Ōkamiden, known in Japan as is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Mobile & Game Studio, Inc. and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. It is a spiritual successor, rather than a sequel, to Ōkami, a game released originally for the PlayStation 2.
Ōkamiden was designed by Kuniomi Matsushita, the director of the Wii port of Ōkami, and Motohide Eshiro, producer of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny. It was released in Japan on September 30, 2010, in North America on March 15, 2011, and in Europe on March 18. It stars Chibiterasu, a small celestial wolf born from Amaterasu, the protagonist of Ōkami, and features much of the same gameplay as its predecessor, including the Celestial Brush which allows players to freeze the gameplay and draw shapes or patterns using the touch screen.
Development began when Matsushita expressed an interest in creating a new Ōkami game and showed Eshiro a technical demo of such a game in December 2008. Because the demo was so well-done, development began on a sequel, and in September 2010, four years after Ōkami debuted, the game was released to positive reviews from critics and moderate commercial success.
With the announcement of a sequel to Ōkami at The Game Awards 2024, it is unclear if Ōkamiden is canon or non-canon.
Gameplay Ōkamiden plays similarly to its predecessor, Ōkami, as an action-adventure game similar to games from The Legend of Zelda series; Zelda was an inspiration for both Ōkamis director Hideki Kamiya and Ōkamidens producer Motohide Eshiro. The "Celestial Brush", the ability to freeze the screen and draw symbols via the touchscreen with the stylus to bring changes on the game's world, remains central to the game for solving puzzles and fighting enemies. The theme of returning life to the world also returns from Ōkami. A new feature is the ability for Chibiterasu to team up with partners. They can be used to explore the overworld with, as well as battle enemies. The new Guidance technique, also called the "Shirabe" or "courage" brush by Diamond Feit of Wired, may be used to move Chibiterasu's partner independently across areas Chibiterasu cannot cross; this is often required to progress in the game. The game uses the face buttons to move Chibiterasu about the world, with the top display being the current third-person view and the bottom showing a mini-map of the area. By pressing either shoulder button, the Celestial Brush is activated: the game pauses as the top screen is moved down to the bottom and rendered as parchment, and the player then can use the stylus and touchscreen to draw to activate various powers of the Celestial Brush. The game will sense the speed at which the player draws the stylus across the screen and reflect this in the weight of the stroke drawn on-screen; a quick motion will lead to a faint, partial line while slow movements will create bold strokes.
Brush techniques can be used to defeat enemies. Many enemies are weak to one specific brush technique, and by defeating the enemy in this manner, the player can earn rare items that help to upgrade Chibiterasu's power.
Some sections of the game include minigames based on other genres, such as shoot 'em ups and side scrollers.
Plot
Much of Ōkamidens story centers around the children of previous characters from Ōkami and their adventures and the relationships that form through the game's story, according to producer Motohide Eshiro. The game takes place nine months after the events of Ōkami. Despite Amaterasu's battle against the Dark Lord Yami, which would kill all the demons in Nippon, they return. The Konohana Sprite Sakuya, a character from the original Ōkami, summons the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, but instead finds Chibiterasu, who looks like a young version of Amaterasu. Chibiterasu, as revealed by Matsushita, is, in fact, Amaterasu's son, as was previously speculated. Producer Eshiro noted that he is a "young form of existence" and not fully grown; he retains several abilities of Amaterasu, including the Celestial Brush, but lacks her power, which will be reflected in the plot and gameplay. Matsushita also called Chibiterasu clumsy and having childlike traits of "being tearfully sentimental or not being able to make decisions".
Issun, Amaterasu's partner in the first game, is unavailable to help Chibiterasu as he is busy with his duties as the Celestial Envoy, and thus Chibiterasu is tasked to find other partners to help rid the world of evil. One of the partners that accompanies Chibiterasu is , the adopted son of Susano and Kushi, two characters from Ōkami. Other partners include: , a young mermaid that is able to swim about in underwater stages and can provide a water source for Waterspout; , a spirit medium who helps Chibiterasu see ethereal elements; , a flute-playing young boy that bears some traits similar to Waka from Ōkami; and , an overweight boy carrying fire who can walk through ice spikes and can provide a fire source for the Inferno technique.
