So, let me first say that this article was going to be just another game review article. I was going to talk about my likes and dislikes, I was going to emphasize my overall view of the game, the state the game is in, and even give some suggestions if I felt like there were going to be some suggestions needed. I wasn't going to write this review for Path of Kami just yet because I didn't want to write tonight. I took my notes, most of the mental, and started researching the developers Captilight like I always do. I have a process folks, and I was in the middle of my process, but then it hit me. I started to read Captilight's I Fund Women (IFW) page and it inspired me to write this article tonight. But this article is going to be different because this article will not just honor the hard work that Captilight is putting into Path of Kami, but I want it to also highlight the team themselves. So this article will be, hopefully, a memorial of appreciation for the message that Captilight is trying to bring, because quite frankly, I'm all about it. Don't get me wrong, I will still very much focus on Path of Kami, but I want to also try to envelop this hard-working gaming developer's mission, in the article.
So let's go.
Path of Kami is a world-building puzzle game that is supposed to give you the feeling and wonder of exploring this ancient Japanese lore-filled world in which you play as Kazeyo, a deceased Japanese wolf, and his adventures traveling in the mortal and spirit world. Being that this is just a demo, the game's graphics are rough, so you won't really get to enjoy the full effect of this title's rich environments, but even in the alpha version, you can get the idea of how the world will look. This is true if you have played games like Okami when you play as Amaterasu and her journey of saving the world. Now Path of Kami doesn't seem like it will be as action-packed as Okami, and that is solely because of the message that Captilight is trying to send through the gaming community.
"The majority of games in the marketplace are heavily focused on genres surrounding violence. A handful of games like The First Tree, GRIS, and Journey have more than proven a market need for non-violent thoughtful games. But we need more...and we need a team that can represent the full spectrum of gamers." -Captilight IFW webpage-
They aren't wrong in this belief and notion. When you look at just the AAA titles that hit the mainstream marketing, you see games like Outriders, Resident Evil: The Village, and many more have the premise of violence as the core being revolved around. Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of games that come out, especially in the Indie scene, that isn't, but the amount of them are completely outshined and outweighed by these other types of games. I can honestly agree with this sentiment. Path of Kami will be a game that will be seriously story-driven through puzzles and immersive worlds that should trap the players in wanting to progress more due to the puzzles, the graphics, and of course, the audio. I was slightly disappointed in the quality of the demo to be completely honest. Not so much as graphics or even the audio, but in the puzzles. But to be fair, I also know that you don't want to start dropping your hard puzzles on a demo, that would be crazy. I can respect that honestly. I am only speaking from a hardcore gamer side. This is really hard for me to turn off, especially when I am writing reviews, but since I have been doing reviews, I have done pretty well at looking at things objectively and try to look at them from the developer's point of view. It didn't tarnish the vision of the game that I hope the final product will produce and once bugs with the controls and little things like jump balancing are fleshed out and worked on. Path of Kami really does look like it is going in the right direction that the team wishes to go.
Now I do want to touch on the puzzle system just a bit more before I move on, because I know I didn't talk much about it before. As you play as Kazeyo, you have this little wisp that follows you around and narrates your story. Helping you with figuring out the lay of the land and how to play the game. I hope she doesn't end up annoying like Navi (10 points if you know that reference). Moving around as Kazeyo, you have these balls of fire that rotate around your neck. These are used to light lanterns for the puzzles. You can replenish these fireballs by going into spirit fountains. It's a nice strategic dynamic in which I hope that the developers will use their creative minds to make some real brain-jerking puzzles for us, the gamers, to play. I for one do enjoy a good puzzle game, and I am also curious if there will be new additions to Kazeyo's ability kit to thus solve even more dynamic puzzles later on in the future.
I really am enthralled by the message that Captilight is trying to deliver in the gaming world. A team of majority women, minorities, and everyone else, in an industry that is dominated by males, can be tough, but the founder Deana Galbraith really seems to have a strong idea that I feel can very well be heard. In all honesty, it should be heard. I love that this new studio is almost done with Path of Kami: Prologue because that makes me believe that there will be more to this game. It brings interesting ideas to my head. Like, will they just be releasing updates with new puzzles and new patches to just make this game constantly grow for years to come? Will there be new stories told as we follow the adventures of Kazeyo through these said puzzles? Will the game start implementing things like time trials, or ways to compete in solving said puzzles so that you can compete with friends and others online? I have no idea if they have thought about any of this, but if they read this, those are just things I personally would just love to see because I feel like such a model is not tapped in the gaming industry right now. Not many games, if any at all as they aren't coming to the top of my head.
There are so many aspects of this game that the demo doesn't address, and that's okay. Though again as a hardcore gamer, I am not happy about this, that is only because I actually am sitting on the edge of my seat wondering what the dynamic this game will take. There are so many avenues and roads that can very well make or break this game, but I don't think there needs to be much worry once the final product is fleshed out. No matter which path they take (see what I did there?), I fully believe that this game will do well. Well, at least I hope. I'm not some statistic analyst or anything like that. But it would be sad to see this hard-worked game by this proud group of a diverse and highly capable developer be ghosted away. But I feel that since G.Round is backing them up and helping them with their dream, then it very well should go just fine. If you want to know more about Captilight's stretch goals and their vision for Path of Kami, you can click the links in this article. I really love that they chose to use the site IFW over the usual Kickstarter website because it just shows me that they really are trying their most damn to be heard and not only represented in the gaming industry but to also REPRESENT as well and well, that's just pretty damn awesome. I implore you, take a look at their IFW page yourself and show some love and support to the Captilight crew. They definitely "Moved Me".
Comments