Purge the defilement, one Kami at a time
By Paul Hunter
In an era of sequels, remasters and ongoing live service titles, Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess reminds me of the time when smaller, experimental titles would be released on a regular click. When the game was revealed a year ago, I wasn't sure what to make of it, was it a spiritual successor to Okami or Onimusa? As it turns out, it's something else, something different and probably this year's most original game release to date.
It turns out that Kunitsu-Gami is a hybrid action, RTS and tower defence title where your goal is to protect Yoshiro, the Maiden of the Mountain, as she travels down Mt. Kafuku while purging it of the defilement. What's really neat is how the game contains elements of Japanese mythology like the demon Seethe you battle, which are a mixture of evil spirits and Yokai, and Japanese culture with a strong focus on community unity and harmony, a principle known as Wa. Plus you can acquire Japanese sweets to give as gifts to Yoshiro, and as everyone who knows me knows, I love the look and taste of Japanese sweets.
The gameplay in Kunitsu-Gami is fairly straightforward, but at the same time, new levels constantly throw curveballs to spice things up. You play as the protector Soh who must guide Yoshiro through each stage, eventually reaching a corrupted Torii that acts as a portal allowing Seethe demons through, which the maiden must perform a ritual to purge. Yoshiro's path to the Torii gate follows a straight line that she must walk, although, in some later stages, there are multiple routes to choose that increase your strategic considerations.
There's a simple Day/Night cycle whereby during the day your goal is to rescue villagers cocooned in the corruption, set up defences, purge animals from the corruption to get rewarded with health-boosting food, and, of course, guide Yoshiro to the final gate. Once night falls, the evil Seethe creatures start pouring out from Torii gate portals and will try to reach and strike down Yoshiro.
As Soh, you can perform a variety of dancing strikes to kill the Seethe, fire arrows from your bow to take down flying Seethe and change your loadout to grant various bonuses in battle, like increasing Soh's attack power, buffing his defence or choosing from a variety of powerful skills. You can also change the role of any villagers you've rescued, starting with basic roles like a Woodcutter and Archer, with a dozen roles in all to acquire throughout the game. Not only do you get to choose each villager's class, but you also direct them in battle, commanding them to fortify specific areas and you can move them around in real-time wherever their help may be needed.
It's cool to see how when night hits the entire village becomes corrupted with plants, buildings and other objects getting consumed by the dark miasma that sweeps over the land. You're only shining beacon of light, quite literally, is Yoshiro whom you must keep safe over the night, which is no each task since the Seethe can attack from any direction. There are a few dozen different types of Seethe as well, ranging from nimble minions to flying demons to stone-skinned brutes and even walking bombs that will happily blow themselves up to weaken your defences. Defeating Seethe will pop out crystals that act as the in-game currency, and you must spend these crystals to carve Yoshiro's path to the Torii gate and use them to change the villagers' roles.
While the plot of Kunitsu-Gami is fairly basic, there are some excellent cinematics that tell the story, including nice shots of the ritual dance she performs at the end of each level to cleanse the gate. You also get to see the tremendous strain purging the defilement takes on Yoshiro's body, which leads to a rather sad tale but one that has a glimmer of hope.
Cleansing a village is only the first step in your goal of restoring Mt. Kafuku. You must also revisit purged villages to assign repair jobs to the townfolks, which will reward you with various items like plaques showing beautiful artwork of the Seethe and villagers' roles, or the valuable Musubi used to upgrade Soh's abilities or upgrades your villagers' classes to make them more powerful. Every few stages you'll encourage a boss battle, with the bosses having excellent introduction cutscenes, and defeating them will unlock a new village role to add to your arsenal.
Each mission has three optional objectives to complete, and doing so will reward you with Musubi or new perks that Soh can equip. It's often not possible to complete all three objectives in a single run, meaning you'll need to redo stages to snag all the goodies, and some challenges are tough to complete and will require multiple tries. There are good and bad aspects to this system as it naturally ups the replayability, but at the same time, it can get a bit monotonous redoing stages multiple times. The game takes a little under 20 hours to beat, but for completionists, you're looking at about double that time.
Once you start unlocking a bunch of villager roles the true magic of this game starts to shine. Roles range from Ascetics that slow down all Seethe within range, Shaman that act as the team's healer, Sumo Wrestlers that draw enemy aggro, long-range Archers, Marksmen and Cannoneers, melee-focused Woodcutters and Spearmen, and a nimble jack-of-all-trades Ninja. Easily the most powerful role though is the Sorcerer that can cast a spell killing all Seethe on the map, which feels too overpowered but hey, at least they're on your side.
