Kena: Bridge of Spirits review
Our Verdict
What Kena: Bridge of Spirits lacks in new ideas, it makes up for with an affluence of charm and gorgeous visuals.
For
- Rewarding exploration
- Enjoyable puzzles and platforming
- Surprisingly challenging combat
- Cute visuals
Confronting
- Bland story and characters
- Repetitive towards the end
Tom's Guide Verdict
What Kena: Bridge of Spirits lacks in new ideas, information technology makes up for with an abundance of amuse and gorgeous visuals.
Pros
- +
Rewarding exploration
- +
Enjoyable puzzles and platforming
- +
Surprisingly challenging combat
- +
Beautiful visuals
Cons
- -
Bland story and characters
- -
Repetitive towards the end
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the commencement video game release from animation studio Ember Lab, merely y'all wouldn't know that from playing information technology.
This colorful activeness-adventure game isn't an unfocused first attempt from a developer still finding its footing in the manufacture. Instead, Kena: Span of Spirits feels like the work of an experienced team that actually understands its arts and crafts.
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Several of Kena'south core gameplay elements experience cribbed from other pop games, and the central narrative never quite finds its footing. Still, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is consistently a joy to play. But don't let the Pixar-way visuals fool y'all; it'south no walk in the park.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits may non do much innovating of its own, but its combination of fun platforming, challenging combat and a lush earth, ripe for exploration is a winning formula. Read on for our full Kena: Span of Spirits review.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits review: Gameplay
Kena: Span of Spirits is an action/adventure game that casts yous as the eponymous hero as she ventures out into a globe overrun with darkness. Her quest is simple: Restore the ancient village at the middle of the state, and unlock the secrets of its demise.
The game is an action/platformer at its cadre, with a strong emphasis on exploration. Afterwards a paw-belongings scripted opening, the world opens upward. From there, you're free to poke around and discover the multitude of worthwhile secrets crammed into the game's diverse environments at your leisure.
There enough of things to collect, including multiple types of currency to upgrade your abilities and buy cosmetic items. However, the main resources yous'll chase is Rot. These adorable petty companions are extremely useful for a variety of reasons.
Non only are the Rot able to cleanse the world of darkness, but they as well aid you in platforming, puzzle-solving and combat. When yous collect a certain amount of Rot you lot'll level upwardly, which in turn unlocks new Rot abilities. These allow you to collect even more of the squishy little creatures. It'south a satisfying loop that actively rewards conscientious exploration.
The game doles out Rot at specific story moments, merely players who take the time to explore will go much deeper into the upgrade tree. Plus, a small pack of Rot follows you effectually as yous traverse the map. Growing your army of loveable picayune creatures is almost reward enough for thorough exploration.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits review: Platforming and gainsay
When y'all're not picking through chests and wooden barrels for Rot and currency, y'all'll face generally straightforward platforming sections. Kena's platforming move set is fairly limited, with only a double jump and simplistic climbing abilities at her disposal. The game never demands much from you lot beyond timing your jumps well enough to clear a gap, or avoiding falls into deadly purple lava.
There are as well plenty of environmental puzzles to solve along your journeying. The best ones require yous to use equipment you unlock along the fashion, such every bit a bow or explosive bombs. The majority of puzzles aren't specially taxing, but the game doesn't conspicuously mark some of them. This tin can lead to frustrating moments where your progression stalls.
However, this is far less of an issue on PS5 as Kena: Bridge of Spirits includes total PlayStation Activities support. At the click of a button, you lot tin bring upwardly a range of video tutorials that will assist you lot in solving puzzles before irritation sets in. Unfortunately, this feature isn't supported on PC or PS4.
Combat is the other cadre pillar of gameplay in Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Things start out very uncomplicated, with Kena having simply a lite attack, a heavy attack and a block movement. Still, things rapidly progress in complexity, and yous'll soon accept a wide assortment of moves at your disposal.
Dissimilar enemies require dissimilar methods of attack to defeat. Juggling all your abilities at one time can be deceptively difficult, merely nailing an encounter feels rewarding. Foes tin can dish out a lot of harm, even so, which exacerbates the difficulty. Kena: Span of Spirits may look like a family-friendly title, but it'southward non afraid to punish players who aren't paying attention.
The combination of platforming, puzzle-solving and combat is a tried-and-tested formula, and it works well in Kena: Span of Spirits. The game's length of roughly 8-ten hours too feels appropriate. Just equally your interest begins to wane, things start to wrap up.
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's quest to go a better Spirit Guide. This is substantially someone who helps wayward spirit crossover to the other side. It'south an intriguing premise, at least initially.
While the narrative often threatens to become interesting, it never quite gets there. Instead, information technology'southward quite repetitive. Kena spends near of the game hunting for some form of knickknack at the behest of a bland quest giver. Then, she repeats the cycle over once more.
The lack of interesting characters is the game's biggest narrative issue. The NPCs you encounter all look fantastic, simply rarely have anything interesting to say. The aforementioned is unfortunately true of Kena herself, who is an extremely milquetoast protagonist. Thankfully, your Rot companions are bursting with personality, even if they don't speak a word.
The lack of a substantial narrative is disappointing, but isn't a large enough issue to derail the whole feel. Kena'south gameplay is solid enough to keep you engaged till the terminate, but the ho-hum story definitely feels like a blotch on an otherwise high-quality experience.
Kena Bridge of Spirits review: Visuals and sound
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a gorgeous game. Ember Lab'due south background equally an animation studio shines through., and then some. Even the startup bill of fare is a joy to drink in. Yous may find your playtime stretched significantly afterward frequently stopping to enjoy the visual splendor.
The blithe cutscenes in particular are a real highlight. These look as adept every bit whatsoever major animated feature flick, and they appear at a regular pace. The cutscenes actually assistance bring the world to life. While they don't fix the bland characters or middling story, the blitheness quality is high enough to go on them both somewhat engaging.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits isn't always every bit striking in motion, unfortunately. Some of the animations are a piffling scrap wooden. Kena'due south jumping animation in particular looks quite unnatural. Granted, this is a minor nitpick. For the most part, Kena: Bridge of Spirits ranks among the best-looking games on PS5.
The score is of equally high quality. As y'all wander through enchanting forests and delve into cavernous ruins, the accompanying soundtrack always fits the situation. The voice acting isn't quite up to the aforementioned standards, but it'due south serviceable.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is in good shape from a technical perspective. There are some occasional frame drops, and when venturing off the beaten path, Kena is prone to clipping through objects. But the game is stable, and I didn't come across whatever game-breaking bugs or glitches.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits review: Verdict
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a delightful feel. It's a joy to play, and the pacing is excellent. You've always got a new tool to experiment with, or a fresh batch of secrets to uncover.
Some players may discover the game's brusque length disappointing, especially considering the $40 asking price. However, the overall chance is of a high enough quality to justify the cost.
It's a shame that the story isn't more engaging. Nevertheless Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a mannerly action-chance that will thrill players of all ages. Only exist prepared for some tricky enemy encounters.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/kena-bridge-of-spirits
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