Okami turned twenty this year, joining the PS2 anniversary shortlist alongside Final Fantasy XII and Bully. The HD version on Steam still holds up: Celestial Brush combat, sumi-e visuals, and a wolf-god story that runs about 35 hours. If you have replayed the Kamiki Village opening enough times, this list covers the seven desktop games that carry at least one of Okami’s ideas forward into 2026.
We looked at Okami alternatives across Steam, GOG, and Epic. Every pick actually runs on Windows now, several run natively on macOS or Linux, and each carries a piece of what Okami does that most modern action games skip.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sekiro Shadows Die Twice | Painterly Japan, harder combat | No | $59.99 | Sengoku setting, posture combat |
| GRIS | Watercolor-first exploration | No | $16.99 | Every screen looks framed |
| Concrete Genie | Painting as a mechanic | No | Console only | Live brush strokes shape worlds |
| Kena Bridge of Spirits | Spirit realm cleansing arc | No | $39.99 | Rot companion mechanic |
| Sable | Slower open exploration | No | $24.99 | No combat, hand-drawn world |
| Zelda Tears of the Kingdom | Direct spiritual successor | No | Emulation required | Fuse system, sky and depths |
| Death’s Door | Small, tight action indie | No | $19.99 | 8-10 hour tight run |
Why Okami still stands alone
Okami’s calling card is the Celestial Brush. Pause combat, draw a shape, and the game reads it as a spell. No other retail title has copied that specific loop. Beyond the brush, three things make Okami feel different:
- Sumi-e visuals. Nothing looks quite like Okami, and few modern releases even try.
- Slow discovery pacing. You wander, you plant a tree, you feed a rabbit. The game trusts you to slow down.
- A story with a folk-tale spine. Amaterasu and Susano-o both feel real once the game earns it.
The picks below cover the pieces. None replace the whole.
Sekiro Shadows Die Twice - Best for painterly Japan with teeth
Sekiro Shadows Die Twice is the modern Japan-set action pick. Sengoku-era temples, ink-wash color grading in the Ashina castle sequences, and combat that centers on posture instead of health. FromSoftware left Okami’s brush out, but the wolf motif and shrine settings are direct siblings.
Where it falls short: it is punishing. The difficulty gap from Okami is enormous. There is no accessibility mode.
Pricing: $59.99 on Steam. Regularly $29.99 during sales.
Download: Steam | Epic Games
Bottom line: closest atmospheric match. Also the least forgiving.
GRIS - Best for the watercolor half
GRIS is a wordless platformer with hand-painted watercolor backgrounds. Every screen looks framed. The story is short at four to five hours and the mechanics are gentle, but the visual language sits closer to Okami than any other current PC release.
Where it falls short: no combat. No exploration in the Okami sense. Read this as an art-and-mood match, not a mechanical one.
Pricing: $16.99 on Steam, GOG, and Epic. Native macOS build.
Bottom line: worth the four hours if the art is why you loved Okami.
Concrete Genie - Best for painting as gameplay
Concrete Genie is a PS4-era Pixelopus release where you paint living creatures onto walls with a controller-driven brush. The story is short and the setting more Tim Burton than Amaterasu, but this is one of the few AAA games that turned painting itself into the mechanic.
Where it falls short: no PC release. Console only. Included here because no PC game since has matched the brush-as-mechanic pitch.
Pricing: PS4 exclusive.
Download: PlayStation Store
Bottom line: the only real Okami-brush spiritual heir, but you will need a PlayStation to play it.
Kena Bridge of Spirits - Best for the spirit cleansing arc
Kena Bridge of Spirits is Ember Lab’s Pixar-adjacent 3D action-adventure. You collect Rot spirits and cleanse corrupted forests, which is the shape of Okami’s early-game loop. Combat is tighter than Okami’s and the story runs shorter at about 12 hours.
Where it falls short: no brush mechanic. Combat leans more toward Zelda than Okami. Story is thinner than XII or Okami itself.
Pricing: $39.99 on Steam and Epic. Anniversary Edition includes a New Game Plus.
Download: Steam | Epic Games
Bottom line: the modern release that comes closest to Okami’s tone and pacing.
Sable - Best for the slow exploration
Sable is a hand-drawn open world about a young nomad on a rite of passage. Zero combat, hover-bike traversal, and a whole planet to wander. The art is Moebius-inspired rather than sumi-e, but the pace and the trust in the player is exactly what Okami taught.
Where it falls short: no combat. Some players hit the slow pace hard and never come back.
Pricing: $24.99 on Steam, GOG, and Epic. Native Linux via Proton.
Bottom line: pick if the exploration is what you actually loved.
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Best spiritual successor
The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom is not on PC, but it belongs on this list because Zelda is the closest living series to what Okami wanted to be. Tears of the Kingdom’s Fuse and Ultrahand systems are the most Celestial-Brush-adjacent mechanics of the last decade.
Where it falls short: no official PC release. Emulation is possible but not simple.
Pricing: Nintendo Switch retail. Digital $69.99 on the eShop.
Download: Nintendo Switch eShop
Bottom line: the game Okami fans keep asking for, on the wrong platform.
Death’s Door - Best for the tight action indie
Death’s Door is a small, sharp action indie about a crow reaper collecting souls. Combat is punchier than Okami and the run time is under 15 hours. What it shares with Okami is the mood: quiet worlds, big bosses, and a folk-tale feel.
Where it falls short: no brush. No open zones. What you see in the first two hours is the whole game.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam, GOG, and Epic.
Bottom line: the pick for a shorter, tighter Okami-adjacent evening.
How to pick
Pick Sekiro Shadows Die Twice if the Japan setting is why you played Okami, and you want combat that demands more of you. Pick GRIS if the watercolor art is what stayed with you. Pick Kena Bridge of Spirits if the spirit-cleansing arc is the loop you want to replay. Pick Sable if slow exploration was the point. Stay with Okami HD if the Celestial Brush is the specific reason you play, since no game since has copied it.
FAQ
Is Okami on Steam? Yes. Okami HD is on Steam at $19.99, often $9.99 during sales. Native controller support and Steam Deck Verified as of the 2024 refresh.
Is Okami HD good on modern PCs? Yes. The HD version runs at 4K, supports controller and mouse-brush inputs, and holds a stable 60 FPS on any GPU from the last decade.
Is there an Okami sequel coming? Capcom has teased a sequel at multiple events, most recently in June 2026. No release window has been given as of August 2026.
What is the best free Okami alternative? There is no true free equivalent on PC. GRIS and Sable both offer demos on Steam that show the art and pace. Neither is a full free game.
Which Okami alternative plays on Steam Deck? Sekiro, GRIS, Sable, Death’s Door, and Kena Bridge of Spirits all run Deck Verified or Playable. Kena added Deck controls in its 2024 patch.
