Okami prequel would be great

[1 hp & a dream]

(Minor Spoiler Alert)

Like, Ammy's journey with Ishaku in the prequel would be great, wouldn't it?

[Musk]

I'd love more Okami in almost any form. I didn't play Okamiden yet, but I hear it's not very good. And I've seen a new mobile game from Platinum that uses pretty much the same graphical style (World of Demons), but I'm also not into mobile games. So of course I'd love real Okami 2, be it a sequel, prequel, or whatever.

[1 hp & a dream]

Ikr. I didn't play Okamiden as well. Too bad it was released on an earlier console that didn't support good graphics too. IMHO, I'd be more interested in a prequel game in which the story mainly revolves around Shiranui's journey with Ishaku. I'm interested in how they met and...

(SPOILER ALERT)

how Shiranui decided to use the Spirit Gate (the name of the time travel gate, it's that, isn't it?) to support Amaterasu in fighting Lechku and Nechku in Ezofuji. I feel like a game about the details of the event 100 years ago with Shiranui would make a nice game since in Okami, the event's details aren't discussed in details. Would be nice as well if the whole event mentioned above were included as well, but now from the PoV of Shiranui.

[Tsuki Zero]

Originally posted by Musk:

I'd love more Okami in almost any form. I didn't play Okamiden yet, but I hear it's not very good. And I've seen a new mobile game from Platinum that uses pretty much the same graphical style (World of Demons), but I'm also not into mobile games. So of course I'd love real Okami 2, be it a sequel, prequel, or whatever.

Okamiden is actually pretty good for a NDS game, it's pretty much what would you expect if Okami was released on Nintendo DS. It's still taxing on the system and looks great too, plus the responsiveness of brush techniques is better than the versions of Okami (PS2 and Wii) that preceded it and has a rule to the brush techniques (for example, Sunrise is guaranteed to happen from a closed circle, and bloom guaranteed from an almost closed circle).

A drawback I can think of is that there are a lot of places with missable content, which could destroy your perfect run (something Okami never sinned, as everything could be obtained at any point).

[Musk]

I've been mostly hearing that it's meh, but I still plan to play it at some point and see for myself. Nice to hear a good opinion for a change ;)

[Vladislak]

Okamiden's gameplay is solid, it's impressive for a DS game. But it's story really messes with the original games lore and events, it's kind of a mess.

If you're looking for a somewhat more watered down Okami gameplay experience then sure try Okamiden, but if you're expecting something with a quality story then you may be better off giving it a pass. It wasn't written by the same team and it really shows IMO.

What I mean by watered down is that you'll be going to mostly the same locations as in Okami with only a few exceptions, but they're watered down versions of those locations that are generally restricted to smaller portions of the areas.

The core gameplay is fine, the brush techniques absolutely feel at home with the DS stylus and the rest of the controls are surprisingly quite good. It's just that outside of it's core combat and brush techniques the game suffers from a lack of original content and a mediocre story that tries too hard to tie itself into the events of the first game (even going so far as to make changes to the first games story). Okami is steeped in actual Japanese myths and legends, Okamiden doesn't do that so much as take what Okami did and make stuff up in order to poorly reference the first game.

[Tsuki Zero]

I didn't feel the story was too bad, nor messes badly with the original's story, I feel some of it compliments one another, and that some questions are better answered in Okamiden. It used blank points (or better yet: blind spots) in the first's story to introduce their own story too, without contradicting, like the Water Dragon sinking what would become the ghost ship.

And does make a feel more allusions to Japanese folklore, some of which would fly over our heads like Rao being the Ninetails in the original, more due to the name being shortened from Tsuzurao, Kun'yomi reading of 九尾, which means "Nine tails".

[Vladislak]

Well I'm not saying that it was ALL bad. But it definitely did mess with the original story; like suddenly introducing a new evil that was *gasp* behind Yami all along and having this new evil be the one who actually killed Shiranui. Or suddenly saying Shiranui is Chibiterasu's grandfather (which is ludicrous since Shiranui is just the Ammy of the past). Or having Chibiterasu be the one to use brush techniques to defeat Orochi in the past and not Ammy.

In particular it's all the time travel sequences that try too hard to tie into the previous game and end up mucking up the story. I know there are others I didn't mention but it's been a while since I played Okamiden and I don't want to misspeak.

And while there are brief occasional references to Japanese myths in Okamiden, it's nowhere near as much as in Okami. They're usually just little nods every now and then as opposed to Okami which intertwined them into it's main story beautifully.

