Rhythm is everything in Kunitsu-Gami: The Way of the GoddessOn a microscopic scale, the maiden Yoshiro dances through the game with graceful, measured movements, her steps washing away the black pollution that has consumed her mountain and her people. In combat, Yoshiro's protector Soh directs his sword in agile arcs, launching attacks and parries according to rhythm and flow. On a larger scale, Kunitshu Gami Employing a relaxing cadence of frenetic combat and peaceful base-building, Soh’s skills grow to a powerful crescendo as they guide Yoshiro up the mountain, his body deteriorating with each encounter.
Amidst these waves of tension and tranquility, Kunitshu Gami It also balances beauty and hellish terror with supreme skill. The slopes of Mount Kafuku are lush, but its plants, animals, and people are bathed in caustic pools of pollution, oily and sticky. Yoshiro and Soh wear layers of delicate fabrics and gleaming metallic jewelry, and their movements are hypnotic. The demons that have taken over the mountain are vile: eyeless and filled with toxic pus, many of them armed with razor-sharp claws and gaping maws. The creature designs on Kunitshu Gami They are bodily hideous and each beast is uniquely and grotesquely beautiful.
Kunitshu Gami Find harmony in your dichotomies. The game’s core loop involves a day-night cycle: during the day, players chart a path for Yoshiro to cleanse a settlement, while collecting crystals, repairing defenses, and freeing villagers from the cocoons of desecration. At night, creatures called Seethe emerge from Torii gates, and Soh must defend Yoshiro with the help of rescued villagers. Protecting Yoshiro and completing his ritual reverts each region to its pre-desecration form, creating a base where Soh can improve his units and abilities.
The game combines real-time combat with tower defense mechanics, and it all takes place in a zoomable third-person view with a fully adjustable camera tethered to Soh’s body. It’s an effective approach, inviting players to play with perspective and investigate every detour in the environment, purging contamination as they go.
There are 17 bases to clear across the mountain, plus 10 boss stages. Defeating a major villain in a challenge stage unlocks a new type of warrior for Soh to deploy, including the healer, sorcerer, ninja, spearman, cannoneer, marksman, and an aesthetic that can slow down enemies. As night falls on a base battle, the game’s music grows louder and more discordant, signaling Seethe’s impending invasion. Players assign roles to villagers using crystals they’ve collected during the day, then place their fighters around Yoshiro on the map. Each battle involves a different number of units—there are even fights Soh has to complete on his own and others where they’re incapacitated, leaving combat entirely up to the villagers. The variety built into these encounters is refreshing.
Combat requires constant preparation and attention, as the Seethe attack Yoshiro from multiple sides with a variety of moves, including aerial slashes, suicide bombs, and bulbous projectiles that explode into toxic puddles. Repositioning units mid-battle is often essential, and thankfully time freezes during these tactical moments.
Soh primarily attacks with his sword in a smooth, rhythmic fashion that’s fantastic to control. Attacks are simple: on the DualSense, it’s square for smaller strikes and triangle for a heavy blow. Pressing square before triangle lines up elaborate sequences where Soh spins and swings his body before delivering a series of heavy blows, and his positioning is completely controllable the entire time. This makes combat feel like an elongated dance, with the input perfectly predicting Soh’s movements on-screen. Soh’s abilities steadily evolve with each victory and base repair, and he eventually adds a ranged bow, an additional form of swordplay, stronger attacks, multiple special moves, and other upgrades to his kit.
Mandatory boss levels appear after a few settlements have been successfully cleared, offering massive fights against gloriously disgusting creatures. I had to replay most of these bosses at least once, adjusting unit types and positions according to each demon’s unique attack style and vulnerabilities. The enemies are all giant and covered in intricate iridescent designs, but otherwise distinct: There’s a centipede that slithers and swoops in for quick strikes, a literal cherry tree with stinging tentacle roots, a vicious floating sorcerer orbited by a ring of rocky spikes, and a juicy larval beast that moves like a petulant child and spews lethal sludge. That last one is called Notsugo, and it’s my favorite because it’s just disgustingly adorable.
After a settlement fight or boss phase, there’s time to take a breather and fix up some bases. Bases are found on the phase select screen, following a successful purge. Once a settlement is cleared of pollution, players still have to make it habitable by assigning villagers to fix damaged buildings and platforms. Repairs take a few days to complete and unlock additional resources. It’s easy, uneventful work. This mechanic provides a soft place to land after a big battle, where players can strategize, improve their skills, pet a Shiba Inu, or let a deer yell at them. I recommend repairing bases as quickly and thoroughly as possible—not only does this generate the necessary resources at the right pace, but it also prevents an awkward backlog of base repairs from forming. By mid-game, I usually had three or four bases up and running at all times, and that was with immediate, maxed-out repairs.
Bases are also home to some of the game's prettiest aspects. Yoshiro sets up a tent at each base where players manage upgrades, and it also contains plates to share food with her. The dessert menu is the first to fill up, offering a variety of mochi treats and crystal candy in a fabulous photorealistic display mode. I don't know what it is, but I could stare at video game food in this much detail all day. Kunitshu Gami Understand this impulse and respond to it.
Additionally, the shop contains scrolls featuring traditional woodblock-style art pieces related to completed levels, and the bases feature collectible ema plaques that display detailed, rotating three-dimensional images of the demons and villagers players encounter. These are sensational details that not only expand the game's story, but also shed a bright light on Japanese history and culture.
Kunitsu-Gami: The Way of the Goddess It’s perfectly balanced, lovingly crafted, and metal as hell. It’s filled with menacing demons and intense combat, but it’s also a peaceful experience that invites players to slow down and acknowledge the beauty around them, even when it comes in the form of a giant, oozing monster. Especially in that moment.
Kunitsu-Gami: The Way of the Goddess is Available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series x/S, and Game Pass. It is developed and published by Capcom.
