One of the best factor we will say about Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is that it’s a good gateway recreation into the Metroidvania style. The Change is so chock filled with unbelievable titles at this level that it may usually be troublesome to know the place to begin (we might help with that too, by the way in which), however Kenzera gives a comparatively breezy 6-7-hour expertise that ought to offer you a sign as as to if or to not dip your toes in a bit additional. For style veterans, nonetheless, whereas the gameplay is actually adequate to see you thru to the tip, there’s little right here that hasn’t already been executed elsewhere… and higher, too.
What elevates the sport, nonetheless, is its setting and story. For those who’ve been following Tales of Kenzera’s growth in any respect, you’ll know that quite a lot of the plot takes inspiration from Sugent Studio’s artistic lead, Abubakar Salim, and his private expertise coping with parental loss. By the way, Salim (a stage and display screen actor and the voice of Bayek in Murderer’s Creed Origins) additionally gives the voice for protagonist Zau, and we now have to commend the voiceover work as a complete; it’s brilliantly executed all through and helps the plot resonate much more than if we have been merely studying strains of dialogue.
Zau himself is on a journey to revive his deceased father by capturing the spirits of three monsters and providing them to Kalunga, the God of Demise. Kalunga accompanies Zau in his quest and gives recommendation each sensible and philosophical, and we now have to confess that we relished each second that the sagely spectre confirmed up. Total, Kenzera’s story is a touching, heartfelt story elevated by the performances of the voice actors, and have been it not for this, we concern the sport would have slipped from our reminiscence virtually instantly.
Now, we must always stress that Kenzera’s gameplay is strong. Motion feels fluid, you’ve acquired a touch capacity that’s virtually at all times satisfying to tug off, and the fight, whereas actually not deep or difficult, feels impactful and enjoyable. The problem we now have is you can actually inform that that is the studio’s first crack at a Metroidvania recreation; there’s little or no problem concerned, exploration is saved at an absolute minimal, and the unlockable skills don’t add quite a lot of selection or depth.
The largest disappointment for us comes with that lack of exploration. The perfect Metroidvanias boast lovely, interconnected worlds full of secrets and techniques that make you wish to go off the overwhelmed observe, and though Kenzera’s world is actually lovely, the branching paths quantity to little greater than linear corridors that result in a particular purpose. When you’ve collected the required merchandise or overwhelmed the boss, you need to backtrack via the identical corridors till you attain what we’d describe as a mini hub space. It’s solely right here you can then unlock a brand new door or attain a brand new space to progress additional.
Fight encounters are sprinkled all through the expertise. You’ll come throughout just a few enemies on the fly as you make your method via the sport, however most fight segments are restricted to particular areas by which the exits are blocked off; sort of like Bayonetta or Satan Might Cry.
You’ve acquired the choice to take out your foes with melee assaults and long-range projectiles, and you may toggle between these with a faucet of ‘L’, swapping out Zau’s solar and moon masks and thus altering his look and moveset. Some enemies are colour-coded to point their strengths and weaknesses, so the sport does an excellent job of guaranteeing you’re not simply sticking to 1 technique of assault. Properly, in concept not less than.
Sadly, each enemy selection and the arenas the place you battle them are restricted. We just like the fight, however when the twentieth encounter feels precisely the identical as the first, it will get awfully repetitive. You may attempt to combine up your technique as a lot as you want, however when the sport throws the identical enemies at you in the identical patterns time and again, it’s exhausting to not simply utilise the identical offensive ways each single time.
Fortunately, there are ability timber tied to every masks, so you possibly can enhance each your melee and long-range skills independently. So for instance, you possibly can unlock a transfer by which you leap up and slam down into the bottom to deal harm, or you possibly can add an additional hit to your fundamental assault combo. Unlocking every new capacity feels welcome, however it doesn’t add an amazing deal or depth or selection to the general fight gameplay. Actually, we sort of want it have been all simply out there proper from the beginning.
By way of its total aesthetic, Kenzera is a vibrant journey that’s most likely finest described as a cross between Ori and the Blind Forest and Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown. The map display screen particularly seems to be prefer it was swiped straight from an Ori recreation, and to be clear, that’s actually no dangerous factor. Sadly, like many multiplatform video games as of late, Kenzera does endure from muddy visuals and stuttering body charges on the Change (although that is reportedly below investigation). It’s admittedly not as dangerous as we’d initially feared, however that is undoubtedly a kind of circumstances the place when you’ve got beefier {hardware} out there, then we’d suggest enjoying it elsewhere.
Conclusion
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a good recreation, however it sits within the shadow of a lot better Metroidvanias on the Change. We love the setting and storyline, however as Surgent Studios’ first stab at what has confirmed to be a wildly common style through the years, it struggles to set itself aside with quite bland exploration and repetitive fight. Coupled with compromised visuals and efficiency on Change, veterans of the style might wish to give this one a miss. For newcomers, nonetheless, the breezy gameplay may make for a pleasant introduction to Metroidvanias.