Ōkamiden Preview

When Ōkamiden was first shown in 2009, fans of the original were skeptical about it. It’s not solely because of the fact that it’s on the DS instead of a console, but the fact that Capcom decided to even make another Okami game at all since the original developer, Clover Studios, was shut down in 2006. While we might never see a “proper” Okami sequel for a while (or at all), this DS title seems like a solid follow-up to the critically acclaimed title.

The demo gives you a brief, though fairly extensive, introduction to Ōkamiden’s gameplay mechanics. Ōkamiden’s controls are pretty standard for an action-adventure DS title; you move Chibiterasu with the directional buttons, Y button to attack with an equipped weapon, B to jump, A to interact with objects/talk to people in the environment, and X to drop or carry your partner, Kuni (son of Susano and Kushi).

The real gist of the game, though, is through the celestial brush mechanic. With either the L or R buttons, the top screen automatically switches down to the touch screen, which enables you to work your magic with the stylus (your finger works, too, in case you lost yours). Only three of Chibiterasu’s celestial powers were featured in the demo: the bridge and tree-restoring powers and the power slash. It's likely Chibiterasu will learn more as he progresses.

You can also use the celestial brush to give commands to Kuni, basically having you draw a line to his destination. The demo showed basic puzzle sequences that had Chibiterasu crossing near-collapsed bridges and activating switches on the other side to allow both characters to cross safely. Combat is also included in the demo, and you can utilize the power slash to stun enemies and give you more openings for attack.

As soon as you deplete enemies’ health (shown on the bottom screen) low enough, you are given the opportunity to eliminate them with the tree-restoring ability. One minor problem I encountered was actually activating it successfully. Sometimes, nothing happens even though I clearly made the required shape. The game seems like it wants a more specific shape than just casually scribbling shapes on the touch screen, an issue I found a bit of a pain to deal with.

Capcom hasn’t revealed much of the game’s premise, but so far, it’s considered a continuation of Okami, taking place about nine months after the events of the latter. The great god-wolf Amaterasu continues her journey toward the Celestial Heavens, having saved the world from darkness and destruction.

But apparently, somehow, somehow, evil has not completely been eliminated. A new wolf--appropriately named Chibiterasu--appears as the new guardian to take charge of Amaterasu’s job and save the world once again. Ōkamiden will also see returning characters from the first game, such as Susano and Mr. Orange; I imagine others will appear eventually as well.

Gameplay and aesthetically-wise, Capcom hasn’t changed much (aside from adapting it to the DS’s mechanics) from the first game. Ōkamiden looks great and runs well, retaining the striking, cel-shading art style Okami possessed. So basically, if you’ve played Okami (PS2 or Wii) beforehand, playing Ōkamiden should feel very familiar.

I’m not sure if the game will have 3DS support, but that seems needless, based on what I’ve seen so far. I suspect, though, that Capcom might mess around with that, but we’ll see. Overall, Ōkamiden is looking to be a promising new title. I’m still hard-pressed as to actually call it either a proper sequel or a spiritual successor to the 2006 action adventure masterpiece, though it’ll be interesting how the full game turns out when it’s released this March on the Nintendo DS.

Editor's Note: Ōkamiden was actually unveiled in 2009, not 2008. NoobFeed regrets the error and has since corrected it.