PS5 Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess Review

With the roll Capcom has been on as of late, it is hard to remember that it went through a prolonged slump where it just couldn't get anything right. Capcom is back on top, baby! Well, mostly. While it has been rattling off banger after banger for years now, those games have all been sequels or remakes. With Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, Capcom is taking the final step toward rectifying the singular flaw with its recent output. And best of all, it's doing it with style.

Kunitsu-Gami is a gorgeous, Kagura inspired, RTS-action hybrid. You control the spirit warrior Soh and spend your time alternating between liberating villages from the demonic Seethe, and rebuilding those same villages. It is Actraiser meets Okami mixed with Pikmin with a dash of Plants Vs. Zombies for good measure. If these points of comparison feel increasingly bizarre, it is because Kunitsu-Gami doesn't have a singular parallel and defies classic genre expectations.

Kunitsu-Gami's intoxicatingly charming aesthetic sets the tone. Capcom modeled real-life assets and then scanned them into the game, and the end result is that Kunitsu-Gami looks like a living, breathing, diorama. There is a Wes Anderson-esque level of particularity to everything on display. This extends to the UI as well. The menu for sifting through your equipment and upgrading your units isn't a menu at all, but requires interacting with the various accoutrements surrounding Yoshiro, the game's resident shrine maiden.



Yoshiro isn't just the keeper of the menu, she plays a vital role in the gameplay, as you must guide her from one end of the stage to the other. She'll only progress during the day, during the night you'll need to defend her from the ever-encroaching Seethe. The daytime portions are some of the most frantic, as that is when you'll be freeing villagers (who will become your soldiers), collecting resources, and building obstacles to slow the relentless Seethe. You need to move quickly before it is time to hunker down and fight off waves of them by nightfall.


The stages themselves do a great job of steadily introducing new enemy types and gameplay wrinkles. During one stage, you'll lose the ability to use Soh to attack directly, forcing you to be far sharper with your troop placement. Not long after that, you'll be fighting off hordes of the Seethe while floating across a river: beating them back as they try to sink your ships.

Nearly every boss battle has its own gimmick as well, which will be particularly important to take advantage of if you are hoping to defeat them quickly. These range from lighting lanterns that reveal weak points to luring bosses into position and hitting them with a well-timed cannon shot. From beginning to end, there was never a point in Kunitsu-Gami where the gameplay felt tired.



On top of the gameplay variety, you'll also receive a bevy of talismans, which you can build bespoke strategies around, and there is always another unit type being unlocked, with each adding its own specialization. This all leads to an impressive amount of freedom to express yourself and experiment with different loadouts.

That being said, outside of the occasional gameplay shakeup, the majority of missions won't push you to engage in experimentation. While I failed a few missions here and there, it was mainly due to my own recklessness. If you are keeping up with your village restorations, you will be well-equipped to deal with anything the game throws at you no matter how you equip yourself.

However, the optional objectives provide an extra challenge. I didn't struggle to beat the Gakinyudo - the game's first boss - when I first encountered him, but it did take me a few attempts to beat him in under a minute, which scores you a shiny new talisman. Most optional objectives will either require you to restrict yourself or complete objectives more efficiently. They are a welcome addition and add a much appreciated pinch of difficulty.


Much like the Seethe slaying part of the gameplay, the village restoration side of things grows in complexity as you progress, having you manage more projects and juggle larger groups of villagers across multiple settlements. But the nuts and bolts remain largely the same: assign villagers to repair features of each village and check back after completing a set number of missions to claim your reward. There isn't anything wrong with it, but that side of the game feels shackled by its reluctance to delve deeper into the management mechanics. At its best, it acts as a continuous drip of rewards for completing missions, but at its worst, it can veer dangerously close to feeling like busywork.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a breath of fresh air. Its tireless commitment to its aesthetic, and enticing, varied gameplay make for a memorable experience. One that is as charming as it is enthralling. In an era where Capcom largely produces remakes and sequels, games like Kunitsu-Gami are more important than ever. Every inch of Kunitsu-Gami feels deliberate, and the passion of those who developed it bleeds through. Kunitsu-Gami is carving a path forward for Capcom, and at the end of that path is a more creative gaming landscape.