GamesStrategySummer Game Fest 2024Capcom’s weirdest game in years won me over in 10 minutes, and it’s suddenly the thing I’m most excited to see from the publisher in 2024When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesStrategySummer Game Fest 2024Capcom’s weirdest game in years won me over in 10 minutes, and it’s suddenly the thing I’m most excited to see from the publisher in 2024When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Capcom)
After 25 years of gaming and 11 years of game journalism, it’s rare for me to sit down with a game and have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. It’s a treat, in an odd way. Even with unfamiliar genres or out-there mashups, I can usually bumble my way through with muscle memory or context clues. But, perhaps due to the California sun baking my brain at theSummer Game Festvenue, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess utterly stumped me for about 10 minutes when I got some hands-on time with it. “Am I doing everything wrong?” I worried. “Do I not like this game?” I wondered.
Not so, it turns out. It just took a minute for the game’s controls, and its combination of action and tower defense, to properly click in my head. Once everything did, I quickly fell in love. I thought back to my time with the underrated Sanctum games, an FPS tower defense hybrid, and my brain got on the right track. In an instant, Kunitsu-Gami went from confusing to making-me-smile exciting. I’m serious: this was one of the coolest things at SGF, and it’s one ofCapcom’s most promising 2024 releases.
Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub.
Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub.
Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub.
Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub.
Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub.
Summer Games PreviewWe’re diving into the hottest upcoming games out of Summer Game Fest. To find all of our hands-on reports, visitGamesRadar’s What’s Hot 2024 hub.
Kagura action
(Image credit: Capcom)
At first, Soh herself can handle pretty much everything the game throws at you with some well-placed combos. Your light attacks and spirit slashes can chain into aerial, single-target, or AoE combos that target specific enemy types, delivering purification with wonderful flourish. I’m told the goal from the developers is for players to naturally balance combat and strategy pretty evenly, but there’s room for you to favor either.
(Image credit: Capcom)
Things quickly escalate. As seconds tick down during the day, you rush to free any trapped villagers and scavenge resources, because you’ll need them to assign roles or build structures at night. (There’s a handy fast forward function if you find yourself prepared early.) Equip Soh with special charms that adjust her play style and give her a unique ultimate-type ability as an “oh crap” button for when enemies break through. Upgrade the roles you’ve unlocked to enhance your villagers, making them more durable and adding game-changing effects to their abilities. Manage rations to heal any damaged units, including yourself. Oops, time for a boss wave that puts a totally different spin on combat. Did I mention the challenges for each level, perfectly tuned to pry perfection out of you and adding huge replay value to levels?
Like a good improv comic, Kunitsu-Gami keeps up the “Yes, and” progression. Within just a few missions, the game starts to reveal its hand: an engrossing mix of management and resources and attacks. You can reset or change your upgrades on a whim, so the space for experimentation is enormous. Soh feels great to play once you learn which combos to use in a given situation, and in my case, to give any incoming attacks a wide berth when you’re looking to dodge. Meanwhile, new roles, the towers of this tower defense game, wage an arms race with the ever-changing Seethe.
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(Image credit: Capcom)
The lovely wrapper on this thing, a vibrant dreamscape not just drenched in Japanese art and culture but also displaying a clear love and respect for it, is maybe the most compelling part. The devs constructed actual miniatures to use as a base for levels, and that degree of detail comes through beautifully. The interplay of light and dark is dazzling. Petals and fireworks erupt as you cleanse the defilement. Every last outfit – again, made using photogrammetry and some real clothing – is intricately layered. Splashes of color follow your sword as if a watercolor artist is tracing your movements. Contrastingly, the Seethe are horrible little things, and sometimes horrible giant things, sometimes humanoid and sometimes patently monstrous, and it’s hard to say which is worse.
A rare type of game
(Image credit: Capcom)
It’s fascinating stuff, the kind of weird we sadly don’t often see from studios of Capcom’s size. This is sandwiched between giants like Dragon’s Dogma 2 and 2025’s Monster Hunter Wilds, which makes it all the more special.
I asked director Shuichi Kawata, who pushed to avoid oversimplifying the game during early development, how he’d describe Kunitsu-Gami to somebody who knew nothing about it. “It’s a very good question,” he begins (via interpreter). “We’re constantly trying to find the best way to explain what this game is about to everyone. Since this is a very difficult game to express verbally, we focused on delivering a new gaming experience for people who actually get their hands on it. It’s difficult to express that experience through existing words, so we think it’s important for many users to get their hands on it and see how they feel, how they interpret this game.”
My interpretation is this: Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is the type of game I want more big publishers to greenlight, and it plays almost as good as it looks, which is high praise with art direction this strong. The action is rock-solid and the strategic side is immediately – well, 10 minutes after immediately – engrossing. I cannot wait to see what more difficult stages look like, and as someone who grew up playing countless tower defense Flash games in school computer labs, to obsess over getting a perfect score in every level. We don’t have to wait long, luckily.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is set to release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X (in Game Pass), and PC on July 19.
TOPICSSummer Game Fest
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2
Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”