I have to apologize to you all — I made a mistake. Last month, when Okami was re-released on the Wii, I urged you all to go out and get it without hesitation. This was before I knew, thanks to Kotaku, that Capcom had made a few other alterations besides the cover art. Apparently, at the conclusion of the game, the new version is missing an extended cinematic which contained, among other things, the game’s credits, which included all the folks from the original developer, Clover.
The story from Capcom is, since the original sequence included the Clover logo, and they were uninvolved with the port, they couldn’t legally use it. The story from Platinum Games (née Clover), meanwhile, isn’t even that they’re disappointed about going uncredited — they’re upset that the deleted cinematic was their way of providing a good ending to the game.
This is why I have to apologize now, upon learning about this. I cannot, in good conscience, continue to demand or even recommend that you buy this game. The game itself is still magnificent, make no mistake. Okami is still a fantastic adventure, artful, engaging, and mesmerizing to the last. If you buy it, you will have a wonderful experience playing it. But it’s important that you know why this is the case.
Maybe this hits a little too close to home for me. I come from a line of artists, albeit in film and television rather than games. Writers, actors, graphic engineers — folks I know and love spend their lives contributing their parts to the overall product, and while their roles may not always be glamorous, it’s something they can be proud of. They can point to the screen and say, “There, that part; I did that.” Maybe it’s overly prideful, maybe it’s egotistical. I believe they have that right. An individual should be able to stand behind their work, be it for a demo reel or just for the joy that comes from a sense of accomplishment. Failing to give credit where credit is due is, essentially, plagiarism. They kick people out of college for that.
Most people who play Okami at this point know the story behind its development, and I’ve heard it said that the Clover credits are still present in the game manual — that last point is why this omission is still not completely unforgivable. But for slashing the ending and the credits, simply because they couldn’t be bothered to find a way around the “logo” issue: Shame on you, Capcom. That’s really lousy of you.
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