Jump barrier

'Jump Barrier' describes an effect attached to some out of bounds terrains in Okami. In areas such as Ryoshima Coast and (healed) Agata Forest, the jump button is disabled when Amaterasu is above an out of bounds slope (see: Toaster Skip and PR Move). This invisible effect of being unable to jump is described as a jump barrier. A jump barrier exists directly above the terrain it is attached to, allowing the player to look at Amaterasu's shadow as a clue whether or not she will be able to jump. If the shadow is on the slope with a jump barrier, she will be unable to jump until the shadow returns to a normal terrain. There are many out-of-bounds terrains which do not have jump barriers, such as areas pertaining to Nechku Skip, Sasa Early, and Wep'keer Gate Skip.

In order to travel across terrain with a jump barrier, Amaterasu can use a sliding ground tackle when landing. The momentum of the SGT will allow Amaterasu to slide out of the jump barrier and above normal ground, while retaining the ability to ground jump. She may then jump out of the tackle animation, and direct her momentum back towards the out-of-bounds slope. In this way, Amaterasu can still do tricks in areas with jump barriers despite the developer's attempts to restrict this behavior. However, tricks using this strategy are some of the most difficult in the game due to the challenge of weaving in and out of the jump barrier while maintaining speed, and successfully sliding ground tackling on sloped terrain multiple times in sequence.