Summary
Capcom has announced that anOkamisequel is in development with Hideki Kamiya as the director. The originalOkamiis considered by many to be one of the best PS2 games ever made, with subsequent ports to the Wii and modern platforms earning a great deal of praise as well. But withOkamideveloper Clover Studio shuttered nearly 20 years ago and no new game since 2010’sOkamiden, many assumed that the franchise was dead.
After Clover Studio shut down, some of its developers, including Hideki Kamiya, went on to form PlatinumGames. PlatinumGames has remained one of the industry’s most popular studios, delivering all kinds of beloved new IP over the years, includingBayonetta,The Wonderful 101, and more.PlatinumGames leader Hideki Kamiya leff the studioin late 2023 in what came as a rather shocking move, and what’s even more shocking is what he’s doing now.
At The Game Awards 2024, it was announced that Hideki Kamiya and a revived Clover Studio are working on anOkamisequel with Capcom. The game was announced with a stylish trailer that, despite being brief and not showing any actual gameplay, did seemingly confirm some details about theOkamisequel. It looks as thoughOkami 2, or whatever it ends up being called, will retain the cel-shaded art style of the original, bring back thewhite wolf Amaterasuas the protagonist, and it will once again feature the Celestial Brush.
Okami Sequel Trailer
The Celestial Brush, for those unfamiliar with theOkamigames, lets players draw on the screen to perform various actions, like fixing broken structures, moving objects, and fighting enemies. It was a defining feature ofOkami’s exploration, puzzle solving, and combat, and so it’s no surprise to see it return for the sequel. Notably, the Wii version ofOkamiused motion controls for the Celestial Brush, but it’s likely that the sequel will go back to the analog stick controls used by most versions of the game.
The original Clover Studio made the Viewtiful Joe games, Okami, and God Hand.
Celestial Brush aside,Okamiis known for being similar toNintendo’sLegend of Zeldafranchise. It’s likely that theOkamisequel will also be quite similar toZelda, but in the years since it was made, Nintendo has made some huge changes to the franchise. Perhaps theOkamisequel will take some notes from newerZeldagames likeBreath of the Wildand embrace an open world design. Alternatively, it may continue taking inspiration from more traditional 3DZeldagames. It will also be interesting to see if it addresses the one big complaint fans had about the original, which was the excessive talking. Time will tell, but regardless, it’s incredibly exciting that a newOkamigame is in development.
