Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is lush. Set on the facet of a mountain that’s been coated in a horrible black defilement, Kunitsu-Gami’s world is an historical, psychedelic dreamscape filled with magic and otherworldly horrors. It’s additionally mechanically dense, with moments of sluggish strategizing and rapid-fire hack-and-slash fight. After taking part in for practically an hour at Summer time Recreation Fest, it’s clear that Kunitsu-Gami is far more than an exquisite screenshot.
The sport is split into day and evening mechanics, however all the motion takes place in numerous camps alongside the mountainside, set underneath inexperienced canopies and amongst dense foliage. The defilement creates vegetation with glowing pink orbs and slathers some areas in an iridescent black goo, trapping villagers in putrid sacs and infecting the native deer inhabitants.
Gamers are tasked with defending the Maiden Yoshiro from the Seethe, the monsters that spawn out of the defilement at evening. Yoshiro is the important thing to cleaning the mountainside, however her ritual takes time and he or she’s extremely susceptible. It actually takes a village to guard her.
Throughout the day, gamers purge the defilement and rescue locals from their containment sacs, whereas additionally clearing a path for Yoshiro’s dance. Press B on the gamepad to assign an assault position to a villager, after which press RB to put them within the setting. At evening, the Seethe pour out of the Torii Gates — the essential hordes are composed of globular, juicy monsters with lengthy, skinny arms and gaping mouths lined with sharp enamel.
Fight performs out in a rhythmic “sword dance” fashion, with easy inputs that may be mixed into fancy combos. Utilizing simply two assault buttons and a 360-degree digital camera, gamers slash by way of the Seethe, ensure that the creatures don’t get too near Yoshiro, and handle their further assault models. Fight flows easily, with satisfying swordplay and a difficult rush of monsters to defeat at every Torii Gate. After cleaning an space, gamers can hand around in the camp, upgrading their abilities, unlocking new skills, and studying in regards to the meals and tradition of the area that’s been defiled.
There are additionally problem areas with larger, deadlier monsters to kill. Right here, gamers are supplied a small group of villagers plus improve supplies to assign these models particular roles, like archer or woodcutter. The problem enemy I encountered, Gakinyudo, was a large, eyeless beast that ripped its personal jaw in half earlier than the battle started, revealing an much more disgusting kind. The monsters in Kunitsu-Gami have distinct backstories dripping in vile particulars, and I like the quantity of consideration their designs have been given.
Right here’s how Capcom describes the beast I battled: “The ravenous Gakinyudo are born from the corpses of lecherous monks who fell to defilement from their debauchery whereas alive. They like to dig up their meals from graveyards.” Metallic.
I defeated the Gakinyudo, however it took a while, unit rearrangement and a brand new group-attack transfer to complete the job. I loved each slice of my sword on this battle.
The sport’s environments and character designs are dense with fascinating particulars. The Maiden Yoshiro wears layers of flowing materials, a fragile face overlaying and intricately adorned jewellery, and he or she dances with a sluggish, targeted objective. She feels each fragile and extremely highly effective. The distanced, third-person perspective and totally adjustable digital camera encourage gamers to analyze each nook of every new space, slashing vegetation to obtain useful resource orbs and purging shrines which were coated in ooze.
As every evening approaches, the sport’s background music turns into extra unsettling and discordant, till it’s overrun by hellish screams and the Seethe start spawning. Particulars like this make Kunitsu-Gami memorable, even simply in demo kind. It is clear that there is far more to uncover on this recreation and I am wanting to discover its historical, magical mountainside in full.
Kuntisu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is because of come out on July 19 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection X/S and PC. It’ll be obtainable on Recreation Go at launch.
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