Intro to Okami Speedrunning

Ōkami

Ōkami is an action-adventure game originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006, and since re-released and remastered on several other platforms. In terms of gameplay, it's similar to most 3D Zelda games; The player goes through various dungeon-like areas, solving puzzles, obtaining new abilities, and defeating bosses to progress across the world and defeat a final antagonist. This similarity extends to the realm of speedrunning, where various tricks, techniques, and glitches can be used to speed up or skip segments and sequences of the game to reach the end faster.

Versions

Main Article: Game Version

Okami has been released on 7 different platforms: PS2 (2006), Wii (2008), PS3 (2012, first HD remaster release), PC (2017, Windows only, Steam), PS4 (2017), Xbox One (2017), and Nintendo Switch (2018). While each version has its own quirks and differences, these 7 versions can be divided into 2 main groups for the purposes of speedrunning:

• Classic Versions: PS2, Wii, PS3. These versions allow you to perform the full KT Glitch, 1 Frame Cutscene Skip, Veil of Mist Warp, and Acid Skip, which are patched in the later versions. The PS2 and PS3 versions only allow you to skip cutscenes in a New Game+ file, and only if those cutscenes were watched in the preceding playthrough. These factors make the OG versions preferable for the NG+ Any% and NG+ All Brushes categories.
  • While the Wii version does allow cutscene skips in NG, it is generally disliked for speedrunning due to its motion-based control scheme. It is also prone to randomly crashing.
  • Of these 3 versions, the PS3 version is generally best, due to its greatly reduced load times and lag compared with the PS2 and Wii versions.
• 2017 Versions: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch. These versions have the mid-air KT Glitch patched, though this can be worked around by performing Bork KT's. 1 Frame Cutscene Skip, Veil of Mist Warp, and Acid Skip are also patched in these version. These versions allow you to skip any skippable cutscene even in New Game. These factors make the 2017 versions preferable for the NG Any% and NG All Brushes categories.
  • As mentioned above, the Wii version does allow cutscene skips in NG, and even has access to the glitches patched from the 2017 versions. Despite this, it is generally slower for NG runs due to its higher load times. Its motion-based control scheme can make optimal execution far more difficult, and its instability can cause runs to be lost to crashes relatively often, especially for longer categories.
  • All of the 2017 versions are basically equivalent in terms of load times. This is because each loading zone has an effective minimum load time, which each of these versions can easily meet under most conditions.
  • These versions are virtually identical in terms of gameplay, including available tricks, skips, glitches, etc. See the main article for more details on version differences.

Categories

There are currently 6 major categories for Okami speedrunning:

Category Name	Best Version(s)	Typical Length	Objective	Core Appeal
NG Any%	PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch	2 - 5 hours	Beat the game as fast as possible from a new file.	This category offers a huge range of available routes scaling in difficulty from the Beginner Route up to the hardest category at top level. There are few true glitches, and nearly every skip requires a creative and context-sensitive application of game mechanics. Without the free resources of NG+, combat and item/Yen routing are key to success.
NG+ Any%	PS3	1h 15m - 2h	Beat the game as fast as possible from a New Game+ ("Start from the Beginning") file.	This is the shortest, most broken category. Through heavy use of the KT Glitch, anything that can be skipped is skipped. The String of Beads and Exorcism Slips are used to greatly speed up combat. Good movement and consistency at the KT glitch are some of the most important factors to improvement.
NG+ 2017	PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch	1h 20m - 3h	Beat the game as fast as possible from a New Game+ file, but only on the 2017 versions.	This category can be run in a variety of ways. With Bork KT's, virtually the same route as on PS3 can be used, though this requires even greater consistency due to BKT's being double-frame-perfect. If BKT's are avoided, a wide variety of skips are still possible using only Slope and Liquid KT's. This turns the category into a sort of compromise between NG and NG+. KT's can be omitted entirely, effectively turning it into a version of NG Any% without any need to worry about combat or item/Yen routing. This is sometimes done while learning other aspects of the NG Any% route.
NG All Brushes	PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch	3h 30m - 5h	Beat the game while obtaining all basic and hidden/upgraded Celestial Brush techniques.	This category requires the player to cover far more of the game's normal content than NG Any%, offering many opportunities for interesting routing and unique tricks which have little to no application in a normal run. Even though much of the content that's skipped in NG Any% is required, many of those skips still save time (albeit far less) in NG AB. Sequence breaking is used less to skip content, and more to access late-game resources and abilities to optimize early game areas. Due to the Power Slash and Cherry Bomb upgrades in particular, yen routing is extremely tight throughout this run. This leads to unique movement through areas to collect valuable treasures, as well as creative fight strategies to minimize the use of expensive battle items.
NG+ All Brushes	PS3	2h 20m - 2h 40m	Beat the game from a New Game+ file while obtaining all basic and hidden/upgraded Celestial Brush techniques.	Thanks to the extra objectives, this category is a more complete demonstration of the game-breaking potential of the KT Glitch than NG+ Any%. Routing which wouldn't be possible or logical in any other category gets seen here. This, along with its well-balanced length, makes it entertaining for both viewers and runners.
Top Dog	PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch	8h 30m - 10h	Beat the game from a new file while fulfilling all of the requirements to obtain the Top Dog achievement (Get all other achievements).	The closest thing to an official 100% run, this category captures the absolute broadest range of gameplay of any major category. Due to its length, an up-to 9 hour break (to sleep and eat) is permitted once during the run. While sequence breaking is limited by the wide array of requirements and objectives, a number of unique tricks and routing concepts can still be applied to optimize this immensely complex run. This run features objectives such as collecting every Stray Bead, fishing 1 of each fish, feeding 1 of each animal, collecting enough praise to max out all abilities, etc.. Notable omissions include not needing to feed 100% of all animal types, obtain every weapon, or obtain every Sun Fragment.