Kena: Bridge of Spirits - Review

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an action and adventure game by indie game developer, Ember Lab. Prior to playing this game, I had no idea that Kena was created by a small studio as it was shown during the PS5’s console announcement, which made me assume it was a headlining game with loads of funding behind it. And though my expectations were very low when the reveal was shown, my worries were heightened as the time came closer to release date. From a brief look at the trailers available at that point in time, my assumption was that Kena was a very basic adventure game with simple jump and attack mechanics. And though that is somewhat true, the fact that a small studio was able to create a world, narrative and animation of its calibre is something that they should be praised for.

The game follows Kena, a young padawan learner spirit guide on her journey to the sacred mountain shrine. As she makes her way, she comes across a lost village that has been plagued with unnatural decay. As you meet characters (spirits) along the way, which reveals the reason as to why that area of the map has been infected and consumed. Kena must explore across the region and unlock segments of the map while freeing the land of its decay, which in turn ‘guides’ these spirits in ‘crossing over’ and finding peace.

Not only is the narrative beautifully written with an ensemble of characters who start out with noble causes but eventually get engulfed by their inner demons, but you collect the cutest little creatures known as the Rot. These little critters are collectibles scattered across the entire map, which you’ll have to hunt for, but also unlock powerful abilities as you level up in Rot level. And though these creatures are comparable to the Studio Ghibli’s soot cuteness, there’s more to them than just wanting to cuddle them.

Not only did Ember Labs execute a fantastic job with character and visual designs, their cutscenes are absolutely amazing that they remind me of big animation studios such as Pixar, Disney or DreamWorks. In fact, this game feels like it really should have been a Netflix series. Coupled with a great music score when action, sadness or exploration sequences and gameplay is at hand, Kena does feel a little bigger than created from a small independent studio.

Additionally, there are moments where instruments used supports the visuals style of Japanese and Indonesian culture… or at least it felt like it. And though it looks as though Ember Labs have perfected a style and feel, what the game lacks is a variety of environment elements that could have been integrated with the map areas, as well as puzzles. Kena’s entire world felt all too similar when exploring the areas around, which is a bit of a shame.

When moving Kena around through all the similar landscape, she somewhat feels a little sluggish at times, especially when double jumping… your first jump feels forward, whereas your second feels stunted in distance. And though there were only a small part of water on the map, Kena feels as though there were moments of pointless swimming areas that may come across a little frustrating as there isn’t an option to speed swim. Especially at the fact that you’re only swimming to cross a small river, but not have a level that interacts with a puzzle under or on water.

Speaking of puzzles, unfortunately they come across very simplistic that end up feeling more like a sequenced tickbox to get from A to B. This makes the game feel more basic, and like a kids game rather than one for all ages with more thinking needed to solve puzzles. Some also felt like an easter egg hunt where you need to find a specific item to unlock an area, more than figuring out a technical puzzle. The only variety to these puzzles is having to shoot an object with your bow or throw a bomb to activate a platform to stand on, which are some of the unlockable abilities as you progress through the game as well as some powerful movesets.

Though the game has fantastic animation and character design, it isn’t without glitches which I experienced. Having issues with being soft-locked where the only option to move forward is to die during the final boss can leave a nasty and frustrating taste in your mouth. Additionally, through the levels, there are glitches with jump and movement mechanics. However, this is just a small part of the overall game, which is still an overall fun and great experience to play. The only other criticism is the game feels relatively short… too short if you’re an animation fan from studios such as Pixar, Disney and DreamWorks and the studio definitely has talent in the animation side of things. Let’s hope their next game is better polished… one can only dream as to what they could achieve now that they’ve showcased what they can do with the small studio Ember Labs are.

The Score

7.0

Review code provided by Ember Labs

The Pros

+Amazing animation cutscenes that’s comparable to big animation studios

+Fun and great narrative which makes you want to explore the world

The Cons

-Unfortunately, game feels a little too short, and lacks a variety of environments

-Puzzle are quite simple and feels more like a tick box of sequence of easter egg hunts