In a time when progressive video games are popping out continually, it’s thrilling that I’ve really by no means performed something fairly like Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. It’s an otherworldly mixture of action-strategy and tower protection set in a mystical feudal Japan. However whereas that distinctive setup could also be what grabs your consideration, Kunitsu-Gami’s execution on these concepts can be participating, enjoyable, and downright fascinating.
Kunitsu-Gami’s story is advised quietly but successfully, utilizing basically no dialogue. Mt. Kafuku has been corrupted by defilement and the “Seethe,” a illustration of demons, spirits, and yokai. Your objective as Soh, the guardian of the maiden Yoshiro, is to steer her safely down a path on the mountain so she could carry out her obligation, rescuing villages and their inhabitants alongside the way in which. Secondarily, you could additionally defeat particularly highly effective Seethe to safe the stolen masks that comprise the ability of the Goddess, which then lets you assign villagers to totally different roles to help you.
It’s not an advanced story, however the handful of cinematics impressed me to care about Yoshiro, in addition to the small, seemingly insignificant but intimate act of watching her take pleasure in conventional sweets collected by repairing villages. In actual fact, whereas Soh is who you might be instantly controlling, it feels odd to deem them the principle character – they very a lot really feel like a personality-less extension of Yoshiro, the true protagonist of this story.
Both approach, the story isn’t meant to be the star of Kunitsu-Gami. That honor goes to its intricate enemy design, lovely settings, and the intelligent action-strategy twist it places on tower protection gameplay. Every stage is break up into two phases: Day and night time. In the course of the day section, your objective is to gather crystals by purifying defilement, rescue corrupted villagers, after which use your crystals to carve the Spirit Path by way of the stage for Yoshiro so she could attain the torii gate on the finish to purify it. In the meantime, at night time, the Seethe emerge from these corrupted torii gates to wreak havoc and destroy the villages on the mountain.
Yoshiro can by no means attain the top of a stage in a single day, so that you should be ready to guard the maiden from Seethe assaults with Soh’s sword and different skills. Fortunately, you’re not alone in opposition to the hordes of Seethe, as you possibly can place the villagers you’ve saved throughout the day alongside your path in an effort to optimally defend Yoshiro. You possibly can even change the place they’re stationed in real-time throughout battles, and as you progress by way of the phases and defeat bosses, you’ll additionally accumulate masks which let you change a villager’s position – be that to the attention-drawing Sumo, the long-ranged Archer, or considered one of my favorites, the Ascetic, which slows down Seethe with limitations. You possibly can even accumulate a useful resource referred to as Musubi to improve a task’s skills, which might mercifully be undone as typically as you’d like, which turns what may have been an anxiety-inducing selection into numerous enjoyable experimentation.
At first, this day-night loop was really easy I anxious it’d grow to be too repetitive, however I rapidly modified my tune after the third boss proved to be a ability test. After this level, new mechanics have been launched frequently sufficient to maintain issues fascinating, together with contraptions to assist defend Yoshiro, new targets past simply getting her from level A to level B, and larger enemy selection. It appeared each stage additionally introduced a brand new Seethe with extensively different assault patterns and functions, which not solely shook issues up properly, however successfully elevated the problem. It inspired a broader practice of strategic thought, starting from which villager roles to improve to which contraptions to restore.
The whole lot of Kunitsu-Gami is a apply in useful resource administration, encouraging loads of cautious consideration with out being over taxing mentally. The crystals you accumulate are used each to create Yoshiro’s Spirit Path and to provide villagers roles, so I needed to weigh the professionals and cons of getting extra highly effective villagers or probably ending a stage sooner. There’s additionally a restricted period of time in every day, and because it takes time to restore defensive contraptions, there’s solely so many you possibly can select to avoid wasting. Select unsuitable, or be too indecisive, and you possibly can find yourself with no further defenses in any respect. Even simply deciding the place to cease Yoshiro on a path may vastly change the problem of the approaching night time.
Banal Base Constructing
Finishing a stage unlocks a base in that stage’s setting, the place you possibly can then go to handle upgrades, manually save, accumulate choices, and restore the buildings of the village to earn further rewards. At first I discovered these to be a pleasant, quiet reprieve between what might be the hectic motion phases and executives. There are all kinds of cute animals to work together with, a fragile piano taking part in, and completely happy villagers meandering about. Nevertheless, it quickly grew to become obvious I mainly had to return to every base a number of instances to finish repairs between phases in an effort to accumulate the Musubi that allowed me to improve villager roles.
Every base has a number of buildings to restore which every require a sure variety of villagers, however there are solely so many villagers out there to assign, and time should go for the repairs to be accomplished. There have been instances between phases once I backtracked to a few or 4 totally different bases to maintain up on amassing rewards and instructing repairs, and I finally discovered myself bored with repeating that course of, regardless of how charming the presentation. Nonetheless, this frustration was finally only a mildly irritating hiccup that didn’t stop me from largely having fun with the movement of Kunitsu-Gami.
There’s a lot of replayability right here, too. Every stage has hidden chests and three aspect targets that may reward you with Tsuba Guards that grant particular skills, Mazo Talismans that grant passive buffs, and the extremely obligatory Musubi improve materials. As a result of you possibly can skip cutscenes, quick ahead the day section, and don’t must re-rescue villagers to have them in your arsenal, replaying phases is far much less of a slog than it might be. My solely qualm is that the sooner phases could be a bit boring throughout the night time section, contemplating how simple they grow to be together with your newfound energy. Nevertheless, you possibly can at all times depend on the villagers to defend Yoshiro for you whilst you do some laundry or one thing – she’ll converse up if she wants assist. After ending the roughly 20-hour story, there may be New Recreation+ choice that allows you to retain all the things you’ve obtained up to now (together with the bottom repairs, thank the Goddess) and introduces engaging new rewards to chase.
Fantastical But Genuine
Capcom calls Kunitsu-Gami a “kagura action-strategy” sport – a style label of its personal creation, however one that really fits it a terrific deal. Kagura can actually translate into “god leisure” or “god music,” and is a identified type of Shinto ritual dance with origins tied to the folktale that impressed one other Capcom sport, Okami.
The Shinto-influenced concepts touched upon in Kunitsu-Gami aren’t fully international to me, however the depth of its presentation is. The eye to element right here is fascinating – for instance, the collectible sweets have been made in actual life by the well-known Tsuruya Yoshinobu, a 220-year-old confectioner in Kyoto, Japan, earlier than being scanned and become in-game fashions. It’s obvious that a substantial amount of care was put into making all the things genuine regardless of the mythological twist placed on this feudal-Japanese setting, from the materials to the objects to even the choreography.
Even probably the most fantastical components, the Seethe monsters, are so extremely detailed I may spend an ungodly period of time simply their fascinatingly grotesque designs. Unlockable plaques permit you to look at their in-game fashions up shut, and every features a little story that often reads like a brief from Scary Tales to Inform within the Darkish. The plaques for the animals and villagers are a lot much less fascinating however welcome nonetheless, cute on their very own as they typically depict Yoshiro or the villagers interacting with the topic animal. Why there may be a lot element right here I can’t actually let you know, however the thoughtfulness is tangible.
Lastly, I’ve to say the varied coloration palette getting used – broad, colourful, and but someway cohesive in all the things from the atmosphere to the enemies themselves. Incredible, however not so unrealistically vibrant to push it fully into the spirit realm. Kunitsu-Gami isn’t probably the most graphically spectacular motion sport I’ve seen, however its artwork route is a factor of magnificence.
