Okamiden Updated Hands-On: Toad Bashing

While the original Okami wasn't a megahit when it was released in 2006, the gorgeous platformer garnered itself an enthusiastic fan base. The game's unique story, revolving around a sun god who sets out to free the land from evil, struck a chord with critics and fans alike, which led Capcom to publish an enhanced version on the Wii in 2008 that took advantage of the system's unique control scheme. The Wii game's reception, in turn, has led to the upcoming Okamiden, a proper sequel, for the DS. In our last look at Okamiden, we got a feel for how the DS sequel was capturing the feel of the original Okami. Although the title has shifted from console to Nintendo's portable hardware, the game isn't missing much in the way of gameplay options. In fact, it's gaining a few new twists that add to the experience. Our latest look at the game, an advance run through the demo Capcom will be showing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, picks up where our last experience left off and pitted us against Master Anura, the massive toad boss who loomed over us at the end of the demo we played at Captivate.

The setup for the battle was brief. The E3 demo picks up shortly before the end of the sequence we played at Captivate, which found the game's main character, Chibiterasu, the offspring of the original Okami's main character, Amaterasu, dropping into a cave with his traveling buddy, Kuni, son of master swordsman Susano, also from the original game. The two don't have much time to soak up their surroundings before Master Anura rises up out of a pool of water and confronts them. After a brief bit of dialogue where the amphibian deity takes some cheap shots at the pair, the battle is on.

Combat in the sequence is similar to the fights we tried against regular foes, in that you'll be dodging attacks and using the celestial brush mechanic to slash your moist foe's weak spots. Things get trickier as the battle progresses and Anura's attacks change, forcing you to swap tactics and multitask between controlling Chibiterasu and Kuni at the same time. You'll have to direct Kuni to perform some tasks during the battle using the guidance brush technique and also protect him from Anura. The battle was tricky but satisfying and offered a nice showcase for the game's unique DS control scheme. Once the toad was toast, the demo ended.

The visuals in the demo continued to stick to the high quality we've come to expect from the game, even at this incomplete stage. The game's art direction leans toward the Japanese watercolor style the Okami games are known for. While there have been some tweaks to the visuals to take into account the DS's limitations, the game looks pretty close to the console game.

While the demo featured just a sliver of new content from when we saw it last, we're still more than pleased by the direction Okamiden is going in. The story is interesting, Chibiterasu is adorable, and the gameplay feels well in line with what we'd want out of a new Okami game. Okamiden is slated to ship for the Nintendo DS in 2011.