Right out of the gate with their very first game, developers Ember Lab really show they have something to prove and that they can stand toe-to-toe with some of the big Sony heavy hitters. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a blast of an action-adventure game. A very common reaction to people playing this is that it reminds them of an old school Playstation 2 game. I couldn’t agree more and that isn’t an insult. The adventure games of the PS2 era such as Naughty Dog’s Jak & Daxter is a genre we don’t normally see anymore. Playing this made me remember how much fun they are and I wish we had more.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is about a girl named Kena who has ability to help spirits crossover. On her adventures, she will come across corrupted nature and evil spirits who refuse to leave. With fun action mechanics that give you attacks with a staff and eventually a really fun bow, Kena slowly, but surely, makes her way purifying the forest and helping folks on her journey. The gameplay is simple and effective, as well at times challenging. Utilizing the basic controls of a “souls-borne” type game and not over complicating it. On Kena’s adventure, you also collect a bunch of little fuzzy friends called “The Rot” (sort of a dumb name for how super adorable they are) and these friends add a little extra spice to the fighting mechanics.
The graphics are phenomenal and with a gorgeous Disney/Pixar like design you cannot help but be completely charmed by it. However, I’ll admit, I was a little let down by the overall story. For a game by a completely new development team, I suppose I shouldn’t have had such high expectations, but ultimately the story and most of the characters are rather one-dimensional. They do still, however, try to pull on your heart strings when they can; depending on the gamer, these moments may or may not land with them. Having said all this, the story is serviceable enough for this type of game, it’s all about the gameplay and overall journey.
There are three difficulty settings and depending on how experienced you are you may not find any of the difficulties all that tough. The challenge for me, however, I found in the puzzles. There are constant little puzzles throughout the map, some harder than others. The game never holds your hand and feeds you information about every little thing you need to do, which I respect. Ember Lab does a great job of constructing such dense maps that I can’t help but constantly be impressed by their accomplishments. Many times, while playing I found myself shocked that this is I guess an “indie” game, because there is just so much AAA level quality on the screen with so much to do, it could easily take up to 30 hours to complete. All of this with a $45 price tag, I’m shocked it’s not a full price game.
Playing on the Playstation 5 is of course the best way to go; the game runs at a solid 4K resolution that never lets up. There is seemingly little to no loading when booting up the game, and when warping to different locations on the map. The DualSense does a nice, while conservative job here. I expected a little more, but it’s absolutely used in appropriate places.
All in all, I can’t recommend Kena: Bridge of Spirits enough. It’s not a perfect game, but it is still a journey to be had. With very little coming from Playstation this holiday season, I hope “Kena” finds its way into many people’s hands. Also, Ember Lab has made a clear statement that they are a force, and everyone should keep their eyes wide open for whatever they cook up in the future.
8.5/10
Check Out the Kena: Bridge of Spirits Trailer – https://youtu.be/-vZkt4fCkOc
For additional information, please visit EmberLab.com.
PlayStation 5 Review
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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