[Tsuki Zero]

Yami's very existence raises far more questions. It is CLEAR that he was never originally that strong, he is being empowered by Moon Tribe's technology. Shiranui from what I recall was always male, and Ammy always female, through both games. And gets more complicated when you go deeper into Japanese lore: Izanagi is the father of Amaterasu and Susanoo. If history and lore segregation were to be put to use, Shiranui's soul lived on in Nagi, until he somehow Ammy!

Actually Chibi going back in time to help Nagi and Ammy makes more sense: Ammy back then wasn't fully powered yet, while Orochi was at the peak of his power! Chibi's help, no matter how small, complimented her strength.

Also the time travel is employed in a less invasive approach (unlike Chrono's Trigger and Radiant Historia)

Turning your thinking around helps solve a contradiction.

[Vladislak]

It's never said or even implied Yami was being empowered by the moon tribe's tech. That's a real leap in logic. Just because Yami appears to be some sort of technological being doesn't mean he's being empowered by the moon tribe, that's just what he is.

The issue with calling Chibi Shiranui's grandson isn't gender, it's the fact that Shiranui and Ammy are the same person. Although for the record the developers have implied Shiranui and Ammy are basically genderless.

I'm not sure where you're getting Shiranui's soul living on in Nagi either, that's nowhere to be found in Okami or Okamiden. And again for the record Izanagi is only sort of Amaterasu, Susanoo and Tsukuyomi's father in the original myths, they were created from his face when he washed it in a stream. Amaterasu was created from his left eye, Tsukuyomi from his right eye, and Susanoo from his nose.

As for Chibi helping out, I'm not saying it doesn't work, only that it feels very ham-fisted as an attempt to connect to the original game.

But hey here are some more contradictions:

Otohime needed the dragon orb in Okami to become the water dragon (to provide access to Oni island), but in Okamiden she's suddenly able to become the water dragon despite the dragon orb still being inside the other water dragon (king wada).

Furthermore, the water dragon is on a rampage and destroys a ship in Okamiden despite that part taking place 9 months prior to Okami, which is LONG before Orochi was reawakened and the water dragon was supposed to go crazy. According to Okami he would have been peaceful at that time.

[Tsuki Zero]

Yami could have stolen the tech at some point to empower himself further. We can't tell for sure, maybe it was even the core of Ark of Yamato. Plus in Okamiden it has shown that Moon Tribe tech can be programmed to do (severe) harm.

Similar to "Heroic Mime", this could also be why they left Ammy speechless in Okami and went for Gender Confusion, even when dogs can talk with her and Issun.

Exactly, Okami has created some controversy in that point, and trying to justify is far more complex, specially when blank spots are still there (which is why a Prequel to Okami has to be considered with more care than the Sequel had to, thus answering the thread's main point. The story is written now, poking the wrong point would be bad) and needs some clearing up to avoid Legend of Zelda Timeline Syndrome (basically: "It connects, somehow, but we won't tell how and when for countless years so you must figure out yourself").

I suppose they wanted to make the player relive iconic moments of Okami in Okamiden, and that was the best way they could.

The Dragon Orb bothers me. Here's why: Queen Himiko has prepared a lot of things, more than Rao and "Rao" could possibly imagine. Now let's turn some thinking around: Why you need to cross a lake of Lava to reach Himiko? She knows the Oni Island has a lava ditch surrounding it and wanted to make sure you could get through. Why does Himiko want you to find the Water Dragon? She knows that no other being is strong enough to penetrate the barrier. Why is it you were asked to retrieve the Dragon Orb? Otohime probably knew her husband was going to die anyways, because of the Tube Foxes' mischief in his body and causing him to rampage, so if there was any chance to free him from that torment the time was NOW. What the Dragon Orb has shown her? She may have known for long enough that "Rao" was not human, and wanted Amaterasu to find out herself as to give her motivation to ruthlessly attack the fox in guise. And why didn't the ghost of Rao show up before? Himiko could have summoned Rao to tell her not to interfere until the time is right.

And maybe even Waka was part of this conspiracy: he could have stalled Ammy times on purpose, as well as to test her for Evil Rao, in case the fox reared his head before Himiko's plan could be set in motion.

Also to consider: The Ark of Yamato apparently housed seven Demon Lords: True Orochi, Spider Queen, Crimson Helm, Blight, Ninetails, Lechku and Nechku. Along with that also housed lesser demons and the King of them: Yami. When the Ark crashed, they were freed. So yes, Okami contradicts itself if it says the Water Dragon could have been peaceful before Orochi awakened, because it would just mean he let the demons do whatever they pleased in Ryoshima Coast.

