* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess（クニツガミ）
A "Kagura action strategy" game developed and published by Capcom, released on 19 July 2024 for PlayStation 4/5, Windows and Xbox One/Series X|S, built on the RE ENGINE, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version following on 5 June 2025. Set on the defilement-covered sacred Mt. Kafuku, the player controls Soh, a sword-wielding protector, guarding the maiden Yoshiro against the monstrous Seethe. Its Japanese design language, drawn from kagura dance and yokai folklore, was widely praised.
Description
Overview
*Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess* is an action strategy game developed and published by Capcom. It was released on 19 July 2024 for PlayStation 4/5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version added on 5 June 2025. Built on Capcom's RE ENGINE, it was developed over more than four years under director Shuichi Kawata. The title's "Kunitsu-Gami" refers to the gods of the land, as opposed to the heavenly deities of Japanese myth, signalling the game's mythological framework from the title alone.
Game Systems and the Sword
The player controls Soh, a sword-bearing protector who guards the maiden Yoshiro as she climbs the defilement-covered sacred Mt. Kafuku to purify it. By day the player frees villages from defilement, rescues inhabitants and assigns them roles — archer, naginata bearer, shrine maiden and others — laying out a defensive formation. At night hordes of the Seethe attack, and Soh fights at the front line with his own blade while directing the assigned villagers to shield the maiden. The design's core lies in folding real-time strategy, tower defence and directly controlled action into a single day-and-night cycle.
Kagura, Yokai and Japanese Design
Director Shuichi Kawata has said the game draws on the kagura dances and yokai traditions handed down across Japan. Soh's sword strokes, the movements of each villager role and the maiden's dance are all shaped with ritual dance in mind, and together with enemy designs evoking Noh masks they build a distinctive folkloric world. Notably, the sword here is less a tool of combat than a ritual implement for driving out defilement.
Reception
Critical reception was broadly positive, with Metacritic scores of 80 to 84 depending on platform. It was nominated for Best Sim/Strategy at The Game Awards 2024 and, at the 2025 New York Game Awards, in the world design and music categories. Capcom nonetheless announced in November 2024 that sales had fallen short of expectations, making it a case study in the commercial difficulty of ambitious Japanese-styled titles. As a rare work that portrays the Japanese sword as an instrument of purification rather than mere violence, it merits attention from the perspective of sword culture as well.
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