If you want to put your Switch 2 through its paces, there’s no shortage of options in its generous launch lineup. Whether it’s the candy-colored charm of Mario Kart World or the neon-drenched cityscape of Cyberpunk 2077, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to visual powerhouses.
With such major titles on offer, it would be easy to overlook Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Released on other platforms in July 2024, it’s a game that, at first glance, might seem like just another Japanese action game, complete with unwieldy title and familiar feudal-era setting. Jumping into the adventure of the goddess Yoshiro and her faithful protector Soh, I was surprised to find that Capcom’s Shinto-inspired epic is a truly compelling blend of action and tower defence.
The land has been overrun by a demonic force known as the Seethe. Villages surrounding the sacred Mount Kafuku have fallen to corruption. Yoshiro, a divine being, must perform a ritual dance to cleanse each area. Cleansing leaves her vulnerable to attack, which is where her bodyguard Soh comes in. He is tasked with defending the goddess as they move through each settlement, dancing away the evil. Thankfully, Soh won’t be alone in this task.
In each area, you cleanse corrupted villagers and assign them combat roles, allowing them to join your fight. You’ll place these villagers in strategic positions around Yoshiro. As night falls, your group must hold their ground against waves of Seethe. The day-night cycle creates a natural ebb and flow of action. During the day, you free villagers, collect crystals, and purge corrupted fauna while a timer counts down to nightfall. Roles are assigned to your fighters using crystals, but this currency is primarily used to carve a path for the ritual. As Soh waves his harai gushi to guide Yoshiro, her progress will determine how many cycles it will take to clear the area. Some will take a single day, most take multiple.
Half ARPG, half tower defence, Kunitsu-Gami is a fascinating and addictive mashup. You control Soh directly, and there’s a beautiful fluidity to his combat. His “blade dance” has a slight delay between input and impact, giving the sensation of gliding through swathes of enemies and cutting them to ribbons. He can attach multiple talismans and tsuba to his gear, which add devastating new abilities or boosts to villagers.
After a settlement is cleared, it becomes a base that you can revisit between rituals. Upgrading these bases provides rewards for both Soh and his growing band of fighters.
Between villages, powerful bosses await, and defeating them earns you a mask that unlocks a new role type to assign to villagers. Boss fights themselves play like a gritty, horror-tinged version of Pikmin, as you command fighters to swarm an enemy or defend Yoshiro from adds.
Each villager role has unique utility, from the humble woodcutter to the formidable sorcerer. Selecting the right roles for the right type of enemy or environment is key to Yoshiro’s survival.
The settlements of Mount Kafuku are visually stunning, vibrant dioramas that shift from fleshy hellscape to lush paradise as Yoshiro does their thing. The game runs incredibly well too; Soh slices shafts of bright colour through large groups of enemies without any noticeable frame drops. Performance remains impressive undocked, with the Switch 2’s larger display complementing the top-down environments perfectly. There’s also a healthy selection of visual options (being able to disable motion blur and depth of field is appreciated, Capcom) and accessibility tweaks.
Completing the audio-visual feast is an intoxicating soundscape, which is only slightly marred by a woeful English voice track. Luckily the option to swap to Japanese is available.
Mouse control will be a bit divisive for some. Arguably, this kind of title is well suited to the mouse, as a large chunk of gameplay has you assigning units in the command menu. It took some getting used to, but once I found a comfortable hand position, I enjoyed playing this way. Ultimately, though, I found myself retreating to traditional controls during difficult sections like boss fights. Manoeuvring Soh around enemies while shifting the camera with mouse movement just didn’t quite work for me.
Still, even without the extra ways to play that Switch 2 offers, this is a great representation of multiple genres in its own right. It’s a generous title, with plenty of reasons to go back to levels, revealing secrets and unlocking more abilities for Soh and his army.
While each villager role introduces a new strategy and each corrupted settlement adds fresh mechanics, the formula does start to feel slightly repetitive after the midpoint. That said, the core loop of upgrade-plan-defend is addictive and makes Kunitsu-Gami one of the most unique launch titles on Switch 2.
Conclusion
Kunitsu-Gami was a real surprise. A solid blend of strategy and action that incorporates aspects of Shinto and Japanese folklore to create a visually stunning experience. It’s a great showcase for Switch 2, even if mouse controls might not quite work for everyone.
