Over the course of the game, you’ll attain a few extra powers - turning your staff into a magical bow and the ability to throw a series of spirit bombs, to name a couple - but the setup for combat largely remains the same throughout. Movement is swift, platforming is non-aggravating, and the third-person combat is dancelike and bursting with energy. For the most part, this means eliminating all those red nodules that blight the land.įor what’s ostensibly an indie game made by an animation studio crossing over to the realm of video games for the first time, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a surprisingly slick affair.

As Kena, a spirit guide who travels the land seeking to reunite the dead, usher spirits to the afterlife, and generally put things right, my top priorities are the forested valley and its health. It would be picturesque if not for all the gnarled purple roots strangling the life out of the place, and the fleshy bulbs pulsating a toxic red. Switching to story mode for the more difficult boss fights made this a non-issue, but there's plenty of interesting fights for those who enjoy a challenge.All in all, Kena really exceeded my expectations and I'm excited to see what else Ember Lab has to offer.I’m in the midst of another forest meadow. I appreciated that the storytelling wasn't too heavy handed and you were left to interpret some of the backstories through collecting the memories and relics.As other reviewers have noted, the combat is quite difficult even on the 'normal' setting. In particular, Adira's story of love persevering, moving heaven and earth to try and help Hana come home despite not knowing the Hana's fate really resonated with me. The brief glimpses of their pasts in the themes of fear, love, and regret made the conclusions of their stories all the more satisfying. The boss tracks, especially the Woodsmith, were great at creating tension.Each of the spirits' stories were also very well done.

The ambient and enemy sounds are excellent, with creaking wood sounds and impactful sound effects. What surprised me was the quality of the music and story.The music works so well with a melancholy yet hopeful feeling that gave the same post-apocalyptic zen vibes that Breath of the Wild did. The environments and level design are also very well done, although one (very) minor thing is that there could be more variety in terrain. The graphics are indeed beautiful, with excellent lighting and artstyle that suits the game. When this was announced I was expecting a Zelda clone with pretty graphics as the main selling point.

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