Kena: Bridge of Spirits Review: Spirited Away

Ember Lab's first title does a lot that wows. Kena: Bridge of Spirits feels like a modern legacy title reminiscent of action platformers in the early 2000s. Mashing up the simplicity of said action platformers with a new scope and surprising quality equates to an overall pleasant experience. While admittedly not without its faults, Kena: Bridge of Spirits combines a cinematic feast, surprisingly difficult but engaging combat, and a serviceable but lacking narrative delivering a solid debut title not soon to be forgotten.

Presentation

What I assume was an intentional choice; the very first thing you are told to do is press L1. Pressing L1 initiates the pulse shield, and Kena is engulfed in a blue circular aura. This animation becomes a regular occurrence in combat, but man, is it dope. As an avid anime fan, I couldn't help but get just a tad giddy at how cool it all looked on screen. I was immediately smiling and in awe. The overall feeling of this spectacle I was playing remained with me throughout the entirety of my playtime. They set the tone for the journey you are about to embark on. 

Saying this game looks stunning doesn't do it justice. It's safe to say that Ember Lab's animation-first background was the forefront and staple that drove this game. A comparison said several times before is possibly more apt now than ever before; Kena looks and feels like Disney Pixar with a dash of Ghibli and Legend of Zelda in terms of music and ambiance. The music as a whole served its purpose well. Whether you're traversing its three fairly unique environments, inside a cinematic, or locked into a heated battle, it simply pops. There are specific combat tracks that really shine and hype up the player. I'm reluctant to give any debut title such high praise, but Ember Lab is more than deserving with regards to its cinematic and awe-inspiring presentation.

After around 40 or so minutes, I hit the title card. I was beyond hyped to continue. I knew from the get-go that I was quickly going to lose myself here, and that's precisely what I did. Although the presentation succeeded and completely sold me, it isn't without a few, admittedly minor, missteps. While the cutscenes stand out as some of the best in the industry, they have little to nothing in terms of transitions. Once you enter an area where a cutscene ensues, you are greeted by a hard cut to enter and exit each cutscene. These cutscenes are optional as you can skip them, but specific animations in-game are not. Albeit short, animations when the player discovers more Rot, something you find countless times, are always the same and are not skippable. These moments briefly took me out of the overall experience, if even for a second.

Like the pulse shield animation, other animations share the same sort of cinematic spectacle. Specific bosses in-game have moves that I liked so much I intentionally got caught to see them again. One boss trapped me in a pink octagon light prison of sorts then blasted me away with flames engulfing the surrounding area. I can't say I have ever done that before in any other game. If you don't find this fight cool, I don't know what to tell you. To simply put it again, it's dope.

Kena's presentation is awe-inspiring throughout but shines even brighter in moments of cinematic spectacles in and out of cutscenes. Whether activating your pulse shield, or bosses showing you the business, animations pop and deserve the highest of praise. The music is more than serviceable, but it sets itself apart from the other tracks in moments of combat. If you didn't know Ember Lab had an animation background before entering the game's space, you quickly found out.

Story (Spoiler-Free)

Regarding Kena's overall narrative, something I was very much looking forward to, I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed. The story is told in three parts, mainly concerning characters other than Kena. Three completely different tales revolving around love, death, misunderstanding, and duty are told and told effectively. But Kena herself is never really fleshed out to the satisfying point. The game remains focused on its combat and cinematic display, only subtly weaving its narrative.

You are a spirit guide tasked with guiding spirits to the afterlife. Kena embarks on her trek once discovering a mask. These masks represent the shattered spirit in which you are trying to help crossover. However, since these masks are broken, you need to find three artifacts close to the spirit in life to make it whole again. You, the player, are expressly told, "heal these spirits and restore balance to the forest."

The stories revolving around the spirits you help and the forest you save are great. Rescuing those lost is vital, but I couldn't tell you much about Kena as a character. She's a spirit guide, she's lost people, and she has awe inspiring fighting abilities. The expressions made in an attempt to show the importance of her mission are successful. Beyond that, the game doesn't establish a ton outside of subtle spoilers that I will avoid.

Gameplay

In reference to Kena's technical attributes and gameplay, I'd like to rapid-fire some minor aspects that I appreciate but don't necessarily have a ton to say about. I think you, the reader, will understand what I mean. Kena: Bridge of Spirits contains effective climbing akin to Uncharted. The game allows you to save whenever you want, and the load times are speedy. You can sprint. There is a target lock on. The photo mode is available from the very beginning. You can hide the HUD. You can change the difficulty at will whenever you like. You meditate to improve max health, kindred to Ghost of Tsushima. Finally, fast travel is available via warps at specific locations on the map. With Kena's indie nature, missteps regarding these aspects could have easily been overlooked, but they weren't. For these reasons alone, Kena feels like a quality title with real promise.

Moving on to the bulk of the gameplay; the combat. Initially, the combat isn't anything remarkable. You have your basic light and heavy attacks, and you can jump, parry, block, etc. The combat does grow in terms of depth later on, but early, a player's variety in combat comes with how you choose to use your Rot. Yes, the little adorable little creatures that you collect are called Rot. What a name, huh? Anyways, utilizing your Rot early, whether it be stunning enemies, taking out what spawns enemies, or unlocking Rot abilities, acts as the depth early on. You aren't alone on the battlefield. 

