Friday games with PETER HOSKIN: Dustborn and Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess By Peter Hoskin Published: 01:54, 23 August 2024 | Updated: 01:54, 23 August 2024 e-mail View comments Dustborn (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £24.99) Verdict: Too many parts Rating: Golly. Dustborn is a lot.
Though it doesn’t necessarily seem that way at first. There you are, a woman called Pax, on the lam from the law in some sort of future-America, having pulled off a heist with your crew of X-Men-ish buddies. You’re all masquerading as a punk band in a tour bus, as you hurry towards the border.
You spend the time engaged in achingly heartfelt conversations about your problems, society, oppression, that kind of thing. So this is going to be like a Telltale game, right? A narrative experience, in which the plot is moved forward by the dialogue options you pursue? Keep on choosing your own adventure until you reach freedom — or not. Golly.
Dustborn is a lot. Though it doesn’t necessarily seem that way at first (Still taken from Dustborn trailer) ustborn’s tonal swings between earnestness, comedy and big sci-fi imagineering, and you’ve got a game that’s as raucous as its bright, comic-booky art style And Dustborn is like that, except it starts punctuating the experience with other forms of gameplay. Because you’re pretending to be in a band, there are times when you’ve got to perform your (terrible) songs — by tapping controller buttons in time with the beat.
Read More Cat Quest III review: Shiver me timbers! It's pirate cats (and rats), writes PETER HOSKIN There are other times when you and your crew deploy your powers— and baseball bats — to beat robots into submission. These interludes could be a nice break from all the chat, but they’re more like whiplash. Add in Dustborn’s tonal swings between earnestness, comedy and big sci-fi imagineering, and you’ve got a game that’s as raucous as its bright, comic-booky art style.
Like I say, it’s a lot. There’s much to enjoy here — not least the easy camaraderie between Pax and her weirdo pals — but also too many distractions, too much unevenness. Sometimes, you just gotta sprint for the border.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £39.99 or included with Xbox Game Pass) Verdict: A terrific trek Rating: Wise old goats say that going down a mountain is even more difficult than going up one. But what if the mountain has been overrun by terrible demons? Surely that is the most difficult downwards trek of all.
It is also the basic plot of Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess, one of the most intriguing games of the year. You, as Soh, a mystical warrior in feudal Japan, have to shepherd Yoshiro, a maiden with special purifying powers, down a mountain that has been corrupted by an evil power known as The Seethe. Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess is one of the most intriguing games of the year (Screengrab from Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Kunitsu-Gami) It’s an incredibly satisfying hybrid — and a weirdly pretty one, too.
Kunitsu-Gami is a riot of purples, pinks, yellows, reds and oranges, like an English country garden in full bloom Together, with a mix of might and mercy, you make the mountain good again. If this makes Kunitsu-Gami sound straightforward, then rest assured — it’s not. It’s a unique blend of at least a dozen gameplay ideas, starting with its all-important day-night cycle.
The lighter hours are a time for exploration, for rescuing local villagers, and for readying your defences. While the darker ones are for protecting Yoshiro from the claws and caterwaulings of hellish monsters. And ‘protecting’, in this case, means a mix of action and strategy.
As Soh, you’re running around, slashing at anything that writhes. But you’re also directing villagers to stand in particular places and adopt particular roles, in order to push back the tide of relentless horrors. It’s an incredibly satisfying hybrid — and a weirdly pretty one, too.
Kunitsu-Gami is a riot of purples, pinks, yellows, reds and oranges, like an English country garden in full bloom. Except we’re actually on a Japanese mountainside. Going downhill.
Showing the goats who’s the GOAT. Share or comment on this article: Friday games with PETER HOSKIN: Dustborn and Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess e-mail Add comment.
