Kena: Bridge of Spirits review
Our Verdict
What Kena: Bridge of Spirits lacks in new ideas, information technology makes up for with an abundance of charm and gorgeous visuals.
For
- Rewarding exploration
- Enjoyable puzzles and platforming
- Surprisingly challenging combat
- Beautiful visuals
Against
- Bland story and characters
- Repetitive towards the end
Tom's Guide Verdict
What Kena: Bridge of Spirits lacks in new ideas, it makes up for with an affluence of charm and gorgeous visuals.
Pros
- +
Rewarding exploration
- +
Enjoyable puzzles and platforming
- +
Surprisingly challenging gainsay
- +
Beautiful visuals
Cons
- -
Bland story and characters
- -
Repetitive towards the cease
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the first video game release from animation studio Ember Lab, merely you wouldn't know that from playing it.
This colorful action-chance game isn't an unfocused kickoff try from a programmer still finding its footing in the industry. Instead, Kena: Bridge of Spirits feels similar the work of an experienced team that actually understands its craft.
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Several of Kena's cadre gameplay elements feel cribbed from other popular games, and the central narrative never quite finds its footing. However, Kena: Span of Spirits is consistently a joy to play. But don't let the Pixar-style visuals fool you; it'due south no walk in the park.
Kena: Span of Spirits may non practise much innovating of its own, but its combination of fun platforming, challenging combat and a lush globe, ripe for exploration is a winning formula. Read on for our full Kena: Span of Spirits review.
Kena: Span of Spirits review: Gameplay
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an activeness/adventure game that casts you as the eponymous hero as she ventures out into a world overrun with darkness. Her quest is simple: Restore the ancient hamlet at the centre of the state, and unlock the secrets of its demise.
The game is an action/platformer at its core, with a strong emphasis on exploration. After a paw-holding scripted opening, the world opens up. From there, you're free to poke around and observe the multitude of worthwhile secrets crammed into the game's diverse environments at your leisure.
There plenty of things to collect, including multiple types of currency to upgrade your abilities and purchase cosmetic items. Even so, the primary resource you lot'll chase is Rot. These ambrosial lilliputian companions are extremely useful for a variety of reasons.
Not only are the Rot able to cleanse the world of darkness, but they besides assist you in platforming, puzzle-solving and combat. When you lot collect a certain amount of Rot you'll level up, which in plow unlocks new Rot abilities. These permit you to collect even more of the squishy petty creatures. Information technology's a satisfying loop that actively rewards careful exploration.
The game doles out Rot at specific story moments, but players who take the time to explore will get much deeper into the upgrade tree. Plus, a pocket-sized pack of Rot follows you effectually as you traverse the map. Growing your army of loveable little creatures is virtually reward enough for thorough exploration.
Kena: Span of Spirits review: Platforming and combat
When you're not picking through chests and wooden barrels for Rot and currency, you'll face more often than not straightforward platforming sections. Kena's platforming movement ready is fairly limited, with only a double jump and simplistic climbing abilities at her disposal. The game never demands much from you beyond timing your jumps well enough to clear a gap, or avoiding falls into deadly majestic lava.
At that place are likewise plenty of environmental puzzles to solve along your journey. The best ones require you to employ equipment yous unlock along the way, such every bit a bow or explosive bombs. The majority of puzzles aren't particularly taxing, but the game doesn't clearly mark some of them. This can lead to frustrating moments where your progression stalls.
Even so, this is far less of an issue on PS5 as Kena: Span of Spirits includes total PlayStation Activities support. At the click of a button, you can bring up a range of video tutorials that volition assist you in solving puzzles before irritation sets in. Unfortunately, this feature isn't supported on PC or PS4.
Combat is the other core colonnade of gameplay in Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Things start out very simple, with Kena having only a lite attack, a heavy assail and a block move. Yet, things speedily progress in complexity, and you'll shortly have a wide assortment of moves at your disposal.
Different enemies require different methods of attack to defeat. Juggling all your abilities at once can be deceptively difficult, but nailing an encounter feels rewarding. Foes can dish out a lot of impairment, however, which exacerbates the difficulty. Kena: Bridge of Spirits may look similar a family unit-friendly title, but it'southward non agape to punish players who aren't paying attention.
The combination of platforming, puzzle-solving and combat is a tried-and-tested formula, and information technology works well in Kena: Span of Spirits. The game's length of roughly viii-10 hours likewise feels appropriate. Just as your interest begins to wane, things get-go to wrap upwardly.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits review: Story
Unfortunately, Kena: Bridge of Spirits stumbles in the story department. The opening cinematic quickly lays out the setup: The game follows protagonist Kena'south quest to go a better Spirit Guide. This is essentially someone who helps wayward spirit crossover to the other side. It's an intriguing premise, at to the lowest degree initially.
While the narrative often threatens to become interesting, it never quite gets there. Instead, information technology's quite repetitive. Kena spends most of the game hunting for some class of knickknack at the behest of a bland quest giver. Then, she repeats the cycle once more.
The lack of interesting characters is the game's biggest narrative event. The NPCs you come across all look fantastic, just rarely have anything interesting to say. The same is unfortunately true of Kena herself, who is an extremely milquetoast protagonist. Thankfully, your Rot companions are bursting with personality, fifty-fifty if they don't speak a word.
The lack of a substantial narrative is disappointing, only isn't a big enough effect to derail the whole experience. Kena'south gameplay is solid enough to keep you engaged till the end, just the irksome story definitely feels like a blotch on an otherwise loftier-quality experience.
Kena Bridge of Spirits review: Visuals and sound
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a gorgeous game. Ember Lab'south groundwork as an animation studio shines through., and then some. Even the startup menu is a joy to drink in. You lot may observe your playtime stretched significantly after frequently stopping to bask the visual splendor.
The blithe cutscenes in particular are a real highlight. These look as good equally any major animated feature film, and they announced at a regular pace. The cutscenes actually help bring the world to life. While they don't set up the bland characters or middling story, the animation quality is loftier plenty to go along them both somewhat engaging.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits isn't always every bit striking in movement, unfortunately. Some of the animations are a little chip wooden. Kena's jumping animation in particular looks quite unnatural. Granted, this is a small-scale nitpick. For the most part, Kena: Bridge of Spirits ranks amongst the best-looking games on PS5.
The score is of equally high quality. As you wander through enchanting forests and delve into cavernous ruins, the accompanying soundtrack always fits the situation. The vox acting isn't quite up to the aforementioned standards, simply it's serviceable.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is in good shape from a technical perspective. There are some occasional frame drops, and when venturing off the browbeaten path, Kena is prone to clipping through objects. But the game is stable, and I didn't run into any game-breaking bugs or glitches.
Kena: Span of Spirits review: Verdict
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a delightful experience. Information technology'due south a joy to play, and the pacing is first-class. You've always got a new tool to experiment with, or a fresh batch of secrets to uncover.
Some players may find the game's brusque length disappointing, especially considering the $40 asking price. However, the overall adventure is of a loftier plenty quality to justify the cost.
Information technology's a shame that the story isn't more engaging. Nevertheless Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a mannerly action-adventure that will thrill players of all ages. Only be prepared for some tricky enemy encounters.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/kena-bridge-of-spirits
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