Kena: Bridge of Spirits Reviews
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.
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.
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.
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.
An agreeable adventure that's transformed into something special by its enchanting aesthetic
Highly impressive on a technical level but the throwbacks to PS2 era game design feel less like a homage and more an indication of the developers' lack of experience and imagination.
The world is fun to explore, and your time is rewarded with secrets galore and hats for your little Rot followers
Kena: Bridge of Spirits promises magic, but can’t deliver much of it
Kena: Bridge of Spirits uses a different perspective on familiar gameplay ideas to create tons of exciting combat and a deep emotional connection with its world.
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 Spirit’s exceptional visuals clash with its unexceptional gameplay to create a gorgeous experience that would be forgettable if not for its technical prowess. Its combat, puzzles, and platforming are enjoyable but fail to set the world alight, though the adventure is elevated by the beauty of its open world and its highly animated characters.
"Satisfactory" is a well suited adjective for this game. It may not be as groundbreaking as other games in the genre, but it offers really interesting exploration and combats. And you'll love your Rots too!
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a great palette cleanser, not just in terms of tone but the way it's carefully designed. Well-paced and beautiful to behold with plenty to see and do, Ember Lab has well and truly captured the spirit of the 3D platformers many of us grew up adoring.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a magical journey, one that I hope everyone will take. I certainly can't wait to take it again.
Between those mechanical systems and cleverly arranged zones in and around the starting village, Ember Lab makes sure that players have stuff to look for and interesting systems to play with once they discover those puzzles. (And I haven't even mentioned the seriously cool, late-game magical ability that I'm not going to spoil.) By narrowing its magical abilities to only a few pickups, K:BoS emphasizes a simple, accessible path to adventurous treasure hunting. The result is the opposite of a standard "Metroidvania" in which new abilities often do a meager job unlocking new things in old zones. If you're hoping for a massive adventure with 19 different items that each expose new regions, K:BoS doesn't deliver. Personally, I enjoyed its tighter focus, which still opened previously explored regions for further investigation (complete with a handy in-game counter for secrets that have and haven't yet been found).
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an excellent debut. Even if the story ends a bit in the background, the beauty of the world, the animations and the combat system make the adventure of Kena and his friends Rot's truly memorable.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Kena: Bridge of Spirits remains traditional in its mechanics while offering a series of surprises that go far beyond the beauty of its world.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
While we might have to arguably wait for future games to unlock the series' true potential, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is still a great first outing for Ember Lab. If the breathtaking visuals don't suck you in, then there's the satisfying and challenging combat as well, or the wide world to explore.