Kena: Bridge of Spirits

 PlayStation 5
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1291 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,034 out of 1291
  2. Mixed: 162 out of 1291
  3. Negative: 95 out of 1291

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  1. GunnarHaven
    Oct 3, 2021
    10
    One of the most original and unique game ever created. A great spiritual gaming experience from concept to finished product. Parents should introduce their children to this kind of game. To start them right. No killing. No hurting people and animals. Just appreciation of life and helping your enemies become your friends.
  2. RadekZumpa
    Oct 3, 2021
    10
    Awesome game with beautiful story. Cool mechanics that will make you feel good about yourself, but still it challenges you with nicely designed enemies. Open world encourages you to explore.
  3. Davlin
    Oct 5, 2021
    5
    Kena is an acceptable game visually strong and simple with a lot of colour, cute characters and silly collectables its seemingly targeted towards a younger crowd but with challenging combat that feels meant for older gamers, it falls short of being a good game for anyone and is mostly forgettable.
  4. camushyoga
    Oct 7, 2021
    9
    Excellent and beautiful game. Great graphics and story. Amazing. Totally worth it.
  5. MGamer490
    Oct 16, 2021
    8
    Before we begin, just something to keep in mind, this game was developed by Ember Labs and it was the first game they made so not everything is going to be amazing, but if you look at this as a developer's first game, its actually quite impressive.

    Story - I had no complaints with the story to be honest, but I didn't feel like it was anything that truly hooked me. It is easy to follow    Before we begin, just something to keep in mind, this game was developed by Ember Labs and it was the first game they made so not everything is going to be amazing, but if you look at this as a developer's first game, its actually quite impressive.

    Story - I had no complaints with the story to be honest, but I didn't feel like it was anything that truly hooked me. It is easy to follow and tied in well with what you were doing in the game, just wasn't anything overly special. Still enjoyed it though.

    Graphics and Performance - It goes without saying but this is one of the more beautiful games on the PS5 right now. It feels like an interactive Pixar movie. The idea of clearing out the corruption and allowing the area to look beautiful is a great idea too as the game is just so gorgeous that it feels really nice to accomplish this goal. Performance had some issues here and there, just some framerate drops which typically occurred during some fight scenes but nothing to ruin the game.

    Combat + Difficulty - These two I wanted to address in the same section because this game leads you into a false sense of security. The game starts off very easy, a lot of the enemies being a piece of cake, to the point where I started to believe this game might be focused more to children which would make sense with the graphics and cute characters... but nope. I played on the normal difficulty but this game gets hard real quick, when you start taking on some of the stronger enemies(mostly boss fights) they can really do a number on you. I genuinely felt the sudden shift in difficulty was a result of me just being bad at the game, so I turned to google and reddit to see if others expressed the same thoughts and a lot of people did feel the same. Is it a bad thing? No, I think the difficulty was fine and I appreciated the challenge, but it was just hard to wrap my mind around how abrupt how difficult the game suddenly became and definitely could've been handled better, that alone could be enough to turn people away from playing this as it is quite the shift. Luckily there is a story difficulty which will help the people who struggled with the standard difficulty but just something to keep in mind, this game does not go easy on you. The final boss definitely took me a few tries. As for the combat itself, I felt it was good fun, you don't get a whole lot to work with, its a fairly basic game compared to others of this style, but with the difficulty being at what it was, I felt I got to better know how to use what I had to help me beat them, this might not be a positive for others though.

    Upgades + Collectibles - Upgrades are ok, they don't dramatically change what you can do, some might be as simple as allowing you to shoot an extra arrow from your bow before it needs to cooldown, while another might add a charge based heavy attack to your offense. The collectibles are nothing all that special though, you level up your character by finding these cute little creatures called Rots who help you in battle so they are a collectible themselves really and feel good to find as the serve to upgrade your skills, but then you have hats and gems that you can find as well, the hats are there purely for cosmetic purpose which your Rots wear, and the gems are to buy those hats, it is cute but not all that exciting and doesn't change anything in the gameplay. You can also do certain things with the Rot that will earn praise-like points from them which can earn you upgrades which I discussed above, these are things like feeding them or fixing up statues that had fallen over, clearing corruption etc. I didn't go through and collect everything, but I felt this was just a little shallow, aside from the rots, I didn't feel a huge need to collect all this stuff.

