The Game Awards 2024 had a lot of major games announced within its 3-hour showcase. Titles such as Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, The Witcher 4, Elden Ring Nightreign, Mafia: The Old Country, and Split Fiction were all featured, but one specific one was revealed at the end of the show with a musical introduction. Out of all the massive games that made their world premiere, Capcom’s Okami 2 stole the show (and the hearts of many).
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Released in 2006, Okami is considered one of the best video games ever made, arriving to critical and fan acclaim upon its arrival. Combining several Japanese folklore stories, the title centers on the tale of how the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, who takes the form of a white wolf with celestial markings, saved the land from darkness. The title leans into its artistic design, sporting a cel-shaded visual style inspired by sumi-e, which mixes Japanese watercolor and wood carving techniques. To this day, there hasn’t been a title that has brought such a distinct art style to the gaming industry quite as Okami did. Needless to say, Okami 2 is a game that fans of the original waited almost two decades, but why are players so interested in another sequel?
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What Do We Know About Okami 2?
Okami 2 is set to be developed by a new studio called Clovers and helmed by the original game’s director Hideki Kamiya. Two other studios will be supporting Clovers, M-Two Inc (Okami HD, Resident Evil 3 & 4 Remakes), and Machine Head Works, comprised of former Clover Studio members. The late start on production is because Kamiya was under a one-year non-compete agreement that prevented him from making new games after leaving PlatniumGames last October. Okami 2 has no official story details or release window, but the game is set to be in the same vein as Okami and will see the return of Amaterasu.
The original Okami was one of the final games for the PlayStation 2 to be released before the PlayStation 3 debuted, but Okami was not commercially successful. This caused the original developer, Clover Studio, to close down a few months later, with many of the team, including Okami director Hideki Kamiya, leaving Capcom to form PlatinumGames. Since then, an Okami port was released to the Wii in 2008, and a spiritual successor, Okamiden, was released in 2010 to Nintendo DS consoles by Capcom.
Rumblings of a sequel began while Kamiya was working on the Bayonetta series at PlatinumGames, where, in a 2016 interview with Metro UK he stated, “I’ve got ideas in my head for Okami 2…” In a 2020 interview with Okami artist Ikumi Nakamura, she said that she planned to approach Capcom about a sequel and assure that Kamiya was leading the development. Kamiyama left PlatniumGames in 2023 and seemingly didn’t return to the industry until the announcement of Okami 2.
While the launch of Okami 2 seems far away, the passion for the game has only grown stronger by the fans and the team behind the upcoming project 18 years after the original. With the technical advancements of the consoles, players should expect to see a whole new look and feel to the Okami series. For those who can’t wait to play the title, check out Okami HD on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox Series X|S.
