Some of the familiar characters from Okami will be making a return to Okamiden, and it looks like they will be helping Chibiterasu out!
With the release of Okamiden less than a month away now, Capcom is announcing more of the numerous characters Amaterasu’s son will be encountering just shortly after the events of the first game. (Warning to those who still haven’t finished Okami yet, there might be a couple little spoilers just because we’re talking about a sequel. Read on at your own risk.)
Okamiden begins shortly after the Shinto sun goddess in wolf-form, Amaterasu, defeats Yami and returns to the Celestial Plain. 9 months have passed and the world has been restored to its former beauty and peace. However, Issun (now Ammy’s Celestial Envoy) has noticed that something still doesn’t seem quite right and that evil still lurks around Nippon. He attempts to call Ammy back from the Celestial Plain, and is shocked to find that instead of our favorite wolf-goddess, small wolf puppy appears with Ammy’s distinct markings. This is Amaterasu’s son, adorably called Chibiterasu (Chibi means “small child” in Japanese). It is now Chibi’s job to travel around Nippon and make sure that Ammy’s work is really finished this time.
From what it looks like, we start off in basically the same area that we started in during Okami. This means, happily, that many of the characters from nearby are also still around as well. Of course, every single one of them has been impacted by Ammy’s work and thus we are going to see some development of their characters, perhaps even more involvement with them!
Capcom recently announced four major characters that will be helping Chibi out during his adventures. Check out the videos and descriptions below. Note: Because it is a DS screen shown on the video you will probably have to make it full-screen to read the text.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdNqssEAoso[/youtube]
Mushi [and Hayabusa] (dog) – One of the lives almost lost in the catastrophe nine months earlier, he was saved by his beloved dog, Hayabusa. He respects Ameterasu, both as a god and as a formidable rival.
Mushi’s Mama – Mushi’s mama is a no-nonsense woman who takes care of her rice field all by herself. Her field gets damaged quite often so she brings in a scarecrow. Just when she thought her field was safe a threat appears…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHIWP2VDM8A[/youtube]
Kokari and Ume (dog) – Though the son of the hunter, Karude, Kokari has become fascinated with fishing. Once a timid boy, he has matured physically and mentally alongside his beloved dog, Ume. This time, with the intention of ridding the evil that attacked Agata Forest, he decides to take getting rid of it head on using the treasured fishing pole he inherited from his father.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmKgz_LDgGM[/youtube]
Karude, Kokari’s Dad – The father of Kokari and a hunter living in Agata Forest, he really wishes his son would become a hunter. However, since Kokari has already begun to follow his own heart’s desire, Karude decides to forget what he wants and does what he can from the shadows to help make Kakori’s dreams a reality.
These, of course, are just some of the many returning characters to Okamiden and there is a whole slew of new characters as well. What is most exciting is that players will finally be able to see what occurred after Amaterasu left and how characters and the world has really changed. Players will see a lot of the old, including all the previous brush techniques and locations but also a lot of new as well. For example, there are at least an additional two new celestial brush techniques included in Okamiden.
Enjoy the new videos of gameplay and characters and rejoice in the fact the Okamiden is coming to the Nintendo DS and 3DS March 15th.
Images and videos courtesy of Capcom