Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (Xbox Series X/S) Review

Players assume the role of Soh, the protector of Yoshiro, who must fight to cleanse areas across the mountain and rescue the people who have been corrupted by defilement. The game opens on a stinger cutscene; it sets the scene with a short narration, then shows the defilement taking over the mountain and ultimately sealing the shrine at the top. Yoshiro, who narrowly avoids being caught up in the creeping defilement, manages to summon Soh to help her escape. Even at this early point the game shows a real penchant for world building, characters rarely talk and yet their actions are obvious. This lack of dialogue seems as deliberate as having all the characters masked aside from Yoshiro; it all screams of the director's vision and despite being a little odd, it's utterly enthralling. As the title progresses and the team starts to get a leg up on the defilement, players should feel quite a strong connection with the characters. Their actions and way of understanding each other without words really drives home the bond and shared duty they have. It's something that feels really unexpected but there is a real air of awesomeness to the silent heroes.

However, how does the game play? Well, Kunitsu-Gami is a thrilling action strategy game. Think tower defence mixed with a polished hack-n-slash, slightly reminiscent of a character action-game but with a less complex combat system. Each level has players do several objectives, the main one is to get Yoshiro to each Tori gate to clear the area's defilement which is achieved by cutting the spirit paths which she will then dance down ritualistically to clear them. Some levels change things up by offering multiple paths to choose from, however once a route is picked it's locked in. This has to be balanced carefully as during the daytime things are safe - no demons to fight, no places to defend. However, once night falls, demons will spawn from the defiled gate and swarm for Yoshiro to stop them from cleansing the area. Thus the second objective is to rescue the villagers. These villagers can then be cast into roles that give them different strengths such as melee attacks or archery. The player can then place them in tactical locations at night to defend each path and during the day they can be assigned to repairing areas, lighting lanterns, fixing barriers and more. This is a crucial element as the strategic placement of villagers will decide how involved the player needs to be in defending Yoshiro instead of stemming the flow of demons at the gate itself.

Obviously a game like this lives and dies on the systems that support that basic structure and luckily this game is no slouch. Each villager class can be upgraded using Musubi, which in Japanese means 'union', so it represents the people unifying with the player against the defilement. These are the thanks players receive for good performance in levels and for some other actions that will be covered later. Soh himself can also be decked out with all sorts of bonuses and ability buffs. First up is the Tsuba guards. Tsuba guards grant Soh different power moves which can be attacks or even buffs for the villagers which can make or break a battle. These are typically unlocked by clearing enough defilement to unlock an offering box or by performing well in a mission, so putting in the effort is usually rewarded. The next upgrades for Soh are Mazo Talismans. These talismans offer buffs to all sorts of abilities as well as sometimes offering things like carpenter build speed increases which can really be a life saver in later levels. Honestly it's incredibly satisfying to deck Soh out in a way that compliments each player's strategies.

After each level has been cleared the area on the level select screen becomes a Base. These bases offer a space to enjoy the results of the hard fought victories. They show the villagers going about their normal lives, offer a chance to interact with Yoshiro to upgrade Soh and to save the game. Each base can be fixed up as well and each restored segment adds a plethora of new visual elements such as flowers, lanterns, banners and more with the last repairs making the base a joyous, almost festival-like, atmosphere. There is nothing else like this out there and it's just unbelievable in how satisfyingly it all comes together.

Obviously the combat might become a little tedious for some players as it doesn't change up too much each mission. However, each mission introduces a new enemy type to the mix, making players adapt their strategies to be more effective. In fact, enemy designs are fantastic, they each have their own very unique look and it means it's easy for players to prioritise under pressure to give themselves a good chance of survival. For example, there is one enemy type which can enhance other enemies so taking them down quickly is a no-brainer but as a twist they are one of the more resilient enemies. Each enemy is also introduced with a little Bayonetta type intro screen, showing the deliciously hideous detailing in their animations.

Speaking of design and animation, the visuals in Kunitsu-Gami are lovely. They are obviously not quite as crazily realistic as Resident Evil but they rock a killer style and use the Moon Engine to great effect. Characters have loads of cool details and are dressed in traditional clothing but with some fantastical elements. Many of the characters wear flowing elements over their shoulders which helps accentuate the very dancerly movement on display. Based on traditional Japanese dancing styles, the characters do a lot of dancing to cleanse the areas and carry out all sorts of visually appealing movements even in battle. It gives everything a unique flair that only this emphasis on dancing could provide. After all, martial combat should be pretty in motion.

Graphically things are lovely as well with a realistic and naturalistic colour palette accented by vibrant glowing special effects as well as sickly grimey palettes where the defilement is concerned. This really brings the mountain to life with its nicely detailed scenery and animal life scurrying around, giving it a bit of movement as well. Backdrops can sometimes be a little low in detail which is a shame but it really doesn't impact the feeling of the place too much. This mountain is a well represented area with much variation in its geography. Missions take Soh to caves, passes and even snowy forests, all of which have Torii gates, little detailed things like rivers, ponds, houses and Jizo statues. It screams 'Japan' and, given the story and intention, that's perfect.

Character rendering is really a highlight from clothing to the cool masks the characters wear that denote their jobs, to even the nice little idle animations they have, everyone looks great. As mentioned earlier, clothing animations are also mostly excellent and add a little bit of extra movement to the characters but unfortunately these animations are not applied across the board so even Soh's lower layer clothes don't animate fluidly. Close up the animations can also occasionally show the lower detailed characters' seams but it's a minor thing and doesn't ruin the overall visual makeup. It's possible these little things are results of making sure the game performance holds up as they, again, don't take much away from the experience.

Musically Kunitsu-Gami has an excellent soundtrack. It is varied and knows when to get the blood pumping. However, the highlights are often the slower tracks used for base and the level select map. These tunes make use of a more subdued set of instruments that really complement the calm and friendly atmosphere of an area saved from calamity. Other sounds are also fantastic with some really nice ones lined up for fights and clearing the defilement. One neat little detail is that the villagers and Yoshiro have background babble which is super quiet. It's meant to melt into the background and offer some interest to the soundscape, only really ever piercing through if Yoshiro is threatened. The final sound related note is that the enemies have some really interesting sound design; it really helps pump up their gross factor. It's all great on the sound front.

In terms of longevity, this is not too short a title but it also doesn't outstay its welcome. Each level is fairly quick with them only really getting longer later in the game as a way to add complexity. Once the game is beaten there is a 'New game plus' mode which is worth a look as enough carries over to keep things interesting and to allow for further completion milestones.