Capcom’s new Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a fun mix of hack-and-slash action and strategy inspired by Japanese mythology and historical culture. But this mix of genres can be a bit overwhelming at the beginning of the game, when players are thrown into the mechanics and day-night cycle from the get-go. Here are five tips to help players get started on Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.
In Kunitsu-Gami, players control Soh, a spiritual warrior who protects Maidan Yoshiro, a priestess dedicated to purging all of her mountain villages of demonic impurities. Each village is its own stage, consisting of a starting point and an ending point: during the day, players must lead Yoshiro to one or more defiled Torii Gates, which, when night falls, spew out a flood of demonic creatures, the Seethe.
This day-night cycle takes some time to master. During the day, players lead Suoh around the stage, purifying various contaminated points to earn Crystals (in-game currency) and free villagers from their prisons. Suoh can then spend Crystals to assign combat roles to villagers to fight the Seethe after nightfall—but be sure to save some Crystals for use on Yushiro, who consumes them in her run to purify the end-stage portals.
Between stages, players can revisit completed stages to task freed villagers with repairs and earn rewards, as well as equip different combat skills and spells for different negative effects. You can also upgrade your villager combat roles using Musubi, a rare in-game currency earned by performing the aforementioned village repairs, completing challenges while playing through stages, or defeating bosses.
Villagers can be assigned one of several combat roles, from combative forest guards and long-range archers to treasure-hunting thieves and more. You’ll unlock more combat roles as you defeat more bosses, which you can face after completing their respective stages.
This is a basic walkthrough of how to play Kunitsu-Gami, but here are some tips when starting out.
Keep Yushiro moving during today’s session.
When you enter a village and start a level, it’s easy to quickly exit, clear all the corruption points (getting all of these points will earn you a new spell), free every villager, and prepare for the demonic attack when night falls. Just don’t forget to move Yoshiro before you do so: stand in front of her and hold the interact button (Square on PS4/PS5; X on Xbox One/Xbox One S/X) to “carve a path” for her to walk on her way to clearing the main gate.
If you forget to move Yushiro, you may have to survive an extra night or more if you don’t make enough progress on her march towards the demon-spewing gates. Each stage will start with a certain amount of crystals, so use some to dig part of her way before she rushes off to clean up the village, and remember to come back later to keep her moving.
The player can spend crystals to assign villagers to combat roles such as Lumberjack (yellow outfit) and Ranged Archer (blue outfit).
Balance your crystal budget – including in combat.
Since you’ll be using crystals to guide Yoshiro on her way and assign combat roles to the villagers, you’ll need to balance these needs. During the day, don’t worry about the latter—just get Yoshiro moving and go clean up the village. You’ll get a boost of crystals every time you clear a Pillar of Corruption around the village, plus a small amount for attacking the frond-like Corrupted Plants that regenerate each morning for a more reliable flow of crystals.
But you’ll also get crystals for defeating Seethe enemies at night, which will definitely help you clear Yoshiro’s path further in the morning but is also useful as enemies approach. Yes, you can wait until nightfall to assign combat roles to your villagers. This can be useful for changing your strategy on the fly – for example, assigning someone first as a thief during the day to dig up treasure (which can contain a crystal reward), then reassigning them to a combat role at night. More advanced villager combat roles require more crystals, so you may have to wait until you’ve collected more crystals from defeated Seethe.
After defeating bosses, players unlock new combat roles for the villagers. From left to right, starting on Yushiro’s side, is the ascetic who slows down the enemy, then on Suoh’s other side is the woodcutter who fights at close range, the long-range archer, and finally the powerful Sumo.
Replay stages to get more rewards.
After playing a stage, you’ll see how well you’ve done by completing a set of three hidden challenges—or by facing a boss, if you beat them within a time limit. This may seem a bit unfair, but there are other reasons you might want to return to a stage. Each village stage contains the aforementioned sunken treasure chest (or more) that are half-submerged in the dirt; you’ll need a villager assigned as a thief, which you can unlock after defeating the game’s third boss. Remember to hover the thief villager directly over the chest to force him to dig it up.
Each stage contains one or more Black Treasure Chests of the most valuable, often containing spells or even martial arts. Some of these chests will be located in later stages in hard-to-reach locations and require certain upgrades to Suoh’s combat abilities. Yes, you will eventually be able to upgrade Suoh along with your village combat roles, making revisiting stages even more important for Musubi rewards.
Returning to a later level will allow you to complete challenges that you couldn’t finish the first time, such as assigning villagers to multiple roles. More difficult challenges, such as not taking damage, are easier after unlocking and equipping certain spells.
At the end of each stage, Priestess Yushiro will cleanse the Torii Gate of demonic filth, making the village ready for rebuilding.
Between stages, reform villages
After liberating your first village, the game will instruct you to revisit it to make repairs. This is fairly simple, as you will assign the villagers you liberated during the combat phase to different parts of the village to repair. There isn’t a lot of strategy here, though you may want to opt for repairs that give you the ability to improve your villagers’ skills rather than Emma’s myth-filled boards. You’ll need to complete all of the repairs, as you’ll earn permanent rewards like expanding your crystal ceiling when you return to Yushiro’s tent afterwards.
Repairs will only be made after you perform one or more activities, such as playing (or replaying) a stage or defeating a boss (each repair site will tell you how long it will take). The trick is to remember to return to the villages between these activities – collect rewards, set new repairs, and then move on to the next stage or boss fight.
You will need to return to the villages anyway to make changes to Soh’s combat skills and spells, as well as upgrade the villagers, and eventually Soh’s skills.
The builder can be tasked with creating platforms for villagers to attack from, and traps to slow down enemies.
Upgrade and deploy villagers according to the characteristics of each stage.
When spending Musubi upgrades on Villager combat roles, note that they will gain enhanced abilities at levels 3 and 6 – including special abilities that stun enemies, attack multiple enemies at once, or expand the areas of effect of support role abilities. But it’s wise to focus on Archers, as they feel particularly powerful thanks to their long range and ability to hit flying targets. At 50 Crystals, they’re also quite affordable, and pair well with the more powerful Villager combat roles you’ll unlock later on.
While playing through a stage, you will need to figure out where the best places to deploy your roles are, usually with combat units in the front and ranged units behind them. No two stages are the same, with some stages dividing the Seethe into paths while others have multiple portals pouring enemies towards Yoshiro from different directions. Players will have to divide their attention as Soh runs back and forth, especially with the stronger demon summons that take a long time to exhaust and defeat. You will need to set up your units wisely so that they can be left alone for periods of time.
Stages may also contain various traps and tools that can be built during the day phase. A special NPC, the Builder, accompanies Suh and Yoshiro and can be assigned to build these structures – you just have to approach their foundations and assign the Builder. You may not be able to build them all before nightfall, but they will help hold off enemy hordes in their own way. Keep them in mind when placing your villagers around the battlefield. Elevated platforms give archers more range, while slowing traps allow your melee units to get more hits.
