Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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Edit: A faster variation which doesn't require the key item bounce is demonstrated here: youtu.be/p1GrglwwlW0?t=5232

This should save a couple minutes in NG+ 2017 by finally allowing us to skip Catcall Tower.

Overall, in the route, there are 3 nominally required uses of Catwalk:
1. Getting onto Watcher's Cape (once to open the Whirlpool, once to enter Oni Island).
2. Getting onto Shinshu Plateau to reach the tunnel to Kamui
3. Getting onto the 3rd floor in Wawku Shrine

We already had methods of skipping 1 (youtu.be/By-jT-BamOs) and 2 (still have to make a video of the Slope KT method), but 3 eluded us. As such, we still had to do Catcall, just with some more flexibility in routing.


Earlier today, Okami Speedrunning Discord member LegoerofEggos discovered that you can perform a Damage Boost (https://okami.speedruns.wiki/Damage_Boost) off the icicles if (and only if) Fireburst is active when jumping into it. I had tried getting Damage Boost off these before, but never managed it, so props to Eggo.

I also tried doing something similar with Power Slash to break the ice instead of Fireburst, but it didn't seem to work. It seems the instant-melt from FB is somehow necessary for this.

The tackle input for the Damage Boost is still frame perfect, but it's relatively quick to retry this, so it's not a big deal. The rest of the trick doesn't seem that hard, but the camera can mess with you since you can't switch it to outer-mode in this area.

At the start, we have to use an Item Bounce off the key in order to just barely reach the upper icicle. Getting this key requires completing the whole scale room puzzle, then doing the Wawku Key Skip (https://okami.speedruns.wiki/Wawku_Key_Skip) anyways. You basically just throw the key as you approach the Lockjaw and do the trick normally. I did also try clipping the camera through the ground from the platform closer to the scale room, but this didn't seem to work because there's an invisible wall underground.

It might be possible to skip getting the key (saving around 1m) by instead doing a Damage Boost from the lower icicle first, but this seems really difficult and I'm not sure it's worth going for. You have to time two separate Firebursts to make it work, which makes retrying the trick slower even with NG+ infinite ink.

Hopefully this will see more development as actual NG+ 2017 runners look into it.

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