Choosing which roles to assign villagers is a highly strategic decision and very much a decision based on the particular level you're on, which may focus on specific types of Seethe like flying demons or mobs of minions that require a different village skillset to counter. There are other strategic elements to factor in as well, like how you can build archer towers to extend their range, place villagers behind barriers to protect them, or have Yoshiro rest on a specific power circle that damages Seethe that enters the circle.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a fairly challenging game that may require you to redo missions once you discover the kind of Seethe it contains and then restart with a better strategy. This is particularly true for big setpiece boss battles that are both visual spectacles and tough roadblocks that require the right villager roles to pass.
Speaking of visuals, the game was created using Capcom's proprietary RE Engine and the world looks gorgeous. From the beautiful and authentic Japanese clothing to the rich details within the villages to the detailer character models, everything in the game looks great. The individual mission maps were given a lot of attention and care, and this is evident by some of the secret areas you can visit if you have the right skills equipped, or how you have to turn to the camera position to reveal hidden paths not visible at first glance.
The Day/Night cycle also has beautiful lighting, with the day bright and vibrant and the night dark and ominous. I enjoyed the variety of missions, too, which goes well beyond carving a linear path to the Torii gate with some levels taking place in boats on the water, some offering multi-paths and others still having unique objectives like Yoshiro getting possessed by a demon for the entire stage.
Kunitsu-Gami is a game that I thought was alright at first, but eventually won me over with how varied and layered missions get over time. The game is slow to reveal itself, for instance, you keep unlocking new villager roles even up to the final stages of the game, which is why I'm glad there's a New Game+ baked right into the experience. Going back to the first stage with all villager roles unlocked and most villager skills acquired is a tempting offer.
Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action, Strategy, Tower Defense, Real-Time Strategy
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
In an era of sequels, remasters and ongoing live service titles, Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess reminds me of the time when smaller, experimental titles would be released on a regular click. When the game was revealed a year ago, I wasn't sure what to make of it, was it a spiritual successor to Okami or Onimusa? As it turns out, it's something else, something different and probably this year's most original game release to date.
It turns out that Kunitsu-Gami is a hybrid action, RTS and tower defence title where your goal is to protect Yoshiro, the Maiden of the Mountain, as she travels down Mt. Kafuku while purging it of the defilement. What's really neat is how the game contains elements of Japanese mythology like the demon Seethe you battle, which are a mixture of evil spirits and Yokai, and Japanese culture with a strong focus on community unity and harmony, a principle known as Wa. Plus you can acquire Japanese sweets to give as gifts to Yoshiro, and as everyone who knows me knows, I love the look and taste of Japanese sweets.
The gameplay in Kunitsu-Gami is fairly straightforward, but at the same time, new levels constantly throw curveballs to spice things up. You play as the protector Soh who must guide Yoshiro through each stage, eventually reaching a corrupted Torii that acts as a portal allowing Seethe demons through, which the maiden must perform a ritual to purge. Yoshiro's path to the Torii gate follows a straight line that she must walk, although, in some later stages, there are multiple routes to choose that increase your strategic considerations.
There's a simple Day/Night cycle whereby during the day your goal is to rescue villagers cocooned in the corruption, set up defences, purge animals from the corruption to get rewarded with health-boosting food, and, of course, guide Yoshiro to the final gate. Once night falls, the evil Seethe creatures start pouring out from Torii gate portals and will try to reach and strike down Yoshiro.
As Soh, you can perform a variety of dancing strikes to kill the Seethe, fire arrows from your bow to take down flying Seethe and change your loadout to grant various bonuses in battle, like increasing Soh's attack power, buffing his defence or choosing from a variety of powerful skills. You can also change the role of any villagers you've rescued, starting with basic roles like a Woodcutter and Archer, with a dozen roles in all to acquire throughout the game. Not only do you get to choose each villager's class, but you also direct them in battle, commanding them to fortify specific areas and you can move them around in real-time wherever their help may be needed.