    Music - I legitimately got Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisp vibes from the music in this game, it is very beautiful and lends itself so well to the story, which is fitting because in Ori games there are elements of that where there is corruption around an otherwise beautiful world and you can clear it up.

    Final Review - I had such a fun time with this game and was surprised by how challenging it could be. One thing I need to mention again, but this was the first game made by this developer, you can definitely feel that it had some great ideas but not all of them were used in the best way, but I still had a genuinely good time and truly would love to see more from them. It might not be for everyone but I think it is worth giving a shot, just keep in mind the difficulty might be a little rough depending on your skill level but can always turn the difficulty down should you want to just enjoy the story.    … Expand
  6. Amir-_-gamer
    Oct 8, 2021
    10
    For the first game of ember lab this is so good . The graphics is so special
  7. Wombees
    Oct 10, 2021
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When this was announced I was expecting a Zelda clone with pretty graphics as the main selling point. The graphics are indeed beautiful, with excellent lighting and artstyle that suits the game. The environments and level design are also very well done, although one (very) minor thing is that there could be more variety in terrain. 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 ambient and enemy sounds are excellent, with creaking wood sounds and impactful sound effects. The boss tracks, especially the Woodsmith, were great at creating tension.

    Each of the spirits' stories were also very well done. The brief glimpses of their pasts in the themes of fear, love, and regret made the conclusions of their stories all the more satisfying. 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. 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. 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.    … Expand
  8. jerrett1
    Oct 10, 2021
    9
    Kena is great, but master mode can kiss my ass. Normal mode and expert are good difficulty modes, but master feels unfair at some times. Besides that one thing, Kena is an almost perfect debut game
  9. Ben503
    Oct 11, 2021
    10
    I loved it, I think they are really on the right track. I think they need to polish some things (background of certain characters, identity and value of the mechanics, AI in certain cases) but in general they have created a totally memorable experience, at least on PS5: the soundtrack is exquisite, the visual environment is compelling , the touch of the puzzles and the combat are veryI loved it, I think they are really on the right track. I think they need to polish some things (background of certain characters, identity and value of the mechanics, AI in certain cases) but in general they have created a totally memorable experience, at least on PS5: the soundtrack is exquisite, the visual environment is compelling , the touch of the puzzles and the combat are very enjoyable. I hope that works like this and many other indie ones would serve as an example for large companies to worry about selling experiences, not half-baked services (I'm talking to you, Konami and EA).… Expand
  10. Janli
    Oct 12, 2021
    9
    As the first game of a new studio, i'd say they did a good job creating this beautiful game. The combat and visuals are the strongest points of the game. The environment is beautifully crafted. I just hope it had more enemy variety but considering that this is the first game of Ember Lab, they still did a good job. This indie game beats most of AAA games out there. It is that good.
  11. Steel_DE
    Oct 12, 2021
    10
    A wonderful game though the choice for PS5 is not big at the moment!
    Great landscape, cute art, fitting sounds&music nice effects and an emotional story. Normally I am not the fan of jumping and riddles but this one in combination with its action based combat in between was great and challenging (but not until you get angry;) ). Passed through the game far too quickly, a bit longer would    A wonderful game though the choice for PS5 is not big at the moment!
    Great landscape, cute art, fitting sounds&music nice effects and an emotional story. Normally I am not the fan of jumping and riddles but this one in combination with its action based combat in between was great and challenging (but not until you get angry;) ). Passed through the game far too quickly, a bit longer would be nice. However, more of this please!    … Expand
  12. marcos979797
    Oct 14, 2021
    6
    It makes it obvius it's their first attempt at creating games.... Graphic is cool, soundtracks too, but it totally needs a revision in originality, plot, and environment variety (there is just a forest and some snow at the end of the game)
    The plot is super predictable and character has no personality
    The gameplay and the puzzles are still very enjoyable
  13. IntoxicatedRush
    Oct 14, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I like the story, graphics and music it was pretty fun to play. Now i'm playing on master difficulty legit and it is broken with the boss fights because you get attack and killed when you in an animation and that need to be address.… Expand
  14. xblue_bomberx
    Oct 19, 2021
    10
    Totally thought this game! I hear some people complaining about the jump a little bit, that aspect didn’t bother anything for me at all. It’s very reminiscent of exploration when it comes to a Zelda game, where you’ll have puzzles and what not. I would recommend this game to anyone if it seems up your alley.
  15. RedRangerRobin
    Oct 21, 2021
    9
    Hello everyone welcome to my first but hopefully not last review. I am your friendly video game reviewer Red Ranger Robin.

