A story-driven, action adventure combining exploration with fast-paced combat. Untangle the past as Kena, a young Spirit Guide in search of the sacred Mountain Shrine. Help free the spirits trapped in a forgotten village with the help of the Rot, her adorable (yet powerful) spirit companions.
~ Steam’s game description
Summary
It’s impossible to start a review without mentioning how amazing this game looks, from the actual graphics and animations, to the world and character design, not to mention how cute the Rot are. It’s like playing a Pixar movie!
The combat while simple was pretty fun for the duration of the game, the variety of enemies increases as the player progresses making it fresh each time you move on to a new chapter, even though the game system is repetitive, the length of the game is just enough for it not to get boring. The intriguing puzzles and exploration between the short encounters also help with that.
The story is not groundbreaking, but still, an emotional and well-written piece brought to life through the fantastic voice acting and the already-mentioned great visuals.
The progression is also well balanced, there are a few different mechanics you’ll unlock as you play and it felt the pacing was just on point, no need to grid anything but also not going to get overwhelmed.
Overall, it offers solid gameplay along with incredible visuals, its original price of 40€ might be a little too much for the 10ish hours you’ll get out of it since it has little replayability (has a new game + mode) but grabbing it on sale is definitely worth it.
Analysis
Before diving into our analysis it’s important to understand the context since it influences the perception of the game systems. I’ve played for around 9 hours on PC with an Xbox controller (I’m mostly a mouse and keyboard gamer, meaning I’m very new to playing with a controller, therefore a newbie…). It’s also important to mention that I did a few sessions of around 2 hours over a period of 2 weeks.
Keep in mind this section contains minor spoilers regarding game mechanics.
Gameplay
The game systems are simple but well thought with a decent progression built into them.
Starting with the weapon system, you get your melee attacks and energy shield, later you unlock a bow and then an energy bomb. There’s a very small and simple skill tree, where you improve your existing skills. I’ve decided to play with a low difficulty as I wanted to improve with the controller as well as enjoy a hassle-free experience, so I didn’t explore in depth the combat. The game explains the different difficulties, but in a nutshell, enemies deal more damage and are more aggressive while reducing your regeneration of “mana”.
Gameplay isn’t perfect, and my biggest criticism would be the repetitive progression system, it essentially has 3 chapters, to complete each you fight a boss, and to get to each boss you need to get 3 different relics in order to summon them. It is common for games to have similar systems, but what makes this somewhat more noticeable is that the characters keep mentioning you need to find relics and it’s always 3 and always the same way. If the game was slightly longer this would definitely be a big problem, fortunately, the size of the game is just enough.
One of my favorite parts was the puzzles, I love games where you need to use your skills together with the environments to figure out how to progress, and Kena does this perfectly. They’re not overly complicated, but sometimes you have to take a step back and think for a few seconds. Different mechanics are introduced as you progress which makes the puzzle different and engaging.
Finally the exploration and collectibles, I like to explore beautifully created worlds like Kena’s when there’s actually a reason to, and in this case, the game takes you throughout I’d say 90% of the map just doing the storyline. There are a few hidden chests and collectibles which I didn’t chase after, but if I spotted them I’d go for them. There’s a nice collectible type called Spirit Mail, which you find laying around that you must bring to people’s houses in the villages and trigger a small encounter that then provided some rewards, other than you have the Rot Hats (to make them look even cuter) and some outfits.
Story
Steam’s description is very clear, this is a story-driven game. The story is solid, with good characters, and storylines, it appeals to your emotions and has great cutscenes, but I personally didn’t feel like it was an amazing story. If it wasn’t for how well it was portrayed in the visuals and voice acting it would not be that good. It’s a linear story, there are no twists and turns but for the length of the game, I believe it’s appropriate.
Visuals & Sound
Here is where Kena excels, it nails the visuals, and it makes a lot of sense, coming from EmberLab which began as an animation and digital content studio. Textures, animations, effects, and design are all excellent. All that paired with good music, and sound effects make for a very enjoyable experience. I personally played on an ultra-wide screen at 1440p and it looked great!
Performance-wise, it feels decently optimized, and I had no problems at all, but of course, that always comes down to each system’s specs.
Conclusion
After my playthrough, with around 9 hours of gameplay, I can definitely recommend the game, but not at its original price of 40€, I feel the 20€ I paid during the Steam Sale is a much fair price for it, even if you’re a completionist, you’ll probably just get a few more hours out of it. But pricing is always subjective for everyone, this is just my personal take on it.
I enjoyed the experience and hope they continue to develop in this universe, there are lots of things to explore, such as the origin of Kena’s powers or the Rot, and would love to continue to watch her grow and become a better Spirit Guide.
Interested in the game? Check Kena: Bridge of Spirits Steam page
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