The Ark of Yamato itself is another thing to raise more questions: Ushiwaka used it to flee the Moon during an unknown event called Moon Tribe cataclysm. What attacked them? What happened there? We do not know, except all life is GONE from the Moon due to that. And where do we find Yami again? Oh, inside the Ark of Yamato, still sealed in there. Well, sort of. It is not known WHAT caused the Moon Tribe cataclysm, but it all seems Yami was the cause.

And a correction to the Okamiden debacle: Master Anura, Bullhead, Sen, Ryo, King Fury, and Akuro are all "children" of Yami, with Akuro being of pure evil and certainly Yami's darkest thoughts and ambition. While it is claimed that he was "behind Yami's dark reign", it must be a self-made assertion based on the fact that he is the only one whose only goal was to spread the darkness and become complete.

Master Anura was a coward and longed for power (weakling?!), and that is what caused him to mutate. Bullhead believed himself to be a carp and wanted to turn into a dragon by climbing the waterfall, or so he believes. Sen and Ryo wanted to become well-known actors, but once their human bodies expired, their resentful spirits gave into the darkness and became demons. King Fury worked hard for the sake of the people, but being brought down due to political in-fighting has stricken him with grief and resent, enough that an evil spirit felt the need to nurture such darkness.

And then there's Akuro. A plainly evil spirit. No body, but had a vessel in sight: Kuni.

Another thing of timelines... the "nine months ago" refers not to nine months prior Okami, but nine months prior Okamiden, which means "sometime between the start of Okami and the end of Okami", however long that tale lasted.

We be delivering spoilers and theories, ZEHAHAHA

[Vladislak]

Originally posted by Tsukiyomaru Zero:

Yami could have stolen the tech at some point to empower himself further. We can't tell for sure, maybe it was even the core of Ark of Yamato.

But there's no actual proof that he did. There's no evidence to suggest he's using moon tribe tech at all. Yami appears to be a technological being of some sort, but that doesn't prove he stole it from somewhere.

Originally posted by Tsukiyomaru Zero:

I suppose they wanted to make the player relive iconic moments of Okami in Okamiden, and that was the best way they could.

If the best way they could do it ends up feeling forced and uninspired then they shouldn't have done it at all don't you think? This was meant to be a new game anyways, it didn't need to retread on older material and add it's own content to that material.

Originally posted by Tsukiyomaru Zero:

Another thing of timelines... the "nine months ago" refers not to nine months prior Okami, but nine months prior Okamiden, which means "sometime between the start of Okami and the end of Okami", however long that tale lasted.

According to the wiki the 9 months thing was 9 months before Okami as well. It says the ship destroyed by the water dragon would go on to be the sunken ship of Okami 9 months later.

Originally posted by Tsukiyomaru Zero:

Also to consider: The Ark of Yamato apparently housed seven Demon Lords: True Orochi, Spider Queen, Crimson Helm, Blight, Ninetails, Lechku and Nechku. Along with that also housed lesser demons and the King of them: Yami. When the Ark crashed, they were freed. So yes, Okami contradicts itself if it says the Water Dragon could have been peaceful before Orochi awakened, because it would just mean he let the demons do whatever they pleased in Ryoshima Coast.

While those demons were released when the ark crashed, based on Okami's story they wouldn't have been active until Orochi was revived by Susanoo many years later (at least as far as we know). Perhaps they were active when they first emerged and then stopped back when True Orochi was defeated, their activity seems to be tied to Orochi. But none of that contradicts Okami, which means the Water Dragon shouldn't have been rampaging at that point in Okamiden. Heck as far as we know there may not have been a water dragon back when the ark first crashed. All we know is that the Water dragon was peaceful before Orochi was revived, so it is an inconsistency. Just like Otohime suddenly being able to become the water dragon without the dragon orb is a massive contradiction of the original game.

As for Akuro just being a part of or child of Yami, the game contradicts itself on that point. It's said that he was basically the driving force behind Yami. Yami was split into multiple pieces upon his defeat and Akuro is the true evil that was basically controlling things in Okami all along.

We may have to agree to disagree on the story quality and it's inconsistencies. I feel it can't hold a candle to Okami, seriously messes with the lore, and undermines certain aspects of the original story all the while coming off as forced and unnecessary. I respect your opinion, but I disagree with it.

Besides, that's not really what this thread was made to discuss. We've gotten off topic. :)

[1 hp & a dream]

I've never seen so many spoilers and theories in one thread roflmao