    Today I am reviewing Kena Bridge of spirits on the PS5. So I will start off by saying this, Kena is exactly what I wanted in a video game right now at this current time. While this game does feel like a PS2 game I say that as a positive thing. It is challenging    Hello everyone welcome to my first but hopefully not last review. I am your friendly video game reviewer Red Ranger Robin.

    Today I am reviewing Kena Bridge of spirits on the PS5.

    So I will start off by saying this, Kena is exactly what I wanted in a video game right now at this current time. While this game does feel like a PS2 game I say that as a positive thing. It is challenging full of traversing, platforming, puzzles and great boss fights.

    You are trying to restore a village back to its natural state after it has been filled with infected plants or roots we will say in this case here. To do this you must clear the infected roots around the areas you are exploring the end goal of these 6 or 7 areas you will explore is to collect artifacts of lost spirits and collectibles such as rot, diamonds and hats which will help you perform abilities during combat. The one issue I have with this is that after I have unlocked the hats I still have to buy them.

    The game play is a 3D platforming classic PS2 style which is amazing but reminded me just how challenging games were back then. The combat style reminds me of God of war 2018 and Assassins Creed the newest versions because you use the shoulder buttons to hit, and you have a bow and arrow which you can use which reminds me of Zelda Breath of the wild. Throughout the game you will collect I guess we will call them tokens that allows you to unlock more abilities with your weapons. The boss fights are another thing in this game that reminds of the classic video game days the bosses have patterns and you need memorize them or else you will get killed alot.

    Overall Kena is a great game that surprised with a Disney esque art style that feel like a ps2 game in the best way overall I give Kena an 8.5/10    … Expand
  16. Rallianto_Rex
    Sep 29, 2022
    9
    Absolute a high tier game, beautiful graphics, good controls, great (but somewhat simple) combat - You get a AAA feeling about this, but it is an indie game, which is really impressive.
    I have one negative thing to say about the game running on PS5, it's nowhere near the quality of PC. On my *laptop* (Legion 5, GeForce RTX 2060 LAPTOP) the game runs much better, no texture popping, no    Absolute a high tier game, beautiful graphics, good controls, great (but somewhat simple) combat - You get a AAA feeling about this, but it is an indie game, which is really impressive.
    I have one negative thing to say about the game running on PS5, it's nowhere near the quality of PC. On my *laptop* (Legion 5, GeForce RTX 2060 LAPTOP) the game runs much better, no texture popping, no object popping, higher fidelity. I don't understand how the PS5, which is much much stronger than my LAPTOP doesn't deliver as high quality as a LAPTOP does.
    I think in general the PS5 have been disappointing this gen - 90% of all games on PS5 runs 30fps or below, their backwards compatibility runs games WORSE than the PS4 did.    … Expand
  17. vjb4
    Oct 28, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Excelente juego , a pesar de limitaciones del estudio han logrado una obra de arte… Expand
  18. Glaoc
    Jan 4, 2022
    10
    Simply fantastic.
    The story is short-ish but gripping, you become emotionally attached to the characters which makes a great game.
    The hardest difficulty made a few bits challenging but never unfair, every death is your own fault. The upgrade tree is quite simple, I'd have liked to be able to tailor a few more skills to a specific build (for example more melee focused, more ranged    Simply fantastic.
    The story is short-ish but gripping, you become emotionally attached to the characters which makes a great game.

    The hardest difficulty made a few bits challenging but never unfair, every death is your own fault. The upgrade tree is quite simple, I'd have liked to be able to tailor a few more skills to a specific build (for example more melee focused, more ranged focused).

    Visually the environment is beautiful, and whilst the combat is quite simple/limited, it never felt boring or repetitive in combat. I picked this up on sale for £22 and would reccomend it even at full price (and thats saying something with the price of digital games these days). It's £35 usually but even at £40 I'd reccomend.

