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Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess takes heavy inspiration from Japanese folklore and myths

Not just in the world, but a lot of the enemy designs come from Japanese legend too.
Alex Hopley Editor UK 19 June 2024

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is not just a vibrant mix of tower defence and hack and slash, it also is a love letter to Japanese folklore, in our interview with director Shuichi Kawata and producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, they highlighted how important it was to bring these elements to life in the game.

"Many of the inspiration came from the Japanese mythologies and folklores and those were the things that Kunitsugami is greatly based upon," said Kawata. "The game is also based on the Japanese ukiyo-e, the traditional art styles."

Further on, when talking about the roster of enemies in the game, it turns out they were also inspired by Japanese folklore, but with a twist from Capcom's design team. "In Japanese we call them mononokes. And from those traditional mononokes, I was making personal designs and customizations from his inspirations and making it into a more new modern art style in a way. So that was the whole design behind it."

Check out our full interview below for more details on base building and the combat mechanics. Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess launches on the 19th of July for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5.

Editor UK Alex Hopley covered the video game industry for Gamereactor, from new announcements and launches to the business behind them. He also wrote on tech, film and entertainment, and his coverage wasn't tied to any one region.
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