Welcome to the Official Okamiden Thread of Divine Joy and Awesomeness!

The sequel to the refreshingly original and charming Okami, first released for PS2 and later for Wii, is about to hit the Nintendo DS in Japan, and although Western release dates are unknown, I thought it was about time someone gave this marvelous little game the attention it so deserves. After finishing the original Okami, I wanted more, but never thought I'd see it actually happen, considering developer Clover's dissolution. Gloriousness when I found out there was actually going to be a sequel!

The game's being published by Capcom, and designed by Kuniomi Matsushita (director of the Wii port of Okami) and Motohide Eshiro (producer of the Edgeworth Ace Attorney DS game). So it's in good hands, I'd say.

I'll add more info as time goes by (and more details become known), but for now, here are some tasty screens showing off the game's beautiful art-style. It's definitely one of the better looking DS games, and I think the developers have done an incredible job of recreating the striking Japanese watercolour-look of the original with the DS' limited graphics abilities.

Videos:

Official Reviews:

• Famitsu: 34/40 (9/8/8/9, 34 points): "There isn't the impact you felt when playing Okami for the first time, but this game does successfully retain the unique aspects of the previous game. As a result, things feel very smooth and engaging as you play. The stylus is perfect for the brush-drawing action. The core bits of the previous game, the world exploration and visual beauty, are fully there on the portable system. It's a shame there are no dramatic changes apart from the controls, but maybe that just shows how complete a package it was in the first place."

Awww, that little wolf is the offspring of Amaterasu? Is it a female or male?

I think I'll be grabbing this game.

I've updated the OP with new info.

I cannot wait for this game to come out, definitely one of my most anticipated games of 2011 (and that's saying something!).

I'm so glad I had the oppurtunity to play Okami, and I'm joyous to see Okamiden coming closer and closer to release! Add me to the hype list Cheebee!

*Looks at screens*

Man, I just love that incredible art style... and to think it's on the lowly DS. Beautiful! ^_^

Oh. My. ****ing. God. =o

Prepare to shit bricks, everyone.

Lawl. XD

This is why I maintain specs are secondary to the skill of the artist, and why I think a lot of developers are being artistically lazy by throwing money at the HD systems' processing instead of using the strengths of either those systems or the Wii to create truly beautiful games.

BTW, I just hope the gamepad/touchscreen integration is done right here. I loved the first game (as you can see in one of the reviews I wrote).

Ill join to the thread, since im a huge fan of the first one (i have the Wii version)

I have the Wii version, definitely one of my top Wii games. I can't wait for the sequel, loved the first one so much. 

Oh, I only discovered this thread today. Thank you Cheebee.

This is the first time I ever saw an actual translated quote from a Famitsu review, not just a score. Where did you get that from?

Okamiden is my most anticipated DS game at the moment and one of the last big 3rd party developments for DS (the very last big one will most probably Level-5's Ni no Kuni).

BTW:
I did not only love the original game but also its wonderful soundtrack (composed by Masami Ueda, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Rei Kondoh, Akari Groves, JUN) and imported the beautiful 5 CD-Box from Japan.
Music seems to have been mostly recycled for Okamiden (at least that's what I get from the 2nd video posted in the OP), but that doesn't really matter in this case as the DS game seems to be a typical more-of-the-same sequel anyway.