Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess looks like a beautiful blend of Yokai, Pikmin, and tower defense
With dancing and swords
When we first saw Capcom's upcoming action strategy game Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess at last year's Xbox Games Showcase, there wasn't much to say other than that the game looks gorgeous. Thanks to last night's Xbox Partner showcase, we now know that it's a blend of Japanese mythology, sword-fights, Pikmin and tower defense.
According to a Xbox Wire, Kunitsu's story begins when a mountain setting, Kafuku, is blanketed by an evil defilement, with 12 magical masks being stolen. It's up to you and your maiden companion Yoshiro to cleanse villages of the badness and recover these stolen masks.
What's interesting is how the game's rhythm plays out across a day and night cycle. During the day you'll explore villages, purge defilements, and rescue villagers who'll join your party. Give villagers different masks and they'll transform into different fighters, like close-range bruisers or long-range pokers, who you'll position in optimal spots for when deathly night approaches.
At night things turn into a tower defense, Pikmin-style affair, where Yoshiro is the tower that needs defending and your gang of villagers are the Pikmin. As portals spit out gangly yokai, you'll fend them off with dancing sword techniques and instruct your fellow fighters to reposition or change roles accordingly. Going by the trailer, fights look frantic and just the right level of managerial, where you can get stuck into tussles with huge beasts without fear of everyone dying within seconds. Although there is a moment in the trailer where the main character has to pop a bubble shield to protect Yoshiro - let's hope your cronies can hold the line well enough that you don't have to stick next to her 24/7.
Kunitsu strikes me as the sort of game that'll scratch the same itch as Like A Dragon: Gaiden's colosseum mode. I adored the colosseum, mainly because I love assembling a roster of AI companions, watching them go to war, and occasionally barking orders at them to deliver special moves. Seriously, I take an extraordinary amount of pleasure from watching a simple friendly turret go to work.
There's no release date on Kunitsu just yet, but it's due to arrive sometime this year on Game Pass.