    It took me 11 hours to complete on the hardest difficulty (not including master difficulty which is unlocked for ng+) - but I took my time, explored the environment etc this could probably be completed in 7 hours if you wanted to rush it.    … Expand
  19. ihearthawthats
    Jun 20, 2022
    9
    Hours Played: 37 Hours
    Trophy Completion: 42/42 PLATINUM
    Worth My Time: Yes, it's short. Worth My Money: Yes, it's not a full price game. What I Like: Everyone talks about the graphics, but for me, it's the gameplay that is top notch. Rivals more serious AAA titles like God of War and Horizon with it's combat. I use the entire moveset except for one move (the jumping smash), which    Hours Played: 37 Hours
    Trophy Completion: 42/42 PLATINUM

    Worth My Time: Yes, it's short.
    Worth My Money: Yes, it's not a full price game.

    What I Like: Everyone talks about the graphics, but for me, it's the gameplay that is top notch. Rivals more serious AAA titles like God of War and Horizon with it's combat. I use the entire moveset except for one move (the jumping smash), which goes to show the intricacies of balance and design. It is far from a one-move button masher spamfest.

    What I Dislike: It's janky. Controls for certain actions are cumbersome. On top of that, the collision boxes are sometimes whack. The story is also quite lacking. It has some decent storytelling, but lacks depth and is full of holes.

    How It Stacks Up: My personal GOTY so far. That is a highly subjective opinion though, because I think some may not be able to overlook the jank and light story. It looks like a kids game on the surface, but is actually quite challenging. Some may even be put off by it's almost souls-like difficulty. It's not fair to compare it to a game like Elden Ring, which has layers and layers of depth; but Kena, while very simple, is extremely fun and that's what I play games for.    … Expand
  20. aandrade81
    Apr 6, 2022
    5
    Kena tem um visual bonito, historia legal e um gameplay bem legal até uns 70% do jogo, na parte final o jogo muda de figura (se transforma de um jogo de exploração/aventura em um souls like), e aqui é onde eu acho que ele peca, pois falta coerência da parte final com a primeira parte ou faltou astúcia para os desenvolvedores abraçarem um souls like desde o começo.
  21. Dudeface
    Jan 1, 2022
    10
    Great game that I want expecting to enjoy so much. I couldn't put it down. The combat is fluid and as a souls fan I was impressed. The bosses can be quite tricky but they have weaknesses to find out.
  22. Yakumo_NL
    Dec 1, 2021
    5
    Awesome game with classic jak and dexter kind of feel to it. Love the music, graphics and gameplay.
  23. Lolbi
    Dec 8, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Phenomenal Story, Music and Graphic. Anspruchsvolles Gameplay. Starke Gegner.
    Liebe zum Detail. Sollte ein DLC oder zweiter Teil kommen, wird er in jedem Fall gespielt    … Expand
  24. Daanvandam
    Jun 17, 2022
    6
    I had pretty high expectations going into this hoping the devs would not follow common western design trends but when the uncharted climbing sections came in my heart sank. I think its best to go into this game blind and set the expectations somewhat lower. For some reason I thought the action gameplay was going to be great but the combat is really simple. Not as precanned animation asI had pretty high expectations going into this hoping the devs would not follow common western design trends but when the uncharted climbing sections came in my heart sank. I think its best to go into this game blind and set the expectations somewhat lower. For some reason I thought the action gameplay was going to be great but the combat is really simple. Not as precanned animation as Spider-Man but it is close sadly. Length of the game was perfect though.… Expand
  25. Giwon
    Sep 2, 2023
    9
    이 전에는 볼 수 없었던 압도적으로 아름다운 그래픽만으로도 플레이할 가치가 충분히 있는 게임이다. 이 뿐만 아니라 퍼즐과 전투, 스토리, 수집요소, 챌린지까지 모든 Contents가 부족함이 없었다. 하지만 동화같은 그래픽과는 달리 난이도 있는 전투가 호불호의 요소로 다가올 것 같으나, 오히려 소울 게임을 입문하기 좋은(?) 게임일 수도 있을 것이다. 이 게임 제작사의 다음 작품이 기대되는 좋은 신호탄의 게임이다.

