Sequels usually come about as a result of commercial and critical success. While the likes of Modern Warfare, Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy will run and run for the rest of time (probably), even self-contained worlds like BioShock are now seeing follow-ups when it is deemed financially lucrative.

Is that a pair of giant lips?

But in a bizarre twist, Capcom has decided to release a sequel to one of its most famous underperformers in years. Õkami won a lot of hardcore gamers over with its stunning and unique art style and inventive gameplay, though mainstream success was not so forthcoming. All the same, the DS will play host to this most welcome of sequels, the first in recent memory to seemingly be born out of faith in a brand rather than commercial viability.

Picking up some three months after its predecessor saw Amaterasu rid the land of Orochi’s curse, Õkamiden has the people attempt to resummon the lupine embodiment of the sun goddess when darkness starts to envelop the land again. But instead of the original’s ferocious heroine, the distressingly cute Chibiterasu is called forth in Ammy’s place.

Quite possibly the child of the former star (though Capcom is keeping much secret), this adorable little cub brings with it a selection of fairly major changes to the gameplay. For one, Chibi doesn’t nearly have the combat prowess of his fully-grown counterpart, which results in a simplified, one-button combat system.

Can Chibiterasu shapeshift?

Though that said, you’ll still be able to use the Celestial Brush in battle as well to perform advanced techniques and powerful attacks as and when needed, so it shouldn’t lose depth as a result.

Another major shake-up alters what kind of company you’ll get to keep on your travels, so while Amaterasu was joined by the bizarrely tiny and overly chatty artist Issun, Chibi gets to explore the land with more traditional friends.

The first of these we’ve seen is a small boy called Nushi, born at the end of the first game and now given an important role to play on the wolf’s pseudo-return, though Chibi will also be able to call upon the help of others.

These younglings can ride around on the cub’s back to get around quickly, though if a particular area calls for a more gentle touch or for use of one of Chibi’s more complex abilities, you’ll need to boot the nippers off for a moments and proceed alone. Then presumably go back and get them somehow, which could potentially prove irritating unless handled extremely carefully.

Your buddies actually pull their own weight occasionally too – when they get off, you can send them off along paths drawn for them with the stylus. Any contextual event along the way will be performed automatically, so you can send them via several switches and have them activate them as they go.

This’ll likely become more complex and taxing as the adventure draws on and we’re already worries about how mean Capcom could be with this kind of multitasking.

And while we have little choice but to fall into that classic trap of stating that Õkamiden looks amazing for a DS game, we’re still not entirely comfortable with the game losing any level of graphical finesse at all.

… continued