One of the cool things I really enjoy about video games is when it plays itself out to be more than just mechanics and obstacles for you to master and overcome. Like learning about the culture and methods of rice cultivation in Sakuna, the seemingly infinite pit of parodies you get from Grand Theft Auto, and some facets of history presented by the original Assassin’s Creed trilogy. And with what I’ve played so far, Kunitsu-Gami seems to be joining those ranks.

This title was announced roughly a year ago, and it was a little bit difficult to figure out what it was really about. Clearly there was going to be some action and combat, but that didn’t seem to be everything. It was going to have other units aside from the protagonist to fight off whatever was coming out of that cursed gate, and it wouldn’t be until later on that we get more information to chew on. With the unique choice of color palette, the dancing, and the theme of everyone wearing a mask. It certainly piqued my interest, as we currently live in an age where using old and proven IPs had an advantage.

 

 

It looks like Capcom is willing to bet a good chunk of the budget to bring new ideas up, even though something like Exoprimal really didn’t pan out. That’s certainly something to admire, and I’m happy Kunitsu-Gami became available to the public because of that. I did not regret spending more time than I had planned for Kunitsu-Gami. This review is a bit behind, so let me just go ahead and focus on things that I liked and other things that I think could be done better, so you can figure out if this title is for you. Let’s break it down.

Like games of old, it does not sink you into exposition before dropping you into the action. The objective appears to be clear, where you are already fighting demons coming out from some sort of gate but unfortunately have to retreat. This places you pretty much back at square one, where the basic tutorial ends and the actual game starts.

 

Production

 

 

The immediate thing that’s striking about Kunitsu-Gami is the characters, everyone except Yoshiro, sports masks. And with how the game presents itself, appears to be the medium of how they get their respective powers to manifest. The other immediate thing that catches your eye is the abundant use of colors for the corruption that you are trying to drive out of the lands, along with the Seethe, the swarm of monsters coming from another plane to attack you.

The monsters themselves are very interesting to look at. At least for myself, as a person who’s been exposed to the likes of Pokemon, Digimon, Persona, or Yokai Watch. To see monsters sourced from Japanese folklore presented in such an otherworldly way makes me want to have a closer look at them. Even if said monsters are very grotesque looking, you can see how much thought they’ve placed in the design when you realize that all of the monsters are still designed with a humanoid base in mind. Where many of them are warped and twisted to a degree that you don’t want them around your house at night. How the very same defilement spreads throughout the villages you seek to rescue, along with the wildlife does set the atmosphere, but honestly speaking, that’s about as far as it goes.

 

 

Animations themselves are largely easy to understand. In battle, you can tell when to guard or dodge, for the most part. It starts to be more difficult to track everything once you and your small army are trying to fend off several enemies at the same time, confined in a small space. I found it entertaining how a good Soh, the character you play, has dance-based moves. Once again, giving hints as to where the inspirations of Kunitsu-Gami lies.

And man, how I wish the musical themes carried over to the real game. While the audio-scape is quite fitting for the most part, they’ve decided to use more of a modern mix when it comes to the title’s music. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all quite fine, but they do stick out in the sense that it’s not quite aligned with the flavor the rest of the game makes. Having borderline techno tracks play through battles, and more classical piano tunes when going through peaceful towns, they’re fine. But they do not speak to the character that Kunitsu-gami carries.

 

Mechanics

 

 

So, Kunitsu-Gami has a pretty simple short-term goal. For every town you visit, you have to get Yoshiro to the gate that will let her seal away the Seethe and clear away defilement. But even if you set the path for her to get there, she takes a lot of time to traverse it. Making her vulnerable to being attacked by the Seethe during the night. It is then your task as Soh, to ensure her safety.

Each stage starts with a simple loop of exploring, planning, and defending. You want to find and rescue villagers who will, in turn, fight for you in your time of need. On top of that, you want to figure out the lay of the land, so you can figure out where you’d want to position Yoshiro to make her easier to defend. You’ll also find extra resources like healing items and crystals that are generally what you need to turn villagers into fighters that you could use.

 

 

At first, it starts simple. Letting you learn the controls, how to make use of positioning, and the ideal ways of making use of warriors. But Kunitsu-Gami will steadily introduce you to new terrain types, enemies, and even other little gimmicks that keep each new encounter fresh. You will find yourself at times scrambling to set up your defense by nightfall at times, just because of the sheer amount of things that you can go after.

