- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release Date: Apr 23, 2024
- Also On: PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox Series X
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Apr 22, 2024Tight design and compelling mythology compensate for a few too many borrowed ideas.
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Apr 25, 2024The gameplay in Tales of Kenzera: ZAU does at solid job at keeping up with other platformers. The unique abilities which are each provided a nice background story benefit the worldbuilding in a way that other Metroidvanias are more than welcome to adapt. However, the story and dialogue want to be deeper than they ultimately succeed at being. The low enemy variety and their constant recycling is really annoying.
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Apr 23, 2024As a diverse story featuring wonder and beauty, I cannot recommend this game enough, but the nuts and bolts need tightening for it to truly soar.
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Apr 22, 2024Tales of Kenzera: ZAU offers a potent narrative journey through grief and African mythology within a metroidvania framework. While the story and atmosphere shine, the gameplay lacks depth, with simplistic platforming and combat mechanics, ultimately delivering an experience more focused on storytelling than gameplay challenge.
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Apr 22, 2024Zau's journey with grief is compounded by his desire to be a valued member of his society, and to fill the empty footsteps left behind by his father's death. Surgent Studio's efforts to twist the heartbreaking experience of a son mourning his father with metroidvania style gameplay gives homage to how one person's time with grief is not always linear. Just as grief presents new challenges, we learn new tools to cope with the obstacles. It is an excellent juxtaposition that is marred with some frustrating technical issues and the need for just a bit more polish.
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Apr 22, 2024Despite issues with its difficulty balance and some of the elements of the metroidvania genre, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is still a promising start for Surgent Studios, with its smooth, fast gameplay, astounding world, engrossing story and jaw-dropping visuals. Hopefully we'll be returning to Kenzera sometime in the future, because no matter what form any future tales may take, there's a ton of potential here and a lot of fun to be had.
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Apr 22, 2024Tales of Kenzera: Zau is more effective as a moving reflection on grief than as a Metroidvania.
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Jun 7, 2024Tales of Kenzera: Zau offers a typical metroidvania experience and it’s a shame that the team led by Abubakar Salim lacked the courage to put some kind of a twist on the genre’s formula. Surgent Studios has the potential to create amazing games, but unfortunately this isn’t one of them.
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May 5, 2024We would have liked all the charm of the African legends of Tales of Kenzera ZAU to also be found in a level design that was both inspired and inventive! Outstripped by a plethora of competitors, the first software from Surgent Studios lacks the depth and precision to establish itself in the domain of the Gods. However, it does not lack assets: with its low price (20 euros), its dynamism and its enchanting universe, this Metroidvania, less labyrinthine than the others, has interesting arguments to help you spend 8 entertaining hours.
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Apr 22, 2024Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a video game with so much heart... enclosed in an imperfect container. Moving within the various regions of Kenzera is a pleasure, but for a good part of the game the combat remains more of a burden than a pleasure. When things finally start to get more complicated the adventure finally seems to take off, but unfortunately this happens far too late.
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Jun 23, 2024Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an example of an interesting concept blighted by lazy implementation.
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Apr 22, 2024I truly loved the first two-thirds of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU and it saddens me that I felt the opposite for the remainder of it.
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| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
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Apr 24, 2024It has its flaws, but it's a fun metroidvania full of jumps and fights.
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Apr 22, 2024Tales Of Kenzera shows great precision in its character and world design, in the writing, in the voice acting, even down to individual animations. But it lacks precision in some areas of the combat, in particular the platforming, which arguably is the bit that matters more in a platformer. For me, I'm not sure it does! Despite my frustrations - I have evidence in the form of furious texts to a friend about how many times I attempted one sequence where you have to sprint up waterfalls to a timed gate, and another that features a jump-dash in time to land on a platform floating on a lava fountain - I'd like to see what other tales can be told in Kenzera.