Following the exciting announcement of a sequel to the cult favorite Ōkami at last year's Game Awards, fans eagerly speculated about the use of Capcom's RE Engine for its development. IGN is thrilled to exclusively confirm these speculations, having interviewed key figures involved in the project.
In an in-depth discussion, Machine Head Works producer Kiyohiko Sakata confirmed the use of the RE Engine. When questioned about Machine Head Works' role in the project, Sakata explained:
"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 what makes RE Engine appealing for the Ōkami sequel, Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi responded affirmatively: "Yes." He further elaborated, saying, "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."
Kamiya himself added to the conversation: "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 team hinted at the possibilities enabled by the RE Engine. 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 that we have the RE Engine working with us."RE Engine, known formally as Reach for the Moon Engine, was initially designed for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Since its inception, Capcom has utilized this engine in major titles including the Resident Evil series, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, and Dragon's Dogma. While most games developed with RE Engine have a realistic art style, the potential integration with Ōkami's unique aesthetic is eagerly anticipated. Capcom is also working on a successor engine, REX, whose technology is gradually being incorporated into the existing RE Engine, suggesting that elements of REX might appear in the Ōkami sequel.
For a complete overview of our interview with the leads of the upcoming Ōkami sequel, you can read the full Q&A here.
