Resident Evil before giving the world Devil May Cry and Bayonetta, has never made a dud.
As it’s early days, we’re unlikely to see Okami 2 any time this year, but it’s good to know that we’ll have the wolf at our door again.
