http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2007/10/19/late-request-to-game-developers-please-cut-okami-wii/

To Whom It May Concern at Ready At Dawn and Capcom,

I am but a games reporter. You work at a quality game development studio and/or a mighty Japanese game publisher.

You bring joy to people’s lives. I bring something else.

Nevertheless, I hope you will read my request.

My fears have been confirmed. And I believe it is too late for you to do anything about it. But I need to get this out there. On the record. And while I might be the only person saying this in public, I’m sure I’m not the only gamer thinking it.

See, studio president Didier Malenfant of Ready At Dawn, the American outfit porting PS2 critical favorite “Okami” to the Wii, did an interview with IGN UK that was published earlier today, and I read something I was really dreading.

IGN: What new content appears in the game, compared to the PS2 version?

Didier Malenfant: The game on Wii is going to be an exact port of the PS2 version and I think that’s what fans of the franchise want to see. This game has such a huge following throughout the world that people would probably send us death-threats if we messed it up by trying to add things that don’t have their place in the Okami universe. Being huge fans of the franchise ourselves, we made sure that Capcom also wanted to stay true to the original before signing on to do this.

Just what I didn’t want to hear, but not for the reason you may think. I wasn’t hoping you would add content. I was hoping you would show the gaming industry something more gloriously progressive.

I was hoping you would be bold, that you would make the first video game port that cut content, that trimmed the fat.

See, I completed “Okami” on the PS2, and I have a few suggested cuts.

You do agree with me that games are really long, right? And that they often have a lot of time-filler. And you must know that many of those critics who went ga-ga over “Okami” gave the game a pass, even though the game has one of the worst openings of any title published in the last five years. (Does anyone want to try to convince me that requiring the player to repeatedly tap a button to propel a 15-minute opening series of subtitled cut-scenes is a good thing?)

You must know that many people who played the game thought it was over when, technically they were only halfway through it. I’ve spoken to a few players who feel that way.

You certainly have to realize that making the player fight the same, extremely resilient several-headed snake boss three times in the game causes the fun of the game to plummet? (I have graphical proof of this).

You’ve also got to admit that at some point in the development process, the need to collect money, flowers for shrines, brush moves, ghost-assassination lists, food to feed other animals, demon fangs, treasures, sun fragments and other items got… a little out of hand? There’s even a collectible item that you need to warp from one spot of the game’s massive world to the other. How about you cut that? Let players warp at the warping pools for free. Come on.

“Okami,” lovely as it is, was loaded with busy-work. So Capcom and Ready At Dawn, now’s your chance to step up. Don’t give us bonus levels for the Wii version. Give us bonus cuts. Make like Ameratsu’s paint brush and chop that thing down:

1. Make that intro shorter; or at least auto-scroll the text
2. Cut at least one Orochi battle
3. Replace in-game currency with a natural progression of skills for the player to gain or find some other way to remove some of the game’s collectibles

This is a new era, game developers. Now’s the chance. Take out the pruning shears. Show people that the best way to honor a classic game is to remove the old game’s warts, blemishes and unsightly extra growths.

Sincerely,

Stephen Totilo
Editor, MTV Multiplayer

This imo, has got to be, the STUPIDEST request I have heard in a really, really, really long time. I have heard people requesting additional levels, bonus additions, new weapons for ports, more missions etc., but taking out stuff?!? I just hope Ready At Dawn and Capcom do not, at any level, take this guy's consideration when preparing this game.

Btw, I haven't played Okami yet, just one of those games I missed for my PS2, hence why I feel that it is stupid for the players who haven't played yet to miss out on the complete version of this game because this guy feels its "too long."

lol yeah, i thought the game was over twice. after i beat orochi (first time) and then after ninetales but it just kept going on and on.
i was hoping they'd atleast do a graphical upgrade and add some new brush techniques...lazy asses.

Well, they aren't the original developer, so I don't think it is that easy to work on another company's code.

I'm hoping the Wii version is as good as the PS2 version. There is a big possibility that it screws up. Look at what happened to Lost Planet PS3.

Well I'l give the guy one thing, opening prologue is really slow and prety drawn out. Lot of exposition. After I suffered through that the other 99% of the game was fine. Lot of the collectibles he mentions are mostly optional usually for power-ups and other useful upgrades. Things like Fish and treasure are just for fun, you don't get anything extra for doing them, other than money for selling them. Feeding the animals is just for extra faith, I had fully leveled up every stat and tons of faith left over, so if you don't like feeding animals, just skip it. I kinda liked it since it's beng benevolent on a smaller scale in addition to fighting evil.

The repeat boss fights aren't so bad, you fight one boss twice, then at the very end of the game you ref-fight them all briefly before going onto the final battle. One thing I actually like about them is how much stronger you are in the second (and for one boss third) fight, I felt it instilled a feeling of greater power, which went a long with the story of being a god recovering your strength.

I wouldn’t object to possibly letting people skip cut scenes or dialogue like you can on the second play through like Rol mentioned. Other than that it seems silly to ask them to “busy work” when so much of it is purely optional. Lot of games have busy work, in Okami it actually felt a little more meaningful when another element of the story is as a god your trying to restore people’s faith in every way you can.

There's a lost planet on PS3?

i bet they're happy with that trade lol

I would prefer that nothing be cut from what the PS2 version had.

I've seen that thread here, and only one pic looks truly bad. The rest look just like a game being reworked for another system.