It’s not uncommon for games to undergo significant changes during development, and this was also the case for Okami back in the day. This was recently revealed by the game’s director, Hideki Kamiya, when he described how Okami was originally intended to be a form of survival experience where the player would lead and help a wolf pack survive on a deserted island. This vision was inspired by a book he read during his university years, based on the work of photographer and environmental activist Jim Brandenburg.
“Okami originally started out as a project for a game in which you become the leader of a pack of wolves living on a deserted island and have to survive in the wilderness. From there, it developed into a play on ‘the power of the gods to control all things in the universe,’ and the brushwork was born, and I gave it the title Okami…”
Early in development, Okami lacked both a coherent story and a defined gameplay system, and the game initially featured a photorealistic style—a stark contrast to the artistically painted style later inspired by traditional Japanese watercolour art.
Could you have imagined an Okami with a photorealistic style?