Hideki Kamiya asks Okami fans to temper hopes for the sequel
Speaking at Lucca Comics and Games 2026, the director said the new Okami is being built for newcomers as well as veterans, just as the 2006 original was.
Hideki Kamiya wants Okami fans to go easy on their expectations. In an interview with IGN at Lucca Comics and Games 2026, published on October 30, the original Okami director said the sequel his new studio Clovers is making has become "a sort of mission" for him, and that "it's better if you don't have many expectations."
Why Kamiya is managing the hype
The sequel was announced in December 2024, close to two decades after Clover Studio's original put players in control of Amaterasu, the sun goddess in white wolf form. Kamiya told IGN that his early games arrived with no public expectations at all because nobody knew they were coming. Now that he is making follow-ups, he says, the weight of what fans want is something he can feel.
That pressure has not changed how he works. Asked how his process has evolved over 20 years, Kamiya said he sees no real difference, apart from one thing: after making so many mistakes over his career, he can now sense when he is about to make another one.
Built for beginners again
The most concrete detail Kamiya offered was about who the game is for. He said he designed the first chapter of Okami with relative beginners in mind, pointing to its attack command sequences, while games like Bayonetta targeted more experienced players. For the second chapter he is going back to that newcomer-first thinking, and said he wants it to be enjoyable for inexperienced players too.
That fits what the team said in early 2025, when Kamiya, Kiyohiko Sakata and Yoshiaki Hirabayashi told IGN the new game is a direct continuation of Okami rather than a side story in the vein of the DS spin-off Okamiden.
What SEA players can play now
There is still no platform list, trailer or release window for the sequel. Anyone who missed the original can catch up through Okami HD, Capcom's remaster with the sumi-e ink art in high resolution and a choice between widescreen and the original 4:3 framing. It has been on Steam since December 12, 2017.
Kamiya said little else about the project, so the next real look will have to come from Clovers itself.
Source: IGN; Capcom (Okami HD on Steam).
