There’s one thing about enjoying Tales of Kenzera: ZAU that by no means feels fairly proper. Whether or not it is the gradual, sluggish controls or frustratingly frequent one-hit kills, reaching any kind of circulate state the place you are vibing and jiving with the most recent EA Originals title is nigh-on unimaginable. It is a very stop-start expertise at odds with the standard hallmarks of the Metroidvania style, as a substitute spotlighting a touching, private story of parental loss. Such a heavy narrative focus isn’t any dangerous factor, however with little gameplay satisfaction to depend on between plot factors, it feels so lopsided that the rest comes throughout as an afterthought.
By definition, the debut title from Surgent Studios is a Metroidvania sport, however solely within the loosest phrases. You will discover a fairly sized map encompassing completely different areas and areas whereas unlocking a handful of recent skills, secrets and techniques, and shortcuts. Two talent bushes improve your fight strategies, then persistent platforming sections navigate you to aims and non-obligatory challenges. That description might be utilized to many Metroidvania greats like Hole Knight and Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown, however the difficulty with Tales of Kenzera is it would not lean into these options anyplace close to sufficient.
It is a very primary tackle the style, to the purpose the place it may need been higher off as a extra simple motion platformer so such comparisons could be moot. Not often are new abilities teased via inaccessible passages, by no means will its platforming actually problem you. The sport’s not fully devoid of such parts, although what’s there will not show significantly satisfying — it really works quite a bit higher as an introduction to Metroidvanias than the rest.
As an alternative, the title is made up of quite a few singular paths that sometimes break off into non-obligatory impasses with a secret on the finish, and fight encounters. Major character Zau utilises them on a quest to assert his father’s spirit again from the lifeless; a narrative private to Surgent Studios founder Abubakar Salim, who beforehand voiced Bayek in Murderer’s Creed Origins.
Instructed via prolonged and frequent dialogue interactions, it is a change of tempo from narratives typical of the style. Nonetheless, taken as a standalone plot, it really works effectively from each an emotional and suspenseful standpoint. Zau is accompanied on his journey by the God of Loss of life, creating an fascinating dynamic as the 2 characters do not at all times get alongside. Stripped of every thing else, Tales of Kenzera has a touching story to inform.
Its subsequent neatest thing could be the fight, which employs magical skills alongside normal melee and projectile-based assaults. Zau comes outfitted with a solar masks and a moon masks, which could be swapped between on the fly to entry various kinds of strikes. The solar masks is for getting up shut and private with enemies whereas the moon masks places down ranged foes via small crystalised missiles. New and present skills could be upgraded via every masks’s talent tree to make for what finally turns into a well-rounded fight system. It feels a bit too primary at first, however begin incomes improve factors and it shortly begins to flourish.
The identical can’t be stated of the repetitive arenas that host these bouts, nonetheless. Whereas the background would possibly change between every area, the sport subscribes to primarily a single structure when it blocks off the exit and forces you to battle enemies. The platforms will at all times be in the identical place and so too will your opponents. Regardless of the evolving fight system, this implies each engagement performs out virtually precisely the identical approach each time. Aside from a handful of boss encounters, fight steadily feels repetitive because you already know what’s labored 10 instances beforehand.
By far the most important flaw, although, is the controls — or moderately, their lack of ability to reliably register your inputs. Very continuously, protagonist Zau will merely cease shifting when you’re pushing the left thumbstick to both facet. In our expertise pre-release, we needed to recenter the thumbstick a number of instances to start out shifting once more, and this occurred each couple of minutes. You work together with characters and collectibles by urgent the R2 button, and it too typically calls for you push the button a number of instances earlier than the on-screen motion happens. We examined the sport utilizing three completely different DualSense controllers to see if we had a defective pad, however the issue was simply replicated throughout all of them.
Even once they do work correctly, there is a weight and clunkiness to the controls that makes Tales of Kenzera really feel quite a bit much less responsive than different Metroidvanias. When it is advisable to shortly react to your environment, there is not any assure the sport will even register your button press within the first place. It is a difficulty that’ll have to be sorted out via post-launch updates.
The environments might be a tad extra forgiving too, as a result of by no means have we skilled so many one-hit kills that really feel frankly pointless. Whereas different video games would merely deal normal chip injury in the event you collide with one thing — resembling spikes — Tales of Kenzera kills you immediately. Worse nonetheless are conditions the place puzzles require you to push boulders off ledges, and Zau in some way will get caught beneath it and kills himself. By no fault of your individual, you have misplaced progress. It is by no means various seconds because of frequent checkpointing, however it occurs so typically that the expertise deteriorates into fixed exasperation.
At the least these deaths look and sound good. With a vibrant visible palette that shifts and modifications as you progress between areas, Tales of Kenzera is a reasonably spectacular graphical showcase that goes above and past the requirements of what’s nonetheless a PS5 indie sport. It is then complemented by a beautiful soundtrack from Nainita Desai, which fits such an extended approach to heightening the senses and feelings of the title’s extra impactful sequences.
Conclusion
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU tells a touching, private story of household, grief, and loss, however it’s wrapped up in a sport that makes appreciating that narrative quite a bit tougher than it must be. A Metroidvania in solely probably the most primary of how, its fight and platforming are spoilt by primary design and construction, in addition to controller points and irritating one-hit kills. At its finest when left to easily inform its story, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU falters as soon as you must begin enjoying.