One of 2024’s Most Underrated Games Is Getting a New Mode for Switch 2

When Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess launches for Nintendo Switch 2 next week, a new mode called Otherworldly Venture will be part of the package. This new mode will also make its way to the other versions of the game as part of a free update. Ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch and this mode’s wide release, I got to go hands-on with it on PC. What I discovered is a fun roguelike experience that reinterprets the core formula of something already wildly creative into another novel experience.

If you’ve never played Kunitsu-Gami before, the addition of Otherworldly Venture makes it easy to recommend again. It’ll be a solid Nintendo Switch 2 launch game, and is equally worth the time of Xbox Game Pass subscribers, too. Otherworldly Venture only sweetens the deal, especially on Nintendo Switch 2, where the game will also have new features like mouse controls.

Before I tell you all about Otherwordly Ventures, I should explain why you need to play Kunitsu-Gami in the first place. This Capcom-developed title offers a hybrid of action game and tower defense mechanics, and is one of the most underrated games of 2024. In a standard Kunitsu-Gami mission, the player’s goal is to guide a maiden to a Torii gate so she can purify it. Players need to use resources to guide her to that location, and those are gained by fighting enemies called Seethe, which can emerge from the corrupted Torii gates each night. Players can also turn villagers into different classes of warriors to fight alongside them and place them wherever they want on delicately designed maps.

It’s a little complex at first, but Kunitsu-Gami truly sings once you can get a handle on all of its gameplay systems and learn to adapt to what each new mission throws at you. Toss in some colorful visuals and a mostly dialogue-less story that feels like a folklore tale, and you have a game that feels truly special. It didn’t get that much attention during awards season and even underperformed Capcom’s expectations, though, making Kunitsu-Gami the most underrated game of 2024 in my eyes.

That’s why I’m hoping the Nintendo Switch 2 release and addition of Otherworldly Venture can draw new people in. Otherworldly Venture takes all the core gameplay elements of the game and reinterprets them into a wave-based, roguelike endless mode. The main goal is still to defend the maiden, but she stays stationary as players take on waves of enemies in different levels from the main campaign. The mode ends if enough enemies get to the maiden and deplete her entire health bar. Once enemies start to fly, charge, and explode, it becomes a hassle to keep her alive for as long as possible.

While it was sometimes possible to just brute force levels in the main game without worrying too much about unit positioning, you will fail in Otherworldly Venture’s easiest difficulty if you don’t thoroughly think about where you are placing villagers and always keep track of where enemies are coming from. This makes it simultaneously a great endgame challenge and helpful practice mode to come to grips with the game’s mix of action and strategy.

While what’s essentially a wave-based horde mode might not sound that interesting on the surface, how progression works in Otherworldy Venture helps it stand out. Otherworldly Venture is more or less a roguelike mode. Players only start with a basic moveset and two types of units, but after each wave, players can choose upgrades to improve their capabilities. These decisions can become quite difficult when you have to choose between the likes of adding more villagers or gaining a whole new special ability for yourself. It’s also possible to buy these upgrades from Wayshrines using crystals obtained from defeated enemies, although this gets more expensive to do over time.

While Kunitsu-Gami takes its whole adventure to make players feel like a true strategic master, Otherworldly Venture boils that down to a mode that’s much more bite-sized. Even though I played this on my desktop PC, I can see Otherwordly Venture becoming my preferred way to play Kunitsu-Gami in the future, especially on Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch 2. And if you haven’t tried out this hidden gem yet, the addition of Otherwordly Venture will give you the perfect opportunity to do so.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess launches for Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5 with this Otherworldy Venture mode.