It's cool to see how when night hits the entire village becomes corrupted with plants, buildings and other objects getting consumed by the dark miasma that sweeps over the land. You're only shining beacon of light, quite literally, is Yoshiro whom you must keep safe over the night, which is no each task since the Seethe can attack from any direction. There are a few dozen different types of Seethe as well, ranging from nimble minions to flying demons to stone-skinned brutes and even walking bombs that will happily blow themselves up to weaken your defences. Defeating Seethe will pop out crystals that act as the in-game currency, and you must spend these crystals to carve Yoshiro's path to the Torii gate and use them to change the villagers' roles.
While the plot of Kunitsu-Gami is fairly basic, there are some excellent cinematics that tell the story, including nice shots of the ritual dance she performs at the end of each level to cleanse the gate. You also get to see the tremendous strain purging the defilement takes on Yoshiro's body, which leads to a rather sad tale but one that has a glimmer of hope.
Cleansing a village is only the first step in your goal of restoring Mt. Kafuku. You must also revisit purged villages to assign repair jobs to the townfolks, which will reward you with various items like plaques showing beautiful artwork of the Seethe and villagers' roles, or the valuable Musubi used to upgrade Soh's abilities or upgrades your villagers' classes to make them more powerful. Every few stages you'll encourage a boss battle, with the bosses having excellent introduction cutscenes, and defeating them will unlock a new village role to add to your arsenal.
Each mission has three optional objectives to complete, and doing so will reward you with Musubi or new perks that Soh can equip. It's often not possible to complete all three objectives in a single run, meaning you'll need to redo stages to snag all the goodies, and some challenges are tough to complete and will require multiple tries. There are good and bad aspects to this system as it naturally ups the replayability, but at the same time, it can get a bit monotonous redoing stages multiple times. The game takes a little under 20 hours to beat, but for completionists, you're looking at about double that time.
Once you start unlocking a bunch of villager roles the true magic of this game starts to shine. Roles range from Ascetics that slow down all Seethe within range, Shaman that act as the team's healer, Sumo Wrestlers that draw enemy aggro, long-range Archers, Marksmen and Cannoneers, melee-focused Woodcutters and Spearmen, and a nimble jack-of-all-trades Ninja. Easily the most powerful role though is the Sorcerer that can cast a spell killing all Seethe on the map, which feels too overpowered but hey, at least they're on your side.
Choosing which roles to assign villagers is a highly strategic decision and very much a decision based on the particular level you're on, which may focus on specific types of Seethe like flying demons or mobs of minions that require a different village skillset to counter. There are other strategic elements to factor in as well, like how you can build archer towers to extend their range, place villagers behind barriers to protect them, or have Yoshiro rest on a specific power circle that damages Seethe that enters the circle.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a fairly challenging game that may require you to redo missions once you discover the kind of Seethe it contains and then restart with a better strategy. This is particularly true for big setpiece boss battles that are both visual spectacles and tough roadblocks that require the right villager roles to pass.
Speaking of visuals, the game was created using Capcom's proprietary RE Engine and the world looks gorgeous. From the beautiful and authentic Japanese clothing to the rich details within the villages to the detailer character models, everything in the game looks great. The individual mission maps were given a lot of attention and care, and this is evident by some of the secret areas you can visit if you have the right skills equipped, or how you have to turn to the camera position to reveal hidden paths not visible at first glance.
The Day/Night cycle also has beautiful lighting, with the day bright and vibrant and the night dark and ominous. I enjoyed the variety of missions, too, which goes well beyond carving a linear path to the Torii gate with some levels taking place in boats on the water, some offering multi-paths and others still having unique objectives like Yoshiro getting possessed by a demon for the entire stage.
Kunitsu-Gami is a game that I thought was alright at first, but eventually won me over with how varied and layered missions get over time. The game is slow to reveal itself, for instance, you keep unlocking new villager roles even up to the final stages of the game, which is why I'm glad there's a New Game+ baked right into the experience. Going back to the first stage with all villager roles unlocked and most villager skills acquired is a tempting offer.
The Verdict
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a wildly creative game that feels fresh and unique and honestly a development gamble considering this is a brand new IP that needs to find an audience. The game does a fantastic job combining elements of action, RTS, tower defence and even a bit of life sim management thrown into the mix. Battles are tense and action-packed and also rely on strategic thinking about which villager roles to assign and where to garrison your army. The Japanese cultural elements like demons, magic, and kagura dances firmly plant this game as one of the more entertaining releases of the year and a great way to kick off the summer.Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess details
Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PCDeveloper: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Genre: Action, Strategy, Tower Defense, Real-Time Strategy
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
A key was provided by the publisher.