Like my brother Geoff Keighley, I too cried at Okami’s sequel trailer

At the Game Awards ceremony on Thursday night, founder and presenter Geoff Keighley surprised everyone by looking like he was about to burst into tears as he revealed that Capcom is working on a sequel to the PlayStation 2 classic. Okami with original director Hideki Kamiya.

It’s one of the most human and relatable things I’ve ever seen Keighley do, and I was there next to him. Watching the simple teaser – which consists of little more than upbeat music, images of a running wolf, the Capcom logo and Kamiya’s name – I also cried a little.

Let me explain. Okamiwhich came out in 2006 is a good game. It’s a Zelda-style action-adventure about a celestial wolf god who runs around fighting ghosts with her flaming disc and fixing things for bewildered villagers. It has beautiful images inspired by traditional Japanese illustrations; the characters are outlined with thick, inky brushstrokes and filled with delicate washes of watercolor.

I assessed Okami for Edge magazine at the time and gave it a 9 out of 10, a score I support. I wouldn’t call it one of mine favorite games though; it’s too long and can be clunky, and I wouldn’t choose it over at least half a dozen of the best Zelda games.

But here’s the thing – Okami represents a very special time in gaming, when major Japanese studios in particular challenged themselves to expand the artistic language of video games. It also represents the partial failure of that dream, as it didn’t sell all that well and sank the unique Capcom studio that made it, Clover. The fall of Clover led to the departure of Kamiya, Shinji Mikami and others from Capcom to form PlatinumGames.

That Capcom seeks redemption by reuniting with Kamiya (who has named his new studio Clovers) and financing Okami The sequel tells me that the spirit of that time had not yet been completely eradicated. It also tells me – because Capcom is a company after all – that there are several re-releases of it Okami sold well enough over the years to justify this move, and to prove to Capcom how short-sighted it had been.

Looking at the announcement of the Okami In the sequel I was touched by the great music, performed by a live orchestra. I was impressed by the striking new visual direction, replacing ink outlines with warm splashes of painterly color. I was excited by the animation of the wolf god Amaterasu rampaging through the landscape. But like Geoff, I was really emotional about this announcement resources.

The Game Awards livestream cuts from a glowing Keighley to Kamiya in the audience, who watches impassively from behind his red sunglasses. No doubt the infamous Twitter troll mentally blocked Geoff due to his sentimental weakness. I think he should block me now too.