'Kena: Bridge Of Spirits (2021)' is an action-platformer in which you play as Kena, a young spirit guide who helps restless spirits move onto the spirit realm where they can rest in peace. It was developed and self-published by a small team known as Ember Lab and it runs using the Unreal Engine 4. It's incredibly impressive for an indie title, with stunning visuals reminiscent of an actual animated feature and several ambitious elements such as a fairly larger interconnected world presented with very few loading screens. In a way, the level design is similar to that of 'Jak And Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001)', with several distinct locations spinning off from a central hub area to create the illusion of a single seamless world.(with the help of hidden loading areas). The whole title feels like something from the PS2 era in terms of its design, actually. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. It does mean that the controls are slightly clunky, the environment is peppered with more-obvious-than-usual invisible walls and the gameplay feels just a bit old fashioned. The latter isn't really a problem; whether you like that style of game or not is entirely subjective. For me, the throwback design is a bit of a breath of fresh air and it carries with it quite a bit of nostalgia. With a wholesome aesthetic, some beautiful music and a surprisingly moving story, the piece crafts its own distinct atmosphere that I find really charming. The gameplay is surpassingly enjoyable despite its occasional flaws, leading to a really entertaining experience overall. The combat is relatively layered, even though it is simple when compared to similar contemporary titles, and it can be quite challenging at times. The boss fights, in particular, can be surprisingly hard; the title undergoes a distinct difficulty spike during these battles, which is a bit of a shame but doesn't ruin the overall experience. The exploration is satisfying, primarily because the collectibles aren't frustrating to find and generally come with their own little challenges. In many ways, the joy of finding the collectibles is that they provide the opportunity for more time playing the game. Most of them have tangible gameplay consequences and are tied into the story, too (even though some of them are entirely aesthetic and, thus, less rewarding to find). The platforming is simple but effective, making exploration easy and enjoyable, and the puzzles strike an almost perfect in terms of their difficulty. Overall, this is a satisfyingly wholesome experience. It has a few flaws and can be somewhat frustrating on occasion, but it's mostly just really pleasant to play (which, in itself, is rather refreshing). It's a blast. 8/10.
