“I have been to a most unpleasant land, a horrible, unclean land. Therefore I shall purify my body.” – Motoori Norinaga
I do not have much experience in RTS. I’ve dabbled in Warcraft and StarCraft back in the early 2000s, but much of that involved the heavy use of cheat codes. Having to rely on intellect and skill to know where and what units to place for maximum effectiveness was not something I did. Brute force, throwing hundreds of units at the Zerg, especially since I had unlimited resources, was the best option for me. What I am trying to say is that I have little skill or patience for RTS games and I want to make sure that anyone reading this understands this is my position coming into this review of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.
Now, onto the review.
Hype is a drug. Hype is what game developers and publishers hope to inspire with their trailers, screenshots, interviews, etc. We all know what happens when the hype overshadows the actual product, but what happens when the game delivers just what it claimed it would without fitting in with what we thought it would? Why, that would be a delusion, and one reason why I am upset about Kunitsu-Gami is because I was delusional about what I was getting myself into.
Oh, Kami
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a Japanese-inspired action strategy hybrid dripping with style. When I first saw the announcement trailer at an Xbox Showcase, I was blown away, even though I was unsure what exactly this game was. Fast forward to the gameplay reveal and I was excited because it was a single-player experience, albeit one with real-time strategy elements.
Kunitsu-Gami has a nifty stage structure that usually starts with a level in which you (Soh) lead Yoshiro to the end of a stage to purify the gates and stop the flow of demons into a specified area. This is about 60% of the game. During the day, your character has to carve a path, using crystals found in the level, to bring Yoshiro to the end. She walks slowly, purifying the path as she goes. During the day, Yoshiro treds the path that you have set, and that gives Soh time to find villagers, purify defilement, and remove obstructions. The game gives you a timer that shows roughly how much daylight you have to prepare and explore along with some nice visual cues. Once nighttime begins, Yoshiro will stop her advance and hunker down. Any villagers you have can be assigned roles, such as woodcutters, archers, shamans, and others. More roles become available as you progress in the game, but you start off with just the woodcutter, which when used correctly is a pretty stout role.
Living for Nightlife
The sole objective during the night is to make sure that Yoshiro survives. If your villagers die, they can be resurrected the next day, and if Soh dies, he will slowly regenerate health. Neither of these is ideal, so using rations, which are sparse, is advised if health is low. If Yoshiro receives damage, some health can be recovered once she reaches the gate with a mini-game involving keeping the cursor in the center of the gate. I missed this completely until the final level of the game. Speaking of the final levels, I felt the latter half of the game stepped up the difficulty to the point where I wanted to quit. The final level is miserable, and I hope to never play it again.
The next aspect of the game involves rebuilding the villages that Soh and Yoshiro saved. Rebuilding is crucial as it gives you Musubi, which is used to upgrade the villagers and Soh. Other collectibles can be obtained and once you finish each village, you either get a Tsuba Guard or a Mazo Talisman. These grant abilities or buffs to Soh, the villagers, or Yoshiro. Having the villagers make the repairs takes time, which usually means completing one to two levels before the repairs are made.
Finally, we have boss stages. These use the villagers who have been saved in the accompanying normal stages and involve protecting Yoshiro and fighting a large demon in a timed battle. Clearing the boss stage in the required time unlocks more Guards and Talismans. I never beat the required time on any of my first playthroughs, but I usually enjoyed all of the boss fights, except for the last two, which grated on my nerves intensely. Are we seeing a pattern here? My frustration with the last few stages and bosses could all stem from my lack of skill in RTS games.
Once More, With Feeling
Luckily, Kunitsu-Gami has a great amount of replayability as each stage has three optional goals, which lead to more Musubi, Guards, or Talismans. These range from avoiding damage, saving rations, defeating enemies in specific ways, and more. Upon starting a new game+, two more goals become available for each stage while also amping up the difficulty and enemy layout.
The art style present here is beyond impressive. From the moment you start the game to the menus and stage selection, everything was gushing with character. Capcom describes this game as a Kagura action strategy game, and that devotion to the ancient Japanese Shinto stylings gives it a solid identity. I am not a scholar when it comes to Japanese religion, but I do love their folklore, and I can see so many ideas that have stemmed from Japanese history.
The music is limited, but every piece is fantastic, from the pounding drums present when a night cycle begins to the calm and unnerving peace that some of the villages have. The sound team did a phenomenal job and the boss fight with the saxophone solo was a weird and wonderful touch. If none of the music catches your ear, the Okami soundtrack is also available to listen to. This can be adjusted in the main menu, as well as costumes for Soh and Yoshiro inspired by Okami.
Final Thoughts
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is great, but it is also a game that almost convinced me to stop playing it multiple times. I wanted to be harsher on this title for those times it made me want to quit, but there is so much the game does right. The music, the atmosphere, the village building, Soh’s combat, and how he grows and becomes truly devastating a force are all aspects of this game that I loved. The latter two to three stages at the end of the game really pushed my patience, and I wondered if I enjoyed RTS games more if my feelings on this matter would be different.
PIXEL PERFECT
Recommended
Derek aka Schwetty is a lifelong game enthusiast who loves to dabble in *almost* every genre! He can be found talking about random things on Twitter @schwetty.
