Set in a fictional version of classical Japan, Ōkami combines Japanese mythology and folklore to tell the story of how the land was saved from darkness by the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu, who took the form of a white wolf.

The money can be spent at merchants and dojos across the land, featuring healing goods, better weapons, tools, key items for completing quests, and combat techniques.

These techniques are learned through the course of the game by completing constellations to release the Celestial Brush gods (inspired by the Chinese zodiac) from their hiding spots.

Issun, an arrogant, inch-tall "wandering artist" seeking out the thirteen Celestial Brush techniques for himself, accompanies Amaterasu (whom he calls "Ammy" or "furball").

Waka appears to Amaterasu several times in the game as a beautiful young flute-playing man in costume resembling a tengu (dressed like a yamabushi).

Each of its eight heads is infused with a different elemental magic power, but the entire demon is susceptible to a special brew of sake available only at Kamiki Village, allowing Amaterasu to defeat it while in its stupor.

Sakuya, the wood sprite and guardian of Kamiki Village, summons the long-dormant Amaterasu in the form of a reincarnated Shiranui, and asks her to remove the curse that covers the land.

[18] Throughout their journey, Amaterasu and Issun encounter Waka, a handsome and strange but powerful individual who seems to have the gift of foresight, and further teases them to his own mysterious ends.

In Kamui, Amaterasu assists the Oina tribe to defeat two recently revived demons, Lechku and Nechku, who were creating a deadly blizzard that threatened to destroy the island.

After defeating Lechku and Nechku, Amaterasu discovers the wreckage of a flying ship made of iron: the "Ark of Yamato", trapped in the frozen plains of Kamui.

Before it can do so, Issun accepts his role as a Celestial Envoy, and encourages all those they have helped to send their thoughts and prayers to Amaterasu, who regains her powers and defeats Yami, ridding Nippon of all demons.

[22] Kamiya created a minute-long demonstration movie using this engine, showing a wolf running about a forest, with flowers blossoming in its wake, but still lacking any gameplay.

[21][20] Atsushi Inaba, CEO of Clover, noted that "once we fixed ourselves on a graphical style and got down to the brushwork, we thought 'Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow get the player involved and participate in this artwork instead of just watching it?'

[21] The localization team had to translate 1500 pages of text to make sure it made sense in a "native check", because of lack of plurals in the Japanese language and the large number of characters and conditional conversations that the player could interact with.

[16] The team noted that personalities of characters could be easily conveyed in Japanese text simply by the way sentences were constructed or slurred, a feature that could not directly be applied to localization.

Instead, working with Kamiya, the team scripted the localization to either recreate the personality to match the Japanese version, or to create a whole new set of mannerisms for the characters as appropriate.

[49] However, at the 2007 UK Gamers Day, Capcom announced that Ready at Dawn would oversee porting and development of a Wii version of Ōkami originally scheduled for release in March 2008[50][51][52] but subsequently pushed back to April.

[58] In November 2007, Svensson said that the engine had been ported to the Wii, writing that "there are still several systems getting set up properly but there's most definitely a Wii-driven Amaterasu running around Wii-rendered environments as we speak".

[12] Svennson noted that Capcom would not use television advertising for Ōkami on the Wii, but would use online marketing, including art contests and a new website with "all sorts of things for fans to use to make stuff".

[70] The credit sequence was restored in the Japanese release of the Wii version[71] and revealed that the port was co-developed by Tose, having provided additional planners, designers, programmers, and test players.

This version supports 4K resolutions, though locked at a 30 frames-per-second framerate, and includes an optional widescreen presentation alongside the 4:3 aspect ratio of the original game.

[86][87][88] The Nintendo Switch port has both a standard physical retail and a limited edition release exclusive to Japan, whilst the game is an eShop-exclusive in other regions.

[91] After the appearance of a Japanese trademark by Capcom on the word "Ōkamiden" a few months before the Wii version of Ōkami in Japan, many speculated that a sequel was pending.

[92] The September 2009 issue of Famitsu announced that Ōkamiden was indeed a sequel to Ōkami for the Nintendo DS, to be released by Capcom in Japan in 2010, though without the input of the Clover staff.

[97] In October 2019, following on financially successful releases of Resident Evil and Monster Hunter games, Capcom indicated that it was looking to revive some of its "dormant" properties.

[108] GameSpot gave it a 9 out of 10 and selected it as an Editor's Choice, citing that its "visual design instantly stands out, but it turns out to be just one of many inspired aspects of this impressive action adventure game".

[63][116] In their review, Nintendo Power recommended the PlayStation 2 version of the game over the Wii, stating that "though you can overcome the drawing and attacking issues with practice (and by sticking to whip-style weapons), it's a hurdle you shouldn't have to leap".

[134] Chris Schilling for PC Gamer also acknowledged that the game could be "languid to the point of lethargy" at times, but that Ōkami remained a "gorgeous and unforgettable adventure".

[136] Polygon's Jeff Ramos considered this release the best example of a remaster, praising how well the game's art style and detail are rendered at the higher 4K resolutions.

[177] On 30 July 2008, Capcom revealed that approximately 280,000 copies of the Wii version of Ōkami had been sold in North America and Europe since its release date.