Ōkamiden, known in Japan as Ōkamiden: Chiisaki Taiyō, is an action-adventure game released in 2010. It was created by Mobile & Game Studio, Inc. and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. The game is inspired by Ōkami, a previous game originally made for the PlayStation 2, but it is not a direct follow-up.
Ōkamiden was designed by Kuniomi Matsushita, who directed the Wii version of Ōkami, and Motohide Eshiro, who worked on games like Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny. The game was released in Japan on September 30, 2010, in North America on March 15, 2011, and in Europe on March 18. The main character is Chibiterasu, a small celestial wolf born from Amaterasu, the hero of Ōkami. The gameplay is similar to Ōkami, including the use of the Celestial Brush, which lets players pause the game and draw shapes or patterns on the touch screen.
Development started in December 2008 after Matsushita showed Eshiro a technical demo of the game. Because the demo was well-received, work on the game began. Four years after Ōkami was first released, Ōkamiden came out in September 2010 and received positive reviews from critics and had some commercial success.
With the announcement of a sequel to Ōkami at The Game Awards 2024, it is not known if Ōkamiden is part of the official story or not.
Gameplay
Ōkamiden is played in a way that is similar to its earlier game, Ōkami, and to games in The Legend of Zelda series. The game was inspired by Zelda, as noted by Ōkami's director, Hideki Kamiya, and Ōkamiden's producer, Motohide Eshiro. A key feature of the game is the "Celestial Brush," which allows players to freeze the screen and draw symbols using the stylus on the touchscreen to make changes in the game world. This ability is used to solve puzzles and fight enemies. The theme of restoring life to the world, which was also present in Ōkami, returns in this game. A new feature allows Chibiterasu to team up with partners. These partners help explore the game world and fight enemies. A new technique called the "Guidance" or "Shirabe" brush, described by Diamond Feit of Wired as the "courage" brush, lets players move Chibiterasu's partner across areas Chibiterasu cannot reach, which is often needed to progress. The game uses face buttons to move Chibiterasu. The top screen shows a third-person view, while the bottom screen displays a mini-map. Pressing either shoulder button activates the Celestial Brush, pausing the game and moving the top screen to the bottom to look like parchment. Players then use the stylus to draw and activate the Celestial Brush's powers. The game detects how fast the stylus moves and shows this as the thickness of the line drawn. Brush techniques can be used to defeat enemies. Many enemies are weak to specific brush techniques, and defeating them this way earns special items that improve Chibiterasu's abilities. Some parts of the game include mini-games from different genres, such as shoot 'em ups and side scrollers.
Plot
The story of Ōkamiden focuses on the children of characters from Ōkami and their adventures, as explained by producer Motohide Eshiro. The game takes place nine months after the events of Ōkami. Even though Amaterasu defeated the Dark Lord Yami, who would have destroyed all demons in Nippon, the demons return. Konohana Sprite Sakuya, a character from Ōkami, tries to summon Amaterasu but instead finds Chibiterasu, who resembles a younger version of Amaterasu. Matsushita confirmed that Chibiterasu is Amaterasu’s son, as previously guessed. Eshiro described Chibiterasu as a "young form of existence" who has not fully grown. He keeps some abilities from Amaterasu, like the Celestial Brush, but does not have her full power, which affects the story and gameplay. Matsushita noted that Chibiterasu is clumsy and has childlike traits, such as being easily moved by emotions or struggling to make decisions.
Issun, Amaterasu’s partner in Ōkami, cannot help Chibiterasu because he is busy as the Celestial Envoy. Chibiterasu must find new partners to fight evil. These partners include Kuni, the adopted son of Susano and Kushi from Ōkami; Nanami, a young mermaid who can swim underwater and provide water for the Waterspout technique; Kagura, a spirit medium who helps Chibiterasu see spirit elements; Kurō, a flute-playing boy with traits similar to Waka from Ōkami; and Manpuku, an overweight boy who carries fire and can walk through ice spikes, providing fire for the Inferno technique.
Chibiterasu and his partners first fight King Fury, an evil summoner who caused curses across Nippon. After defeating King Fury, they discover a stronger enemy, Akuro, who wants to curse Nippon by obtaining the blood of Orochi, an eight-headed demon from Ōkami. Akuro travels back in time to when Amaterasu fought Orochi, but Chibiterasu stops him from getting the blood. Angry, Akuro goes further back in time to when Nagi and Shiranui, the wolf form of Amaterasu, defeated Orochi. Chibiterasu and his team follow Akuro to this time. Before entering Moon Cave, Kurō leaves the group, saying he found his "True Mission." Chibiterasu enters the cave alone but fails to stop Akuro this time because Kurō, who has turned evil and joined Akuro, blocks his efforts.
