Now Playing: Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an action-adventure game in which you play as Kena, a young spirit guide who travels to an abandoned village. As a spirit guide, Kena’s job is to help trapped souls move on from the world of the living to the realm beyond. And this village has plenty of souls in need of help. The land has become corrupted and plagued by hostile creatures. It’s up to Kena to figure out what happened, free the land and help the souls move on.

I think the first thing that struck me about Kena is the realisation that everyone I was meeting was already dead. In some ways I wish the game explored this aspect more and how it affects Kena but at the same time, its nice that it doesn’t really dwell on it or get too heavy handed. Kena, despite being young, knows what her role is and takes pride in helping these trapped spirits.

The next thing that really struck me was how tough some of the combat encounters can be, even on the mid-tier difficulty. Don’t let the colourful visuals or cute critters fool you. Kena has some pretty punishing fights to challenge and, at times, frustrate you. Some of the boss fights in this game are no joke.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the combat and how complex it is. I honestly wasn’t expecting much but there’s actually a pretty fun, satisfying combat system at play here. You begin with a simple light / heavy staff attack but as you progress you’ll get access to a bow and a bomb ability. These three weapons also have a special ‘rot’ infused attack. And by unlocking certain skills you can not only gain new types of attack, but enhance existing ones.

There’s also a shield ability (your block) which, if timed right, turns into a parry. The timing of this parry is pretty tricky but, once you get the hang of it, it’s always satisfying to pull off. You can also use the rot – your cute companions – in combat to perform various actions, but I’ll talk more about those later.

The enemy selection is decent, although I do wish there was more zonal variety. The game world is pretty much the same environment type from beginning to end and the same enemies pop up everywhere you go. I kind of wish a few areas had provided a unique terrain or architecture with some matching enemies to spice things up.

The bosses are all really good. They all offer a unique challenge with their own skills and special attacks. Some are easier than others but they all provide a decent test of your abilities. I can say, quite honestly, that I enjoyed the combat more in Kena than in God of War. Kena also has much better boss fights.

There’s something refreshingly simple about Kena. It’s not a big budget title. It’s relatively short – about 15 hours or so. But it’s a game that doesn’t outstay its welcome. It tells its story and it tells it well. It’s polished – I didn’t experience a single crash or bug. The visuals are lovely and the music is great. The combat, whilst not super deep, still has more mechanical depth than most modern AAA titles.

It’s a very linear adventure but there’s still some room for exploration. There’s plenty of collectibles to find, but you’ll find most of them fairly easily as you go. Do I wish it had more variety? More environment types? More enemy types? More depth to the rot actions in the puzzles / combat? Of course! But I can’t fault what’s here, either.

As you traverse the world, Kena collects ‘rot’ which are cute little creatures that can assist you in solving puzzles, opening new paths or even help out in combat. They’re a little Pikmin like in that sense, but I do kind of wish they’d been utilised even more in both puzzles and combat. They’re mostly used to move objects in the world or cleanse corrupted areas. In combat, they’re mostly used (outside of their weapon ‘infusion’ attacks) to bind enemies or heal you.

I do feel like there was a lot more they could have done with the rot. For example, how many rot you have doesn’t really mean anything. Yes, it does help you level up and gain access to new skills but, in a practical sense, more rot doesn’t really mean much. I expected I’d need a certain number to open new areas or move heavier objects or perform more complex combat actions but that’s never the case. Whether you’ve got 6 rot or 100, all your available actions remain the same.

The puzzles are all fairly simple but enjoyable to solve. There’s some simple but enjoyable platforming. Kena doesn’t do anything particularly amazing with any aspect of its gameplay or progression but what it does do, it does do well. It’s the kind of game you’ll frequently stop and say to yourself ‘that’s neat’. It doesn’t blow you away, but it keeps you engaged all the way through. For a small team with a small budget, the developers did a great job and you really feel like every penny was well spent.

With great visuals, solid gameplay and a neat little story, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is well worth your time. I’d actually be interested in a more expanded sequel. I feel like there’s a much bigger and more complex game to be built upon here especially if it leans harder on the Pikmin angle. But at the same time, if we don’t get a sequel, Kena stands on its own quite nicely as its own unique thing. It’s a fun, charming little adventure and one I’d easily recommend.

7/10