This one caught my eye during the initial PS5 reveal showcase (despite being a cross-gen title), but I only found myself gettting around to it a little over a year after release. While nothing innovative, Kena: Bridge of Spirits combines some fun combat mechanics with a pleasant world to explore for an overalle enjoyable experience that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Kena immediately grabs the player's attention with a warm and lush art style that has drawn comparisons to Pixar. The cutscenes are beautifully animated and the game has excellent production value. The story has some emotional high points along the way, though admitttedly is a little generic and leans into some children's fantasy tropes. I did enjoy seeing the backstories of the corrupted spirits and how Kena helps them move on from their past traumas in various ways. The story is nothing you'll remember for long but it's bolstered by a sweeping score and art style.
Kena's dodge-rolling and archery combat reminded me of the Horizon franchise. You'll find yourself dodging around bosses, getting off quick shots with your bow at weak points, and using special abilities with the help of your Rot companions- cuddly little guys who are something akin to Pikmin. The Rot (and I'm not sure why they went with that name) are the real stars of the show, and you can search to environment to recruit more of them to your little army. You can even purchase and equip hats for each individual rot member which is a fun bit of customization.
Gameplay is comprised of simple puzzle platforming, often involving your weaponry, and combat encounters. There are a good number of bosses throughout the game and at times I found myself pretty well challenged on normal difficulty. I really had to be locked in and learning the enemy patterns to stand a chance against these fast and versatile foes. I think combat is pretty well balanced and fun throughout the game, and the boss designs encourage you to change up your approach. By the end of the game I was lobbing sticky bombs, dodging, leaping into the air and firing off arrows in slow motion which all felt very fluid. I never felt like the challenge was unfair, though there are definitely moments late in the game where these boss encounters will throw a lot of respawning minions at you- never my favorite to deal with.
I did get a little tired of the traversal, as the puzzles start to grow a bit old. Too many times I was throwing bombs to launch floating platforms in the air, or shooting gemstones in a certain order to open a door. None of the puzzles struck me as particularly creative and while they are necessary to break up the combat encounters I wish they might have been more involved.
Kena has a simple ability unlock system, and it was definitely worth unlocking as many of these moves as possible as they are genuinely quite helpful in combat. There's also a separate currency that's mainly used for cosmetics. I didn't feel especially compelled to scour every nook and cranny in the environment, though that exploration is there for players who are into it.
Kena is overall a pleasant adventure with some difficulty spikes along the way that kept me on my toes. It's not a must-play title, but it hits its marks and a fun for-all-ages entry in the action fantasy genre.
Kena immediately grabs the player's attention with a warm and lush art style that has drawn comparisons to Pixar. The cutscenes are beautifully animated and the game has excellent production value. The story has some emotional high points along the way, though admitttedly is a little generic and leans into some children's fantasy tropes. I did enjoy seeing the backstories of the corrupted spirits and how Kena helps them move on from their past traumas in various ways. The story is nothing you'll remember for long but it's bolstered by a sweeping score and art style.
Kena's dodge-rolling and archery combat reminded me of the Horizon franchise. You'll find yourself dodging around bosses, getting off quick shots with your bow at weak points, and using special abilities with the help of your Rot companions- cuddly little guys who are something akin to Pikmin. The Rot (and I'm not sure why they went with that name) are the real stars of the show, and you can search to environment to recruit more of them to your little army. You can even purchase and equip hats for each individual rot member which is a fun bit of customization.
Gameplay is comprised of simple puzzle platforming, often involving your weaponry, and combat encounters. There are a good number of bosses throughout the game and at times I found myself pretty well challenged on normal difficulty. I really had to be locked in and learning the enemy patterns to stand a chance against these fast and versatile foes. I think combat is pretty well balanced and fun throughout the game, and the boss designs encourage you to change up your approach. By the end of the game I was lobbing sticky bombs, dodging, leaping into the air and firing off arrows in slow motion which all felt very fluid. I never felt like the challenge was unfair, though there are definitely moments late in the game where these boss encounters will throw a lot of respawning minions at you- never my favorite to deal with.
I did get a little tired of the traversal, as the puzzles start to grow a bit old. Too many times I was throwing bombs to launch floating platforms in the air, or shooting gemstones in a certain order to open a door. None of the puzzles struck me as particularly creative and while they are necessary to break up the combat encounters I wish they might have been more involved.
Kena has a simple ability unlock system, and it was definitely worth unlocking as many of these moves as possible as they are genuinely quite helpful in combat. There's also a separate currency that's mainly used for cosmetics. I didn't feel especially compelled to scour every nook and cranny in the environment, though that exploration is there for players who are into it.
Kena is overall a pleasant adventure with some difficulty spikes along the way that kept me on my toes. It's not a must-play title, but it hits its marks and a fun for-all-ages entry in the action fantasy genre.