Uploaded February 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
This is a pretty good strat I found for defeating Crimson Helm using only 2 ExS, 1 SFS, with Divine Retribution equipped, and with only 5 ink pots. This strat is mainly designed to be used in NG All Brushes, were Half Blue Skip is used to skip the Spider Queen, which leaves us without Snarling Beast.
For an easier strat using Snarling Beast, see this video: youtu.be/mtJrSO5Bogw
The strat goes as follows:
1. After skipping the final cutscene before the fight, hold up on the left stick to walk toward Crimson Helm.
2. Mash or time a Start input to bring up the fan menu. Keep in mind that you get control of Ammy about 1 second before you can actually open the menu, which is why we start walking toward Crimson Helm first.
3. Immediately use 1 ExS.
4. Pause again and use an SFS. Do NOT use the other ExS yet.
5. Galestorm in any direction.
6. Hold brush and draw a Cherry Bomb to the right of Crimson Helm so that it will roll into him. As it turns out, if you draw a CB after using GS, the CB will always be pushed to the South, regardless of the direction of the wind. Not sure why this is.
7. Wait a fraction of a second for Crimson Helm's i-frames from CB to wear out, and draw a 2nd CB. This one should be positioned closer to Crimson Helm, since the wind will have stopped blowing by now.
8. Repeat step 7 with a 3rd CB.
9. Start doing a ground DI combo on Crimson Helm. The first couple hits will probably miss due to CB i-frames, but this is okay. Do NOT start doing an air combo, as doing so will prevent you from bringing up the menu in time.
10. When Crimson Helm's armor starts assembling again, pause and use your 2nd ExS. This will cause his armor to break before his flame armor can activate again, allowing you to finish him off more quickly.
11. Finish your grounded combo, then cancel the last hit with jump and mash for an air combo, just like with Ark Blight. This should finish him off with time to spare, but you might need to do a 2nd air combo if some hits missed.
If you fail to use the 2nd ExS in time, and his flame armor comes up, you should still be okay; simply wait until you have at least 2 ink pots, use GS, and finish him off with DI's like normal. The only danger is from using ExS before his armor assembles, which will not have the re-breaking effect and cause you to miss the cycle. I recommend practicing this a couple times before doing it in runs, since messing up Crimson Helm is so slow.
Okami Speedrunning Discord: discord.gg/AQNKmMu
Okami Speedrunning Wiki: https://okami.speedruns.wiki/Main_Page
Leaderboard: speedrun.com/Okami
My Twitter: twitter.com/LoveAuride
My Twitch: twitch.tv/loveauride
This is a pretty good strat I found for defeating Crimson Helm using only 2 ExS, 1 SFS, with Divine Retribution equipped, and with only 5 ink pots. This strat is mainly designed to be used in NG All Brushes, were Half Blue Skip is used to skip the Spider Queen, which leaves us without Snarling Beast.
For an easier strat using Snarling Beast, see this video: youtu.be/mtJrSO5Bogw
The strat goes as follows:
1. After skipping the final cutscene before the fight, hold up on the left stick to walk toward Crimson Helm.
2. Mash or time a Start input to bring up the fan menu. Keep in mind that you get control of Ammy about 1 second before you can actually open the menu, which is why we start walking toward Crimson Helm first.
3. Immediately use 1 ExS.
4. Pause again and use an SFS. Do NOT use the other ExS yet.
5. Galestorm in any direction.
6. Hold brush and draw a Cherry Bomb to the right of Crimson Helm so that it will roll into him. As it turns out, if you draw a CB after using GS, the CB will always be pushed to the South, regardless of the direction of the wind. Not sure why this is.
7. Wait a fraction of a second for Crimson Helm's i-frames from CB to wear out, and draw a 2nd CB. This one should be positioned closer to Crimson Helm, since the wind will have stopped blowing by now.
8. Repeat step 7 with a 3rd CB.
9. Start doing a ground DI combo on Crimson Helm. The first couple hits will probably miss due to CB i-frames, but this is okay. Do NOT start doing an air combo, as doing so will prevent you from bringing up the menu in time.
10. When Crimson Helm's armor starts assembling again, pause and use your 2nd ExS. This will cause his armor to break before his flame armor can activate again, allowing you to finish him off more quickly.
11. Finish your grounded combo, then cancel the last hit with jump and mash for an air combo, just like with Ark Blight. This should finish him off with time to spare, but you might need to do a 2nd air combo if some hits missed.
If you fail to use the 2nd ExS in time, and his flame armor comes up, you should still be okay; simply wait until you have at least 2 ink pots, use GS, and finish him off with DI's like normal. The only danger is from using ExS before his armor assembles, which will not have the re-breaking effect and cause you to miss the cycle. I recommend practicing this a couple times before doing it in runs, since messing up Crimson Helm is so slow.
Okami Speedrunning Discord: discord.gg/AQNKmMu
Okami Speedrunning Wiki: https://okami.speedruns.wiki/Main_Page
Leaderboard: speedrun.com/Okami
My Twitter: twitter.com/LoveAuride
My Twitch: twitch.tv/loveauride
![Okami All Brushes in 4:02:17 - New Game All Brushes Speedrun [Former World Record]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z1XmzHs6kyA/mqdefault.jpg "Okami All Brushes in 4:02:17 - New Game All Brushes Speedrun [Former World Record]
For those unfamiliar, the All Brushes category requires us to collect all brush techniques AND upgrades (e.g. Fireburst, Mist Warp, Cherry Bomb 2/3, etc.). This makes the run substantially slower than NG Any%, where most upgrades and 3 required brush powers can be skipped. Despite this, the category is still extremely interesting.
Because there are many more objectives to complete the run, there are also many more routing options and considerations. Stuff like when to get some upgrades to minimize detour. The main consideration is Yen (money).
Unlike NG Any%, NG AB requires us to collect a large amount of money, primarily for the Cherry Bomb and Power Slash 2 and 3 brush upgrades. In total, these techniques cost 840k. In a casual playthrough, these amounts arent terribly high, but in a speedrun, every minute we spend collecting money is another minute between us and the finish line.
To this end, we not only collect a large number of treasures throughout the run (each of which is chosen to be the most time-efficient of the treasures available), but we also use different strategies and many fights (especially boss fights) to reduce the amount of money spent on battle items. With careful planning, we never have to grind enemies for money in this route.
As a result, this route includes a lot of things which would normally be sub-optimal, but work out to save time here thanks to the unique requirements of the category.
Splits: https://splits.io/4u43
Leaderboard: https://www.speedrun.com/Okami/full_game#NG_All_Brushes
Route: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S3YurqMVx1Ce0LWRamboSsaQVAq4CE4khVJ1SA73HO0/edit?usp=sharing
Okami Speedrunning Discord: https://discord.gg/AQNKmMu")
