There is no shortage of games centered on Japan. After the release of Ghost of Tsushima 4 years ago, studios and publishers have taken turns in this adventure of Japanese storytelling, exploring all its possible forms. But just as an overdose was starting to set in, Capcom announced Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. While it initially surprised with its colorful artistic direction, it was mainly its gameplay that created a surprise a few weeks ago.
Far from open worlds and samurai-esque adventures, the title juggles real-time strategy, action and reflection. This strange mix has given birth to an innovative experience. But is it really effective? The answer in this Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess review.
Day, night, day, night
Kunitsu Gami opens with a cinematic sequence that explains the purpose of the game. The action takes place on Mount Kafuku, once a haven of peace, which is now infected by a malicious corruption. Every night, mystical creatures come to torment the place and the inhabitants of the mountain. Soh, the character we play, must help the “miko” (equivalent to a priestess) purify the corrupted places.
In terms of the game system, each village corresponds to a very distinct level. A well-oiled mechanism then follows. During the day, Soh must free the inhabitants imprisoned by the curse in order to enlist them in his team. Some strategic locations must also be purified to earn rewards and have more room to maneuver. All this in order to advance the miko to the door where she can definitively eliminate the threat.
Only here, all these actions take time out of your day, and night quickly arrives. Then hordes of creatures appear, which attack the characters in waves until the return of the sun. This is precisely where strategy comes into play. While the player can personally take part in the fight through Soh, he will mainly have to assign roles to each freed inhabitant and place them one by one on the level's terrain in order to protect the miko, who finds herself defenseless once night falls.
We therefore find ourselves having to manage exhaustible and yet indispensable resources, the position of all the characters in real time, the environmental obstacles or advantages, as well as the health of everyone on the ground, including our own. Each night holds its share of challenges that contrast with the apparent tranquility of a day. It is only as the levels go by that we understand how much more important good preparation is than any combat skills.
A constant renewal
After freeing from corruption, the village becomes a base, which must be renovated to obtain more rewards and resources. This is where we acquire skills specific to each profession, unlock assets and save our game. This is not the most interesting aspect of the game, at the risk of even wondering what is the point of taking part in this “superficial” micro-management in addition to the levels and bosses. Even if we ignore it, it is in no way a nuisance.
One could wonder if the chaining of levels does not encourage repetitiveness, a feeling that is entirely legitimate given the formatted game system of Kunitsu-Gami. However, Capcom surprises us with the diversification of each level. Village after village, we unlock skills that make us, in the long term, review our strategic choices, our game preferences, especially since each stage introduces new threats and makes the best use of all the resources we have at our disposal.
When you arrive in the valley of Mount Kafuku, you find yourself having to use several of your senses, choose between different paths to complete the level, or change your team's jobs in the middle of the fights to get the most out of them. The excitement is present from start to finish, and the day/night cycle only reinforces a sense of curiosity for what is yet to come rather than weariness.
A visual force
From a narrative point of view, the game lacks context, although this does not prevent us from becoming attached to the characters. Kunitsu-Gami takes the side of completely doing without dialogues, in favor of a visual narration all in music and ritual dances. The artistic direction is quite unique.
Far from the photorealism acclaimed by Ghost of Tsushima, Rise of the Ronin and other games of the style, Kunitsu-Gami offers us an almost isometric point of view, in third-person view that can at any time transform into a top-down view for a more strategic side, with extremely colorful graphics and imaginary creatures galore.
With this opus, Capcom proves to us once again that monsters are its great specialty. Without ever going into horror, the adversaries are always with a stroke of a pencil of great precision, and push the limits of what we thought possible in terms of monstrosity. On the one hand, the more hideous they are, the more magnificent a sight they are to see.
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