How the Feeble PS2 Bore Okami's Look

And Atsushi Inaba talks about how making original games is impossible.

The first thing that strikes you about Okami, Capcom's stylish new game for the PlayStation 2, is how gorgeous it looks. But if it wasn't for the relative weakness of the system, we may never have seen the game we're getting.

In an interview with IGN, lead designer Atsushi Inaba said that his team intended a very different look for the game.

"Originally the director [Hideki Kamiya] wanted to create a realistic looking world, but we had to give up on this concept as we were not able to realise the level of detail we wished for given the constraints of the hardware," Inaba told IGN. "One day an art designer came up with the brush painting style, we all liked it and it became the final style."

If the style was something that came on all of a sudden, it was quite different for the Japanese overtones. Inaba admits that his team was nervous about how a game steeped in Japanese traditions would do outside the country. The accolades heaped on the game are a sign that perhaps people are getting it.

"I am glad to see the game was well received overseas and hopefully it will take on the role of an ambassador for Japanese culture," Inada said.

Don't, however, confuse the look of the game with a determined appeal to a more aesthetic audience. Despite the ostensible evidence to the contrary, Inada said that the game was not planned as something with limited appeal, and he bemoaned the state of original games.

"I think that it is becoming almost 'impossible' for an original game to succeed financially," he told IGN. "This can't be blamed on anyone but it's a simple fact that an original game doesn't appeal to the majority of gamers.

"Entertainment does not have to be profound and we did not have any intention for Okami to be seen in this way."

Okami is out now in the US and Japan. It will be released for the PlayStation 2 in Europe on 9 February. For more from Inaba, check out our video interview with him from last year's Tokyo Game Show.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo