Summary
Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddessis a weird game. Sometimes weird is great, like in this case, but weird games are hard to analyze and categorize, even in matters that are usually simple. Boss fights are no exception.
to stay true to the game, while not getting too stuck about what a boss fight is, every boss that got its own personal introductory cutscene is counted, even if it didn’t have its own dedicated boss stage as an Ominous Presence. Here they all are, from worst to best.
Spoilers for the entirety of Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess ahead.
12Mukajedoro
The Centipede
Bosses aren’t always the best part of Kunitsu-Gami, as they do not incentivize you to engage with the role system as much as the village levels do, but they bring a very welcome change of pace. Mukajedoro is the exception.
The giant centipede is unique. The fight attempts to utilize the light system presented in the previous level, but the result isn’t great. The villagers’ AI when you’re commanding them to light the candles isn’t the best, and the concept just doesn’t work well in practice.
11Yatsurao
Defiled Tree
Yatsurao is another one of the game’s experiments. The stage you progress through, before fighting them at the end, is a good example of a successful experiment. The boss fight itself, though, isn’t.
It is clunky to play, confusing to interact with and boring. There is an interesting mechanic surrounding the tree’s roots and forcing it to attack itself — which is one of the boss’s optional challenges —, but even that is awkward to pull off, despite being the intended way to fight Yatsurao.
10Gakinyudo
Drunken Monk
The first boss of a game is rarely good, but Gakinyudo does the job. Although the fight is very simple, it happens early enough into the game for it not to be a problem.
What the fight itself lacks in intricacy, it makes up for with Gakinyudo’s visual design. His presentation cutscene is fantastic, and so is his entire model. All the sluggishness in his animation illustrates the backstory behind these beings, who are said to be “born from the corpses of lecherous monks who fell to defilement from their debauchery”.
9Kamaitachi
Flying Nightmare
As the second boss you fight, and the one which introduces you to the advantage of placing your archers higher up, Kamaitachi does its job wonderfully. The boss looks terrifying and poses an actual challenge. He attacks fast and deals a ton of damage, and his teleporting ability requires quick reactions.
He forces you to go on the offensive and really make full use of your entire arsenal, from well-timed guards to accurate jumping attacks, giving you a great test early on. Kamaitachi is a worthy opponent, and one you’ll enjoy fighting every time.
8Notsugo
Toxic Beast
This thing looks likeit came from a scrapped design out of Monster Hunter: Rise. It is a huge frog-like being that vomits toxic pools and rolls around like a grosser version of Great Jagras, and is an interesting challenge.
His stage integrates cannons, which rewards you from baiting the boss into their line of sights. Using ranged roles heavily nullifies him, though, and his slow movement speed and lack of ranged options make him too easy of an opponent, especially for a mid-game enemy.
7Tsurube-Otoshi
Nightmarish Brain
Tsurube-Otoshi feels like an improved version of Kamaitachi. It isn’t as intimidating or visually interesting as the latter, but it is an engaging fight. It punishes you for being careless with your guard, or your villager positioning, and forces you to be patient.
Kamaitachi could easily be overwhelmed by archers and an aggressive playstyle, but that won’t get you too far against Tsurube-Otoshi, unless you really know what you’re doing. The boss is erratic and can quickly inundate you with attacks, forcing you to panic. It also gets some bonus points for looking like it came straight out of Bloodborne.
6Bupposo
The Samurai
This boss fight is yet another example of experiments gone right. By the time you get into this stage, you’ll have your favorite villagers, and you’ll have invested quite a few Musubi into them. And that’s when they pull the rug. This is an honest samurai duel.
Bupposo forces you to hone your blocking and your Tsuba Guard usage. When the second phase kicks off — this boss is the first in the game to even have one — you’ll have to forget blocking entirely, and will have to dodge for your life. Be careful with your positioning, though, or you’ll be pointing Bupposo’s strikes straight at Yoshiro.
5Batsu
Raging Quadruped
The crazy quadruped that drank way too many coffees must have shared some of the excess caffeine with the soundtrack team, because Batsu’s track is an incredible change of pace. This fight feels like Kunitsu-Gami turned all the way to eleven, in every possible sense.
Batsu is relentless, aggressive, and punishing. As the band seemingly destroys their instruments, the beast will be doing the same to your villagers. The beast is also apparently part-spider and also leaves cursed areas on the ground, slowing you down and preventing you from dodging. Good luck!
4Raikobo
Master Of Thunder
Raikobo has the coolest introductory cutscene in the entire game. If you’ve been relying on ranged villagers because you’re too lazy to micromanage melee ones, get ready for a wake-up slap. Wide sweeps, circular areas of denial and thunder falling from the skies are just some of the tools Raikobo has at the ready.
If you’re not getting used to controlling your villagers while dodging attacks, you’ll have learned your lesson by the time this boss is done with you. The longer the fight takes, the tougher it gets, so aggression is key, despite how short the windows to attack him might seem.
3Nanamaragi
The Defilement
As the first final boss you fight, Nanamaragi is fantastic. Kunitsu-Gami takes most of the ingredients that it has presented us with throughout the game, and bakes an excellent cake. You get a ton of villagers, but you need to manage them correctly. This boss’s attacks have such gigantic reach that you’ll have to keep your soldiers moving.
After testing your prowess at controlling your villagers, it kicks off its second phase by removing them from the equation, taking you all the way back to the Bupposo test. Dodge, perfect-guard and stay alive while minding your positioning. Nanamaragi’s attacks get deadlier during the second phase, and they do not lose their range, so a few missteps will get Yoshiro killed. This is a true test of strength.
