Okamiden: It's Okami - on your DS!

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

A couple of weeks ago word hit that Capcom had registered the trademark Okamiden. While Capcom kept mum about the details, it has been left to Famitsu to unveil what most people who can put two and two together had already figured out. It's a new Okami game - and if that news doesn't fill your heart with joy, you're probably dead.



There's not a whole lot of information there, but it definitely looks like the Okami that delighted the few hundred thousand sensbile gamers who bought the original, but that very much appears to be Susano riding on Amaterasu's back. The original was full of plenty of colourful characters with Susano being one of the best. There's room for plenty of humour with him as the supporting lead character.

Also, being a DS title, the paintbrush gameplay mechanic has surely found its perfect home. If the rest of the core gameplay is kept in tact then this must be a winner (whatever sales may suggest). The one concern however lies with the development team. While Capcom are doing the publishing, the original team behind Okami (Clover Studios) was axed and have moved on to become Platinum Games. Is there a similarly imaginative team hiding around Capcom that can handle the pressure of fan expectations? Okami consumed me like no other game had managed (with the obvious exception of OoT) so let's hope so.

[hisak]

YESyesyesyesyes please. This is going to be amazing. Exciting!

I really hope the non-Platinum Games team is able to do the original justice. I love the look of the game. And people say the DS can't do 3D.

[Bidet to you sir]

Unless of course...
1. It's a  carbon copy, and I don't mean a port either I just mean ridiculous similarities I'm fine with the mechanics being the same but well it better not be "get rid of curse zones, fight easy boss, fight weird boss at the end by randomly guessing which brush strokes to use." , if thats the case...nooooooo.
2. It's ridiculously long again....in that case.....dooooo soooooomeeeeethhhhhiiiiiiingggggg inttteeeeerrrresssstiiiing.

[hisak]

Unless of course...
1. It's a  carbon copy, and I don't mean a port either I just mean ridiculous similarities I'm fine with the mechanics being the same but well it better not be "get rid of curse zones, fight easy boss, fight weird boss at the end by randomly guessing which brush strokes to use." , if thats the case...nooooooo.

It sounds like getting rid of cursed areas will still be part of the game, but there's more gameplay additions coming. There's "partner" characters that you need to use to progress through certain parts of the game. One of said new characters is Susano's son, Kuninushi. And it sounds like Issun and Susano will be returning in the game as well.

[Twilight Wolf]

I always thought that Okami would be best suited for the DS due to the use of the stylus.  The visual style is still just as appealing, so it should be a good game. 

[hisak]

It's amazing that this game is even being made for any system. The PS2 game sold poorly (200,000 copies), and the Wii game didn't do much better (280,000, though that's impressive for a third-party Wii title). I would have assumed that Capcom was just going to leave the first game as it was and never speak of it ever again.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

And people say the DS can't do 3D.

People are silly. It's been doing 3-D since Day One, it's just been largely done by Nintendo mostly. Have to say, looking at the mini-trailer, the presentation for this game looks superb, with the visuals transferring really well from Wii to DS. Could well out-do the likes of Prime:Hunters and Phourglass (beating Nintendo at their own game in the same way Okami beat TP - yeah, I said it).

Unless of course...
...
2. It's ridiculously long again....in that case.....dooooo soooooomeeeeethhhhhiiiiiiingggggg inttteeeeerrrresssstiiiing.

Never understand people that complain about a game being too long, especially when it's got such a brilliantly woven storyline to support it. I do, however, think that the DS game will be considerably shorter for storage reasons. Then again, Capcom could surprise us with some Tardis-like development.

It's amazing that this game is even being made for any system. The PS2 game sold poorly (200,000 copies), and the Wii game didn't do much better (280,000, though that's impressive for a third-party Wii title). I would have assumed that Capcom was just going to leave the first game as it was and never speak of it ever again.

I guess that almost half-a-million in sales combined means it's worth having a punt on the franchise again, but on a smaller, cheaper-to-develop-on platform. Is fine by me. New Okami is new Okami. (Though it now seems very unlikely it'll be a direct continuation of the story as Clover intended...)

[hisak]

(beating Nintendo at their own game in the same way Okami beat TP - yeah, I said it).

In terms of graphics, sure. I'd prefer if this wasn't quite as derivative as the first game. Also if we're allowed to complain about Zant's character assassination we're allowed to complain about Okami's final boss. But no one seems to do that.

Never understand people that complain about a game being too long, especially when it's got such a brilliantly woven storyline to support it. I do, however, think that the DS game will be considerably shorter for storage reasons.

It was too long. Or at least it felt that way. Everything with Ninetails felt, to me, like a more proper climax and conclusion than the games actual finish (again, "giant ball in the air" doesn't make for a good villain). I think it wouldn't have felt so long if they had rearranged the progression to make the Kamui storyline come between the East Nippon and West Nippon storylines.

