While wandering aimlessly around Capcom’s lush inner sanctum at E3, my eye happened to fall on a cute, little wolf portrait nestled near the back, behind all the flashy Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Dead Rising 2 showcases. It was for ÅŒkamiden. It’s been a few years since I played the Wii version of ÅŒkami where the art style, the mechanics, the Japanese lore-infused story were all perfect to me in their separate ways.  I’m sure I’ll eventually return to the delicate lines and thrumming stringed music of Okami on the Wii, but thankfully now I’ll have a choice of playing it on a smaller screen when ÅŒkamiden hits North American shores.

(more…)

Okami did not sell extraordinarily well.  It should have because it’s an extraordinary game.  It’s also been released on two of the most popular consoles of all time by one of the best publishers in gaming.  But somehow the stars never aligned and people the world over decided they’d prefer not to jump into a wolf goddesses body and traipse around saving nature.  Okamiden, a game in the same vein and presumably with the same wolfish protagonist, looks to be changing things up a little.  At the very least, the aesthetic has changed as we now have a cuter, younger Amaterasu.  Such a change could potentially reach a wider audiences because who doesn’t want to play as an adorable little puppy?  The gameplay, on the flip side, looks to be remarkably similar to what we saw in Okami, as the screenshots below will testify.  The basic brush building, plant rejuvenation, and sword swinging appear to be identical, though the stylus controls should work even better than the Wii or PS2 in regards to brush technique.

Regardless of the outcome, and despite many of us wishing this would have been another Wii masterpiece, the game looks great and it will be a most welcome addition to many, many DSes.  Screenshots below!

(more…)

The first Okamiden trailer on Capcom’s TGS 2009 promo site is nice, especially with tinycartridge’s addition of McVaffe’s “Celestial Winds From the East” to the trailer. However, the real meat is in this second clip, obtained from who knows where. It’s actually chock full of in-game footage and such, and as you will all see, it’s quite beautiful, even on the DS.

Hopefully Capcom will show a lot more of it at the Tokyo Game Show, which takes place on September 24th through the 27th. Check out the minute long trailer after the jump. Really, you have to watch it.

(more…)

With Capcom now offering both the Wii and PS2 versions of Okami for a meager $20, those neglectful souls who overlooked the title’s initial release have been given a fortunate – and frugal – chance at redemption.

(more…)