Chibiterasu and his allies later find Akuro in the dark realms, where Akuro has taken control of Kuni’s body. Kurō plans to fight Chibiterasu. Chibiterasu defeats Akuro, freeing Kuni, but Kurō allows Akuro to stay in his body. Kurō reveals he is a living doll of Waka, created to house Akuro’s spirit. If Kurō is killed with Akuro inside him, Akuro will be destroyed. Chibiterasu follows Kurō’s instructions, and Akuro is defeated. Before dying, Kurō expresses sadness about being a doll, but his friends remind him that his adventures with Chibiterasu made him more than just a doll. Kurō dies peacefully, surrounded by friends. After this, Chibiterasu’s partners return home, more confident in their abilities. Kuni leaves to discover who he truly is, making Susano sad. Chibiterasu reunites with Issun to return to the Celestial Plain and meet Waka and Amaterasu.
Other characters from Ōkami, such as Issun, Mr. and Mrs. Orange, and Sakuya, return in Ōkamiden. The game includes locations from Ōkami and new areas to explore. Chibiterasu gains Celestial Brush powers similar to those in Ōkami, but instead of finding Brush Gods in constellations, players must travel to places where the Brush Gods have chosen to rest and learn skills from their children.
Development
Due to poor sales, Ōkami was seen as a commercial failure on the PlayStation 2. Many people thought it was one of the reasons Clover Studio, its developer, closed. However, Hideki Kamiya, the lead designer of Ōkami, said that the main reason was an argument between producer Atsushi Inaba and Capcom’s management. Kamiya explained that he had an idea for a sequel but could not control whether it would happen. In July 2007, former Capcom employee Keiji Inafune said that a Wii version of the game was something he considered, but it was difficult to make, and no plans were in place. Despite this, a Wii version was later released. Capcom employee Chris Svensson said that many more people would need to buy the game for a sequel to be made.
In August 2009, Capcom applied for a Japanese trademark on the name "Ōkamiden" for a video game. This happened a few months before the Wii version of Ōkami was released in Japan, leading to speculation about a sequel. "Ōkamiden" might be a shortened version of "Ōkami Gaiden" (meaning "Ōkami Sidestory") or "Ōkami Densetsu" (meaning "Ōkami Legend"). This fueled ideas that it could be the long-awaited sequel. The September issue of Famitsu magazine revealed that Ōkamiden: Chiisaki Taiyō was another Ōkami game planned for release on the Nintendo DS in Japan in 2010. No other details were given, but the article included gameplay footage showing combat and graphics similar to the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions.
Ōkamiden was directed by Kuniomi Matsushita, who worked on the Wii version of Ōkami, and produced by Motohide Eshiro, who had previously worked on games like Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. Yukinori Kitajima, the writer of the critically praised game 428: Shibuya Scramble, was the scenario author for Ōkamiden. In December 2008, Matsushita, who wanted to create a sequel to Ōkami, led a small team to develop an advanced prototype. He showed this to Eshiro, who approved the project. The team chose the Nintendo DS because of its portability and the usefulness of the stylus for drawing. Eshiro said that Ōkamiden was more of a continuation of the Ōkami world than a direct sequel. He also mentioned that future games might be made for the Nintendo 3DS or other devices depending on how well Ōkamiden was received.
Several changes were made to Ōkami’s design to suit the Nintendo DS. With fewer controls on the DS, players only control character movement, and the camera follows a fixed path to guide attention. Combat was simplified, with melee attacks reduced to a single button, though the Celestial Brush remained for strategy. The team avoided removing melee attacks entirely because they felt it would slow the game. The idea of partners and using the stylus to guide them came from plans to include puzzles using the DS’s touchscreen. However, many planned Celestial Brush strokes and puzzles were cut due to time constraints. The DS’s limited graphics and resolution made it harder to recreate the first game’s visuals.
