Kena: Bridge of Spirits Reviews
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a good reminder of how innovative an indie developer can be. With a fascinating world to explore, problems to solve, and friends to make, it’s easy to be impressed. Sure, there are some shortcomings, such as weak combat or generic puzzles, though the core adventure certainly makes up for it.
The world is fun to explore, and your time is rewarded with secrets galore and hats for your little Rot followers
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.
As an indie effort and a debut game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits makes a good impression. It balances simplicity and challenge while weaving a neatly-paced story into something that can be played over a chill couple of days. Despite fantastic production values it's still far from a AAA title – so it's important to keep expectations in check, but anyone looking to lose themselves in a charming, gorgeous world ripe for exploration should look no further. It's exactly what I needed right now – perfect cozy weekend entertainment.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is as gorgeous and elegantly crafted as a big budget game, making it a statement debut for Ember Lab.
I wouldn’t call Kena: Bridge of Spirits overly ambitious. More like “strategically ambitious.” Ember Lab avoided biting off more than it could chew with its first game, and I dug it.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a short but sweet action-adventure game with a heartwarming story and great graphics that make it feel like a Disney movie.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits promises magic, but can’t deliver much of it
Looks better than it plays, but it's got a good heart.
With its elegantly simple combat and beautiful world, Kena: Bridge of Spirits harkens back to the days of the N64/GameCube-era Zeldas, Okami, and Star Fox Adventures, while also adding modern sensibilities and a distinct personal touch.
An agreeable adventure that's transformed into something special by its enchanting aesthetic
Kena: Bridge Of Spirits is a beautiful action-adventure game full of joy, wonder and character. It's a breath of fresh air.
Kena is smooth as a pebble - a game engineered to be so unoffensive there's no reason not to play it, or to play it at all.
You feel the passion of Ember Lab to craft a cinematic game with Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Visually and aurally, they achieve their target as it's a beautiful game, but from a story point-of-view and as a video game, it doesn't quite hit the mark.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an astonishing action-adventure with a unique art direction. It proposes brilliant puzzle-platform sections and let the player be free to explore and manage the pace with their own rhythm.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Kena: Bridge of Spirits truly is something special, and I can’t wait to see what Ember Lab does next.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a very good game that feels like it’s already been left behind by modern genre conventions. There’s nothing all that frustrating in that - we shouldn’t expect games, especially those made by studios the size of Ember Labs, to be constantly groundbreaking, but so much of Kena feels borrowed from elsewhere that it’s difficult to call it great. It’s a solid, enjoyable experience, and charming enough that you won’t care that you’ve played versions of it before. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a pretty nice wheel nonetheless.
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