Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Otherworldly Ventures Hands-On Preview
With the video games industry being ever more averse to taking risks and launching new IPs, last year’s release of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess was a breath of fresh air. While the game developed and published by CAPCOM failed to set the sales charts on fire, the tower defense-meets-action game was, by every metric, a fine game that deserved more recognition and success, which the soon-to-be-released Nintendo Switch 2 port could bring, considering the experience is sure to work well in handheld format and with mouse controls. The Nintendo Switch 2 port of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess will also feature a new play mode called Otherworldly Ventures, which is also coming to other versions of the game to provide better replay value.
The Otherworldly Ventures mode is a sort of replayable “endless” mode with some light roguelike elements powered by a more streamlined version of the game’s formula set in the same locations seen in the campaign, but with rearranged elements. Villagers, for example, don’t have to be rescued; crystals are much easier to come by; contraptions, barriers, and other structures are located in different places than in the original maps, and can be repaired instantly; Soh doesn’t have to guide Yoshiro to purify gates, only protect her. At the beginning of an Otherworldly Ventures run, Soh will come with limited abilities, and can only assign the roles of Woodcutter and Archer to the available Villagers, but after clearing a Seethe wave, it will be possible to pick one among a few available upgrades, including additional Rations, new Villagers, new Masks, higher defense, increased damage and so on. Items and new abilities can also be purchased during waves as well with enough crystals, providing players with every option they need to survive the night and take on the next wave. After enough waves have been completed, the stage will change, repeating the loop until the final stage, or Yoshiro’s health has been depleted. In Hard difficulty mode, the Otherworldly Ventures mode can go on indefinitely, though waves will progressively become more challenging, as the health of any character is not replenished automatically. At the end of each run, the player’s performance will be scored, accompanied by several rewards that provide some incentive to engage with the new play mode.
Though the new Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess play mode doesn’t shake up the experience much, the faster pace makes the Otherworldly Ventures mode a fine addition to the game. And a rather challenging one to boot, as right from the onset, you will be dealing with powerful Seethe that only appear later in the campaign, so if you haven’t played the game in a while, it will take some time to get back into the swing of things. After this happens, however, the new play mode becomes quite enjoyable, so much so that it could be difficult for some to return to the slower pace of the main campaign.
Twisting the main campaign’s formula only slightly, and unlocking only after completing the campaign, the Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Otherworldly Ventures mode is not going to change anyone’s opinion on the game, as only those who liked it enough to complete the campaign will get to experience it. Still, it is a great way to put one’s skills to the test, and a solid addition to an already solid game that will hopefully get the recognition it deserves.
The Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Otherworldly Ventures additional content will get added to the PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S with a free update on June 5th, the same day the Nintendo Switch 2 port releases worldwide.
Tested on PC. Early access provided by the publisher.
