IGN received the prospect to bend Hideki Kamiya’s ear in regards to the long-awaited Okami sequel at Lucca Comics and Video games Pageant 2026, the place he shed some mild on his inventive course of and addressed followers’ expectations in regards to the upcoming title.
In December 2024 — virtually 20 years after Okami was first launched — followers of Clover Studio’s critically acclaimed, cult-classic sport have been handled to information they by no means might’ve anticipated: a proper sequel was being made, led by the sport’s unique director, Hideki Kamiya.
Kamiya and Clovers, his new studio comprised of former Clover employees and trade veterans, are laborious at work creating Amaterasu’s subsequent journey. And whereas he can’t say a lot in regards to the venture simply but, he did give us a smidge extra perception about what the group has been cooking up over the past two years.
It’s secure to say Kamiya is keenly conscious of gamers’ excessive expectations for the Okami sequel. It’s a tear-jerkingly lovely sport that’s been marinating in followers’ hearts and minds for 20 years at this level, in spite of everything. However simply as he approached the primary sport, he’s as soon as once more planning to make an expertise that appeals to each seasoned gamers and greenhorns alike.
“I created the primary chapter of Okami holding in thoughts that what I needed to do was create a gaming expertise that will be satisfying to relative newbies,” he instructed us by way of a translator, referencing Okami’s “sequence of instructions for assaults.”
“After I created the aircraft sequences for Bayonetta — and even the sport, itself — I had in thoughts gamers who have been just a little extra skilled, clearly. Now that I’m making a second chapter of Okami, I’m going again to consider the extra inexperienced or comparatively new gamers. I nonetheless wish to make it satisfying for them, too,” he defined.
Kamiya is not any stranger to kickstarting new franchises or creating sequels for pre-existing properties. (He did direct Resident Evil 2, in spite of everything.) However given the quantity of hype from hardcore followers for the Okami sequel, he’s urging gamers to mood their expectations.
“[The Okami sequel] has grow to be a kind of mission for me, as a result of earlier than, once I created a brand new sport, I had no expectation from the general public, after all. It was one thing fully new and, in a way, surprising. Now that I’ve created sequels, the expectation from the general public has grown quite a bit, and I really feel that. It’s higher when you don’t have many expectations.”
On the subject of this new venture, Kamiya doesn’t really feel that his inventive course of has essentially modified within the final 20 years. As an alternative, he says that he’s gained a sixth sense of a form, the place he can inform he’s going to make a mistake earlier than it truly occurs. (Which, I need to admit, seems like an particularly helpful ability to have.)
“So far as I can see, nothing has modified,” he mused when requested about how his course of has advanced through the years. “The one factor I feel is that, since I’ve made so many errors throughout my profession, now, once I really feel like I’m approaching a mistake, I can really feel it beforehand. That’s the distinction from then and now.”
Maybe unsurprisingly, he couldn’t say way more in regards to the Okami sequel. However what we did be taught is that, identical to its predecessor, this sport shall be accessible to newer gamers and seasoned avid gamers alike, interesting to each demographics simply as the primary one did.
For extra Okami sequel information, you’ll be able to try IGN’s interview from early 2025 once we flew to Japan to talk with Kamiya, Kiyohiko Sakata, and Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, who instructed us that the following Okami sport is a direct continuation from the primary and never a side-story like Okamiden was.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s Information Editor. With ten years of expertise reporting on video games and leisure, she’s received a storied background within the combating sport group, influencer information, and viral on-line tendencies. Discover her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
Michael is World Head of Partnerships at IGNE, the place he leads all third get together partnerships throughout video games and leisure studios, together with for tentpole occasions lilke IGN Dwell, San Diego Comedian Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He is spent 20 years working within the video games and leisure trade, and his adventures have taken him in every single place from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Observe him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton