Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Review: A Strategy Action Game Like No Other

It's never possible to know if something will be a cult classic until it already is one, but if 2024 has any prime candidate, it's . Developed and published by Capcom, is the kind of experiment that might have been less surprising to see from a major studio twenty years ago. It's billed as a "," and its fusion of hack-and-slash action and interesting tower defense tactics is unique enough to earn the genre exclusivity.

has a lot to juggle, so it never gets too bogged down in the particulars of plot, sticking instead to bare-bones but evocative silent storytelling. The game takes place on Mt. Kafuku, a mountain covered in defilement and invaded by monsters known as the Seethe that pile forward out of traditional torii gates. The protagonist Soh guides the Maiden Yoshiro forward each day and defends her from the Seethe each night, allowing her to purify the mountain village by village with the hopes of ultimately rooting out the corruption at its source.

Kunitsu-Gami's charms outshine any flaw.

At its core, is a game about trade-offs. Taking the central mechanic of carving the path for Yoshiro as an example, the cost is paid in crystals, which can alternately be used to upgrade villagers to different classes for defense. There's also a lot to consider about positioning, which isn't as simple as just getting her as far as possible every day. Some setups are more defensible than others, and having to survive an extra night while progressing through a village might be better than leaving her in a vulnerable position.

's daily preparation process is a rush of bouncing from task to task, and having everything in place by nightfall isn't always easy. Soh can personally rescue villagers, harvest crystals, and nab unique rewards for thoroughly cleansing an area. When delegating, Soh can set villagers to the task of opening up new areas, get a builder working on repairs to defenses like barriers and cannons, or assign Thieves to uncover buried resource chests.

At its best,