Kena: Bridge of Spirits gets a very tepid recommendation from me.
First of all, it's worth noting that this game was originally from an animation studio, Ember Lab, whose animated movie project got turned down, so they made it into a video game a la Kojima or Quantic Dream. So, presentationally this game is excellent, and it boasts Pixar movie-quality cutscenes. Graphically, the world is also vibrant and full of detail without losing sight of the interactibles which makes sense to me considering what an audience is intended to be looking at is important to know how to highlight in 3D animations as well. The in-game models are also excellent and animations are very smooth.
Now, this game is very much modeled after pre-BOTW 3D Zelda with some elements of Pikmin sprinkled in. That's a very loaded statement on its own, so I want to immediately temper it by saying, don't go in expecting Zelda or Pikmin. This game doesn't have proper dungeons so much as dungeon-like areas integrated into the overworld, and instead of a strong focus on puzzles, this game honed in on combat. Now, considering combat in Zelda has sucked for its entire existence, I initially viewed this as a positive, but ultimately I think the game goes too far without a fully fleshed-out combat system. By the end of the game you upgrade into the moveset Kena should have started with for the amount they want you to fight in this game.
Now, I don't want to make it sound like I didn't have a good time. I was actually surprised by the level of challenge the game expects you to overcome, especially for the alternate outfits. However, I do think the game screwed up on one particular point, and that's the parry. Straight up, I wasn't using it the whole game because it was consistently unclear when the parry window was actually open for attacks, and I would rather use the dodge roll. However, the game pushes you into it by having some enemy attack animations just magnetize to your position with barely any time to dodge. Still, I resisted, but then I got to the penultimate final boss. The game just expects you to know the parry by that point, and I don't see another way to beat him. He is so dangerous up close, and attacking from range does so little, that I didn't see another way to win. I wasn't about to be forced to learn parrying at the last minute, though so I lowered the difficulty. I did the same for the final boss after learning it had multiple phases of enemy rushes and could grab and throw you into instant death fire. The design just nose-dived at the end, and it was really disappointing to see.
I don't have much to say about the puzzles. They barely exist and are often explicitly labeled what you're supposed to do with literal numerical signposting that tells you what to interact with in what order. The platforming challenges where a bit more engaging with grapple points and bombs to create floating platforms. Eventually you even get a teleport dash. However, in more precise sections, Kena's sprint reset would often kill momentum completely and screw me up. It wasn't anything I couldn't get around, but it became really annoying, especially in the platforming challenge trials. Tighter controls would be appreciated moving on.
The story was okay. The game is kind of divided into three distinct chapters, and the most compelling was the first one because it was the most relatable. After that, the story should have upped the complexity, but it really plateaus from that point, and I think the game suffers for it. Adira's conflict is functionally identical to Taro's but just told in a less interesting way despite the more apocalyptic imagery, and Toshi's conflict was ultimately a letdown considering the buildup. It's all just too vague for my taste. I was hoping to get a real sense for the people who lived in the village, and the struggles they went through, so I would be sad when they were gone but also happy to see them free from their regrets. The game could have really used better main chapters and side stories on top of that. The framework is already in place with the spirit mail. Instead, the ending was more of a shrug for me. I get that they were aiming for more of a kid audience, but after the first third of the game, I don't really see the emotional beats hitting them either.
So, yeah. There were a lot of things I liked about Kena, but there were a bunch of niggling issues that prevented me from enjoying it. It's a good effort from a first time development studio, but considering how good the presentation is, and the potential of everything else, I couldn't help but want more. That said, I'm excited for the sequel, Scars of Kosmora. It already looks to be iterating on what this game attempted with great success.
