Kena: Bridge of Spirits Reviews

I absolutely LOVED this game! At the time, its my overall favorite game on steam. The story is beautiful, i just wish it was a bit longer, as i could have finished it in a day.. Super cozy, exciting and adventure-filled game. I'd say definitely get it if you're interested in it already.

I am enjoying this [i]shockingly[/i] little. I'd refund it if I could. The artstyle is great, and I like the general gameplay, but there are just way too many problems. - The performance is pretty bad. I can not get higher than 100fps no matter what I try, and my PC is not weak. - The gameplay is surprisingly hard (which is good), but in an absolutely unfair and annoying way. You die in 2 hits, and have to hit the minibosses about 25 times on the second-to-last difficutly. - Which is bad, because: the hitboxes are garbage. Absolute garbage - And this is especially terrible when you have to replay a 4-minute easy-as-pie battle before you can actually fight the [i]only[/i] enemy that poses you any threat at all - Perhaps this wouldn't be too bad if the game gave you enough time to acclimate to the controls and teach you how enemies work, but it absolutely does not. - Speaking of controls, the default scheme on [i]both[/i] controller and kb+m are terrible. on controller the biggest flaw is the insanely insensitive camera with NO way to quickly flip it. And if you up the sensitivity, then you cannot aim. Which is a huge problem, because the arrows drop down fast, and the Aim Assist always targets the [i]center[/i] of enemies, so if you use it, most of your arrows will fall between their legs... On kb+m, it's definitely better, but the control scheme by default is just extremely weird. Had to play around with it quite a bit - So, I decided to lower it and use it as more of a chill game. And that's when it started to annoy me how slow everything is. Every single animation, every single cutscene. Even some of the [i]skippable[/i] cutscenes take a second to skip, [i]and[/i] are prefixed or suffixed by another, [i]unskippable[/i] cutscene. And just look at that fast-travel fade-out animation... - Not to mention the acting is not nearly as good as it seems on the store page. The actors are moderately good but not fitting for the characters, and [i]definitely[/i] not for their animations. I see the potential in the game, but I just cannot get through it. No way.

[h2]Kena: Bridge of Spirits – A Beautiful Package with Little Substance[/h2] Imagine stepping into a breathtaking world full of magic, spirits, and adorable little companions. Sounds great, right? Now imagine that this adventure consists of many linear paths, a predictable story, and a bunch of collectible tasks that mostly serve to unlock cosmetics or upgrades. Welcome to [b]Kena: Bridge of Spirits[/b] – a game that looks like a Pixar film but sometimes feels more like a to-do list. [h3]Story[/h3] You play as Kena, a spirit guide who helps lost souls move on – basically a mix of spiritual social worker and action hero with a magic staff. She is accompanied by the [b]Rot[/b], cute little furballs that look adorable but offer only mild support in combat. 🔹 [b]Visually impressive[/b], but the story remains predictable. 🔹 [b]Emotional moments[/b], yet no real surprises. 🔹 [b]Spirit-world themes[/b] that suggest depth but don’t fully deliver. 🔹 [b]A dull story[/b] – Nicely told, but lacking excitement and engaging characters. [h3]Strengths and Weaknesses[/h3] ✔️ [b]Stunning visuals[/b] – Top-tier animations and environments. ✔️ [b]Charming companions[/b] – The Rot are cute and bring some life to the world. ✔️ [b]Decent combat[/b] – Some bosses provide a fair challenge. ❌ [b]Dull story[/b] – Lacks excitement, highly predictable, and forgettable. ❌ [b]Hidden repetitive gameplay[/b] – Lots of collecting, lots of backtracking, not much variety. ❌ [b]Clunky controls[/b] – Especially frustrating in platforming sections. [h3]Who Should Play / Who Should Avoid[/h3] ✔️ [b]Fans of Pixar-style visuals[/b] – If you care more about presentation than gameplay. ✔️ [b]Players who enjoy short, linear adventures[/b] – A great weekend game. ✔️ [b]Completionists who love collecting[/b] – If you enjoy exploring every corner, this could be fun. ✔️ [b]Younger players or newcomers[/b] – Accessible, visually appealing, and not too complex. ❌ [b]Players looking for a deep story[/b] – The narrative remains surface-level with no major twists. ❌ [b]Anyone who dislikes collecting tasks[/b] – Not needed for the main story, but essential for upgrades and achievements. ❌ [b]Experienced gamers expecting depth[/b] – The story and gameplay stay quite simple. [h3]Achievements[/h3] If you're aiming for 100%, keep this in mind: [list] [*][b]Some achievements are missable, so use a guide if you want them all.[/b] [*]The highest difficulty mode unlocks only after completing the game once, meaning at least two playthroughs are required. [*]Many collectibles are optional but necessary for upgrades and achievements. [/list] [h3]My Opinion[/h3] [b]Kena: Bridge of Spirits[/b] is [u]a visual masterpiece but an average game[/u]. The world looks fantastic, but behind the beautiful facade lies a [b]linear adventure with repetitive tasks and a forgettable story[/b]. If you're looking for a short, visually stunning experience, you might enjoy it – but if you expect [b]deep exploration or engaging mechanics, you may be disappointed[/b]. [b]Scientific observation:[/b] My playtime does not reflect how long this game actually takes—it’s simply evidence of my deep spiritual connection to the world of Kena. If you want a more grounded estimate, check [url=https://howlongtobeat.com]HowLongToBeat[/url].