The game was originally meant to feature Amaterasu, the main character from Ōkami. During planning, an artist drew a sketch of Amaterasu’s child as a joke, which inspired the idea of a partner character. This led to Chibiterasu, a young character, becoming the main character. Matsushita said that having a child as the hero would not be enough to save the world, so partners were added to the story and gameplay. This choice was made instead of having multiple Chibiterasus in a party. Using a child’s perspective made the story easier to visualize and fit with Nintendo’s handheld audience. Eshiro compared the story to the movie Stand by Me. He also said that including friendships and saying goodbye added emotional depth to the game. Chibiterasu is paired with only one partner at a time, as Matsushita said, “If you could switch between them anytime, they wouldn’t be partners anymore.” The game includes the death of a major character, which Matsushita said was necessary to improve the story. While some developers resisted this idea, it was ultimately approved.
The game takes place nine months after the events of Ōkami, which created story challenges for Yukinori Kitajima, the main writer. The team originally planned to set the game years later but found that a closer timeline kept the story familiar to players of Ōkami. Kitajima had to explain why characters didn’t remember the ending of Ōkami or why Susano’s son, Kuni, was a young boy when he did not exist in the original timeline.
Ōkamiden was first shown in playable form at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2009, where it was about 25% complete. Releases outside Japan were uncertain until Capcom trademarked the name in North America and Europe. In April 2010, Capcom confirmed the game would be released in those regions by 2011.
A "Collector’s Edition" of Ōkamiden was released in Japan with the game, a soundtrack, a DVD, a storybook, a plush keychain of Chibiterasu, and branded earphones. Japanese advertisements for the game featured model Kii Kitano and a white Shiba Inu puppy named Moran-chan, who looked like Chibiterasu. North American pre-orders included a stylized screen cleaner and brush-shaped stylus at GameStop and a plush keychain at the Capcom Store.
Reception
The decision to release Ōkamiden on the Nintendo DS received different opinions from reviewers. John Funk, an editor at The Escapist, said the Nintendo DS was the best choice for the sequel because the touch screen could be used well for the Celestial Brush. Daniel Sims, an editor at Kombo, praised the game's cartoon-like visuals, saying they looked good on the Nintendo DS. Hamza Aziz, an editor at Destructoid, believed the Nintendo DS was the right platform for Ōkamiden. He also said he was impressed that Capcom kept the unique style of Ōkami in the sequel. However, Ishaan Sahdev, an editor at Siliconera, was unsure if Ōkamiden could feel the same as Ōkami because the original game relied heavily on its visuals and art style. He criticized the decision to release it on the Nintendo DS to reach more players, calling the visuals poor. He also questioned if the game's flaws might make the project not worth it. Luke Plunkett, an editor at Kotaku, was disappointed that the game was made for the Nintendo DS instead of the PlayStation 3.
There was concern about making Ōkamiden without PlatinumGames, a company that included key members from Clover Studio, such as Hideki Kamiya, who created Ōkami. John Constantine, an editor at MTV, worried that without Kamiya and PlatinumGames, the game might feel like a copy of the original.
Early versions of Ōkamiden, shown at events like the Tokyo Game Show in 2009 and in the United States in 2010, were well received by critics. Kotaku editors Stephan Totilo and Brian Crecente praised the demo versions they played in 2010. Totilo said the game was a strong match for the Nintendo DS and called it "the kind of game for which the DS was made." Crecente said the drawing system from Ōkami worked better in Ōkamiden because of the stylus and how the portable console is held. Daniel Feit of Wired said the game's graphics were not as good as the original Ōkami on the PlayStation 2, but he believed the cartoon-like style worked well on the Nintendo DS.
IGN described the character Chibiterasu as "adorable." James Stephanie Sterling, an editor at Destructoid, agreed and joked that its cuteness might make Ōkamiden one of the best Nintendo DS games ever. Luke Plunkett said he was surprised by how much he liked Chibiterasu despite his earlier concerns about the game.
At E3 2010, Ōkamiden received praise and awards from news outlets. It was nominated for "Best Handheld Game" at the Game Critics Awards and "Best DS Game" by IGN. GameSpy named it their "DS Game of Show."
Famitsu gave Ōkamiden a score of 34 out of 40 points. The reviewers said the game successfully brought elements of Ōkami to the Nintendo DS but noted that the story and gameplay were similar to the original, with little new content. They also said the gameplay was not much different from Ōkami, but they believed this showed how complete the original game was. GameZone gave the game a 7/10, saying some players might enjoy it despite its flaws, such as needing to revisit areas multiple times.
Ōkamiden was the third best-selling video game in Japan during its first week of release, selling 84,472 copies. It sold an additional 12,829 copies the following week, dropping to number 13 on the sales charts.