Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Xbox Series X) Review – Spiritfarer

You can read our original review of Kena: Bridge of Spirits for PlayStation 5 here.

Nearly three years ago, Ember Lab made its debut in the games industry with Kena: Bridge of Spirits, a charming, gorgeous action-adventure title that by no means set the world on fire, but won over its fair share of fans for the many strengths that it boasted. Now, after having spent three years as a PlayStation console exclusive, the game makes its way to Xbox consoles, giving those within Microsoft’s ecosystem the chance to dive in and see just how well the game holds up to scrutiny. Unsurprisingly, it’s a solid port of a solid game, and easy to recommend to any Xbox players on the lookout for a solid, semi-linear, traditional Zelda-like action-adventure title.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits puts you in the shoes of its eponymous protagonist, a spirit guide who arrives in an abandoned village that’s been taken over by a corruption that’s spreading, and spirits of people who died but failed to move on due to lingering past traumas. As a spirit guide, it’s Kena’s duty to help these people pass on and to clear the corruption that has taken over the village and its surrounding areas, with her ultimate goal being to get to the mountain shrine that looms over the village.

"Unsurprisingly, it’s a solid port of a solid game, and easy to recommend to any Xbox players on the lookout for a solid, semi-linear, traditional Zelda-like action-adventure title."

Narratively, Kena does a lot of good things- a lot of the characters that you meet can be genuinely endearing (even though the voice acting for a few can feel a bit too bland), while some of the individual arcs related to some of those characters can also legitimately tug at your heartstrings. At the same time, however, there are areas where the game stumbles. For instance, Kena herself is a disappointingly dull protagonist, while the story also tends to be a bit too rote and predictable more often than not, even when it’s well told.

The real wonder of this game is, of course, in the visuals. From a pure fidelity perspective, Kena: Bridge of Spirits more than holds up its own, but it’s the art style and the quality of its animations that really make the game pop the way it does. Gorgeous, vibrant environments that never fail to wow you with their visual splendour, characters’ faces and animations being so full of charm and personality, the adorable and whimsical little creatures known as Rot being as endearing as they are to simply look at- Kena boasts a strong visual identity in more ways than one, and developer Ember Lab’s expertise and background in animation is abundantly on display here. When it launched for PlayStation consoles and PC three years ago, I was strongly of the opinion that Kena: Bridge of Spirits was one of the prettiest and most visually pleasant games around, and I don’t think it has lost any of that sheen.

It’s not a spotless technical experience, however. For the most part, Kena looks and runs great on an Xbox Series X, the platform I’ve played and reviewed it on, though I did notice a handful of minor yet noticeable instances of frame rate drops. When I reviewed the game on PS5 in 2021, this wasn’t an issue I ran into, though some players on all platforms did mention frame skipping issues even at the time. Whether Kena: Bridge of Spirits has the same issue on Xbox consoles isn’t something that my technically illiterate self can tell you, but I can tell you that even though the issue isn’t a major one by any stretch of the imagination, it is one that some may notice and be at least slightly annoyed by. Hopefully, Ember Lab irons it out with a future patch.

"From a pure fidelity perspective, Kena: Bridge of Spirits more than holds up its own, but it’s the art style and the quality of its animations that really make the game pop the way it does."

On the gameplay front, Xbox players should expect a traditional Zelda-like action-adventure game with wide linear design. Kena is, in a nutshell, a textbook example of a solid game that’s more than happy to not go off the beaten path. Very rarely does it try to break genre conventions, to experiment, or to try something that you may not have seen in other games before, but it pulls together a whole lot of familiar elements, implements them in equally predictable ways, and produces a gameplay experience that isn’t going to surprise anyone by any means, but is going to provide plenty of fun and engagement.

In almost all ways, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a fairly straightforward game. That’s not to say it is lean – it can easily last over a dozen hours and the gameplay experience that it does deliver isn’t necessarily one that you would call shallow – but it trims down a lot. Combat is the area where you’ve got the most going on, with different enemy types, Kena having access to a growing arsenal of moves and abilities, using your ever expanding army of tiny little Rot creatures, clearing corruption mid-battles, and more. Fights can also often provide more of a challenge than you may expect, especially when you’re taking on some of the key bosses. Though not revolutionary by any means, and though sometimes let down by the stiff movement, combat in Kena is largely a fun experience.

Exploration is similar. Wide linear areas never feel overly large, but there are often plenty of hidden paths, branching roads, optional rooms, and the like to seek out. Light puzzle solving and somewhat-less-light exploration yield various rewards, from currency to cosmetics to new Rot to add to your growing army of adorable Pikmin-like creatures. Again, Kena: Bridge of Spirits keeps things simple and familiar in the exploration and design department, but it implements its well-trodden ideas well enough to keep things engaging. Though again, similar to the combat, the somewhat janky movement can is a knock against the exploration, with simple actions such as jumping, double jumping, grabbing onto ledges, and the like never quite feeling the way they should.

"Kena: Bridge of Spirits keeps things simple and familiar in the exploration and design department, but it implements its well-trodden ideas well enough to keep things engaging."

Does Kena feel like it plays a bit too safe on the gameplay side of things? Maybe so- but though it doesn’t tread new ground and keeps things mostly pretty straightforward and streamlined, it still delivers an engaging gameplay experience, thanks largely to solid execution of its familiar ideas. I will say, however, just as I did when I originally reviewed the game on PS5- when it comes to progression mechanics, Kena feels a bit too barebones, which is something that becomes increasingly noticeable as you play more and more of the game. That lack of depth in progression mechanics can make it feel like a somewhat static gameplay experience from time to time.

Ultimately, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a solid game for Xbox players to dive into, even if it does come with its handful of flaws. If you’re looking for originality or peerless gameplay and design, Ember Lab’s action-adventure title may not be for you, but if a gorgeous setting, a well-told (if predictable) story, and engaging (if occasionally rough) combat and exploration are what you want, this is an easy game to recommend.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.