Tales of Kenzera: Zau Reviews
Tales of Kenzera: Zau builds upon the Metroidvania formula to deliver exciting action, emotional storytelling, and African cultural specificity.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU rests on a solid foundation, yet prioritizes its narrative at the expense of its game design. Rather than allowing its gameplay and narrative to support each other, it discards some of the medium's unique strengths for a competent if bland experience that fails to give full weight to its subject matter.
A remarkably accomplished 2.5D metroidvania platformer, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU melds fluid traversal and combat with an emotional, heartfelt narrative. Its difficulty spikes can be a little off-putting, but it's worth persevering and pushing through to the end.
Tales of Kenzara: ZAU is a strong debut title for Surgent Studios, offering a short but solid Metroidvania experience. It's limited by its small scope, and is a little formulaic, but that won't stop you from enjoying the tight combat and gorgeous visuals. Pick this one up and enjoy the heartfelt, emotional story in a beautifully rendered setting that doesn't see enough limelight.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU accomplishes the difficult role of translating a deeply personal concept into the medium of gaming. With a lack of intricate backtracking and complex combat, Surgent Studios’ platformer is relatively simple. But the extraordinary narrative, paired with equally powerful visuals and audio provide an experience that is engaging enough to not commit the sin of forgetting it must also be fun and resonant.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau delivers a genuinely touching and heartfelt story in a rich and mystical world, even if it lets itself down with its combat, platforming, and design.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an emotional rollercoaster that doubles as a Metroidvania with edge, at $20 it is a must play title for everyone.
For now though, Tales of Kenzera Zau is a game you should definitely play for the story it tells, even if the gameplay doesn’t quite meet the same standard.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an earnest first video game effort from a studio that's destined for great things. Weak exploration and a lack of combat variety are minor flaws in an overall package that offers up fluid platforming, some great gameplay hooks, an emotionally-resonant story and a rich tapestry of sights and sounds that's like little else in the space. It's almost the perfect pairing to the recent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, offering a succinct and approachable take on the concept that offers even more story, worldbuilding and visual flair.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a beautiful game that navigates the difficult journey of grief. Abubaker Salim delivers a great story and performance that resonates with anyone going through that process. It’s backed up with stunning visuals and a score that supports this strong story. While this game doesn’t reinvent the Metroidvania, fans of the genre will still be impressed. Hopefully, they’ll fix the bug of having Zau frozen after exiting the menu. Despite that, Tales of Kenzera is an impressive debut from Surgent Studios.
Surgent Studios' debut title is a tale of two extremes: enthusiasm for this heartfelt story about grief and apathy for the Metroidvania around it.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a metroidvania enjoyable for both casual and hardcore players, as long as you don't expect a complex gameplay or huge replayability.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU infuses the action platformer with earnest, emotional storytelling and a vibrant, compelling world to explore.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is an impressively built Metroidvania game that weaves enjoyable gameplay and deep emotional storytelling.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a Metroidvania full of heart and soul. With its engaging combat, sublime soundtrack and story that grabs your attention from the get-go, fans of the genre should consider this a must-have.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an excellent example of how to craft a game that’s full of representation for a distinct group of people, yet still remain completely approachable for anyone else who wants to experience the tale.
By the time the credits roll on Zau, players will have fought through swaths of foes and explored many interesting locales. As much as Zau manages to get right, it’s ultimately failed by a lack of innovation that results in an experience that feels like something is missing that would have pushed the game to the next level. Whether it might have been more creative uses of Zau’s powers, or more inventive world exploration, it’s hard to say exactly. I would nonetheless still love to see Salim and Surgent Studios team on another project and take what they learned with Zau and expand upon it. I give Zau a light recommendation for those who have been wanting a new Metroidvania to play, but anyone looking for something truly new is likely to be disappointed.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is an overall solid entry into the Metroidvania genre. The core mechanics are strong, and the story is surprisingly engaging. Only some lackluster level design holds it back from true greatness, and there are enough moments of excellent gameplay that it isn't a huge negative, either. If you're looking for something to scratch that Metroidvania itch, Zau is more than up to the challenge.
Viewed as a game that gets to the point and takes some, but not all, essential elements of the Metroidvania genre to provide an accessible experience, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU delivers and you will undoubtedly have a good time, although nothing May it change your life or take you back. Despite its limitations and flaws, the combat system, some puzzles and platform challenges, as well as boss battles, are enough to keep going and see if the god of death keeps his word.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Lasting in the ballpark of 8-10 hours, Tales of Kenzera is a well-paced Metroidvania that is a blast to play, featuring novel unlockable abilities, a good challenge, and most of all, an incredible story. Just be ready to shed a tear or two, especially if you're in my shoes of being a parent to a young kid because hoo boy - that whole father/son element is played to perfection. The story is a true triumph and the gameplay supports it perfectly.