Call it what you will, but to me Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is the successor that I really wanted but never got to the absolute PS2 classic Okami, developed by the beloved Clover Studio. While substantially different gameplay-wise, both games share the same reverent approach to Japanese culture and lore, as well as how they treat their respective presentations, delivering beautiful and unique experiences to those that play them.
Also, they happen to be Capcom games released during that company’s excellent phases. Okami came out during the golden days on Sony’s most sold console to date where they delivered hit after hit, establishing some franchises which are still fervently supported by fans to this day. Much like those days, the current reality is yet another fantastic point in Capcom’s trajectory and with Kunitsu-Gami, it proves that there are still those among their staff with a keen sense of style and design.
The game opens up in an epic way, showing a dire battle between the forces of good and evil. Sadly, despite their best efforts, the priestess who uses the heavenly powers to try and close the demon gates with the help of the spiritual swordsman is forced to retreat and gather up power in order to seal darkness for good. In order to do that, she has to cleanse villages, temples and other locations across ancient Japan, recruiting people on her way who she can transform into all manner of different units.
Basically, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess plays like a more action-focused tower defense game with some slight real-time strategy and MOBA elements, resulting in something that feels quite different to anything else out there in gaming. The closest comparison I could draw to this is Overlord, released during the Xbox 360 era, but even that one didn’t have the sheer variety that Kunitsu-Gami carries, not to mention the absolute visual spectacle that this one boasts at just about every chance it gets to do so.
There are many other activities to partake in outside of direct combat. As you explore its numerous levels, you accrue various currencies which are put to use in order to level up your units, as well as opening more avenues for your main guy, the swordsman, to grow. Funnily enough, the game takes away the power-ups between stages, so there are a host of types of making your fighters stronger and your workers more useful, both temporary and permanent, which in a way forces the player to slow down and try to take a more all-encompassing approach to its levels, much in the vein of its RTS inspirations.
As well as upgrading your bases, levels that have been cleansed play a role in the hours-long affair you’ll be facing in this game. Granted, in a way I would have preferred less of a gamey approach to padding that this one takes via its continuous path towards becoming stronger and stronger, what it has on offer isn’t nearly as grindy as it could have been, certainly not as much as usual with other titles.
Much like Okami, the touches of folklore thrown into not just the look and feel of the game but also its story and gameplay are downright incredible here. Even though it doesn’t offer an earth-shattering graphical style that Amateratsu’s had going for it nearly 20 years ago, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess it more than makes it up with some of the most creative enemy designs and painterly strokes of color that makes it seem like it could just as well be a page in an old centuries-old tome.
In many ways, I was surprised with how much I’ve come to enjoy this game after having my curiosity tickled during last year’s Summer Games Fest reveal, where from a hands-off look at Kunitsu-Gami showed what appeared to be a much more point and click experience than the actual release proved to be. As it is for real, it’s something that could be easily recommended to those seeking to not only engage with its fun mechanics, but also its endlessly colorful presentation and gripping setting.
