Former TangoGameWorks Creative Director Ikumi Nakamura teased a sequel to the beloved 2008 action-adventure game Ōkami on twitter earlier today. The sequel will bring back the original director, Hideki Kamiya, who will work alongside Nakamura and PlatinumGames. While Nakamura and Kamiya appear very enthusiastic about the project, we don’t know much more about it other than this short video clip:
If you take the clip at face value, it appears that Kamiya and Nakamura have been greenlit by Capcom to revive the IP and create a sequel to the game. Kamiya has been known to discuss his plans for making an Ōkami sequel, so his return to the franchise isn’t much of a surprise. And since Capcom is reportedly working on reviving new IPs, the sequel announcement isn’t too suspect. However, doubts remain.
The original Ōkami was developed by Clover Studio and released in 2008 by Capcom. The narrative focuses on the exploits of the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu who, in the form of a white wolf, saves the land from darkness. The game was well regarded for it’s cel-shaded visuals and gesture system, and despite its poor sales, received wide critical acclaim. Ōkami was one of the last PlayStation 2 games released on the platform before the launch of the PlayStation 3, which led to its low sales. However, the game was brought back in 2017 for an HD re-release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Since leaving Capcom and Clover Studio, Kamiya has gone on to co-found PlatinumGames with Shinji Mikami, and Atsushi Inaba. Prior to her work with TangoGameWorks, Nakamura worked at PlatinumGames as a concept designer for Bayonetta. Her history with Kamiya goes further than that, however, as she also worked on Ōkami back in 2007.