thealexmott Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Review

Kunitsu-Gami immediately put me in a stranglehold. From the very first stage, I was hooked on this game in a way I haven't been in over a year, constantly eager to keep traversing my way down its mountain. You know that ProZD video about spending all day thinking about the new game you started? Swap "Pokemon" for "Kunitsu-Gami" and that's what my mind was for a couple weeks. This is honestly a perfect Game Pass game because it's so difficult to describe in any understandable way, but I think anyone who's up for a challenge should give it a shot. If you're riding the Game Pass train, I implore you to download this game and give it an hour of your time. I think you'll know pretty quickly if you'll vibe with it or not. Now, if you're not subscribed to Phil Spencer's tasting menu, let me try to sell you on it as best I can. It's this interesting intersection of intense third-person combat, base/town upgrading, escort missions, tower defense, and RTS. Those are five genres that I'm typically not a huge fan of, but they come together to make something unique and special. Essentially, you'll rescue villagers and spend resources to assign them a combat role. A day/night cycle alternates between trying to navigate your ladyfriend to the end of the stage so she can cleanse the curse from that area, all while scavenging for materials, repairing defenses, and setting up your villager warriors (daytime), then trying to keep everyone alive through the night. Each level has different optional challenges (which you get even more of in NG+), and some of these are no joke. The swamp level in particular took me over 20 attempts to get all of its bonus objectives checked off. Kunitsu-Gami is a challenging game! There were many moments that stopped me in my tracks, requiring anywhere between 5 and 25 attempts to clear, yet there was never a point in which I wanted to stop. Within the game's online community, the third boss (a centipede-esque creature called Mukadejoro) quickly became infamous for filtering people really early in the game. While asking for strategy advice for that fight from my buddy @Gandheezy22, he remarked that he loves how the game forces you to overcome a grueling challenge so soon. With that dumb Centipede in my rear-view, I agree! The game never feels unfair (with the single possible exception of the true final boss in NG+), rather, it forces you to experiment and truly get to know the mechanics on a deep level. If this boss came later on, you might be able to brute force it with the upgrades you had acquired, but by placing this giant nasty roadblock like an hour in, the game insists that you figure out what you're doing RIGHT NOW. It's a bold move, and I applaud it. (They nerfed this boss a little after I had beaten it, so it might be a little less intense now) But what really elevates the experience to being something truly special is the craftsmanship that's gone into the game. The imagery, music, sound design, even the mo-cap is some of the most beautiful of any game I've ever played. Capcom's YouTube page has started posting "Making Of" segments for the game, and I highly recommend checking them out. So much passion and care went into this game, it was a huge swing and I hope it's successful enough for us to get more stuff like this in the future!