Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a beautifully crafted experimental title made by Capcom
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a gorgeously unique title developed and published by Capcom. In an industry where big companies don’t like to take risks and release only remakes, remasters, and reboots, this game comes totally out of left field with its puppet play-style visuals and gameplay that mixes real-time action with tower defense mechanics. A super experimental title. Well, does it work?
Before I get into the game, I should address that even Capcom themselves are guilty of releasing quite a few sequels, remakes, and remasters, but they have an excellent track record of adding new content or making much-needed changes that make them appeal to fans. The shift in the art style of Street Fighter 6, the perfect release of Resident Evil 4 Remake, and the revival of the Dragon’s Dogma franchise come to mind. When I really think about it, Capcom has rarely missed its past titles, and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is no different.
When I first saw the trailer of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess I was enamored by the visual art style and instantly knew this was something I wanted to try, and I was pleasantly surprised that Capcom was making it. However, from the trailer itself, I had no idea what sort of gameplay Capcom was cooking up for us. Later, when I found out that this was going to be a Tower Defense game with Action thrown in, I had even more questions.
For the gameplay to make sense, I should briefly go over the story of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess first. Evil monsters, known as the Seethe, have taken over a lot of villages scattered upon a mountain range. They defile the once-sacred Torii gates and turn them into portals from their world. You play as Soh, who was sent by a god of the mountain to protect a shrine maiden, Yoshiro, who conducts rituals and ceremonial dances known as Kagura to purify those Torii gates back to normal.
For the gameplay, you visit the villages of this mountain one by one with Yoshiro to seal off these Torii gates. For the normal stages, there are two phases to them. During the day, you prepare for the monsters to attack by carving a path for Yoshiro. You do this by purging corruption throughout the village to obtain spirit orbs which you bring back to Yoshiro.
Once you have enough, you can carve your own path which Yoshiro will slowly follow until she reaches the end of the map when night falls. You will also find some villagers trapped in cocoons during the day. Freeing them will get you their companionship and they will help you during the purification.
During the night, several monsters invade your space through the torii gates and try to attack Yoshiro, and you must fend them off by yourself and with the help of villagers. For the action part, Soh uses his katana to pull off these graceful and flowing moves that are inspired by Kagura. The controls when you start out are basic. There are only two buttons for the combos, but they’re fun to execute. It’s simple, but you won’t get very far by just mashing these buttons.
Here comes the strategy aspect of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. The villagers who help you can be woodcutters, archers, healers, and shamans who each have something they specialize in. You must deploy them according to the path you carved and the sort of monsters you will be facing. You can make these preparations as night falls and then on the fly when the monsters start attacking. You have to do this multiple times in each stage as there is more than one torii gate in each village.
You sort of feel like a commander or general who fights alongside his troops with this sort of gameplay, and it works very well. The stages are easy when you start out, but eventually, it will get a little bit harder. There will be more paths to choose from when you are carving out Yoshiro’s path. You could pick a shorter path and likely face more monsters at once, or you could take a longer path where the spawns are more sparse.
The best part about this is how simple it is. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess doesn’t keep throwing more and more mechanics at you to add variety. Instead, you are thrown curveballs at you like one where are only able to control villagers, one where you have to deal with a poison swamp, or another where the whole stage is dark and you must light up lamps so villagers can see and help you.
These are just a few examples and there are countless more delivered with a wonderfully balanced pace and skillful level of challenge. The craftsmanship is so finely tuned that you can tell a lot of thought was put into the progression at each level.
You are gradually also met with more abilities and villagers to work with. The handguard of your sword can be changed so you can use a special move in battle. Later on, you can even equip more than one handguard to spice up the combat.
This sort of delicate care is also reflected in the visuals. Everything has this cloth-like texture to it, much like Bunraku, the Japanese style of puppetry and play Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is based on. Each move by Soh is elegant and graceful, and while in the heat of it, you cannot see much of Yoshiro during her ceremonial dances, the few glimpses you do catch look beautiful.
The villages have this still, serene, and picturesque look to them that is disrupted by chaotic monsters who are based on the yokai and folklore of Japan. These yokai are well-detailed and animated and serve as a stark contrast to the villages they invade. New enemies are introduced in almost every level and each is different from the rest.
In between the levels, there are some stages that are just dedicated to a boss. You are put straight into the night phase here and the bosses have a unique torii gate and a splash screen that introduces them, so you know what you’re dealing with. Once you manage to defeat the boss, you unlock the next stage.
Once you beat a level, you can go back to the villages you have purified to do some things you may have missed. You can also rebuild the villages by assigning carpenters, and then wait a bit of time for those parts to be repaired to gain some currency.
This village rebuilding system is a concept with a lot of potential. It’s a nice touch to the game’s world-building, however, the execution feels a bit flat. The process of assigning tasks and returning later for rewards can become repetitive and time-consuming, especially as the number of villages grows. While it’s certainly a rewarding feeling to see a village restored to its former glory, it can disrupt the game’s momentum and break the immersion. Plus, this part feels a bit like a mobile game.
It wouldn’t have been much of a problem if this was optional, but the currency you gain from restoring these villages is required to unlock skills from your skill tree and you would have a hard time progressing if you tried to ignore this mechanic. It feels like there was not enough time to flesh this aspect of the game out, but when looking at this game as a whole.
This is a minor blemish because of how beautifully and thoughtfully crafted the rest of the world is. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess will take up to about 17 or so hours to finish and instead of trying to rush to the finish line, taking it slow to appreciate the little details of the game would help your experience a lot more.
You may, for example, notice that the reward for rebuilding your village is unlocking detailed information about traditional Japanese sweets. These sweets aren’t items you use in-game; they’re purely for your enjoyment. You can read about them, learn their history, and even examine 3D models.
It’s a strange but charming detail that highlights Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess’ emphasis on world-building and atmosphere. While the game shines in gameplay, action, and strategy, these little touches are what take it a step further to make this game more memorable.
The music in Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess accompanies the visuals perfectly. It consists of traditional music which can be heard during Kagura dances or Bunraku plays. The sound effects are crisp and satisfyingly go along with the visually pleasing combat. There is no dialogue here and the story is conveyed fully by movements and expressions, much like the plays this game is based on.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess has the sort of feel you get when you pick up a niche Japanese PS2 game that you play and love, but you find out that none of your friends know about it. I remember I felt this way about Blood Will Tell on the PS2, which was based on the story of Hyakkimaru which is also part of traditional Japanese folklore.
While I don’t know how well the game has aged, I will never forget the sort of trance it put me when I was absorbed into its world. It is a delight to be able to experience that feeling once again in 2024, at a time when there is a community in almost every niche.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a beautifully crafted, experimental game that blends two unlikely genres and marries them into a cohesive experience. It feels like an indie passion project, but it was developed by Capcom’s A-team, who are responsible for making Resident Evil and Devil May Cry entries.
It is a rare sight to see a triple-A developer take such risks and I’m happy to report that it paid off. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a memorable title that you should definitely play. It will surely get you to appreciate Japanese culture and traditions more.
