Kena: Bridge of Spirits Xbox Series X review

Kena: Bridge of Spirits Xbox Series X review – Will our reviewer Andrew get lost in the forest and succumb to the Corruption? Or will the spirits guide him safely to the Mountain Shrine?

With Kena: Bridge of Spirits having been previously released on PS5 and PS4, it would have been easy to look up information to know what sort of game I was letting myself in for. But I decided to go in cold and experience the game without knowing much about it.

Gameplay starts with Kena trapped in a cave, with only her crystal-tipped staff to help her. The first tutorial prompt tells you to press LB to Pulse, which lets out a blue radar-like pulse of energy to illuminate the area. You learn quickly that this also lights up crystals and rocks with strange carvings and is key to progress. Deep in the caves, you encounter a masked Spirit with blood-red colouring; it turns out that this Spirit has not passed on and that has encouraged Corruption to spread. This first encounter is a combat tutorial, but the Spirit is not defeated. Emerging into a forest, Kena then discovers a cute little creature known as Rot. More Rot are hidden around the environment and prove extremely useful.

As you move deeper into the forest, you discover the Hearts that are surrounded by more of the Corruption. These will launch enemies to attack you, which must be defeated. Once all the enemies are dead, the Heart opens; the Rot can then be sent to damage the Heart and a pulse of energy will destroy it – and the surrounding Corruption. Later, you learn about Seeds that can turn the Rot into a new form, which is useful for clearing Corruption blocking your path ahead. Two young Spirits, Beni and Saiya, offer to help you if you can find their brother Taro. This leads you to the Village, where more of the game map is revealed. Warp points allow you to fast-travel between them, Upgrades give new combat moves if you have earned enough Karma, and Masks help you remove certain barriers. The Village also has the Hat Cart, where you can buy extra outfits for Kena and adorable Hats for the Rot. Watch out for the larger boss creatures protecting key Relics, and the Pages (memories) that must be recovered with the help of Masks. The villagers carve these Masks to help remember spirits and guide them onward.

The first thing that struck me was the visual presentation, with the soft focus reminding me of Beyond Good and Evil and how its levels evolved. Combat has echoes of Dark Souls, with light and heavy attacks and new moves learned as the enemy tactics change. The Rot are essentially Pikmin, moving objects and helping during combat. Climbing and grabbing ledges (helpfully highlighted with white markings to show where you can climb) drew heavily on the Uncharted template. There are even Metroidvania elements as Kena gains new powers to access areas of the map. But the strongest resemblance was to the maligned and misunderstood Starfox Adventures, particularly in using a staff for combat and large stone structures to mark key quests.

“There is emotional impact as you unravel the story of what happened to the Village and help the Spirits pass on.”

I was struggling with the opening section even on Story Mode, being stuck in the dark not being a pleasant experience. And there were some frustrating timed sections, where you had to light up crystals or pillars in a particular order before time ran out. What is clever is how environmental clues are used to determine the order certain tasks must be done. Another timing challenge is eliminating all the enemies from a Cursed Chest before its timer runs out. Exploring the God Tree in the Forbidden Forest was cumbersome, with descending the tree proving difficult without experiencing several fatal falls. One extra detail is the Meditation spots, where Kena can rest and increase her overall strength and showcasing the beautiful visuals. This pick and mix of ideas did feel interesting, however, and the story drew me in to keep playing to the end.

The visual style is good throughout, with clever lighting effects and well-defined textures giving an organic feel to the forest. The glowing crystals and the Pulse effect work particularly well. The distinctive music playing throughout is exceptional, drawing influences from the gamelan instruments popular in Bali. The effect is heightened by using vocals, giving an ethereal, ethnic feel to the music that suits the setting. With its themes of anger, loss, and grief, another comparison could be drawn to Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons; there is emotional impact as you unravel the story of what happened to the Village and help the Spirits pass on. There is post-game content, with a dedicated New Game+ setting and the inevitable collection quest to find the remaining Rot, Hats, and Spirit Mail. These latter objects are returned to the post boxes alongside houses in the Village, opening more barriers. The unusual mix of technology and magic also gives waterwheels, drawbridges, and wooden lifts to utilise, and a massive, animated bull statue that helps in one particular act of the story. With patience, you are looking at about 10-12 hours to complete the main story, with a few more hours to find the extras and unlock Achievements. However, I found the prospect of attempting the Master difficulty a little off-putting personally, given how I struggled with the final boss fight. I don’t mind admitting that I eventually had to use a PS4 walkthrough to help with certain aspects of the game to reach the end. The whole package is competently made even when it reminds me strongly of other games.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits Xbox Series X Review Summary:

This action adventure with added emotion does what it does well, with good presentation and an interesting story. It can be enjoyable and frustrating at the same time while lasting long enough to make the journey worthwhile.