It is inevitable that the first thing you notice when you see Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the exceptionally gorgeous graphics. Here, the developers of Ember Lab, who have previously worked with animated films (and in fact never made games until now), have added blood, sweat and tears to design, animations and finishing touches. It simply looks infinitely beautiful – not only in intermediate sequences, but also when exploring the universe, fighting enemies and solving simple puzzles.
That the graphics then ultimately not is the game’s most impressive aspect, but instead has to compete with a spectacular world, gripping stories and creative fighting to be the best, suggests that these are really good things. And that’s me too. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Bridge of Spirits is most likely the best game of the year.
The number is three
Kena: Bridge of Spirits begins little by little as the main character arrives in a dark cave, set with sparkling crystals, dilapidated nature and luminous spirit figures. The young girl Kena, however, does not allow herself to be intimidated, because she is none other than a “Spirit Guide”, a shamanistic figure who has the task of tracking down and helping spirits to get on to the hereafter.
Of course, some spirits are more obstinate than others, and this is one that is at the heart of Kena’s recent outing. After a while we stumble across the village the strong spirit comes from, where it eventually turns out that something dark and mysterious has happened. Long, hard roots have swallowed the buildings; monsters wander in bushes and bushes; and the people have disappeared without a trace. The only ones left are a crippled sage and two little trolls, and these help Kena little by little along the way.
To solve the mystery, break the curse and get to the heart of the village, Kena must track down three spirits, scattered for all winds and neatly distributed in each corner of the game’s half-open world map. To gain access to the three spirits, one must collect three relics from that person’s life, and then one must explore three different corners of each of the three corners.
So three is the magic number, and this and more is the reason why I constantly get “flashbacks” to good, old platform games while I run around in the spirit world.
«Simple & Clean»
Other reasons are that game too to have itself a bit like an old platform game. I think Rayman, Sly and the gang there, where you jump and bounce through colorful surroundings, while collecting items and banging on enemies at irregular intervals. Kena poses with a magic wand, and can play off weak and strong blows as needed. Bridge of Spirits cooks this together with scrolling, enemies with glowing weak points, bow and arrow and a lot of other goodies that you unlock over time.
Kena has a clear progression throughout the game, and creatures that are introduced as enemy enemies early on, gradually appear as ordinary monsters in the cabin and rifle. In step with this, I constantly feel that I am getting better at controlling Kena. Where the control initially feels a bit too simple, with a somewhat heavy camera and simple combination attacks, you eventually get more than enough to hang your fingers on.
This is especially true if you turn up the difficulty level a notch or two – then we start talking real challenges, and a couple of the boss enemies stand for really long, good and nerve-wracking showdowns. Like Kingdom Hearts, for example, the increased level of difficulty helps to bring out the nuances of the combat system – then you can no longer hammer past opponents, but must instead use care and all the tricks Kena eventually gets up her sleeve.
The degree of difficulty brings out the nuances.
Among these are the small companions you pick up along the way, so-called “Root” creatures that hide everywhere and help Kena when the need is greatest. These run after you all the time while you play, but seek refuge as soon as enemies appear. Only when Kena has received a couple of well-aimed blows, the little ones take courage, and then they can be used to gag enemies and bewitch your weapons.
Then it gradually becomes very exciting to play a cartoon exorcist, and I feel that I am already itching to test the last and toughest degree of difficulty on a new replay.
Adventures in the spirit of Nintendo
The previously mentioned graphics are of course also involved in these settlements. It kind of does not hurt that alt in the game, from light effects and enemies of the boss, to facial animations and surroundings, looks absolutely brilliant. Here, Ember Lab has continued the style from their animated films, and put it live across a huge gaming world.
It’s Pixar pretty from end to end, and it’s simply impossible not to admire the creativity that has gone into the use of color, the design of areas and the life that is breathed into everything you encounter along the way. Humans, “Clutter” and enemies are so far one thing – here floating animations help to sell this as believable and living figures – but the more impressive is the universe.
Most of the areas you explore begin as enchanted versions of yourself, with many enemies, malignant natural tumors and bad weather everywhere. As Kena solves more and more tangles and releases the spirits she encounters, parts of the curse are broken, and then the world around you formally flourishes. It is incredibly beautiful, and these transitions help to drive the feeling that you are really making an important change.
