Coming soon to Xbox Game Pass, you can discover this new action-strategy game from Capcom that doesn’t lack originality.
The summer is quiet, but Capcom has the great kindness to engage us with a new license, fresh and chic, which comes to heat up our consoles and PCs in our rooms already simmering with high temperatures. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a new action strategy game whose inspirations, at first glance, seem to lie halfway between other franchises in its catalog, the good Okami and Monster Hunter Wilds. And if it is indeed Japanese folklore, Kunitsu-Gami ultimately has little to do with these two games and boasts an originality all its own. The game will be released on July 19 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series and Xbox Game Pass and we had the chance to explore its scope, which had some good surprises in store for us.
A game with style
In Kunitsu-Gami, the player takes on the role of a warrior named Soh, responsible for an unchanging mission: Accompany a priestess named Yoshiro all the way up Mount Kafuku—the descent will take about twenty hours—to help her purify her villages from the invasion of the damned Ikoku, who have poured their corruption on both sides of other orders. The Ikokus are those demonic creatures that look like animals and emerge from the torii, traditional Japanese gates that we often see erected at the entrance of a Shinto shrine. In the jargon of Japanese words, to perfectly master the universe of Kunitsu-Gami there is one that is essential: Kagura, a form of Shinto ceremonial ritual dance that inspires all the movements of the characters of the game and of the entire universe. A devilishly based inspiration that showers the priestess with a certain grace while she already shows off an extremely impressive wardrobe. With its very pretty color palette, Kunitsu-Gami also benefits from a truly successful artistic direction and a mastered sense of style.
Beyond the established framework, the game dispenses with the narrative. The characters are all shrouded in absolute silence and do not speak a single line of dialogue, except for the priestess’s desperate murmuring when a threat comes a little too close to her. The adventure is content with ambient music, which alone imbues the entire sound part of the game with a certain finesse. This lack of narrative is not particularly annoying, but we regret not being able to bring to light some elements of the lore about the world of Kagura, as the game limits this very special symbol to its aesthetics.
Strategy at the heart of the program
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess stands out for its distinctly strategic approach in the action-strategy genre. As mentioned, the player’s mission is to escort a priestess, Yoshiro, through corrupt villages and purify torii. This arduous task requires careful planning, as progress follows an intangible pattern: The day is dedicated to preparation and the night to confrontation. If the sun is still your ally, the player must collect crystals, valuable resources that can be used to trace Yoshiro’s path and transform the villagers into warriors for night battles. A sophisticated system that allows you to choose between multiple roles : Lumberjack and Archer are among the cheapest, Sumo and Shaman if you have a lot of crystals to spend. Unfortunately, the balance between the roles is not satisfactory, some prove to be too important compared to others, too pointless. So for most of the adventure I made do with Archers and Lumberjacks, who complemented each other very well, constantly neglecting certain very dispensable roles.
Time management is also a key element of the gameplay. The days are short and you must act quickly to maximize your actions before nightfall, a time pressure that adds an even more interesting dimension to the strategic thinking that drives much of the game. As night falls, the Ikaku invade the village. It’s time to take advantage of the villagers transformed into warriors to repel the attacks and protect Yoshiro. If it cannot be moved, however, it is possible to pause the confrontation to constantly reposition the villagers and thus optimize their effectiveness. Archers are more impressive at height, while melee fighters must position themselves near enemy portals. In addition, quick commands allow you to put all the villagers in offensive or defensive mode. A very notable aspect of the game, even if the handling lacks a little comfort and the malleable camera is not particularly practical at a glance either.
An energetic adventure
Let’s not forget that, in addition to the villagers, who will surely take up a large part of your attention, the player embodies Soh, a hero who wields the katana with elegance. The fights combine simple attacks and fluid combos that are quite pleasant to perform, the evolution of the protagonist’s skills, on the other hand, is almost nonexistent, with the exception of a new special attack that he can acquire from time to time. . Nevertheless, it is possible to improve the villagers in exchange for resources. But I noticed that my lumberjacks had already reached the maximum of their performance halfway through the game.
An original element of the game remains the transformation of Soh into a ghost when he is defeated. He then has to wait a certain amount of time before reappearing, which gives the battles a unique dimension.. In this sense, the game is certainly not punishing and despite only offering a single difficulty level, it is very accessible to a wide audience. Even if the first hour of the game offered us relatively easy fights until we wondered if we wouldn’t find the time a bit long, as time goes on the experience is actually very dynamic. Capcom regularly introduces new mechanics to avoid fatigue. There is, for example, this level in which the hero is completely deprived of his body and the only option left is to help the villagers by replacing them and harvesting the crystals they generate.
There is also that other time when the entire level is surrounded by poisonous swamps and we are forced to constantly avoid them. It’s a pity that the AI ally, our villager, kept accidentally dragging himself into these deadly zones and literally killing himself slowly before our eyes. The bestiary is so varied that we always have fun discovering what surprises the next boss has in store for us. Finally, the game offers great potential for completionists : Kunitsu-Gami features secondary challenges and a repair system that allows you to rebuild purified villages, an aspect that adds a satisfying dimension to the experience and rewards the most invested players.
Diploma
Points Fortresses
- Very stylish inspirations
- A well-thought-out strategic dimension with its day-night cycle
- Good ideas to liven up the gameplay loop
- Very varied bosses
- Pretty nice
Weak points
- Almost no character development
- Poor balance of villager roles
- An investment system that could have gained in comfort
- An inspiration that is limited to aesthetics
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is the guarantee of discovering an original game in a particularly stylish universe. We like the idea of integrating traditional dances into a world of Japanese folklore, which mixes with very elegant choreography and offers a bestiary that is particularly pleasant to discover. The game has some good surprises in store to renew a gameplay loop that keeps the same structure from start to finish, losing track in some aspects, such as the balancing and progression of the main character. Kunitsu-Gami finally proves to be quite clever in its strategic proposal, with its different systems, its day-night cycle and its limited resources. An experience that will fill your summer for a good twenty hours.
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