In the recent past, Metroidvania fans were able to look forward to top-class titles with “Dead Cells”, “Hollow Knight” and “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” and now it's here “Tales of Kenzera: Zau” a new promising genre offshoot is available. If you have a PlayStation Plus Extra or Premium subscription, you can even download the game to your PS5 at no additional cost. We took a close look at the 2D adventure and will tell you in this article how we liked the game.
The story revolves around the eponymous young shaman Zau, who has made a momentous bargain: He has made a deal with the God of Death to bring back his Baba's soul. In the world of Kenzera there are numerous myths and, above all, dangers that you have to face. Can you overcome the challenges that await you on your long and arduous journey?
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Dealing with death and loss
Our brief outline of the story of “Tales of Kenzera: Zau” makes it clear that the themes of death and loss play important roles in this action adventure. This in itself is not particularly unusual, after all, many films, series and of course video games deal with this. Be it in a very serious way like “The Last of Us: Part 2” or with a certain wink like in the roguelike “Have a Nice Death”.
The debut work from the British development team at Surgent Studios, however, takes a different approach. It's a very inflationary phrase, but we think that in the case of this likeable little adventure, the saying “The journey is the destination” fits wonderfully. One reason for this is Zau's conversations with the sometimes illustrious characters he meets along the way and with whom Zau discusses hope, love and loss.
The creators find a surprisingly positive approach to this topic in their work, which culminates in some heartwarming moments. In these, Zau's journey was able to really reach us emotionally, which is why the wonderful story of “Tales of Kenzera” is without a doubt one of the game's greatest strengths for us. Just like in real life, it's about the rare and precious bright moments in the midst of these difficult times and that's a beautiful message.
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Two masks, many possibilities
In terms of play, our young shaman's 2D adventure relies on a mix of fights, lots of platforming passages and a few nice little puzzles every now and then. The first two elements in particular benefit from two masks that Zau uses and which he can quickly switch between by simply pressing the L1 button. The Moon Mask allows Zau quick ranged attacks, while the Sun Mask is suitable for strong melee attacks.
It's a simple mechanic that works very well and is sensibly expanded to include new possibilities as the game progresses. That's why we had a lot of fun experimenting with the possibilities and unlockable abilities of the two masks.
At first the fights are pretty simple because we only have a limited range of moves available. Apart from a light and heavy attack and a dash to dodge, there's very little we can do at the start of “Tales of Kenzera: Zau”. Fortunately, over time we collect experience points that we can invest in new skills in a pleasantly tidy skill tree.
With new offensive and defensive options, the fights are really fun – especially against some of the formidable bosses we'll face throughout our journey. For us, the confrontations with these powerful enemies are clearly among the highlights of the 2D action adventure. Especially later in the game, these duels often have a special twist, which means they remain constantly exciting.
The only annoying thing is that the game often throws enemies at us who can withstand much more with protective shields or who we can only inflict damage on with the right mask. Unfortunately, this happens quite often and therefore wears out quickly. There are also a few sections in which the enemy constellations are almost a bit unfair, which can be a bit frustrating.
Simple platforming and a few control issues
In addition to the story and the action, platforming is the third major pillar of the game. Thanks to a double jump and our dash, which can also be used to move around, we can move smoothly through the levels right from the start. Like the Persian Prince, Zau can also jump from wall to wall and can even manipulate the elements to some extent. Thanks to a special ability we can freeze water.
Jumping, running and climbing through the different levels feels really good most of the time, if a bit clunky. In addition, it takes quite a long time until the platforming passages become really demanding. Most of the time they are rather simple and almost a bit boring. However, as soon as the level of difficulty increases, the makers of “Tales of Kenzera: Zau” tend to exaggerate things a bit. There are several places that are borderline unfair.
In moments like this, various things come together that could have used some fine-tuning. Unfortunately, the camera is often not optimal and makes some platforming sections more difficult than they should be. Furthermore, we occasionally had the feeling that the game had not recognized our input correctly or in a timely manner. Every now and then it even happened that Zau stopped moving even though we had tilted the stick. These are things that are extremely difficult, especially in games like this, with such a large platforming focus. We were definitely hoping for more here.
In general, we always had the feeling that the game would not control as smoothly and directly as some high-class Metroidvania colleagues. The 2D adventure sometimes seemed more like a “Metroidvania Light”. Of course, Zau receives new abilities and can also unlock one or two shortcuts and use new powers to take previously impassable paths.
However, the game does not go beyond the minimum in any area. If you're looking for a really challenging Metroidvania, you probably won't be too happy with this.
Recommendation? Yes but…
“Tales of Kenzera: Zau” lives primarily from its emotional story, which really grabbed us. It's a bittersweet take on the themes of death, loss and grief, which definitely hit a nerve with us. In addition, all of this works wonderfully in the action-adventure setting inspired by African myths, which also impresses audio-visually with its strong colors and beautiful soundtrack.
However, the game never comes close to the excellent competition, such as “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” or “Hollow Knight”. Some elements in Zau's adventure are simply too simple, some are too half-baked and a few are not equally well balanced. If you're looking for an emotionally moving game that you can forgive the odd playful blunder, you'll still be able to have fun with this.
Further reports on Tales of Kenzera: Zau.
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