Okamiden Preview

In many ways, Okamiden is the sequel that might never have happened. Though critically acclaimed, Okami drastically under-performed at retail (even including its later Wii release) and with the dissolution of Clover studios, which resulted in creator Hideki Kamiya moving on to indulge his darker side with Bayonetta at Platinum Games, the series didn't seem to have a future at Capcom.

However, it found itself a champion in Motohide Eshiro, producer of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny, who apparently "played the hell out of" the PS2 original. When Kuniomi Masushita (director of the Wii port) showed him a technical demo of a potential Okami sequel working on Nintendo DS, he "jumped at the chance" to begin development of a full sequel.

Taken to DS, Okamiden is a reinvention of Okami's formula not only in terms of control - the celestial brush, of course, is now controlled by stylus - but design, with sun goddess Amaterasu bumped for her puppy, Chibiterasu (designed so adorably that he looks tailor-made for merchandising - indeed, Capcom is already selling plush versions) who has to team up with partners that can ride on his back or be commanded via the brush.

Despite Okami's relative lack of success, Eshiro is keen that these changes don't alienate fans of the original game, saying they're trying to "bring the world of the original Okami to the Nintendo DS.

"People who played the original Okami are going to feel right at home," he says, "because it's a familiar world and they will run into familiar characters, such as Issun [Amaterasu's tiny companion] and new characters that we've brought in will have connections to older characters, such as Nushi, one of Chibiterasu's companions, who is the son of Susano and Kushi. But at the same time, I've tried to make sure the story can bring new players in. I want players to feel like they have a place in Okamiden's world."

He adds that a major part of removing "player inhibition" was ensuring that the game "felt" right for new players and old.

"As a producer, my concern is what type of experience the players have when playing the game. I don't want them to feel stressed out; it should be a smooth play experience. So one of the things I thought when we began bringing the game to Nintendo DS is that we had to make sure the camera was right. The original had a poorly-received, fully roaming camera, so on the DS it's going to be more of a guided experience, the camera is more on a 'rail,' though after discussion with Masushita you can move it around a little bit."

"Another example is the celestial brush," he continues. "We had to consider, when you enter the mode, how long does it take? Does it feel right? You don't want it to take too long, but you want the transition to be distinct. Then once you are in the mode, making the experience feel natural to players who were familiar with the PS2 or Wii versions, ensuring that they don't feel as if they're losing something by transitioning to the DS."

But of course, one thing players could expect to lose on Nintendo's handheld is graphical fidelity, which makes it surprising how well the title manages to ape Okami's Sumi-e inspired art, with striking thick 'ink' lines making up for the loss of polygon density.

"We had to reduce the number of polygons in each model," Eshiro explains, "but we had to really examine where we could make the reductions without losing what was distinctive about the art style. So we studied everything in the game to see what we could lose while keeping a consistency and that same essence and feel… but we've really exploited the full power of the system."

With his eye on maintaining an experience so close to that of the original Okami, Eshiro seems a fine steward for a sequel that might never have happened. But the problem that Okamiden faces is that Kamiya himself expressed a wish to create a sequel to his creation, and while Okamiden ticks all the right boxes, the inspiration and heart that accompanied the original may be lacking, especially when considering what might have been. No matter how welcome a return to Okami's world will be, we hope Eshiro and his team can give us a reason to want to stay there.