Review | Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess

Since 2017 with the release of Resident Evil 7, it seems that Capcom, one of the oldest and most prolific developers in the industry, is on a real run of success, releasing hit after hit of new titles from its most important franchises; Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, among others. In general, Capcom has never been so successful, either in business or creative terms, in its almost 40-year history. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, the company’s most recent release, is therefore a reflection of the enormous success they have had, since under other circumstances a game like this could not have existed.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a game directed by Shuichi Kawata, who previously directed “Shinsekai: Into the Depths” a strange action-adventure game released in 2019 for iPhone and now only available for Switch, and which serves as a perfect precursor to Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, as both are games that appeal to an era now forgotten by most major studios, a time where the strangest and most experimental ideas had space next to the safest and most reliable, that time of the PS1 and PS2 generation where it seemed that every month strange masterpieces came out alongside the biggest franchises.

But… What the heck is Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess?

This is an action-strategy game with an aesthetic based on traditional Japanese folklore, with an emphasis on the tradition of Kabuki theatre and the puppet show known as Bunraku. In fact, after seeing a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the title, it’s incredible to see that each of the game’s levels was first created as a mock-up and then scanned to be placed within the versatile RE Engine, the graphics engine that Capcom has been designing its titles with for the past eight years. The result is a game that is visually as unique as its gameplay.

The game’s incredible visuals are accompanied by an excellent soundtrack composed by Chikara Aoshima, who lets his talent shine in compositions that mix traditional Japanese music with electronic, fusion, jazz and even rock elements. The soundtrack is without a doubt one of the best elements of the game and perhaps one of the best soundtracks of a Capcom game in recent times. The themes that can be heard during the climatic boss battles elevate these battles to another level.

An unrivaled artistic section

The level of visual and audio presentation alone makes Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess feel like a unique work not only within Capcom’s portfolio, but also within the current gaming scene, but on top of that, the way in which it tells its dramatic tale is also quite unique. The story of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is fairly simple, but no less captivating, telling the tale of Yoshiro, the mountain goddess, and Soh, her bodyguard as they advance through different villages, helping their inhabitants in the fight against an evil spirit that tries to destroy the mountain.

This story is told in a mostly silent manner, with the exception of a poem that opens and closes the story at both ends of the game. Other than that, none of the characters speak, and consequently there is no dialogue in the game. Still, the characters’ struggle to survive and accomplish their mission is enough to endear us to the game, along with other small details that make the experience much more than it appears.

Capcom bets big with a smaller game

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a game that is being sold at a lower price than normal, around $40 instead of the standard $60, but that doesn’t mean that the experience isn’t substantial, having taken me around 20+ hours to complete the game and leaving some side challenges undone. The quality of the game and its length make it definitely worth the price and for those who fall in love with the game, there are still things to do once the campaign is over.

The gameplay in Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess mixes real-time action with strategy, making the core of the game similar to Pikmin or even Overlord, one of those cult games from the 360/PS3 era. The goal in each level is simple, safely get Yoshiro from one end of the level to the other, and to do so the player must use their character, Soh, along with other units, each with their own specialty to take down the evil spirits that try to kill Yoshiro.

The game divides gameplay into two phases; the day, where the player must prepare the terrain, and their units for the night, where the second phase takes place and is basically a battle to survive until dawn. It sounds simple, but Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess offers an excellent level of progression, not only for Soh and his units who will level up and become stronger throughout the adventure, but also for the enemies, who will become more numerous and aggressive as well.

The mechanics of Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess are not as complex as they seem

The entire campaign progresses from simple to difficult, with the first few levels serving to accustom the player to the controls and other elements of the game and then increasing the difficulty and leaving the player on their own to overcome the challenges presented. The variety of situations in each level is also diverse, so the game miraculously avoids falling into a cycle of repetition, something that under another developer would have been easy to happen.

Many of the levels also feature boss encounters, which emphasize the mechanics learned in each level and also offer diverse situations. The boss battles are excellent and end up being some of the most memorable moments of the game. Towards the end, some of these encounters are truly difficult and will put everything you have learned and all the tools you have acquired to the test. In fact, there are times where the game demands the player’s full attention and forces them to basically multitask, as they must not only be aware of controlling and being as effective as possible with Soh, but also of managing their units and getting the most out of them, taking into account the terrain, and many other factors, it is difficult to be distracted by anything else.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess ends up being an incredibly special game because its ideas are not only interesting, but they are executed to perfection, managing to extract a whole rollercoaster of feeling from the player throughout the experience; where one moment you can be completely stressed or excited about one of the many battles against the spirits, and a few seconds later you can be completely relaxed petting the village dog or eating one of the many traditional Japanese sweets that make an appearance in the game.

Conclusion

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a strange, beautiful, and singular game, but coming from Capcom it has a level of presentation and polish that is hard to find in the indie scene at this scale. Mixing the traditional with the novel and experimental, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess positions itself as one of the best games of 2024 and possibly its most pleasant surprise.

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This review was conducted on PC and the code was provided by Capcom Latin America. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is now available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, GeForce Now, Game Pass, and PC.