Chibiterasu and his various partners initially track down an evil summoner named that gave rise to the curses across the lands. When Chibiterasu defeats King Fury, they find a stronger evil known as , who is seeking to curse the lands of Nippon. To do so, he must acquire the blood from Orochi, the eight-headed demon fought several times in the first game. Akuro travels back one year to when Amaterasu faced down Orochi; Chibiterasu follows it and prevents it from recovering the blood. Furious, Akuro travels back 100 years in time, when the swordsman Nagi and Shiranui, the wolf form that Amaterasu was later given, defeated Orochi. The team travel back in time to follow Akuro. Just before they enter Moon Cave, Kurow leaves the group, claiming to have found his 'True Mission'. The pup, saddened at Kurow's sudden departure, heads on into the cave to fight Akuro. Chibi, however, is unable to prevent Akuro from obtaining the blood this time, as Kurow, who has apparently turned evil and become Akuro's servant, stops Chibiterasu's efforts. Chibiterasu and his other allies follow Akuro to the dark realms where they find the demon has taken up residence in the body of Kuni and that Kurow intends on fighting the pup. Chibiterasu is forced to fight his former partner, expelling Akuro's spirit and freeing Kuni, but evil Kurow willfully allows it to take his body. However, this has been Kurow's plan all the time; he reveals he is a living doll of Waka, with the goal to house Akuro's spirit, such that if he is killed with Akuro inside him, Akuro would be dispelled. Chibiterasu, fighting back tears, complies with Kurow's instructions, and Akuro is destroyed forever. Kurow, just before his death, is sad about how he was nothing but a doll, however, the others reassure him that it was his adventures with Chibiterasu that made him who he was. It was these adventures that made him more than just a doll. Kurow dies happily, surrounded by friends. Afterwards, the remainder of Chibiterasu's partners return to their homes, more confident in their abilities; Kuni leaves home to seek out who he really is, much to Susano's regret. Chibiterasu joins with Issun to return to the Celestial Plain to reunite with Waka and Amaterasu.
Other characters from Ōkami return, including Issun, Mr. and Mrs. Orange, and Sakuya. The game features locales from Ōkami as well as new areas to explore as part of its adventure. Chibiterasu gains Celestial Brush power similar to those from Ōkami, but instead of finding the Celestial Brush Gods hiding in constellations, the player will have to travel to where the Brush Gods have chosen to rest, and acquire the skills from the Gods' children.
Development Due to poor sales, Ōkami was considered a commercial failure on the PlayStation 2, and while it was widely believed to be one of the factors involved in the closure of its developer, Clover Studio, Hideki Kamiya, lead designer of Ōkami, specified that producer Atsushi Inaba had had an argument with Capcom management. Kamiya commented that he had an idea in mind for the sequel and would enjoy making it, but it was nothing more than an idea and beyond his control. In July 2007, former Capcom employee Keiji Inafune commented that a Wii port was something he had considered, but it was easier said than done, and they had no plans yet. In spite of this, it received a port for the Wii. Capcom employee Chris Svensson commented that a lot more people would have to buy copies of Ōkami to warrant a sequel's production.
In August 2009, Capcom filed for a Japanese trademark on the name "Ōkamiden" for a video game, a few months prior to the Japan release of the Wii version of Ōkami, which led to speculation about an Ōkami sequel; Ōkamiden may be a shortening or pun for Ōkami Gaiden, translated as "Ōkami Sidestory", or possibly Ōkami Densetsu, which translates to "Ōkami Legend", thus fueling speculation that it may be the long-awaited sequel. The September issue of Famitsu revealed that Ōkamiden: Chiisaki Taiyō was indeed another Ōkami game which was slated to be released by Capcom on the Nintendo DS in 2010 in Japan, though no other release information was provided. The Famitsu article shows gameplay, including combat, and graphics similar to the PlayStation 2/Wii game.
Ōkamiden was directed by Kuniomi Matsushita, who oversaw for the Wii port of Ōkami, and was produced by Motohide Eshiro, who had previously worked on titles such as Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Yukinori Kitajima, writer for the critically acclaimed Japanese Wii title, 428: Shibuya Scramble, was the scenario author for Ōkamiden. In December 2008, Matsushita, who had a strong desire to create a sequel to Ōkami, led a small team to develop an advanced prototype. Matsushita showed this demonstration to Eshiro and expressed his desire to go forward on the project, and the project was greenlighted. The team settled on the Nintendo DS due to its portability, allowing players to pick it up and play wherever they wish, as well as the utility of the stylus on the touch screen acting as a brush. Eshiro stated that:
Eshiro further commented that he considered Ōkamiden more of a successor to Ōkami than a sequel, desiring to build upon the world for a franchise on the Nintendo DS platform. While Ōkamiden is a DS title, Eshiro has considered to expand subsequent games to work with the Nintendo 3DS unit based on the game's reception. Similarly, Eshiro does not rule out a high-definition version on a modern console or a version for the iPhone or similar touch-screen devices depending on the response to Ōkamiden.