During the 2024 Game Awards, Geoff Keighley was emotional. It was the ten year anniversary of the awards show he had created and he had an incredible amount of announcements from franchises like The Witcher, Borderlands, Elden Ring, and the mighty Dave the Diver. These household name franchises brought cheers, but one announcement in particular brought tears. 

Towards the end of the ceremony, just before the final announcement from Naughty Dog’s new IP project, Geoff Keighley introduced a trailer by saying, “if you truly love video games like I do, this moment is for all of us.” 

The stream focused on a man beating a very large drum, with the music expanding to the full orchestra. The massive theater screen behind him showcased footage of the goddess white wolf, Amaterasu, at the opening of the reveal of the Okami Sequel. This was immediately followed by the announcement that the original game writer and director Hideki Kamiya would return to helm the sequel. 

But why was Geoff Keighley holding back tears at this announcement? Why did this announcement send shockwaves of delicious nostalgia through the gaming community? Who is Hideki Kamiya?

To address the latter question, Hideki Kamiya is a powerhouse in the gaming world who kicked his career off by working on the original-recipe 1996 Resident Evil. He would continue with Capcom and direct Resident Evil 2, direct and write Devil May Cry, and oversee the beat ’em up style Viewtiful Joe franchise. Throughout the development of Viewtiful Joe 2, Capcom segmented the development team into their own in-house studio: Clover Studios. Clover Studios would oversee four entries in the Viewtiful Joe franchise, a beat ’em up game called God Hand, and one distinctly different adventure title: Okami. 

Okami was released in 2006 on the PlayStation 2 and followed the path of a goddess white wolf, Ōkami Amaterasu. The game was smart, funny, liked long walks on the beach; it was the total package. Many characters were inspired by traditional Japanese folk tales and were equal parts silly and sharply written. Arguably, the only aspect of the game that outshined the incredible script was the art. 

Okami had a distinctly beautiful art style that brought elements of traditional Japanese art with the boundary-pushing power of the latest console’s capabilities. The major functionality of interacting with the world of Okami is done through thick brushstrokes the player creates, and that focus on art bled into the world. 

The player breaks the fourth wall to alter the world for the white wolf in place of in-world puzzles. This immersive gameplay style stuck with gamers and earned the title near perfect or decidedly perfect reviews and scores. After release, Okami continued its excellence streak by stacking awards to the ceiling, including BAFTAs for artistic achievement and original score. 

Unfortunately, the critical acclaim didn’t translate into sales. 

Within its first year of release, Okami had sold under 350,000 copies. This is healthier than, say, Concord’s lifetime sales of nearly 25,000 units, but still isn’t a strong start for a new IP. Following what Hideki Kamiya himself had described as a “failure”, he left Clover Studios, after which the entire development team was dissolved by Capcom eleven months after Okami hit the shelves. 

Hideki Kamiya went on to become a founding member of PlatinumGames, the developer behind the Bayonetta series. With a high profile new company and commercial and critical successes, Okami fans were left with a definitive ending with no hope in sight for a sequel. Over time, the fanbase did grow. Lifetime sales swelled to around four million copies sold by 2024 and the positive sentiment continued… with the caveat that there was no hope for a sequel in sight. 

But eighteen years after launch, an audience of approximately 154 million Game Awards streamers laid their eyes on Amaterasu running through fields. The original score swelled with the same prowess that had earned the franchise a BAFTA almost twenty years ago. And for the first time after a long long time, gamers were met with the promise of the return of Okami under a new developer: Clovers Studio. 

The trailer was blessed by heritage publisher Capcom and the promise of Hideki Kamiya’s return, confirming to long-term fans that the Okami Sequel is in good hands. You can see for yourself here:

Have you played the original Okami? Are you excited for the sequel? Let us know in the comments!