Category / Xbox Series X

by hutchwp

Kunitsu-Gami – a brilliant underrated Switch 2 launch title flying under the radar

If you’ve been excitedly waiting for the delivery of your new Switch 2, chances are you’ve already decided on what games to buy. You aren’t short of options! One of the launch bundles includes Mario Kart World, which is the biggest title out on release day and the flagship game that Nintendo are pushing., whilst a few other big hitters are on the radar from the likes of Zelda and Sonic.

I suspect most people are also going to have another game on the way, be that Street Fighter 6 or maybe one of the Zelda upgrades. Perhaps some have opted to pre-order the Mario Party or Donkey Kong games that will hit the shelves next month.

Whilst most of the launch titles are available in physical form, one title seems to be flying under the radar a bit, and I can honestly say it’s one of the best games I’ve played recently.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is a beautiful game that’s awash with Japanese folklore. In it, you play as Soh, a warrior on a mission to return the legandary Mount Kafuku to peace, free from evil spirit monsters and defilements, and guide the divine maiden Yoshiro back to the peak of the mountain in safety.

The genre is officially an action-strategy, but in reality it is part tower defence and part third-person slasher. You get a full daytime to prepare your village, converting villagers into different ability classes and placing them around the fighting area to strategically defend against an onslaught of monsters (“seethe”) when nightfall hits.

The music plays a huge part in building the atmosphere. Chikara Aoshima provided 53 tracks that range from twee musical background music to full-on nightmare. As night time approaches, the tension builds as you frantically rebuild structures around the village, search for items that will help your cause and generally begin to panic that you didn’t quite have enough time. The balance always feels just perfect – you can’t do everything and you have to prioritise what you think will help you most.

Visually it is a stunning proposition. It’s a Capcom game directed by Shuichi Kawata, who previously brought us Resident Evil 4 and 5, along with Shinsekai: Into The Depths.

It’s a substantial game, taking me over 70 hours to complete New Game+ when I played through on the Xbox Series X. There are further benefits to aim for by playing through New Game+ several times over, though I haven’t gone down that route yet.

It’s also full of horror visuals so is certainly not one for children!

If you find yourself wanting an extra game to supplement Mario Kart World this weekend, you could do much worse than give this a go. If you do, be prepared to lose a good few months to this wonderful game!

by hutchwp

Dad Gaming – We need to talk about loading

We need to talk about loading.

I’ve got a huge problem with my gaming habits, which means I’m almost never playing games.

I recently bought Street Fighter 6. After three nights of ‘gaming’, I can confirm that the training mode is quite enjoyable. I can also confirm I’m losing interest.

Back in 1993, when I was happily playing the original Street Fighter II Turbo on the SNES, my life was admittedly much simpler than it is now. I’d imagine that working out how far away Dhalsim could be from Ryu before his punches landed was fairly high on my priority list. I was a master of those 12 characters, and I had to be. My brother was a machine with Ryu and I had to be on my game to avoid embarrassment on a daily basis.

Let me talk about my experience not as an 8 year old, but as a 38 year old.

First night. I open the case up, turn on the Xbox Series X and insert the disc. Pretty excited. Will they have any knowing references to that original loading sequence from back in the day? Will the characters all be there? Will I be able to 100-hand slap like the old days?

Oh. I need to download an update. A big update. But it’s 10:30pm and I’ve only got 45 minutes. Okay, no worries. I’ll install and get some time in before bed time. I’ll watch that Beckham doc in the meantime.

11:15pm comes and goes and the game update still isn’t complete. I’ll need to come back tomorrow.

Tomorrow becomes today. A remarkable second free night in a row is here and I’m still very excited about playing Street Fighter 6, one of the best-reviewed games of the year. I load the game and the updates are fully downloaded. Good sign.

After a few intro sequences (no harking back to the glory days sadly), I’m told I need to login to Capcom using my Capcom ID. Strange requirement but I’m informed I can’t proceed with the game unless I agree. Sure. So I try to create an account, but apparently I already created an account at some point. So, I reset my password, but after 5 attempts it won’t link to my Microsoft account, which means I can’t access all of the game modes. It’s quite a fun experience so far – boy do I love entering email addresses using a gaming controller. Maybe this is the game? Turning grown men green with rage and seeing if they can spontaneously produce electricity.

So, I opt for the workaround and manage to get through to a reduced version of the game. However, instead of being able to jump in, I first have to complete a training exercise. My muscle memory is great, and I find it all a breeze. It’s good to know the grey matter is working.

And then, 15 minutes later, it’s bed time.

In 1993, after 2 hours of gaming I’d already kicked Bison’s ass so hard that the next Bison wannabee was gonna feel it. In 2023 I’m getting my ass kicked by loading screens, password resets and lethargy.

Current score: 3/10. Maybe if I get to play it sometime soon I’ll bump that up. Or maybe there will be another software update.