A very long video analyzing Kena: Bridge of Spirits I had found recently when looking for something more "in-depth" after finishing the game. Personally I picked up the game some time ago - I...
A very long video analyzing Kena: Bridge of Spirits I had found recently when looking for something more "in-depth" after finishing the game.
Personally I picked up the game some time ago - I believe it was just released on PC and it caught my attention - but only managed to finish it recently after getting frustrated at some point around the mid-game. It is exactly my type of game - a linear action-adventure puzzle-platformer, reminding me (as the author points out) of my time with Prince of Persia and other similar games as a child. It does have it's flaws. It's considered an "indie" release as it is Ember Lab's first game, their previous work being in animation (e.g. Majora's Mask - Terrible Fate) and it shows - the game is absolutely visually stunning - a lot of my time was spent just moving the camera around and enjoying the views (the camera mode helps a lot with that).
The issues for me mainly came down to a lot of "jank" - I turned down the difficulty to Story (mainly because I was playing with a joystick and there was too much aiming) but that didn't help with some of the puzzles as those don't have a difficulty slider. I would often miss jumps, or get hit trough some "magical" clipping of the enemies, but... I guess I just had to git gud
Overall, at first I was a bit disappointed with the game, when I stopped playing half way, but after finishing it I would say it was worth the price I paid for it.
I can't watch such a long video right now - I'll probably watch tomorrow - but I played the game and wrote a paragraph about it here . I'd read criticism of the combat before, but I honestly...
I can't watch such a long video right now - I'll probably watch tomorrow - but I played the game and wrote a paragraph about it here .
I'd read criticism of the combat before, but I honestly didn't experience any notable friction from it. I enjoyed the challenge without turning down the difficulty to story (used an xbox controller). That's not to say it didn't have its frustrating moments, and I recall parrying being almost impossible without a whole lot of luck, but otherwise the enemy design seemed fun.
When I manage to watch the video I'll comment again.
I’m a bit surprised that you felt that the gameplay was unpolished. My husband and I took turns playing it and I thought the gameplay was remarkably well done for for a game that came essentially...
I’m a bit surprised that you felt that the gameplay was unpolished. My husband and I took turns playing it and I thought the gameplay was remarkably well done for for a game that came essentially out of nowhere. But then again we were playing the PS5 version which we can assume may have been put through some improvements before release.
But yes I do think it’s a pretty fantastic game overall. I rather enjoyed the relative freedom in which ways you can conquer the combat, and the litany of tiny puzzles and rewards makes the game somewhat addictive.
Overall very good video. I agree with it on all points that matter - the creator of the video's opinion on how satisfying the fighting generally is and why seems to align with mine, with the same...
Overall very good video. I agree with it on all points that matter - the creator of the video's opinion on how satisfying the fighting generally is and why seems to align with mine, with the same minor quibbles (such as regarding parrying). They also agree with me about how annoying it ends up getting that so much of what you find throughout the game only gives you hats! I don't personally recall the Taro fight being so broken (especially that grab), is that still the case? This video was made a year before I played the game myself, and during that time there were multiple patches, including the 2.0 anniversary patch for the Steam release (which has itself been patched since), so I wonder if they improved it. Notably, the video is also missing commentary on the features we know were added in 2.0 such as the challenges or the photo camera.
I'm not sure (and, after a quick search, the developers seem to think the same) the game needs a sequel, not as such. I'm sure that if they do make a sequel they'll do a good job, but they might as well make something completely new. Personally, what I'd like to see in the unlikely sequel is a similar style/aesthetic, obviously more of Kena, more of the spirituality and tradition underpinning the first game, but with a completely new, completely distinct set of rules for how Kena interacts with the world. Maybe she's older, and she's in a completely different part of the world. She's still helping people pass on, but there are no rot there - their part in the story is over. Instead, a different kind of land spirit or spirits has to be handled differently, provides Kena with different abilities in a different way. Maybe even an air dash! (I fully agree with the author about giving a bigger role to travel into the spirit realm, by the way.)
A very long video analyzing Kena: Bridge of Spirits I had found recently when looking for something more "in-depth" after finishing the game.
Personally I picked up the game some time ago - I believe it was just released on PC and it caught my attention - but only managed to finish it recently after getting frustrated at some point around the mid-game. It is exactly my type of game - a linear action-adventure puzzle-platformer, reminding me (as the author points out) of my time with Prince of Persia and other similar games as a child. It does have it's flaws. It's considered an "indie" release as it is Ember Lab's first game, their previous work being in animation (e.g. Majora's Mask - Terrible Fate) and it shows - the game is absolutely visually stunning - a lot of my time was spent just moving the camera around and enjoying the views (the camera mode helps a lot with that).
The issues for me mainly came down to a lot of "jank" - I turned down the difficulty to Story (mainly because I was playing with a joystick and there was too much aiming) but that didn't help with some of the puzzles as those don't have a difficulty slider. I would often miss jumps, or get hit trough some "magical" clipping of the enemies, but... I guess I just had to
git gudOverall, at first I was a bit disappointed with the game, when I stopped playing half way, but after finishing it I would say it was worth the price I paid for it.
I can't watch such a long video right now - I'll probably watch tomorrow - but I played the game and wrote a paragraph about it here .
I'd read criticism of the combat before, but I honestly didn't experience any notable friction from it. I enjoyed the challenge without turning down the difficulty to story (used an xbox controller). That's not to say it didn't have its frustrating moments, and I recall parrying being almost impossible without a whole lot of luck, but otherwise the enemy design seemed fun.
When I manage to watch the video I'll comment again.
I’m a bit surprised that you felt that the gameplay was unpolished. My husband and I took turns playing it and I thought the gameplay was remarkably well done for for a game that came essentially out of nowhere. But then again we were playing the PS5 version which we can assume may have been put through some improvements before release.
But yes I do think it’s a pretty fantastic game overall. I rather enjoyed the relative freedom in which ways you can conquer the combat, and the litany of tiny puzzles and rewards makes the game somewhat addictive.
Overall very good video. I agree with it on all points that matter - the creator of the video's opinion on how satisfying the fighting generally is and why seems to align with mine, with the same minor quibbles (such as regarding parrying). They also agree with me about how annoying it ends up getting that so much of what you find throughout the game only gives you hats! I don't personally recall the Taro fight being so broken (especially that grab), is that still the case? This video was made a year before I played the game myself, and during that time there were multiple patches, including the 2.0 anniversary patch for the Steam release (which has itself been patched since), so I wonder if they improved it. Notably, the video is also missing commentary on the features we know were added in 2.0 such as the challenges or the photo camera.
I'm not sure (and, after a quick search, the developers seem to think the same) the game needs a sequel, not as such. I'm sure that if they do make a sequel they'll do a good job, but they might as well make something completely new. Personally, what I'd like to see in the unlikely sequel is a similar style/aesthetic, obviously more of Kena, more of the spirituality and tradition underpinning the first game, but with a completely new, completely distinct set of rules for how Kena interacts with the world. Maybe she's older, and she's in a completely different part of the world. She's still helping people pass on, but there are no rot there - their part in the story is over. Instead, a different kind of land spirit or spirits has to be handled differently, provides Kena with different abilities in a different way. Maybe even an air dash! (I fully agree with the author about giving a bigger role to travel into the spirit realm, by the way.)
I completely forgot that this game also saw release on Steam. I really need to play it.