Singing Maiden.

POV: You're standing near the Maiden and she's singing to you.

The Path of the Goddess

So the 'Path of the Goddess' is about Soh's path to becoming a Goddess. And she was a former Yoshiro. 

It wasn't just about Yoshiro walking the Path but about Soh finishing the Path...

'A new tale of the Goddess' and the Goddess is Soh!

Phantom Paths...

Cursed Soh is not evil, she's just defilement. 

Perhaps she represents Soh's desire for change after witnessing the defilement slowly destroy Yoshiro. Or about her own fate she suffered as Maiden since Cursed Soh is her literal body, the Spirit Stone. 

Phantom Paths, the image in this context, suggests seeking change vs accepting the norm.
But why is it called Phantom Paths? Google Translates as it into 'Alleyway of Illusions' or 'Phantom Alley'

They're illusionary paths? Or is the illusion that they're fighting because in reality, they both have the same goal? 

Why is Soh gripping her sword with both hands but Cursed Soh with only one?
Cursed Soh is unsheathed but Soh is unsheathing.

Or is it implying that NG was the Phantom Path we went on because NG+ is the true ending?

250 hours in this game...

 

and it won't let me have SHIT.

9 times! And getting Cursed Soh!

I did it...

Me

So pretty!!!

She's beautiful!!! So worth it!

Can't believe she was locked behind 9 playthroughs. But I understand it's related to the narrative.

Kunitsu-Gami tells its story through gameplay, which is something I love in games.

More Cursed Soh!

Long hair, even slightly longer than Yoshiro's

Mandala?

He's elated

Don't talk to me or my Maiden ever again

The girls...

She has the grid with all Tsuba Guards behind her during gameplay but not cutscenes. It allows you to see which one you have equipped. 

Interesting that it comes with the skin.

Soh's Menu Outfit + Yoshiro.

I wonder why Soh in the menu is in this outfit, the 'Depowered' outfit. Was it meant to be updated?

I call her Pajama Soh.

There's extra icons on both of their portraits if you put them in costumes.

And you'll also see when Yoshiro is in the mikoshi.

Yoshiro praying to Soh's Spirit Stone + trying to get a closer look at it.

 In the opening, Yoshiro is praying to Soh's Spirit Stone.

In her plaque, it says she worships their ancestors. But...it says their ancestors were gods of the mountain. This seems important so I'll be tackling it in another post on what Cursed Soh is.

A closer look...

Can't see...

From the trailer.

It's quite...grotesque? The branch growing out of her left shoulder reminds me of the flower armor on Soh's right shoulder.

Her pose is different to Yoshiro's.

I tried using photomode to look at Soh's Spirit Stone during the Batsu fight in the prologue.

It might never have been rendered because the opening is an FMV. Maybe there's no 3D render of her Spirit Stone? But in the true ending, when we see Shadow Soh, there's the Spirit Stone and it's not an FMV.

So, the Path of the Goddess is purifying the land while becoming defiled and your body becoming an object of worship until the next Maiden is chosen. Then you return as a Messenger to guide the next Maiden to the same fate.

The punishment for depleting the mountain's resources is that their descendants(Chosen Maidens) must endure defilement the way the goddess did? Good way to teach a lesson but humanity never changes. Nothing changes until Soh's cycle.

I can only assume by Yoshiro and Soh's interactions, that Soh cares for her descendant and doesn't want the same fate for her, creating Cursed Soh. It's why Cursed Soh emerges only in Soh's cycle.

But was Soh really the only one to care?

(One of the possible themes of Kunitsu-Gami is how the destruction of resources affects future generations?)