This makes it just as fun to get to new areas, and here the developers benefit from inspiration from good, old Nintendo hits. There is definitely something The Legend of Zelda-like about parts of the experience, and the scattering of more and more objects to look for (with suitable little puzzles), reminds me very much of the moon hunt in Super Mario Odyssey.
Bridge of Spirits simply arouses the desire for adventure in me in a way that very few other games, apart from the best from Nintendo, can.
Wet in the hook
The fact that there is a lot to track down and look for gives the game instantly longer legs to walk on. What could quickly be a tight, 8-10 hour affair for those who just want to follow the main road, ended up being a less than fifteen hour journey for me. Then, on the other hand, I found well over 80 percent of all goodies and actually struggled quite a bit with a couple of “bosses”, but it still feels like an almost perfect length for such a game.
It will not be too long or too short, with good variety in the environment, constantly new tools to play with and even drips from the game’s history. This one stays in the background while Kena is out on a cruise in each of the three different zones, before it appears more and more in each area.
The plot is not marked by a lot of dialogue and major disputes, but instead confines itself to telling the basics about Kena and the three central spirits. This also works well: the audiovisual mix sells, as I said, most of the characters do, and with very few grips, the jaggu developers manage to bring out both sadness, awe and tears of joy in the relatively little time the story gets to frolic.
A little tile nailing at the end
However, Bridge of Spirits is not perfect, and in some places you can clearly see that Ember Lab is fresh on the game developer front. Here, too, I get associations to old platform games, when Kena, for example, gets stuck in parts of the surroundings or I have to reload the game to get a button to work properly.
It also stinks a bit when you run up stairs and the like, and the game’s “fidelity” mode, which locks the experience to 30 frames per second in favor of full 4K resolution, is perceived as unfavorably stumbling. Then, on the other hand, the “performance” mode is about as nice, with much better flow in both frame rate and animations along the way. We do not know how all this looks on PlayStation 4, as it is only the PlayStation 5 version we have tested.
I run out of superlatives.
Finally, I can mention that the sound mix also struggles a bit, where dialogue is often a bit too low and the music a bit too loud in some sequences.
All this is still just for tile nailing to count. Set against how well designed the rest of the game is, with tremendously good flow, lots of freedom of movement, endless creativity and a pig-delicious universe, I can do nothing but give myself over. I notice that I’m starting to run out of superlatives, so I can not really say anything more than that Kena: Bridge of Spirits is simply really, really good.
Conclusion
After a somewhat slow start, Kena: Bridge of Spirits throws you into an adventurous world full of powerful magic, surprisingly potent challenges and cuddly creativity.
The game is clearly inspired and borrows ideas from a number of other places – with combat systems similar to the Souls series, Pixar-like graphics and exploration on a par with the best Super Mario games – but combines the various components with so much finesse and creative joy that it is impossible not to get excited.
And all this without the experience ever feeling inflated or made up. Instead, you get a compact and refined gaming experience that lasts just long enough, with an average playing time of just under ten hours, and enough extra content to last for another 5-8 hours if you want. And when it’s so rewarding and exciting to explore this universe, of course you want to.
The game is generally beautiful: I regularly take a look at gorgeous landscapes, study the meticulously detailed enemies, and giggle like a little girl over all the weird things that hide in nooks and crannies. It seems that there are no parts of the universe that do not hide an extra treasure or secret, and it is easy to get carried away when everything is so well composed.
Given that this is Ember Lab’s first game, it’s strange that not many things have gone wrong along the way: With the exception of periods of technical wrinkles, including a bit shaggy running, stubborn “fidelity” mode and poor mixing, there is little concrete to take the experience for.
One can well criticize the game for borrowing concepts from other places and that the fighting is a bit in the simplest made outside the toughest levels of difficulty, but it is only a trifle compared to how elaborate and constantly engaging the rest of the package is. It’s so good that I can not bring myself to give anything but a full pot.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is thus dangerously close to platform perfection – an instant classic that presses equally nostalgic and modern buttons to deliver an outstanding adventure.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 (tested) and Windows.
For similar games, we can recommend the beautiful adventure Rhyme, the action gem with the gorgeous flames in The Pathless and it exquisitely evocative Little Nightmares II.
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