He has a name that is out there and no one really understands what he wants to do when you see his trailers. And yet,
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Godess could well be the good pick of this summer at Capcom. A clever mix between action and strategy game that leans towards tower defense expected on July 19, and which we were able to play. And the least we can say is that the surprise was there.
We were able to try the game in a preview version, for almost 2 hours.
Advertisement
When it comes to testing a new game, it's pretty rare to not know what you're getting into. Between the studios' habits and the tons of trailers often revealed beforehand, it's not hard to get an idea of the content, and even the quality of the title. But that wasn't the case for today's game. Probably because Capcom has no idea how to promote it.
Announced last year during Summer Game Fest,
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Godess has since had several trailers, and even some gameplay clips. And yet, it is very difficult to find people on the internet who really know what to expect. It is difficult to sort between a rather neat but quite busy artistic direction, a promise of diving into Japanese folklore, and trailers that do not dwell on much in terms of mechanics.
A mix of action and strategy
So, let's start from the beginning. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Godess is a mix between action and strategy game, in an original universe represented in 2.5D. It takes place on a mountain where everyone lives in harmony, until corruption strikes and hordes of demons come to sow chaos. You play as Soh, guardian of the priestess Yoshiro, whose mission is to purify the mountain. And to do so, nothing could be simpler. Since the game phases are divided into two parts, according to a day/night cycle.
During the day, you must go through the different stages to do reconnaissance and collect crystals. These allow you to advance the priestess to the massive door which signifies the end of the level, but also transform corrupt villagers into warriors who will come to your aid.
Advertisement
Then, when night falls, it's time for action. Waves of demons continually come out of the gate, and you must defend Yoshiro, unable to fight on her own. A fairly classic pattern, which alternates between preparation and combat phases, but always effective. No need to reinvent the wheel every moment to offer a new proposition. And we must admit that it's quite pleasant to see a studio offer simple but mastered concepts from time to time.
Armed with his katana, your character is agile, jumps everywhere, and easily cuts the demon. But if the first levels, which act as tutorials, are quite trivial, things get complicated quite quickly. And there is no longer any question of camping in front of the door, pressing all the buttons to cut everything that passes. So you have to be a little strategic.
Beautiful promises
Since at each level comes a new mechanic, or new enemies, which complicate the equation. Whether it's flying demons, new classes for your villagers, or the absence of light, which forces you to fight alongside previously lit lanterns. The stupid and nasty action gradually transforms into tower defense, where it becomes vital to think about recruiting the right units, and placing them in the right place.
Once again a basic recipe, but one that knows its strengths and weaknesses. And if the progression curve logically follows what we saw during the first levels, then the game should easily manage to be sufficiently interesting over time. Especially since between each fight, it’s back to base camp. With the possibility of improving your units or Soh via the different loot obtained in the levels or carrying out a few actions with the villagers to unlock new materials.
Nothing very transcendent, especially since as a good Japanese game, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Godess suffers from the horrible disease of excess menus. An evil which Capcom had nevertheless managed to get rid of – a little – with Dragon's Dogma 2, and gave a glimpse of hope. But here unfortunately, the submenu is there, and rather twice than once.
Having to multiply actions to equip a talisman or level up a class is frustrating. Even more so when the pause menu allows you to see everything at a glance, but without having to touch it. Since you must be present in the priestess's tent to perform any action on your character. A slight annoyance, certainly, but still frustrating as this defect is a well-established habit in Japanese productions.
Simple and efficient
But this tangent on the Japanese video game industry aside, the feelings are there, and we want to see more. After 2 hours of play, we were able to see a few levels, as well as the boss fights that punctuate the passages to the new areas. There, the gameplay tends to be more action-based, and the villagers will mainly have a protective role vis-à-vis the priestess, while you deal with the threat.
And this mixture works, and can be particularly addictive. The game also ran very well, without a hitch, in what looked like an already finished version, as the finishing touches were there. All that remains is to wait to have access to all of the content to see if the promises are kept, and the title manages to sufficiently enhance its gameplay with mechanics to keep the player in suspense. If it succeeds, it will be a perfect game to have a good time this summer. Especially since each level offers small additional objectives to unlock new rewards, and reach the 3 stars so dear to players of the genre.
Our first impressions of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Godess
He was starting from a long way off, faced with communication that was not very inspired, and yet Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Godess has everything in store for a pleasant surprise. A clever mix between action game and strategy, with a little retro vibe in its gameplay. More focused on simplicity, to offer a controlled experience, the title still seems to have enough good ideas to maintain interest and difficulty over time. We ask to see more, but we can't wait.
Understanding our rating system