Genre Action, strategy Publisher
Capcom
Developer
Capcom
Minimum requirements Intel Core i5-7500 3.8 GHz / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz, 8 GB RAM, DirectX-compatible graphics card 4 GB of memory, such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti / AMD Radeon RX 560, 16 GB on the drive, Steam account Recommended requirements Intel Core i7-7700 4.2 GHz / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 4.4 GHz, 16 GB RAM, DirectX 12-compatible graphics card and 8 GB of memory, such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 Release date July 19, 2024 Localization Text Age rating 18 years and older Platforms PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Played on PC
The last six or seven years can safely be called another “golden era” of Capcom. The company consistently releases one big successful project after another and, it seems, does not want to stop at all. It is even more interesting that between the next Monster Hunter, Street Fighter and Resident Evil, a unique project of a smaller scale has crept in. Judging by the first frames of the announcement of Kunitsu-Gami, it seemed that the Japanese suddenly decided to return to the Onimusha series, but everything turned out much more interesting. The fresh creation really looks like an alien from the PS2 era, where pure gameplay ruled the roost, and only a couple of lines were devoted to the plot. And this approach still works great.
The purification ritual is complete
⇡#I wish I could hold out until the morning.
The narrative here is really thin. Demons suddenly appear on Mount Kafuku, and we, as a mysterious masked warrior, must accompany the priestess Yoshiro, who, with the help of kagura, ritual dancecleanses the area of filth. The characters do not speak, there are no cutscenes, except for the presentation yokayevnot really. Everything is conveyed through the visual component and the gameplay itself, which is a bit like Fumito Ueda’s projects. True, only a little – Kunitsu-Gami lacks that special emotional connection that arose between the hero and his companion as ICO progressed. Here, the girl is perceived as another mechanic, and not a character you want to worry about.
However, it is difficult to call this a drawback, because Path of the Goddess is clearly not about the plot. Gameplay is what makes Kunitsu-Gami one of the most interesting projects of this year. The basis is simple: bring the priestess to the gates from which monsters crawl out, and perform a purification ritual. True, with a twist – this is an action, but not a pure one, but with a tactical component and elements of tower defense.
Every night the gates open, spewing out demons
Levels start early in the morning. While the sun is shining, you need to explore a small location, getting rid of the corrupted (if you remove them all, you get a useful amulet) and pulling locals out of their cocoons. Each of the freed can be assigned a profession: a regular woodcutter or archer, or someone more exotic like a gunner or shaman. The further you progress, the more classes with their own skill tree open up.
Planning begins already at the daytime stage. Special crystals are spent on assigning/changing professions and paving the way for the priestess, so you constantly balance between the fact that the squad is at least combat-ready and the girl does not stand still for too long. And with the onset of night, the demons begin the attack – and then everything depends on how well you managed to prepare for it and what kind of squad you put together. The main goal is to hold out until the next morning and not let all sorts of freaks kill Yoshiro.
On the one hand, it seems easy. The main character is strong in himself, and the game as a whole is not difficult. On the other hand, in the light of the sun, Yoshiro moves around the map, albeit along a predetermined route. And here you need to understand whether you want to get as far as possible, finding yourself in an open area by sunset, where it will be difficult to defend, or is it better to stay in a more advantageous position, but then spend an extra night or two fighting? Whatever you choose, defending will be interesting in any case thanks to different combinations of enemies.
The girl doesn’t make it just a little bit. Well, the night will be hot
After playing the demo, I had some concerns that the release would lack variety. Fortunately, Kunitsu-Gami constantly changes the conditions and approach to battles. In some places, the terrain itself will be dangerous, in others you will not be allowed to fight personally, but only command your wards, in others a huge enemy will suddenly appear or there will be no assistants at all. There are enough variations so that the game does not have time to get boring during the 9-10 hours that the campaign lasts. In addition, numerous bosses also add fun, forcing you to reconsider the usual composition of your squad, especially if you aim to kill them in a certain amount of time. And the second half of the “storyline” entertains with a large number of demons and attacks from all sides – so that the bloody night, by the feel of it, lasts a very, very long time.
Clearing the lands isn’t the only thing to do here. Between stages, you can catch your breath a little in the liberated settlements to the sound of pleasant music, soft keyboards reminiscent of the compositions Daisuke Kashiwa. Treat Yoshiro with sweets, upgrade both your character and the professions of the liberated residents, and at the same time gradually put the villages in order. For this, they give useful resources for obtaining new abilities and other rewards. And it is simply aesthetically pleasing to watch how just yesterday a gloomy, destroyed village, overflowing with demons, is transformed literally before your eyes. Such attention to detail makes the world of the game much more alive and allows you to become more attached to it.
However, one of the main advantages for me personally is that Kunitsu-Gami does not try to be everything at once, which is a sin of many modern games. There are no unnecessary mechanics and other things that would distract from the main gameplay cycle. Neither combat episodes nor settlement restoration take much time – all the ideas are organically intertwined with each other, and heated battles and calm moments alternately replace each other at a verified pace. Thanks to this, it is quite difficult to tear yourself away from the game.
In the camp you can relax and try delicious things. Moreover, each one has a detailed description, rooted in the history of Japan
Although for a project where you not only need to control the hero, but also command AI fighters, there is a surprisingly inconvenient interface and a small number of options. In regular battles, you can only specify where this or that ward should stand, and who and how to hit, he will decide for himself. In battles with bosses, you can additionally order everyone to either attack the big demon or protect the priestess. This does not interfere too much, but often reduces the control to simply gathering everyone in a bunch around the girl, and not placing everyone one by one every evening. And in general, I would like to see more complex situations where tactical planning would help solve the problem.
However, minor inconveniences and relatively low difficulty are a small price to pay for the unusual and exciting adventure that Capcom offers. Kunitsu-Gami perfectly manages to convey the spirit of mystical medieval Japan, it has everything good in terms of gameplay, and the excellent pace does not allow you to move away from the monitor. It is nice to see that the company still wants to experiment and release small unique projects that can surprise not only with the fact of their existence, but also with interesting ideas.
Advantages:
an entertaining mix of action and tower defense elements; a wide variety of bosses; there are no unnecessary mechanics in the game – everything is connected to each other, which helps create an exciting gameplay cycle; overall mystical atmosphere.
Flaws:
the tactical component turned out to be weak – you probably only need to choose the professions of the inhabitants wisely on bosses; small unpleasant bugs sometimes prevent you from fulfilling additional conditions on levels; the squad management interface looks nice, but is inconvenient and does not really perform its main functions.
Graphics
Kunitsu-Gami is visually quite unremarkable, which, however, does not prevent it from sometimes producing a very colorful picture.
Sound
In the absence of dialogue, music becomes the primary instrument for conveying mood. Airy keyboard parts are juxtaposed with suddenly loud jazz riffs, and even silence is used to emphasize certain moments.
Single player game
The game took on the task of combining several genres into one whole – and the attempt was successful. The tactical component turned out to be simple, which does not prevent the creation of many interesting combat situations, and you look forward to the arrival of the next morning.
Estimated time of completion
9-10 hours for a normal playthrough without completing all the challenges. Two or three times more if you set a goal to collect everything and run the “New Game +”.
Collective game
Not provided.
General impression
Kunitsu-Gami is another unique game in Capcom’s collection. It is very similar to a PS2-era project that the company for some reason forgot to release. One of the most unusual projects of this year, successfully combining several genres, a mysterious mystical atmosphere and entertaining gameplay.
Rating: 8.5/10
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