Kena: Bridge of Spirits Review: A Tempered Spirit
It’s not typically {that a} inventive group targeted on different mediums veers into mid-budget online game improvement, however that’s precisely what Ember Lab did with Kena: Bridge of Spirits. The corporate was identified for its animated shorts for round a decade earlier than it even revealed its first sport. Kena: Bridge of Spirits, in a whole lot of methods, has lots of the stumbles and oversights that might be anticipated of a group making its debut online game, however it’s additionally an enthralling sufficient throwback to an earlier age of gaming.
“Earlier” doesn’t imply SNES or NES because it does with different indie builders eager on mining the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is extra evocative of PS2-era motion video games and wouldn’t look misplaced in a lineup sitting beside Jak and Daxter or Past Good and Evil.
However Kena’s visuals make it greater than one thing out of 2003. The magical world of the sport is gorgeous at instances, typically providing colourful vistas full with lush greenery and impractical, but beautiful, buildings. Even poisoned areas drained of their lifeforce which can be comparatively desaturated glisten with magnificence as they borrow extra from the purples and reds over greens and blues. It doesn’t typically stray from forests or in any other case inexperienced locales and will use with extra selection, however it’s completely a visible deal with.
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The animation helps give the world life, too. Characters aren’t as versatile as these present in Looney Tunes cartoons, however squash and stretch simply sufficient to seem energetic and convincingly emote as if they're in a Disney animated movie. Fight and the letterboxed cutscenes are the very best at displaying off the animation as that's when the characters are pushed bodily and emotionally, respectively, and showcase the group’s animation chops. The way in which the sport strikes makes Ember Lab’s previous as a non-interactive animation studio fairly clear.
Kena’s fight doesn’t management as easily because it strikes. Like many trendy melee motion video games, Kena has a lightweight and heavy assault, dodge, and parry. It’s a purposeful base package that seemingly nails the broad strokes however falls aside within the finer — and extra essential — particulars. And these particulars pile up rapidly.
It begins with the fussy lock-on that fails to truly, effectively, lock-on most instances, however Kena’s fight has extra urgent issues. Her roll seems to be nice however is brief on invincibility frames, that means she is often susceptible regardless of the participant’s intentions to maneuver out of the best way. Dodges are speculated to get gamers out of hazard and this isn’t at all times the case with Kena and may typically result in getting juggled a number of instances in a string of failed roll makes an attempt. Parrying can be inconsistent due to the absurdly tight window.
Each are made much more irritating since Kena lacks correct animation canceling. Not each assault ought to be capable to be canceled, however a whole lot of them don’t have that functionality; Kena has to decide to too a lot of her swings and makes her really feel like she’s out of the participant’s management. This isn’t Darkish Souls so forcing Kena to see nearly all of her assaults by way of with out having the ability to roll or block doesn’t match with the extra action-oriented model of the sport. It has the cadence of a sooner motion sport with the interior mechanisms of a extra methodical Soulslike. It's continually working in opposition to itself and the participant, particularly on greater difficulties.
Increased difficulties are alluring as the sport is usually fairly straightforward. Many enemies don’t even try to put up a battle and could be killed by mashing the assault button just a few instances. Cranking it up supposedly amps up their aggression however it’s onerous to inform since they’re timid both approach.
Bosses, regardless of their slick designs and distinctive setups, are the one time when the sport snaps the participant out of their coma however they swing the pendulum too onerous the opposite approach and exacerbate the entire aforementioned complications with the fight. There are moments the place linking collectively melee and ranged assaults, utilizing particular Rot assaults, and nailing weak spots come collectively and present glimpses of a sport with an honest fight loop. However with grunts which can be too easy and mini-bosses and executives which can be too onerous for all of the unsuitable causes, Kena‘s fight is sort of at all times disjointed and disappointing.
Exploration is easier and likewise much less anger-inducing. Most maps are comparatively open and let Kena discover fairly freely. The huge linear method is gorgeous as a result of it permits gamers to get misplaced and come upon secrets and techniques and collectibles whereas trying to find the purpose and not using a pesky goal marker. It’s peaceable and matches the general vibe of the sport with out often annoying the participant with insufficient controls.
Puzzles are often somewhat easy as they don’t have many variables to work with, however serenely saving the little cute (and seemingly satirically named) Rot wisps and accumulating completely different doodads is stress-free but nonetheless participating. Whereas the soundtrack is kind of unbelievable and completely different general when in comparison with a lot of its contemporaries — it makes use of Balinese instrumentation to nice impact — it shines throughout these exploratory moments as its soothing tempo matches the comforting temper and gameplay of those elements.
The soundtrack additionally swells throughout the story bits and is equally putting however the narrative itself just isn't. It lacks any robust characters, wealthy lore, or intrigue. Kena herself is caring and mushy but doesn’t have something going for her outdoors of that, making her a poor protagonist for the story. The setup can be fairly easy and hardly will get extra compelling because it begins unfolding, regardless of its makes an attempt to be heartfelt. Its storytelling depends on step by step filling in its (and Kena’s) backstory however little or no whether it is truly stirring.
There's so little to seize onto and what's there's typically anemic and underdeveloped. Kena is emblematic of those points as her historical past is hinted at, hardly touched on, and fairly bland within the few spots the place it does present up. It places on the veneer of a heartwarming story with writing and worldbuilding worthy of a prestigious animated movie, a facet aided by its robust visuals, however its magnificence is simply skin-deep because it mimes these cinematic inspirations with out the that means and punch these movies often have. It even mimics the body fee seen in most animated movies (24 frames per second) however that decrease refresh pace seems to be uneven when utilized in a online game, which additional hampers its cutscenes.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a greater than satisfactory first try for a studio that has newly transitioned to video video games. It’s a visually gorgeous world that's sometimes calming to poke round in. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless very evident that it's from a group that’s new to the medium, given all of its gameplay inadequacies and narrative missteps. There are glimmers of a very nice expertise in right here, however it’s onerous to see beneath the spots of rot on the core. And in contrast to the little Rot wisps within the sport, it’s not cute because it robs the sport of its potential.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s evaluation coverage explains, a rating of seven equates to “Good.” A profitable piece of leisure that's value testing, however it might not attraction to everybody.
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