Rot upgrades, which are all pretty fantastic and valuable, are useless unless you build up your Rot friend's spirits. You do this by defeating enemies and gathering courage. Courage then acts as your currency for using Rot abilities in combat. The fact that you need to gather courage of all things speaks for itself. The Rot are adorable but deserve a better name. Oh, and did I mention you can collect and buy them little hats? No? Okay.

Cool Rot upgrades aside, Kena has some upgrades of her own. However, the upgrades don't improve your combat strength all that much until late game additions. So, it takes a while for the upgrades to feel like they substantially help. It's frustrating, to say the least because the game is surprisingly difficult. The combat, especially when facing bosses, draws comparisons to Souls-like games, so Kena is no slouch. The combat's challenge simply doesn't compliment the in-game upgrades, and from this, I struggled to find any rhythm in said combat.

Even though I struggled to find some balance at first, I eventually discovered something of a rhythm. You enter with a staff catered to melee and gain a bow, a unique dash mechanic in the late game, and the ability to throw a projectile bomb. These bombs, in particular, really surprised me. They act as massive sticky grenades similar to Halo's, but that's not what astounded me. The bombs added the ability to traverse on these anti-grav platforms for a limited amount of time. You would see these glowing rocks as you play, but try as you may, you couldn't interact with them in any way. That is until you unlock the bombs. These bombs' explosions caused these specific rocks to float for a small amount of time. 

Not only did the bombs add depth to the already intriguing environments, but they added a sense of tension and urgency to your exploration that I dug. Some instances ask you to be floating on one of these stones with time running out as you desperately look around, trying to decipher the puzzle before you. Take too long, and you fall to your death. Since I saw these bunches of rocks as I played, these puzzles felt organic in the world they built, which shouldn't be overstated. A lot of different styled puzzles followed suit too. Every single one felt organic and even assisted the player in clever, subtle ways.

With regards to combat, another facet of it that I enjoyed was the cursed chests. I loved them because they are entirely optional. If you encounter one and find it too difficult, come back and try again when you are stronger. These chests usually add some added layer to the overall challenge. One may time you, while others may ask you to defeat every enemy without taking a hit. It made for an excellent but brief change of pace in a world I quickly lost myself in.

Admittedly, Kena does work in the form of a basic or simplistic pattern. Players must enter three separate locations within a region and cleanse them. By doing this, you gain an artifact of value to the particular spirit you are trying to assist. Once you gather all three, you bring them to a designated spot and take on the boss. Yet, I couldn't help but bask a little in its overall simplicity. I enjoyed the loop; what can I say?

Now, I wouldn't be much of a critic if I only highlighted the good. The struggle in combat is one thing, but some other minor aspects are noteworthy. In Kena, you can utilize something called forest tears to give your Rot children a new form. In this form, they can destroy enemies. Still, more importantly, it allows them to eliminate some of the corruption in the environment, enabling you to gain some currency from what you cleanse. That's all fine and good, but controlling the Rot in this form is extremely clunky. Many aspects of this game are reminiscent of action platformers of old in a positive way, but this aspect is purely negative. This lack of control, more than anything else, feels dated, and I did not enjoy controlling it whenever the option presented itself. I eventually got used to it and improved maneuvering them in this form, but I never wanted it.

Additionally, swimming is terrible. The animation is very slow, and there isn't much reason at all to even jump in. Apart from a few collectibles, you aren't incentivized enough to swim for anything, just punished.

As the game wound down and you set off on the last stretch, everything that followed was super fun to both play and watch. The final boss, while not my favorite, was entertaining to get down and eventually defeat. The same can be said for getting to the final boss and the cinematic cutscenes that play. Essentially, the last hour or two of Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a riot and worth the journey.

Ember Lab didn't cut corners. They delivered a quality title worth the 40 dollar entry. Apart from the combat feeling unbalanced overall and minor annoyances, Kena: Bridge of spirits moment-to-moment gameplay is anything but a snooze fest. Even after I managed to get the hang of the combat, additions like the bombs and cursed chests stood out as high achievers. The pattern and feel mnemonic of action platformers back on the PS2 simply worked.

Breakdown

Game: Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Developer: Ember Lab

Availability: PS4, PS5

Reviewed on PS5

Pros:

+ Cinematic feast

+ Great score

+ Dope combat animations

+ The Rot (yet, the name is an odd choice)

+ Cursed Chests

+ Bombs

+ Enticing Environments

+ Load Times

+ Didn't cut corners on features

Cons:

- Doesn't establish Kena as a character

- Upgrades and combat don't mesh early on

- Swimming

- Forest tears

Final Thoughts

Largely, aside from unbalanced combat and a middling narrative that fails to establish Kena as more than a spirit guide, Ember Lab delivers. The stories about the spirits carry the narrative, and rightfully so, but I needed more about Kena. Yet, their animation work is nothing short of a marvel, and the combat tracks absolutely slap. Ember Lab could have easily cut corners on their indie title, but they went full for the complete package and at a discounted price. The simplicity in the moment-to-moment gameplay is what sold me, but additions like bombs and cursed chests act as the icing on this proverbial cake. And, I would be remiss not to mention the Rot. I mean, c'mon, they are everything I could have hoped for. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an indie title with AAA quality wrapped in independent charm.

Reviewed by Austin Ernst