Kena: Bridge of Spirits Reviews
Despite borrowing from all manner of modern hits, Kena: Bridge of Spirits just about stands on its own. The wonderful visuals and music leave a strong impression, while the gameplay is simple but enjoyable. If its story went beyond the expected, and one or two small issues were scrubbed away, this would be a real winner. As it is, this is a solid action platformer with lots of personality, and a strong debut from Ember Lab.
Overall, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is absolutely brilliant. It's one of those rare games that feels like it belongs to the new generation thanks to its magnificent world, and its developers knew exactly how ambitious to be while still providing a top rate experience.
And when each of those parts are this good, this lovingly crafted, this polished, it’s incredibly difficult to ignore. Ember Lab have created something truly special. This is a gem. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the best game I’ve played all year. And you should play it.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is, without a doubt, one of the biggest surprises we have on Xbox for this 2024. Regardless of the fact that it arrived first on other platforms, it can only be described as a great adventure that is necessary to recommend, especially if you are one of those who is with Microsoft and has not played it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I cannot recommend Kena: Bridge of Spirits enough, and the fact that my second playthrough was just as magical as the first, serves as a testament to the abundance of love and passion Ember Lab put into this title. We need more titles like this, and if you haven’t played this yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Again, I’ve played it twice, and it still creates an immeasurable amount of satisfaction and joy in experiencing the story of Kena, the Rot, and an art design as magical as the inspiration it comes from.
Bridge of Spirits is an old-fashioned adventure game, one that sets you on a very curated, puzzle-marked path. Which is to say that it lacks for the trailblazing go-anywhere spirit of Breath of the Wild. But Kena is, after all, a spirit guide, so you can trust that you’re not missing out on much by sticking to the missions that she calls out on the map. What you’ll get by following that path that she puts you on are the tightest, most compelling pieces of gameplay, those rooted in plot. In fact, seeing as what happens to those spirits who lose themselves along the way, the purest form of Bridge of Spirits is the one that doesn’t wander off.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a fantastic adventure, one which does an incredible job of mixing platforming elements, fun and energetic combat, a rewarding exploration system and beautiful graphics. It's not only of the best games of 2021, it's one of the best games of recent years.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
For a try, it's a masterstroke. The formula applies perfectly to Kena Bridge of Spirits, which marks a more than promising debut on the part of Ember Lab.
Review in French | Read full review
Kena: Bridge of Spirits not only looks beautiful, but also captivates with challenging fights and exploration that is simply fun.
Review in German | Read full review
After completing Kena, we felt the desire not to leave these virtual lands, to continue in the heart of the forest to eliminate even the last bit of Corruption. Like the souls of the village, in short, we did not want to "go further". The magic of Bridge of Spirits is all here: in its sweet magnetism, in its balance between gameplay and narration, in the echo of those adventures of the past, where simplicity moved hand in hand with refinement. Splendid to look at and rewarding to play, Kena is a debut work as rarely seen in recent years: that the independent sector can be guided by its spirit.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is gorgeous and extremely well made, but there's less heart here than I was expecting. It's still a worthy adventure with great controls and lots to see and do, though.
I'm not sure how Ember Lab did it, but I walked away from Kena: Bridge of Spirits with my expectations surpassed to a much further extent than I could have imagined. The visuals are breathtaking, the gameplay evolves in meaningful ways, and the heart the story contains has no bounds. You'll find it hard to come across a more wholesome and beautiful game in 2021 than Kena: Bridge of Spirits, it's everything I wanted it to be and more.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an absolutely stunning game on the eyes and ears, but is perhaps a little too much style over substance. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with the mechanics, they can at times feel fairly shallow and archaic, but thankfully things don’t really get too repetitive or boring, and what you get in the overall experience more than makes up for that.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was never a revelation, and it still isn't, but it is, nonetheless, a gorgeous, engaging action-adventure title that Xbox players now have the perfect opportunity to dive into.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Premium Edition for Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles has arrived at just the right time, delivering a challenging, high-quality, old-school action-adventure/puzzler that’s bound to keep gamers on the Xbox platform busy during the end-of-summer gaming doldrums.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a captivating and well-made affair with a big heart, and will surely scratch an itch for many gamers keen on taking part in a touching journey through one of the prettiest worlds ever created.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a solid game that hearkens back to titles of the sixth generation of games, with a coat of paint indicative of modern gaming that should appease younger players while offering enough gameplay variety for anyone to enjoy.
What pleasures Kena provides are intrinsic to most videogames: clicking buttons and finding trinkets. Eventually I did fall into that groove, but it was distracting, not compelling. When all the game's darkness dissipates into bright green, when all wounds can be healed with determination and kindness, when death itself is a collectible friend, it is difficult to feel that distraction was worth it.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits' stunning visuals and fantastical abilities are weighed down by repetitive combat - and a world with more to see than to do.