Kevin Gifford wrote:Capcom confirmed
previous rumors today and announced the first details behind the
Okami sequel they've got in the works. Formally titled
Okamiden: Chiisaki Taiyo (Japanese for something like "Okami Legend: The Small Sun"), the wholly original title is due out for the Nintendo DS sometime next year in Japan. A playable version will be on display at the Tokyo Game Show, which kicks off September 24.
The Okamiden project is being handled by a Capcom internal staff led by producer Motohide Eshiro (Ace Attorney) and director Kuniomi Matsushita, who worked on the Dino Crisis games and directed the group that ported the original Okami to the Wii last year. "Around December last year, Matsushita came up to me and talked about making a new Okami that could be enjoyed in portable format," Eshiro told <i>Famitsu</i> magazine this week. "He's very passionate about the game, and he already had a test version created by that time that was extremely high quality, fully capturing Okami's unique visuals. Seeing that, I thought we were safe to make it an official project."
For his part, Matsushita explained to <i>Famitsu</i> the reasoning behind making the new Okami a DS game. "As you know, Okami's visuals and game system are extremely unique," he said. "The original idea was to take what makes this game special and expose it to more people. That was why we chose the Nintendo DS -- being on a portable system will allow people to easily pick up and play it, and you can also use the touch pen as a brush."
Okamiden revisits the world of the previous game, set a few months after Amaterasu restored things to normal and left the scene. The wolf-god may be gone, but for some reason the demons he eradicated have come back to menace Kamiki Village and its surroundings. Sakuya responds by summoning divine help once more -- but what she gets is Chibiterasu, a creature that looks basically like a puppy version of Amaterasu. Is this the original hero's son or something? "That will remain a secret for now," Eshiro said, "but it's true that he's a young form of existence, not fully grown. He can use the brush and attack with the imperial regalia, but he doesn't have Amaterasu's raw power, which will be reflected both in the story and gameplay."
Basic gameplay in Okamiden will be familiar to fans of the first game. Chibiterasu will travel around the fantasy-Japanese world, fighting demons in a move to restore balance to the surroundings. As before, you'll be able to stop time and draw directly on the screen using a brush, filling in broken bridges and solving similar puzzles. The brush can also be a weapon -- draw a straight line through weaker enemies, and you can cut them in half.
A new aspect of gameplay lies in the partners Chibiterasu will work with throughout. Each partner will work in tandem with the hero in battle and exploration, and you can use the brush to move him or her independently from Chibiterasu, which is required to overcome some obstacles. "The basic theme of returning life and nature to the world is the same as in Okami," Eshiro said. "What's different is that the relationship with your partners will be given just as much weight storywise. The themes are the same, but the nuances are different."
Capcom has revealed one of these partners: Kuninushi, the young son of Susano and Kushi from the previous game. (Matsushita states that Kuninushi was born after the previous game, although how he grew up to be a regular kid in a few months' time will be revealed later on.)
It'll be interesting to see how the gameplay system works in action once Okamiden makes its TGS debut in a few weeks.
