We’re in a strange age of video gaming where some games don’t stay exclusive forever. I’m grateful that this is a growing trend, seeing as people should be able to play great games no matter where they play. Ember Lab’s Kena: Bridge of Spirits was first released as a PS5 exclusive but has since joined the Xbox library. Upon release, it was applauded for a number of elements, many of which were for visuals and art style. For this review, we’re going to take a look at the beloved action game on Xbox Series X and, you might have guessed it, but all of the love given to this game at release holds true today. Here’s our review of Kena: Bridge of Spirits:

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a story-driven action adventure starring Kena, a young Spirit Guide, who travels to an abandoned village in search of the sacred mountain shrine. With the help of a team of tiny spirit companions called the Rot, Kena is able to partner with these creatures to obtain powerful abilities and manipulate the environment. With a pretty straightforward premise and just enough mystery to pique your curiosity, Kena: Bridge of Spirits doesn’t take long to get into its groove and throw players into the gameplay loop. While the gameplay is satisfying, the visuals are downright gorgeous.

At the start of the game, you’re introduced to Kena and this world with a gorgeous cinematic. The team at Ember Lab actually began as an animation studio, most notably working together on a Majora’s Mask fan film. Utilizing a great sense of art design and direction, Ember Lab takes the relatively static setting of a forest and woods to contrast the natural color palate with an incredible sense of light. There’s nothing hugely next-gen about the graphics in Kena: Bridge of Spirits, but art design speaks for itself in today’s video games, and Ember Lab nails this element. For it being their first game, it’s also wonderful that this experience is so much fun to play.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is set up with a fairly linear path, with combat and puzzle scenarios that mimic the likes of The Legend of Zelda or even a light Tomb Raider. With collectible items required to progress through areas, you’ll search for what you need, fend off enemies, and take on bosses to progress through the 11-hour story. The combat in Kena: Bridge of Spirits is fast and precise, controlling wonderfully in even the most hectic of times. There is a point around 3 or 4 hours where you do feel the pattern emerging and some sameness sets in, but knowing the overall runtime and enjoying this world helped me to stay focused on moving forward without managing boredom.

As you gain abilities like a parry or a time slowdown that allows you to plan bow attacks carefully, there is freshness. The enemy design also stays diverse throughout the game. As you progress through Kena: Bridge of Spirits, the combat and puzzle difficulty ramps up nicely to where you don’t feel like you’re in a Pixar movie, it just looks like one. There’s plenty of resource management and patience required to defeat end-game bosses. We’re not talking Souls-level difficulty, but a nice challenge nonetheless. There’s truly nothing in art or gameplay to critique heavily in Kena: Bridge of Spirits. It’s enjoyable throughout the entire time you spend with this world.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits might not revolutionize the action-adventure genre, but its strong art design and crisp gameplay mechanics make this an incredible debut game for Ember Lab. A studio making games for decades would be thrilled with an output like this, let alone an animation studio pivoting into a new frontier. I hope we get more from this team soon, and while the story and characters in Kena: Bridge of Spirits might not have me itching for a sequel due to a rather weak connection to them all, I do hope Ember builds on this love letter to 3D Zelda-likes and continues delivering enjoyable, vivid gaming experiences for years to come.

An Xbox Series X|S review copy of Kena: Bridge of Spirits was provided by Ember Lab for the purposes of this review.

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits

$39.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Gorgeous art design and direction
• Really tight controls and gameplay
• A fun world to exist in for just the right amount of time

Cons

• Slightly repetitive gameplay around the 30% mark and beyond