Following the exciting announcement of a sequel to the cult classic Ōkami at last year's Game Awards, fans speculated that the game would utilize Capcom's RE Engine, given Capcom's role as the publisher. IGN can now exclusively confirm these speculations after conducting an in-depth interview with key project leads.
In the interview, Machine Head Works producer Kiyohiko Sakata confirmed the use of RE Engine. He elaborated on Machine Head Works' role in the project, stating:
The way that Machine Head Works is involved now, working together with Capcom and Clovers, is that of course we have Capcom as the major IP holder of Ōkami, deciding the major direction of the games. And we have Clovers as the development lead for this project. Machine Head Works comes in by having the experience of both working with Capcom previously on several titles, so we know what Capcom needs to create the game. That's something that Machine Head Works has the experience and knowledge of. We also have the experience of working with Kamiya-san before as well. So we have both experience of Capcom and Clovers, and we're acting sort of like a bridge between Clovers and Capcom.
In addition to this, we also have the experience of working with the game engine that we are using for this project, RE Engine. So Clovers' developers haven't had any experiences with using this engine, but Machine Head Works have experience of using it. So we're aiding them. Also under us, Machine Head Works, we have people who have actually had experience of working with the original Ōkami game and also will be aiding us with the development of this title.
When asked about the appeal of RE Engine for the Ōkami sequel, Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi responded affirmatively: "Yes." He further explained, "However, of course we cannot go into much detail at this point in time. But we from Capcom, we believe that without RE Engine at this point we wouldn't be able to realize [director Hideki] Kamiya-san's artistic dreams for this project."
Director Hideki Kamiya added, "So RE Engine is of course famous for showing the best of the games that they have. Very, very good expressively. And so we believe people are also expecting and awaiting the RE Engine level of quality now for this game."
Later in the interview, the leads hinted at the potential of RE Engine to fulfill ambitions that were unattainable with the original Ōkami. Sakata noted, "With today's technology, we are able to achieve all of this that we were trying to achieve back in the days and perhaps even greater now, now than what we have the RE Engine as well working with us."
RE Engine, or Reach for the Moon Engine, was initially developed for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and has since been used in Capcom's major titles, including the Resident Evil series, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, and Dragon's Dogma. While most games developed with RE Engine feature a realistic art style, the unique aesthetic of Ōkami presents an exciting opportunity for innovation. Capcom is also working on a new engine, REX, which is gradually being integrated into RE Engine, suggesting that elements of REX might appear in the Ōkami sequel.
For a comprehensive look at our interview with the leads of the upcoming Ōkami sequel, you can read the full Q&A here.
