Following the exciting announcement of a sequel to the cult favorite Ōkami at The Game Awards, fans speculated about the use of Capcom's RE Engine for the new project. IGN can now exclusively confirm these speculations after an in-depth interview with key figures involved in the game's development.
Machine Head Works producer Kiyohiko Sakata confirmed the use of RE Engine for the upcoming Ōkami sequel. He detailed the collaborative roles of the involved studios, 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 advantages of using RE Engine for the Ōkami sequel, Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi simply affirmed, "Yes," before adding, "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 chimed in, praising the engine's expressive capabilities: "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."
Throughout the interview, the development team hinted at the possibilities RE Engine could offer, with Sakata suggesting that it might allow them to achieve elements they had envisioned for the original Ōkami but couldn't due to technological limitations at the time. "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 as well working with us," he explained.
RE Engine, officially known as Reach for the Moon Engine, was initially developed for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Capcom has since utilized it in many of its major releases, including the Resident Evil series, Monster Hunter, Street Fighter, and Dragon's Dogma. While most games using RE Engine feature a realistic art style, the unique aesthetic of Ōkami presents an exciting challenge. Capcom is also developing a new engine, REX, which is being slowly integrated into RE Engine, hinting at potential advancements that might be seen in the Ōkami sequel.
For more insights from our interview with the leads of the upcoming Ōkami sequel, you can read the full Q&A here.
