Whereas it has been virtually twenty years since Okami launched, Capcom has apparently all the time been fascinated with a brand new entry within the franchise. That is as a result of the corporate sees the sequence as a “very, very distinctive IP” with a happy participant base, per Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi. What was key was discovering the suitable folks and alternative.
Talking with IGN, Hirabayashi talked concerning the origins of Okami 2 alongside sport director Hideki Kamiya, who based the new studio Clovers. The shock sequel was unveiled at The Sport Awards in December. “However for Capcom, we had been all the time on the lookout for the chance to create new Okami,” stated Hirabayashi. “After all, for such a mission, we would have liked numerous preparations to have the ability to guarantee that this all comes true. We wanted to have sure key folks in place.”
Kamiya–who left Platinum Video games in 2023–added that he “all the time wished to create an Okami sequel.” The director identified “that the story itself is not actually full” within the authentic, so he is had a need to complete it.
What’s attention-grabbing is Okami has all the time been a essential darling however thought-about by Capcom as a gross sales disappointment. In actual fact, authentic inner developer Clover was shuttered not lengthy after the sport launched. That stated, Capcom did create Okamiden for Nintendo DS in 2010, showcasing that the corporate nonetheless believed within the franchise.
“I do know particularly that persons are nonetheless having fun with this sport, simply from the numbers. Usually once we have a look at video games, the gross sales type of decelerate and so they lower steadily,” Hirabayashi defined. “Typically they leap up and down, however usually they go down. However for Okami, we see that it has been a gradual stream of individuals all the time having fun with the sport. So in that manner Okami is a really, very distinctive IP.”
Capcom is “focusing” on reviving different dormant franchises like Okami, too. In actual fact, the corporate additionally revealed Ominusha Means of the Sword at The Sport Awards, one other sequence that hadn’t seen a brand new entry in virtually 20 years. Plus, earlier this week, the motion sport received a brand new trailer at PlayStation’s State of Play occasion. That got here together with the announcement that Onimusha 2 is getting a remaster in Could. So do not lose hope, Mega Man followers.