[Bidet to you sir]

I just thought they couldn't end with orochi so they had to go on.
I got to ninetails, and thought, yeah sure, ok good game,but I want some more backstory.
So you got time travel, ok fine, fight orochi one more time, thats cool.
I think thats when the game COULD have ended (not should).
Orochi the second time should have been monumentally difficult to make the game seem like it had ended.
In a way, I think the main revelation of the story came about too close to the end.
Then it wouldn't have seemed so long, as it was more a "get to the damn point" wait than a "please just let me fight the boss" wait.
I always do this for RPG's, so I will again, I will use FF7 and chrono trigger as the bench mark.
By half way through disk 2 of FF7 you knew sephiroths entire plan.
By barely anywhere through chrono trigger, you knew the score, lavos was going to destroy stuff.
Okami, I didn't even know the name of the villain until kamui.

[Be_yourself]

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!

not on DS!!! i hate handheld games...i hate handheld devices, they annoy the hell out of me(other then my ipod which stays in my pocket and my phone which is extremely useful), small screens, a whole ton of money for something that could easily get lost...

I adore okami and actually just finished it again and i was thinking about how okami really needs a sequal, seeing as the ending had a perfect opener for a game in the celestial realm.

I thought okami was a good length but there was some failures.

-Orochi 3 times...urgh...
-issun is nearly as bad as midna, if not worse at the starting part of the game, won't stop ruining all my fun...
-the game can be rigidly linear at times, a bit more free play would be nice
-Yami kinda came out of nowhere, didn't fit in too well at the end.

but the game is excellent, and i'm glad to hear they are making another...although i hope it is something completely different and it comes out on Wii...if it isn't/doesn't i'm not really interested

[hisak]

There should also be fewer dungeons in this game. Okami's dungeon design was pretty weak, especially when you consider the great dungeon design in Zelda. The best dungeons in Okami were about on par with the Palace of Twilight in Twilight Princess, a dungeon most fans consider to be one of the worst in the game. So it needs to play to its strengths, which mostly have to do with the overworld.

Also, nonlinearity doesn't make a game that much better. At best it creates an illusion of freedom in the game, and Okami's overworld isn't necessarily suited to that sort of thing.

[Be_yourself]

I see what you mean Hisak, but i think Okami needed a few more non-linear elements, with such a big world(even the little thirds of the world were comprehensive enough) it feels contrived when you can only go to one point at a time i.e i don't think you can go to sasa sanctuary and find the sparrows daughter until you talk to the bamboo guy. 
My point is, you could actually do the task without seeing any of the pre-requisites but the game limits you by just "not letting" you rather then providing an obstacle, i.e things just happen, you don't make them happen.

[Poewarrior]

http://www.zentendo.com/news.php?newsId=2889

So Okamiden is now called Okami Legends: The Small Sun and baby Amaterasu is now called Chibiterasu X3.  And it appears Issun is going to be your partner again.  It seems the beginning of this game is going to closely mirror the beginning of Okami which to me is not a good sign, but whatever, it's hardly the right time to condemn the game yet. 

I'm hoping we'll be able to go to the moon and the celestial plain at some point in the game since those areas were only sparsely mentioned in Okami but were the actual sources of most of the game's strife.

 

[Be_yourself]

baby ameterasu...:-( sounds pretty lame,
sounds like its going to be a prequel?

[hisak]

It's not a prequel, it's a sequel. It looks like they're making Chibiterasu out to be Ammy's son. I doubt that's all there is to the story, but that's what we have so far.

Mark Bozon's impressions. He makes it sound very good. D-Pad movement!

[hisak]

New trailer. It looks really good.

[hisak]

North America: March 15, 2011
Europe: March 18, 2011

I think I'm ready. We'll see how the 3DS's launch lineup looks. If Paper Mario is on it there's no way I'm getting this first, but otherwise I think I'll be here.

Also, boxart? I don't think I've seen this before.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Jesus. They really don't want this series to succeed do they? At best, it's two weeks before the 3DS launch. At worst, two weeks after. I know I'm not sure I'll get it at launch as it is so close to the 3DS, and I bloody loved the original. This will be bargain bin fodder despite the expected high quality.

[hisak]

Pokémon Black and White are getting released around the same time too. Mother 3 was released in Japan a year and a half after the DS came out. It's not being shipped off to die.

[Bidet to you sir]

Reminder that new PS2 games outsold PS3 games for quite a long time after the PS3 came out, largely due to the huge reach of the PS2, so seeing as the DS is ridiculously common I think you can expect new DS games to be outselling new 3DS games for at least a couple of months after the 3DS comes out.