Oh man. I don't think I've ever actually done back to back 10/10 reviews before.
You ready for it?
I know I am.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is one of those games that comes by and captures you from the moment you set forth in the titular character's shoes. As a spirit guide, Kena is expected to help wayward souls on their voyage to the afterlife. Or maybe just accept the fact that they are not of this world any longer. Either way, it's a job that she inherited from her father but has always felt a bit apprehensive about. This is mainly because she feels like she could never be as great of a spirit guide as those who came before her.
She is wrong.
Kena's journey goes across a village and the surrounding acreage to include some river landscape, forestry, farmland, and even a bit of snowy peaks. Along the way she encounters several spirits like Beni, Saiya, Rusu, Taro, Hana, Adira, Zajuro, and Toshi. These spirits are all looking for help in various ways, clinging to the memories of a specific cataclysm that destroyed village life when it had already been teetering on the edge of survivability. Now it is up to Kena to ensure they find peace as she restores balance to a corrupted land. Luckily, she has found some companions in the form of the Rot, little creatures that my children lovingly refer to as the "jelly-bean guys." More than just cuddly faces, the Rot help Kena to cleanse the land and bring harmony to the spirits within it.
The Good
Incredible work here, all around, by Ember Lab. First off, let's just point out that Ember Lab was functioning, at the time of this game's creation, with a minimal staff. They came in and wanted to make an incredible game on an indie budget, and they poured heart and soul into it.
It shows.
The visuals of the game are some of the first things that people are going to notice. Kena looks like a Pixar film translated to gaming, and keeps those incredible graphics with fidelity from start to finish. Multiple settings showcases Ember Lab's talent in being able to pull off these distinct visuals, giving every place its own flavor while still holding onto that special something that makes Kena's world so unique. Character designs are also impeccable, from the individual hats that the rot can swap out to the villagers and their families. Even the spirits traversing the cleansed areas of the village, reuniting with their loved ones, are crafted with loving detail.
The audio of the game is another feather in Ember Lab's cap. Well, I should say Theophany's cap, really. The voice acting is done well. There are no issues there. But the real magic is found in the soundtrack. Theophany found a way to capture the beauty and calm, as well as the epic intensity, of every defining moment in the game.
Gameplay is another plus, here. Kena uses her staff both as a bludgeon as well as a bow through some spiritual finagling. She also has access to bombs, and those bombs can split and home in on multiple targets. The combat operates on a traditional dodge and parry system that is tried and true for many games, but it's tried and true for a reason.
From a narrative perspective, the game bridges a gap between environmental storytelling and the overt hammering-home of stories that can be found in other games. There's nothing wrong with either of those things. But I think Kena is unique in crossing that divide. Are things fully explained? Yes. As you progress, there are full explanations regarding each of the spirits you've encountered and what caused them such grief. There is no guide to go back, however, and you need to really just pay attention to what is happening as it does in order to grasp each character's devastation and see how Kena approaches and disentangles these issues. It's a beautiful story, even gut-wrenching at times, but you'll just have to play it to find out exactly why.
The Bad
There can be some frustrating moments here and there. Some of the timed runs in the trials can feel a little too stacked against you. To the point where you end up doing the run more than a handful of times. Then at the end you just get another Rot hat or something. Some of the challenges could have maybe come with something a little better if we're going to have to grind some garbage out just to finish it.
And honestly... that's it. Kena is an incredible game with a short run-time, maybe that could be considered a bad thing too, but honestly it tells a great story from front to back with no moments where I really felt like I needed things to be fleshed out any more.
The Legend
I, for one, am incredibly excited to see what Ember Lab has in store for us with the Kena sequel coming out within the next several months. An older, more refined, Kena will go a long way, I'm sure. And as the Horizon series has done with Aloy, I'm sure that Kena will have a host of new and amazing skills to try out. For now, however, if you have never played Bridge of Spirits it is truly one of those must-plays of the past ten years. Do yourself a favor, grab a little "jelly-bean guy," and restore the balance.
10/10
Legendary
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