Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Preview - Dispelling the corruption around one of 2024's most unusual games

There are only a handful of games over the past few years that have been unveiled and left me genuinely confused by what I was seeing. Perhaps none so much as Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. This colourful and vibrant action-strategy game may look strange and be hard to get your head around, but from what I've had the pleasure of being able to test in-person at this year's Summer Game Fest, there's a lot of sense and cohesive gameplay at the core, even if it won't be for everyone.

At its most basic, Kunitsu-Gami is a game about blazing a trail. Essentially, you need to lead a goddess (Yoshiro, the Maiden of the Mountain) down a mountain so that she can cleanse the corruptive Seethe that has taken root, free any trapped villagers and wildlife, and all while protecting said deity from attacking monsters inspired by Japanese culture. You take on the role of Soh, a warrior skilled in the art of sword dancing, and using Soh's powers and abilities you have to explore various stages and levels down the mountain cleansing Seethe, gathering a magical currency that can convert basic freed villagers into warriors of their own, and then leading and commanding said allies to take on defensive positions along the goddess' path. Why? You need to protect her as she works towards Torii Gates twisted with corruption that act as gateways that monsters and Seethe use to enter the world.

In many ways, Kunitsu-Gami is a tower-defence action game. The game operates on a timed basis where you have an allotted amount of time in each level to gather resources, place any defensive elements you require, and to actually carve a path for the goddess to follow. The catch is that there is one currency, and you have to decide how to use it. Do you want to blaze a lengthy trail getting the goddess as close to the Torii Gate as possible, or instead create more powerful computer-controlled warriors? The choice is yours, but either way after a certain amount of time the corrupted gate will open and monsters will start flooding in and you cannot by any circumstance let these freaky creatures get near to Yoshiro.

Each of the levels that you reach as you work down the mountain also have a few extra goodies to discover. By cleansing a certain amount of corrupted elements, you can unlock what are essentially perks to help better your combat efforts by improving certain more minor attributes like damage reduction. In the short demo I had the opportunity to test it was unclear whether Capcom starts running away with the player development and base defence elements of Kunitsu-Gami, as in my experience you could clear the respective local area, free villagers, cleanse animals to earn health rations, and command and structure your small army all within a couple of minutes and before accelerating time until the Torii Gate opened and monsters began to appear. There's a tower defence balance that feels quite rudimentary and a little lacking, but it does hold a lot of importance if you intend to survive each night and continue to work down the mountain.

I would also say that the combat as a whole comes across as a bit straightforward. For the most part, you have light and heavy attacks, and it's just about comboing them to unleash more powerful and complex strikes. Considering the enemies also attack in quite a predictable manner by exiting Torii Gate portals and usually travelling down one of three pathways toward the goddess, the combat does lack a little bit of a punch. The enemy variety, which includes highly uniquely styled foes and even ground and aerial enemies too, attempts to keep things fresh but I do think that there needs to be a few more risks and a step-up in challenge for Kunitsu-Gami to continue to engage after several hours.

And I say this because as striking and vibrant as the art style is, it's not a strong enough factor to make Kunitsu-Gami feel thrilling as the hours roll by. Sure, the colour scheme and the Japanese Edo-inspired monsters and artistic flair are very bold and unique, but gameplay is and has always been king, and I'm not quite convinced by the loop that Kunitsu-Gami is offering at the moment. And this is even if a few added extras like boss fights that put your combat skills and commanding methods to the test against a stronger enemy with unique attacks attempt to break things up.

There are definitely parts about Kunitsu-Gami that stand out and the package as a whole, despite its weird premise, does actually work in practice. But this won't be a game for everyone and I do think that it will serve as a more niche action-strategy experience bolstered by colourful visuals and sleek offensive moves. In many ways it's a celebration of Japanese art and culture, but at the same time I think it lacks a little bit of the excellence that make games from this region so famous and have made recent Capcom titles stand out in particular. Either way, you can check out the game soon as Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess debuts on July 19.