One of the many unfortunate consequences of advancing technology in the gaming space is that big publishers have shifted more and more towards something resembling the blockbuster model of Hollywood. Granted, the idea of big productions with bigger risks and potentially bigger rewards is something that has been around for almost as long as the medium itself. It’s more that the cost of developing those fancy games has reached a point where publishers have become extremely (and to some degree paradoxically) risk-averse in what gets greenlit. That means we tend to see more sequels and spin-offs, with truly original titles getting rarer as budgets keep on ballooning.
Maybe that’s fine from a business perspective. I don’t know, I’m not a hotshot executive by any means. But from my view as a player, I’d like to see more original games peppered into the release schedules from the major publishers. You know, as a treat. I’m not necessarily asking these companies to drop massive budgets on these things, but it’s nice to see something new with a little oomph behind it. To its credit, Capcom has been making a good effort in this regard of late. Yes, we see a lot of sequels from the publisher. Wouldn’t be Capcom without them, really. Still, every so often, there’s something completely new.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess originally released in 2024 on, well, everything except the Nintendo Switch. Understandable. It wouldn’t have worked out too well on that hardware without an excessive amount of sacrifice, I’m sure. Luckily, the Nintendo Switch 2 is capable enough at handling games that use the RE Engine, and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess was able to show up at the console’s launch as a result. This game was developed by a team that included many of the people who worked on the equally intriguing and original Shinsekai: Into the Depths, including director Shuichi Kawata and composer Chikara Aoshima. While that game was an underwater exploratory adventure, Kunitsu-Gami is an unusual hybrid of tower defense and third-person action dressed up in a distinctive Japanese folklore theme.
When I say distinctive, I really mean it. Most of us have probably seen our fair share of games that draw on Japanese mythology by now, but I doubt you’ve seen anything quite like Kunitsu-Gami. Main character Soh, along with his allies, uses a style inspired by kagura, a traditional dance used in Shinto ceremonies pretty much as far back as Japanese history goes. It mostly serves as a purification ritual, with the rod-wielding shaman being possessed by the chosen god throughout the process of the dance. It’s a fascinating thing to watch, as the shaman goes from making smaller movements while summoning the god to more exaggerated but equally smooth motions after the god has entered their body. These days kagura is a bit mellower and is typically performed by shrine maidens, but it’s no less beautiful to watch in action.
Kunitsu-Gami’s Soh fights as though he is dancing. It takes a little while to get used to his movements, but it’s undoubtedly a striking and graceful means of combat. You’ll be battling large numbers of yokai-inspired creatures called Seethe who spill out from corrupted Torii gates when the night falls. Indeed, their numbers tend to be a bit more than even Soh can handle, so you’ll need to enlist the support of some of the people in each village you seek to defend. This is where the game’s strategy layer comes into play, with villagers serving as human towers that can, you know, defend.
As to what they’re defending, that would be the divine maiden Yoshiro. She alone has the ability to purify the Torii gates and stop the Seethe from attacking. Yoshiro can’t defend herself much at all, so you need to make sure that incoming Seethe don’t get too many chances to attack her. Once the Torii gates are cleansed, you’ll have purified the village and can move on to the next location. Naturally, you’ll get some upgrades and items along the way. Soh wears a mask, and you can collect new masks that will convey certain abilities and enhancements upon him. That’s the gist of things.
In practice, the game is split into day and night modes. During the daytime, you can rescue villagers, set up your strategy by assigning them roles and positions, and collect items and crystals that serve as a valuable currency for just about everything you need to do. This is also when you can do any necessary upgrades or other necessary business. You can also build a trail for Yoshiro to the Torii gate that needs purifying, but each step of this trail requires crystals to lay down. You’ll collect some from the villages themselves, but you’ll almost certainly need to gather more. Fortunately, Seethe drop some of those lovely things when you slice and dice them.
The Seethe will attack when the night falls, pouring out of the corrupted Torii gate in waves. Soh is no doubt the main defense against these fiends, but the best way to ensure Yoshiro’s safety is to make careful use of your strategic resources. You can issue commands during the night, but that’s about all you can do once things start going down. Preparation is key. As to Soh, you can make him dance around doing his thing with some basic combos, dodge or guard as needed, and even make use of some fancy spiritual attacks when you’re in a pinch. If Soh takes too much damage, he’ll be out of play for the rest of the night, unable to do anything but issue orders. Unless you’ve really whittled those enemy forces down or have a bulletproof strategy, things are not going to end well if you reach this point.
I suppose if anything is the problem with Kunitsu-Gami, it’s in how the strategic layer feels extremely subordinate to the action. Ideally, these things should probably harmonize better, but the reality is that Soh needs to carry most of the load himself in any of these battles. As long as you’re aware of that coming into the game and not expecting some Command and Conquer-style depth from that end of the game, I think it’s not a serious issue, but worth mentioning anyway. This Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game includes support for mouse controls, which can make the strategy aspects a little easier to use, but I didn’t find it worth the comfort trade-off in the end and stuck to the usual controller setup.
Otherwise, it mostly comes down to how interested you are in the concept. It’s a game that is running heavily on vibes, but its fundamentals are more than sound enough to carry it in that regard. The atmosphere is brilliant, with a bold art style and excellent music. In terms of story, the game isn’t really putting in a lot of work beyond its premise, but what’s here is told well enough. I think the light strategy helps add some flavor to the combat and gives you some interesting choices to consider. It also helps the pacing of the game, giving you a nice breather between battles. As for the combat, it won’t be troubling the Devil May Cry series anytime soon, but it’s stylish and functional enough to be enjoyable.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a quirky, highly original offering from Capcom. Its mash-up of tower defense and action isn’t as fitting a combination as you might hope for, but it holds itself together well enough through the course of the game. The presentation is a real standout here, with a cool visual design and excellent audio. This Nintendo Switch 2 version might not be quite up to the technical standard of other platforms that played host to the game, but it’s more than respectable. That’s especially the case if you want to play portably, a style that works surprisingly well for this game. If you’re up for something a little different and appreciate games with strong personality, you might want to give Kunitsu-Gami a closer look.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
Review Copy Provided by Capcom
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