Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess: A Beautiful Blend of Action and Strategy

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Capcom’s “Kunitisu-Gami: Path of the Goddess” defies expectations with its engaging gameplay. Despite my past attempts to connect with various real-time strategy titles, none have held me captivated like this one. The breathtakingly rendered Japanese mountain landscape adds to the allure. In “Kunitisu-Gami,” you assume the role of Soh, the warrior dancer, who accompanies Yoshiro, a woman with remarkable purification abilities, as they traverse defiled villages to cleanse contaminated Torii gates and vanquish menacing monsters that traverse them. During the daytime, save villagers and order them to aid you in repelling enemy waves at night. Lead the charge yourself. This game seamlessly combines elements of tower defense, real-time strategy, and third-person action, managing to strike a fun balance between these genres.

Once upon a time, Mount Kufuku was a thriving sanctuary of the Goddess, adorned with lush greenery and radiant beauty. However, it has since fallen into desolation and disgrace, scarred by the malevolent actions of the “seethe” monsters. These fiends have made off with the twelve sacred masks, relics imbued with the Goddess’ power.

In order to protect the village, Soh needs to create a passage for Yoshiro to pass through and reach the contaminated Torii gate. Every night, corrupt liquids flow out from the gate into the real world, increasing the difficulty of reaching it as she gets closer. I was taken aback by “Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess” this year during Summer Game Fest due to Capcom’s generosity in allowing me an early sneak peek at this intriguing game.

Kagura Action Strategy

In their own words, the creators of “Kunitsu-Gami” label it as a “kagura” style action game. The term “kagura,” which originated in Japan, signifies “entertainment for the gods.” Consequently, this game showcases elements such as Soh’s dance-like swordplay and Yoshiro’s ritualistic presentations that cleanse impurities, all deeply rooted in Japanese culture. The game proudly incorporates various aspects of Japanese folklore, mythology, and legends to enrich its content.

Cleaning up a village from impurities is crucial, yet it’s only the first step. After purification, there’s still much reconstruction required. Soh delegates tasks to the villagers for them to complete while Soh and Yoshiro move on to save other villages. Regularly revisiting each village ensures the villagers remain busy, not just because of the enhanced visual appeal of a constructed village, but also due to the collectibles and resources gained from completed constructions. This loop offers an enjoyable gaming experience.

In “Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess,” you’ll discover a variety of exclusive collectibles that enrich the game’s backstory regarding the enemies and villagers. Defeating a boss rewards an item shedding light on the monster’s origin. Common enemy lore can be uncovered by restoring ruined villages, which yields resources like musubi for villager enhancements. Additionally, these reconstructions unlock visually stunning food items. It’s unclear why these edibles are incorporated, other than their appealing visuals. These food items don’t seem to influence the gameplay mechanically, but each dish is meticulously described, detailing its ingredients and cultural relevance.

Villager Tactics

Defeating the bosses in Kunitsu-Gami to save a village usually leads you to an intense battle. The degree of difficulty may change, but overcoming these challenges grants you access to new villager roles. For me, this is an exciting aspect of Kunitsu-Gami. Initially, you encounter basic roles such as the axe-wielding woodcutter and long-range archer. However, after defeating more bosses, you unlock advanced roles like the healing sage and sumo wrestler. Each of these characters can be upgraded to enhance their abilities, dealing more damage, having additional health points, and acquiring special attacks.

As a gamer, I understand the importance of strategic villager placement on the battlefield for survival during the night. Archers, with their long-range abilities, can pick off weak enemies from a safe distance, but they’re vulnerable when surrounded by ground-based threats. Woodcutters, on the other hand, can only defend within a short radius around themselves and lack the capability to attack airborne targets. Each unit complements the others, with archers taking down flying enemies and woodcutters protecting them from melee attacks. The right positioning of every unit is crucial for maximum effectiveness. An archer may take out a few airborne threats but will be easily overrun if swarmed by ground-based enemies. Meanwhile, a woodcutter, with no offensive capabilities against airborne targets, must rely on the archer’s support to defend against melee attacks. The battlefield tactics we employ can significantly impact our chances of survival throughout the night.

The gameplay starts off fairly straightforward: Position your units strategically and fend off hordes of enraged enemies aiming to disrupt the purification process. As you progress through the levels, things get more intriguing. Initially, this manifests as encountering various new enemy types or alternate paths. However, advanced stages present entirely novel challenges like engaging in cave battles, where players must instruct villagers to light lanterns to illuminate the darkness and reveal enemies. Or combat on moving boats, which involves massive enemy swarms attempting to sink the vessels, putting villagers at risk.

Real-Time Strategy With a Controller?

In writing this critique, I mainly experienced Kunitsu-Gami on the PlayStation 5 utilizing a DualSense controller. The combat aspects didn’t pose any challenges. Yet, I’m not accustomed to considering a controller as an optimal choice for strategy games. Surprisingly though, it seemed quite intuitive. The primary difference between playing on PC was the ease of directing villagers towards specific areas, but this disparity didn’t significantly impact my preference, making me lean more towards using a controller instead.

Soh’s actions include several simple attacks that can be comboed with dance attacks. These moves are flashy, deal more damage, and are excellent for dealing with specific targets or crowds of seethe. Soh can also block enemy attacks, though not all attacks are blockable, so they also have a dodge option. The player’s customization mostly comes from a handful of optional abilities. The first one unlocked unleashes two fiery slashes that don’t do a lot of damage but can hit many targets. My particular favorites have been an ability that lets Soh temporarily boost the villager’s defense and another that creates a temporary dome shield that will deflect enemy attacks.

Just like Kunitsu-Gami skillfully combines action and tactics, Soh needs to engage in hand-to-hand combat against the enemy and coordinate villagers for defending Yoshiro. Remarkably, these tasks don’t interfere with each other. Pressing a role for a villager or bringing up the command menu halts the battle, enabling players to contemplate their moves. I managed to finish most levels on my initial attempt, implying that Kunitsu-Gami may not be the most intricately challenging strategy game for everyone. However, you can make it more demanding by depleting resources prematurely and positioning villagers in risky areas, leading to being overrun. Keep in mind that safeguarding Yoshiro should remain your top priority; disregarding this objective may lead to defeat.

Conclusion

As a gamer, I’m eager to share more about my experiences with Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, but time is a limiting factor. I want to leave enough of the game for you to discover on your own. However, there are a few aspects that deserve mention.

Soh and villagers have the flexibility to reassign their skill points whenever they want, making it an engaging feature that promotes exploration and strategic thinking. For instance, if I anticipate the sage’s role will be crucial in an upcoming conflict, I can transfer points from another character and fully develop the sage, later reversing the change. This mechanism allows players to investigate various abilities without fear of irreversible consequences for unexplored options.

In summary, “Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess” is an exceptional game that deftly merges diverse aspects from the video game world. It strikes a perfect balance between being difficult yet approachable. The release date for this game is set for July 18, 2024, and it will be available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Game Pass, as well as PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC through Steam.

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2024-07-22 12:32