The Clover Studios classic could be about to return.
Earlier this week, Capcom stated that they were looking to revive “dormant franchises” in their fiscal report. There were no obvious signs as to which ones the publisher wanted to bring back. However, one in particular has come under the spotlight is Okami. Ikumi Nakamura, previously of Ghostwire Games and an environmental artist for the original game, and Platinum Games studio director Hideki Kamiya after they tweeted this:
Okami is going to be back! We want to make Okami sequel and fans are looking forward to it too. You guys want to see Kamiya’s Okami again, right, everyone? I want to work on it too! 大神をまた作りたい私たちです。??@CapcomUSA_ @OKAMI_CAP pic.twitter.com/bLwuGnTew1
— Ikumi Nakamura (@nakamura193) October 18, 2019
The original game was released on the PS2 back in 2006. It followed the story of Amaterasu, the Japanese God of the Sun, and the Universe in the form of a dog. What made the third person adventure game so well renowned was the art style. It consisted of traditional Japanese paintings and storytelling, using watercolors to represent the glorious Japanese setting and fluid animation.
It had a unique combat system, whereby to use an action, a canvas gets summoned to stop time. When triggered, it allowed the player to paint a symbol on it to specify an action. For example, you can slash through an enemy to act like a slashing effect.
It was a game that oozed charm and to this day, remains a cult classic from now-defunct Japanese game developer Clover Studios. It’s also famous for the wacky but equally excellent Viewtiful Joe series. Okami got re-released on many different platforms in HD, and you can purchase it on PC via Steam.
While the game is considered to be a classic, it didn’t sell particularly well, which is likely the reason it has stayed dormant. Hideki Kamiya, who was the game director for the original game, has been tight-lipped about other projects that Platinum Studios has been working on. In this Tweet with developer Nakamura, it would appear that they are gearing up for a sequel to the game. With both sporting a healthy portfolio of fantastic adventure action games, a new Okami would be in safe hands.
Capcom has yet to confirm whether there is a new Okami game in development.