    This game is worth to play with only overwhelmingly beautiful graphics that I haven't been seen before. And all contents (combat, puzzles, story,    이 전에는 볼 수 없었던 압도적으로 아름다운 그래픽만으로도 플레이할 가치가 충분히 있는 게임이다. 이 뿐만 아니라 퍼즐과 전투, 스토리, 수집요소, 챌린지까지 모든 Contents가 부족함이 없었다. 하지만 동화같은 그래픽과는 달리 난이도 있는 전투가 호불호의 요소로 다가올 것 같으나, 오히려 소울 게임을 입문하기 좋은(?) 게임일 수도 있을 것이다. 이 게임 제작사의 다음 작품이 기대되는 좋은 신호탄의 게임이다.

    This game is worth to play with only overwhelmingly beautiful graphics that I haven't been seen before. And all contents (combat, puzzles, story, collectibles, challenges) is good. Unlike fairy tale graphics, difficult battles come as elements of likes and dislikes, but it could be good to start soul-like games. This game makes me expect next game that this studio will make.    … Expand
  26. gambient
    Dec 12, 2021
    10
    a letter to your childhood & all the fairy tales you ever heard,
    after all of this, I cried, I laughed & I loved.
  27. dajaco
    Dec 17, 2021
    10
    The most 'magical' game that I have played in a very long time. I speak as a very jaded gamer that plays a lot of different genres across all platforms - this brought back nostalgia for early Zelda games. It feels like a cross between Zelda, Starfox Adventures, Pikmin and a Pixar Movie. The music and atmosphere really make the game - as do moments where there is dramatic use of the dynamicThe most 'magical' game that I have played in a very long time. I speak as a very jaded gamer that plays a lot of different genres across all platforms - this brought back nostalgia for early Zelda games. It feels like a cross between Zelda, Starfox Adventures, Pikmin and a Pixar Movie. The music and atmosphere really make the game - as do moments where there is dramatic use of the dynamic lighting system. I thought the story was nicely balanced between a zelda-like 'blank slate main character' - while giving enough personal clues and hints to keep you interested. The gameplay is slick and fluid (especially in the upscaled 4k performance mode), and rewards well timed attacks and parrys - also particulalry like the bow and associated slow motion jump and grapple mechanics. It is seriously impressive what such a small team has achieved. I much prefer a short intense experience at a reasonable price - to a long drawn out open world with lots of meaningless filler. I really hope they make a next-gen only sequel that pushes the limits of the platforms even further.

    If I had any constructive criticism to give - it would be for it to have harder more complex puzzles, deeper combat and some optional exposition delivery (i.e. texts, sound clips, flashbacks etc.) However I think most of the criticism levied here is undue - this game is has a clear focus on the things it excels at - world building, cinematics, music, atmosphere, charm, immersive gameplay.

    Refreshing.    … Expand
  28. Scty
    Dec 19, 2021
    5
    I found this game boring, formulaic, repetitive, with little meaningful character or skill progression. This is the only game I’ve bought that I had to push myself to find motivation to actually complete it. Having said that, it is a very beautiful game and the animators and sound designers are doing literally all of the heavy lifting.
  29. Tonykov
    Jan 29, 2022
    6
    A Zelda game with Dark Souls level of difficulty bosses. An example of mixing two concepts and ending with a result worse than the sum of its parts. Frustrating final bosses destroy the overall positive perception of the game.
  30. Paled
    Nov 21, 2022
    9
    Great game! It has a captivating story and well-developed characters. It has a good degree of gameplay difficulty.
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Awards & Rankings

34
#34 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2021
11
#11 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 82 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 82
  3. Negative: 0 out of 82
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 18, 2022
    80
    Kena is a playful and beautiful adventure, but it does not bring any breathtaking innovation. But it has the potential to take you to a fairy tale and let you experience the story of a young girl, which is a balanced experience.
  2. CD-Action
    Jan 19, 2022
    90
    Ember Lab didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead the developers opted for tried and true mechanics that entertained us time and again in many action adventure games, and mixed them in an almost perfect way. The beginning might be a little slow, but when Kena: Bridge of Spirits gains momentum, it becomes truly great. It’s hard for me to point out any significant flaws apart from overall lack of originality. What a debut! [12/2021, p.74]
  3. Impulsegamer
    Oct 28, 2021
    100
    Kena: Bridge of Spirits should take most gamers around 10 to 12 hours to complete, depending on the amount of exploring and the level of difficulty. While the blockbusters games of 2021 continue to deliver the same ho-hum experience of 2021, Kena is a much needed ray of sunshine to the current choices of titles available and more importantly, looks fantastic on the PlayStation 5.
    Read full review
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