Hideki Kamiya, director of the brand-new Okami title, told overseas media that fans “shouldn’t get their hopes up too much,” and the comment became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. He described tackling a sequel after nearly 20 years as a kind of personal “mission,” and also outlined a goal of making the new game enjoyable for players with little gaming experience, just like the original. The thread’s discussion ranged from discomfort at a creator talking down expectations for their own work, to the original Okami’s strong critical reception — including an IGN Game of the Year win — to worries about comparisons with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and even past turmoil surrounding PlatinumGames.
Hideki Kamiya, director of the brand-new Okami title, revealed that he’s keenly aware of the huge expectations riding on the sequel, and told fans “it’s probably best not to get your hopes up too much.” Taking on an Okami sequel after almost 20 years has become, in his words, “a kind of mission” for him personally. He also said the new game aims to be enjoyable for players with little gaming experience, just as the original was.
If you don't want us to expect anything, then don't make it in the first place.
3AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:26
He was told by Mikami to "make Resident Evil 3" and made Devil May Cry instead. What exactly are you supposed to expect from this guy?
14AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:37
Re: #3
Wasn't it RE4, not RE3?
And now that I think about it, the actual RE4 that eventually got made also ended up feeling kind of like Devil May Cry anyway.
Final boss fight, heroine gets captured → heroine's help takes down the boss → the place blows up in a few minutes → escape the underground cave by vehicle → mission cleared, hero walks off looking cool.
4AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:27
Okami was overrated to begin with — all atmosphere, no substance. IGN gave it Game of the Year and I never got why.
69AnonymousNov 1, 2026 14:13
Re: #4
IGN wasn't the only one who praised it.
It won the Grand Prize in the Entertainment Division at the 10th Japan Media Arts Festival (2006), Best Visual Arts at CEDEC AWARDS 2009, and at the 7th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards it picked up things like Best Character Design and a Game Innovation Spotlight — plus I think it even got a Guinness World Record.
5AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:28
Isn't this something he should be saying to Capcom rather than to the fans? Capcom's got real expectations riding on this too — they're probably expecting sales on par with Dragon's Dogma 2, Onimusha, or Pragmata, no?
6AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:30
It was already a watered-down Zelda back then. Swapping from human to wolf form adds even more constraints. And this time it's going to get compared to Breath of the Wild on top of that. There's absolutely no way it clears the bar fans are setting.
7AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:30
Okamiden, Once Again (a nod to Okami's 2010 DS sequel, Okamiden)
13AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:36
Re: #7
That one had a different developer and a story that didn't really line up with the original, so…
8AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:31
The guy got 5 billion yen from Microsoft (a nod to the canceled Scalebound) and still produced a result like that — what's he supposed to be capable of now?
9AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:33
Shouldn't that be said to whoever's actually funding development? Like, "please don't expect anything from the product we're currently making"?
10AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:35
I don't think Okami is going to create as much of a rift with fans as Bayonetta did.
Bayonetta 1 was a story about unraveling Bayonetta herself from start to finish, so I get why people balked once that narrative role was already fulfilled and the series kept going with Bayo 2 onward. Okami, on the other hand, was a game where the protagonist never really reacted during conversations in the first place, so even if there's nothing more to tell about the protagonist personally, it probably won't feel as jarring.
11AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:35
Since they're making this with Bayonetta 3 in mind, I don't think it'll end up feeling like Bayonetta 3 did.
12AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:35
That's the one thing the actual creator should never say. Even if you want to lower expectations, there's gotta be a better way to phrase it.
15AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:39
Well, if you look at X (Twitter), you do see a lot of people hoping for something like an "Okami version of Breath of the Wild." And on top of that, even if they make a perfectly reasonable sequel, it's going to get compared to BotW regardless — I can see why the developer would rather that didn't happen.
17AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:41
Okami is a watered-down Zelda, but its maps and dungeons are far inferior to Zelda's — which honestly goes for Clover Studio (now Platinum) in general.
18AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:42
He's usually so cocky, and now he's hedging his bets?
19AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:42
Bayonetta 3 ended with Bayonetta dead, and fans hated it.
↓
Kamiya: "In my head, Bayonetta is a planned 9-part saga. Don't go squawking about it at this stage, you insects…"
↓
Kamiya: "I quit Platinum. I'm taking my ideas for the sequel to the grave, so the series ends with Bayo 3."
Given that track record, being upfront this time is actually the right move.
41AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:22
Re: #19
Ogre's gone missing too (likely a nod to the long-dormant Ogre Battle series) — it's genuinely sad how many series get left unfinished.
56AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:38
Re: #19
Wait, that's what happened with Bayonetta? Ever since PlatinumGames took on Tencent capital and staff scattered, and they got dropped as a Nintendo partner studio, I hadn't heard anything at all — but if the creator himself has given up, it's probably really over.
20AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:43
Being beginner-friendly doesn't automatically mean it's shallow, though.
21AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:44
They put out a trailer years ago and there's been zero news since — is this actually okay?
25AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:47
Re: #21
That was at TGA the year before last, so it hasn't even been 2 years yet.
22AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:44
Personally I like it more than Zelda, honestly. Even the "Breathtaking" HD remaster (Okami HD) felt a bit sluggish, but with hardware power going up, I feel like they don't even need to improve much — just changing up the scenario would be enough.
23AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:46
He's on X (Twitter) so much, I'm worried he's not actually making the game properly.
24AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:47
Honestly, it's only the original that gets any praise — as a series, Okami is kind of mediocre.
48AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:29
Re: #24
Wait, was there an Okami besides the original?
26AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:48
Feels kind of disrespectful to the people actually working on it with him, though…
92AnonymousNov 1, 2026 16:00
Re: #26
That just shows how terrible the mood on the dev team must be.
27AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:48
The original Okami itself had a notoriously long, difficult development, so this one's probably not coming out anytime soon either.
28AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:52
Honestly, for a work centered on religion or Japanese culture and history, you just can't make it freely in today's Japan anymore — politically or financially. I recall even Miyazaki saying he could only make films totally freely up through Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
Maybe the hedging is because there's been some kind of interference that's affecting the quality of the work.
29AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:52
You shouldn't announce something when nothing's actually done yet. How many months has it been since then?
30AnonymousNov 1, 2026 12:57
Well, the first game already used up all the famous myths and folktales.
33AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:09
People who hype up Okami that much have probably never actually played it (classic "air-play" talk — commenting like you've played it when you haven't). The final boss presentation was great, but honestly that's about the only part that really stood out.
36AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:13
Re: #33
The Yamata-no-Orochi fight was great too.
34AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:09
Personally, as long as they carry over that atmosphere properly, I think the gameplay itself can honestly stay as-is. But a lot of people seem to want the kind of gameplay where you run around a seamless open field packed with hidden gimmicks. Honestly, if Capcom tries to go full open-world with this, it's probably going to end up like Dogma or Wilds, so I'd rather they didn't.
37AnonymousNov 1, 2026 13:16
Simple is fine by me. I'd also love for them to get Inafune on board for design help and make a Mega Man Legends (Rockman DASH) too.
Background and Talking Points
Okami was released in 2006 and picked up a string of honors — the Grand Prize in the Entertainment Division at the Japan Media Arts Festival, a CEDEC AWARDS win, a GDC Choice Award, and even IGN’s Game of the Year. Hideki Kamiya has a history of being asked by Shinji Mikami at Capcom to make “Resident Evil 3” and making Devil May Cry instead; he later went independent after a stint at PlatinumGames. What split opinion in the thread was whether it’s appropriate for a creator to talk down expectations for their own work, and whether the original Okami’s acclaim was earned on merit or was more hype/atmosphere-driven overrating. Posters also raised concerns that the new game will inevitably be compared to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Note, though, that the details about PlatinumGames’ capital structure and the ending of Bayonetta 3 discussed in the thread are largely secondhand claims from posters, and some of it is unverified.
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