When the original Okami released, it was a revalation. A game that was so astoundingly gorgeous, and one that finally took the Zelda formula and made it its own. It wasn’t the most financially successful, though that didn’t stop it getting a massive cultural fanbase. With that came Okamiden a few years later.
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Released exclusively on the DS, Okamiden isn’t a game many people got the chance to play, and plenty don’t even know another Okami game even exists. So where exactly does Okamiden fit in relation to the original Okami? Let’s find out.
What Is Okamiden?
By all accounts, Okamiden is another full-fledged Okami game, though one that doesn’t retain a massive amount of the original development team. Much of it had already splinted, with original developer Clover Studios having shut down and become PlatinumGames. Instead, Okamiden was directed by Kuniomi Matsushita, who had directed the Wii port of the original Okami.
Okamiden started from a small demo designed by Matsushita, and that prototype was enough to start development on a brand-new title. This time though, it was exclusive to the DS. In many ways, it is a perfectly logical step. Okamiden retains the majority of the gameplay systems of Okami, and the touchscreen lended itself perfectly to the Celestial Brush mechanics.
However, the producer himself was more keen on calling the game a spiritual successor rather than an outright sequel due to its smaller scale and adaptation of pre-existing mechanics to a new platform, rather than a full-on advancement of those same systems and characters.
Is Okamiden A Sequel To Okami?
That’s a slightly complex question because it depends on how you want to define a sequel. In the sense that it chronologically takes place after the events of Okami, then yes, Okamiden is a sequel. It begins only a few months after the ending of the original Okami with the defeat of Yami and the return of demons, featuring many of the same characters.
However, not all events perfectly line up. Susano-o suddenly has a grown child, demons have returned despite the defeat of Yami, and other small little facts like this. The story is also much smaller in scale, focusing on children and thematic passing of the torch. In that sense, it feels more like a complimentary side-story than a dedicated sequel.
If you approach the idea more thematically, in terms of production scale and intent, Okamiden is not a sequel. It wasn’t meant to be a new evolution of what made Okami so special in the first place, but rather simply visiting that world again for a newer audience. The game is played on the DS, you see it from a more childlike perspective. But, fundamentally, it is the same game as Okami, and was even choice to take place so close to the original so very little had to change.
In Okamiden, you take on the role of Chibiterasu. If you’ve ever seen a Chibi character, you’ll know that the name is purely a pun rather than some thoughtful deeper meaning. But that’s OK, because Chibiterasu is adorable, and in many ways is just a Chibi version of Amaterasu. But what exactly is Chibiterasu? The child of Amaterasu, a lesser piece of her sent down from the Celestial Plane, or something else entirely?
While this is a debate early on in the game, they make the relationship very clear after a point. Chibiterasu is the son of Amaterasu. The means in which he came to be born are more left up to interpretation, though the game does make clear that Chibiterasu is quite young, basically a child himself. And saving the world is very hard when your mother is off in the Celestial Plane.
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