Once combat comes, it’s a little like Arknights, you should be aware of the paths your enemies will take, and ideally have units in position to deal with them. As Soh, you are the hero unit of the army, you’ll be the one who’ll be dynamically responding to threats around the battlefield. Whether it be taking down stronger enemies, protecting Yoshiro, or completing a sub-objective. All of that will be generally your job to take care of, while the villagers fight to their best ability.

 

 

You have to hold out until morning comes, and the cycle begins again until you finally get Yoshiro to the gate and trigger the exorcism event to complete the stage. That’s pretty much it, it sounds pretty simple, but the sheer amount of content the game has makes me think otherwise.

 

Content

 

 

Now, I’ve made it to the first boat battle in Kunitsu-Gami, the first stage after the game’s first rather challenging boss, the Batsu. And while that might not look like a long way down from the top of the mountain, I’d like to point out that I ended up playing a lot of stages repeatedly. Not simply because I couldn’t complete them, but this game invites that sort of behavior.

First, there are a lot of enemies to deal with, and a great variety of possible units under your command to help deal with them. Because of that, I tend to want to experiment with certain formations and positions to see what really works out. One reason is to learn what works for me, another is to attempt to complete challenges within each stage. Though, I have to admit that had I simply proceeded with the game I probably would have unlocked upgrades that would have made achieving these challenges far easier. But, the third reason I was playing stages repeatedly was because of how I was managing each village after I cleared them.

 

 

You see, you can start restoring villages once you’ve saved them. And they require the passage of time to complete, meaning you have to go into battle. So I just complete simple ones to let me get back to them quickly. That way, I can gather some collectibles as well as some upgrade materials before proceeding to the next stage. Kunitsu-Gami doesn’t run on the traditional experience points system that you can farm from slaying enemies. Instead, you get a fixed amount for every little achievement you make.

And I want to be fully prepared for every new encounter because every time you go into a new stage they’re going to show something new. So wanting to have everything I can make use of ready to deal with a new challenge is sort of what I do. But honestly, if it’s stuff like stage gimmicks like splitting paths, low visibility, fighting on boats, and the traditional new enemy type, the upgrades I was farming for wouldn’t be that substantial against that. Knowledge is definitely a power you don’t want to underestimate for Kunitsu-Gami, and nothing can make you better prepared. For one thing, I was completely caught off-guard when one of the Seethe turned out to be a siege type, and it pretty much destroyed any hopes of me holding an archery line for that stage.

If there was anything I wished the game had, it would be more involvement with village management. Either as minigames for land cultivation, repairing the village, or fishing, or at least the ability to interact with villagers in a more meaningful way. I think this would have rounded out the experience of the title quite nicely.

 

Features

 

 

If you had a hard time looking at the scary Seethe and wanted a closer look, the title actually has a gallery that lets you see them in full detail. Even with some parts that animate when you move them around. Though to be fair, you can do this with even villagers and other units in the game, so it’s not all scary stuff. On top of that, you can also view some paintings describing the events of the game as progress, done in a traditional ukiyo-e style.

There’s also a photo mode though the game isn’t quite that impressive graphically for close-ups. It’s still nice to be able to see the game from various angles.

Finally, it was revealed to me that this Kunitsu-Gami does have a New Game+, where you carry over your progress, you can farm more upgrade materials to fully upgrade everyone, and you’ll also be dealing with far tougher stages.

 

Conclusion

 

 

Quick trivia, Capcom actually held a presentation through “Bunraku Theater” to promote this game. What is that? It’s a more traditional type of puppet theater. It even has a narrator who presents the story through song, where the singer is supported by a shamisen. However, there’s definitely been a revamp for it to be more relatable to modern times, and this whole promotion with Kunitsu-Gami is evidence of that. If you’re interested in learning more about the game’s lore, check it out on YouTube.

Things like these are what make me believe how much heart the title truly has. A set of developers so passionate about their heritage and history, especially for material that’s not quite as popular as ninjas or samurai. And I truly appreciate how they’re able to synthesize this with a functional game. We may be seeing what could be the future of the Real Time Strategy genre. When you look at its parts, you can’t really say it’s anything groundbreaking, but how they’ve managed to combine several phases of gameplay really does make for a fine experience.

Kunitsu-Gami might be a game that presents very old ideas in terms of lore but has been able to put a refreshing new spin on the gameplay. While there are some points of improvement and options may, at first, feel restrictive. Putting on a little bravery to fight the unknown can be rewarding.

Honestly, the eagerness of the title to give me a great experience while subtly sharing things about old Japanese folklore has completely won me over and has me dancing to its tune.

 

Kunitsu-Gami has put on a great show, scoring a 4 / 5

Available on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation.