kena bridge of spirits release date time

With every area, players get their hands on a new ability that allows them to explore the village in novel ways and add more flavor to the combat. Kena’s exploration and puzzle progression are consistently great. There are plenty of tough bosses throughout the game, but individual fights often seem like an excuse to just smack or shoot enemies this is still fine, since the combat is so good, but I would’ve loved for each fight to be more threatening.

It’s also disappointing that few of the standard encounters don’t offer much of a challenge. If you fail to shoot the correct reflection before he finishes channeling, you’ll get hit with some serious pain. For example, one of my favorite bosses surrounds the player with half a dozen corrupted mirrors, with each pane showing a reflection of the boss channeling something. I wish Ember Labs gave the player more to work with mechanically, since the best bosses in the game are the ones that do something new and memorable.

However, this is likely just a limitation of the setting, as going too wild with monstrous bosses might have taken away from the point the player is saving the spirits of deceased villagers, so finding an excuse to fight a mythical beast is not easy. Nearly every boss is humanoid, and a number of them share similar movesets and visual designs. While there are a number of good bosses in Kena, some aren’t particularly memorable. The game won’t be treading new ground, as it’s similar to Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, and Beyond Good & Evil, but that familiarity isn’t a detriment straightforward action adventure platformers have been sorely missed in the video game world, and Kena solidifies itself as a great one. Kena’s base gameplay mechanics harken back to the systems found in classic action adventure platformers from the PS2-era. Other abilities allow the player to toss bombs that slow down time or shoot piercing arrows, each being paramount in Kena’s survival against the hardest bosses in the game. My favorite special ability allowed me to channel a heavy attack into a projectile of Rot towards foes. With this, Kena can heal herself, deal significant amounts of damage by powering up one of her attacks, slow down an enemy, or destroy a corruption seed to prevent more enemies from spawning.ĭuring some of the game’s harder bosses, unloading waves of destruction upon them after successful parries is gratifying. With a specific upgrade, a successful parry means you get a Rot action. Kena’s parry is shockingly powerful, but the strict timing means you need to press the block button just before an enemy hits you. But most importantly, the player can parry. Players can dodge roll, light attack, heavy attack, shoot arrows, throw bombs, do explosive dashes, and channel a number of other special moves that they’ll unlock throughout the game. While the fundamental fighting is simple, it feels tight and satisfying. Throughout Kena’s most intense encounters, players will swiftly dash away, pull back the string on their bow and release to pelt enemies, and jump through the battlefield looking for a chance to unleash a combo with their staff. It doesn’t tread new ground, as the game possesses similarities to Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter and Beyond Good & Evil, but that familiarity isn’t a detriment straightforward action adventure platformers have been sorely missed.

Kena’s gameplay mechanics harken back to the systems found in classic action adventure platformers from the PS2-era. The jump from in-engine to pre-rendered is typically very fast, but the few moments where you see a wallpaper pop up as the next story-beat loads, the immersion is broken.

This isn’t an issue in most cases, but it’s occasionally frustrating when an emotional moment is interrupted by the flash of a loading screen. However, it’s bizarre that some of Kena’s story isn’t told through in-game cinematics.

Kena bridge of spirits release date time