Really Fun game, super lovely art style and a fun collectable filled world that doesn't feel obtuse or weird to navigate, everything's on the path or just off the beaten path to explore Combat is super fluid and chill, I played on Master which basically turns it into a dark souls where 2-3 hits is all you can take for combat, made it super engaging. Very recommend Little short side, 21hours with me doing 100% and hardest mode, so maybe an on sale game but wont be disappointed Also the Rot are adorable and have many hats.

This game is beautiful. I hope more people recognize this game. It has an amazing story, a beautiful environment, and character designs, especially the bosses. Don't be fooled by this game's cartoonish design because its combat is pretty hard, especially if you aim to obtain the 'Master Spirit Guide' achievement, and it had me take many attempts in order to get that, but it's all worth it. Try playing it on NG+ and set it to Master difficulty, and you’ll see. I'm really glad that I get to play this game and obtain all of its achievements. This masterpiece of a game is worth every penny, and it's a 10/10 for me.

Play Mechanics 8/10 Story 8/10 Soundtrack 8/10 Graphics 10/10 Overall: 8/10 and recommended. The best part Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the graphics. This game looks really good, and I love the art style.

The game is a solid 8/10 for me. The fighting is a little scuff but good when you can parry. Such a very cute one as well solid 10/10 for the cute little ones, I do love it, Great game.

I believe I've made it through about 2/3 of the game now and it is AMAZING. The story is compelling and beautiful; I have cried several times and genuinely full-on sobbed twice already. The art and environment are absolutely GORGEOUS, and the ambient sounds perfectly complement the world around me—I feel wholly immersed and could live in this world forever. Also, the soundtrack is STELLAR. This is my first venture into the souls-like genre and I've been pleasantly surprised by it’s approachability. Some games in this style seem intimidatingly difficult, but Kena strikes a balance that keeps it challenging yet engaging. (To be fair though, I am playing on story-mode which is the easiest difficulty lol. But doing so has allowed me to really enjoy and appreciate the narrative and aesthetics without the frustration often associated with souls games.) I'm especially impressed with the nuance and sincerity in the writing. The characters and their stories are TRULY captivating. The dynamic between [spoiler]Taro, Beni, and Saiya[/spoiler] is heartbreaking and profound. The love story of [spoiler]Hana and Adira[/spoiler] is exquisitely tender, a mixture of true sorrow and heartwarming moments. It’s a portrayal of love that feels genuine and grounded, offering queer representation in a way that's natural and unforced—just a beautiful narrative that happens to involve a lesbian couple, which, as a queer person, I find refreshingly authentic. Not to mention, their [spoiler]pet bull, Rufus[/spoiler], who has completely stolen my heart. I have only encountered two (arguably minor) frustrations. First, the rot cloud controls are pretty challenging to manage, especially on keyboard and mouse—though I hear they're smoother on a controller. This was initially infuriating, but I did eventually get the hang of it. Second, the swimming speed feels unnecessarily slow, which might only be a slight annoyance to some but feels almost unbearable to me given my aquaphobia and thalassophobia. Despite these small hitches, Kena is an overwhelmingly positive experience. The journey is breathtaking and the game captures the essence of its characters and world with remarkable clarity and emotion. I am excited to see where the rest of the story will take me, but I already know it’s a journey I’ll remember for a long time.

The game is visually 10/10, but the combat (which is most of the game) is shallow, repetitive, boring, and often cheap. Your combat experience in the first third is essentially what you'll repeat for the rest of the game. Visuals: Honestly looks just like a pixar movie. No flaws to speak of except maybe how often they interrupt the gameplay for a short cinematic. The Combat: For advertising souls-like, I don't see much of that (unless you count dodging). The game only has a few enemy types and you will face them a LOT. The same enemies in almost the same combinations, every... single... fight... it's so tedious and boring. Even boss fights tend to spawn the same minions at the same time as the boss, probably because there's not much to the fights. By the end of the game I stopped caring because I was tired of fighting the same thing over and over. The bosses only have about 2-3 moves and you just have to do the same thing for a long time to deplete their health. It's not a fun or rewarding experience. The bosses themselves weren't much different from each other. My biggest gripe here was that each boss had an attack with a subtle wind up, pause of a certain length that was hard to latch on to, then a teleport-like tracking attack that you had to dodge at the last moment. With these the enemy could span the distance of the arena in about half a second and hit you with a high amount of tracking. These felt really cheap and the tracking was high enough that it felt like an artificial way of making the fight difficult. Also these attacks often had the enemies going through any natural objects in between you (rocks, trees) like they weren't there. The boss fights often also had a cinematic before each one, which was fine the first round, but if you're stuck on a boss you have to wait a second for it to start, press A to cancel for 3 seconds, then watch the transition video into the boss that would be a few seconds. Its just more tedium. The World: There's actually not a lot of reason to explore or interact with the world. Most rewards you find are gems, but unless you want to dress up the 60+ tiny creatures that follow you around, there's not a reason to collect these. Some rewards help you level up your skills, but those skill boosts are only marginally helpful and you could likely play almost the same without them. Overall, although the game looked great, there's not actually a lot of content in the game to discuss and I can't see why I'd come back to play it again.

Gorgeous adventure with lush nature and a strong female lead. The combat takes practice with its many combos that require multiple keyboard-mouse combinations, but it’s not too hard to master. My favorite part is the Indonesian gamelan-inspired score, which makes the experience a journey worth taking. Solid 10/10. Also love the lil rots with their cute tiny hats <3