Capcom’s new game Kunitsu-gami: Path of the Goddess is a fun mix of hack-and-slash action and strategy wrapped in Japanese mythology and historical culture. But this mix of different genres can be a bit confusing at the beginning of the game, when players are thrown into mechanics and the day-night cycle right from the start. Here are five tips to help players get started with Kunitsu-gami: Path of the Goddess.
In Kunitsu-gami, players control Soh, a spiritual warrior tasked with protecting the grounds of Yoshiro, a priest dedicated to removing demonic impurity from all the villages of his home mountain. Each village has its own stage, with a start and end point: during the day, players must lead Yoshiro to one or more defiled torii gates, which spew a flood of demonic creatures, the Sithe, when night falls.
That day-night cycle takes a while to master. During the day, players move Soh around the stage, earning crystals (the in-game currency) by purifying various defilement points and freeing villagers from their cocoon prisons. Soh can then spend crystals to assign combat roles to villagers to fight the Sith after nightfall — but be careful to save some crystals to use for Yoshiro, who consumes them on his march to purify stage-ending gates.
Between stages, players can revisit finished stages to repair those freed villagers and earn rewards, as well as equip different combat skills and talismans for different passive effects. You can also upgrade your villager combat roles using Musubi, which is a rare in-game currency earned by repairing the aforementioned village or completing challenges while playing through stages or defeating bosses.
Villagers can be assigned to one of several combat roles, from melee junglers and ranged archers to treasure-digging thieves and more. As you defeat more bosses, you’ll unlock more combat roles, which you can face after completing their respective stages.
This is a basic description of Kunitsu-gami’s gameplay, but here are a few tips when starting the game.
Keep Yoshiro moving through the day cycle
When entering a village and beginning a stage, it’s easy to just go out and purify every corruption point (getting them all will give you a new talisman), free every villager, and be ready for the demon attack when night falls. Just don’t forget to move Yoshiro before doing so: stand in front of him and hold down the interaction button (square on PS4/PS5; X on Xbox One/Xbox One S/X) to “make a path” for him to follow on his way to purify the main gate.
If you forget to advance Yoshiro, you may have to survive an extra night or more if she doesn’t make enough progress in her march toward the demon-spewing gates. You’ll start each stage with a small amount of crystals, so use some to make her a little way before you head out to clear the village, and remember to come back later to advance her.
The player can spend crystals to assign villagers combat roles, such as a melee woodcutter (yellow outfit) and a ranged archer (blue outfit).
Keep your crystal budget balanced – even in battle
Since you’ll be using the crystals to guide Yoshiro on his path and assigning combat roles to villagers, you’ll need to balance those needs. During the day, don’t worry about the latter – just let Yoshiro lead the way and clean up the village as he goes. You’ll get a batch of crystals whenever you purify one of the pillars of corruption surrounding the village, as well as a small amount for attacking the corrupted leafy plants that regenerate every morning for a more reliable flow of crystals.
But you’ll also get crystals for defeating Sithe enemies at night, which will definitely help you make Yoshiro’s way better in the morning, but will also be useful if enemies come calling. Yes, you can wait until nightfall to assign your villagers combat roles. This can be helpful for quickly changing up your strategy – e.g., assigning someone as a thief during the first day to dig up treasure (which may contain a wealth of crystals), then reassigning them to a combat role at night. More advanced villager combat roles cost more crystals, so you may want to wait until you’ve collected more crystals from defeated Sithe.
After defeating the boss, players unlock new villager fighter roles. Starting with Yoshiro from left to right, there’s the Ascetic who slows down enemies, then the melee-wielding Lumberjack on the other side of Soh, the ranged archer, and finally the tanky Sumo.
Replay stages for more rewards
After playing a stage, you’ll see how well you’ve done by completing a set of three hidden challenges – or the boss, if you beat them within the time limit. A little unfair, but there are other reasons you’ll want to go back to the stage. Each village stage has the previously mentioned sunken treasure (or more) half-submerged in the mud; you’ll need a villager playing the role of the thief, which you can unlock after defeating the game’s third boss. Remember to move the thief villager directly above the chest so they can dig it up.
Each stage contains one or more valuable black treasure chests, often containing talismans or even war arts. Later stages will place some of these in locations that are difficult to reach, requiring some upgrades to Soh’s battle abilities. Yes, you will eventually be able to upgrade Soh with village battle roles, making it more important to revisit stages for Musubi rewards.
Returning to a stage later will allow you to complete challenges you don’t get the first time around, such as assigning villagers multiple roles. Other more difficult challenges, such as not taking damage, become easier after unlocking and equipping certain talismans.
At the end of each stage, the priestess Yoshiro will purify the Torii gate of demonic impurity, leaving the village ready for rebuilding.
Between stages, repair village
After you free your first village, the game will guide you to revisit it to perform repairs. This is pretty straightforward, as you’ll assign the villagers you freed during the battle phase to different parts of the village to fix them up. There’s not much strategy involved here, though you may want to opt for repairs that get you villager-improvement musubi on lore-filled Enma plaques. You’ll want to complete all the repairs, as returning to Yoshiro’s tent afterward will give you permanent rewards like expanding your hat of crystals.
Repairs will only be done after you’ve done one or more activities, such as playing (or replaying) a stage or defeating a boss (each repair site will tell you how long this will take). The trick is to remember to return to the villages between these activities – collect the rewards, make new repairs and then move on to the next stage or boss fight.
You’ll need to return to the villages anyway to make changes to Soh’s equipped combat skills and amulets, as well as to 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 villagers and deploy them according to the characteristics of each stage
When spending Musubi upgrades on Villager Combat roles, note that they’ll get better abilities at the third and sixth levels – including special abilities that stagger enemies, attack multiple enemies at once or extend the areas of effect of support role abilities. But it’s wise to focus on archers, as they feel particularly powerful with their long range and ability to hit flying targets. At 50 crystals, they’re also quite affordable, and they synergize well with the tankier Village Combat roles you’ll unlock later.
While in a stage, learn where the roles are best placed, generally with melee units in the front and ranged units behind them. No two stages are the same, some split the flood of Sith into lanes while others have multiple gates that pour enemies towards Yoshiro from different directions. Players will have to divide their attention running back and forth with Soh, especially when strong monsters are summoned that take time to weaken and defeat. You will also have to set up your units wisely so that they can be left alone for some time.
Stages can also have different traps and devices that can be built during the daytime. A special NPC, the Builder, accompanies Soh and Yoshiro and can be assigned to build these structures – you just have to reach their foundations and assign the builder. You might not be able to build them all before nightfall, but they’ll help fend off the hordes of enemies coming your way. Consider them when deploying your villagers around the battlefield. Elevated platforms give archers more range, while slower traps allow your melee units to land more hits.
