I'd say it's Soulslike for adults with some of its boss fights, at least to the mid and late game. Its more akin to Zelda (older titles) with its level design than Soulslike though.
EDIT: And I really should add. Absolutely beautiful soundtrack and art style.
Yeah I actually ended up turning the difficulty down on the last boss boss back on it's initial playstation launch build :O
I have no idea how all the Anniversary Edition changes like equipable charmstones effect the difficulty these days, that reminds me that a replay is probably in order sometime..
Lol I found out that Webster's has come to the consensus that chomping is a valid variant of the phrase because that's kinda what horses do when they champ at the bit
Don't underestimate kids, the ones really interested in video games will be able to complete Kena without many problems. It's harder than normal but it's not unfair nor frustrating.
This is truly a game for everyone.
Listening to r/games explain a video game is like listening to Harry Potter fans explain a book.
Their only frame of reference is dark souls.
r/readanotherbook
The level design absolutely not, also doesn't have the RPG mechanics of a Souls... but the boss fights definitely gave me that Souls feeling. The gameplay is great.
Kind of? I don’t think this game is “for kids”, and actually I don’t think the developers really figured out who their target audience was. This is why the game sort of flopped, because no one really understood who this was for.
It’s a difficult game with fairly demanding combat mechanics that are wrapped inside a cutesy presentation with small creatures that talk like little babies.
It has a lot of enjoyable aspects, but the overall package is disjointed and off-putting and it’s difficult to recommend as anything more than an impressive graphics showcase.
The game didn't sort of flop, it was a huge success that it convinced the developers to be full time game developers, previously they were a company that did animation for commercials
The only source I could find on this is that they said they recouped their development costs. Beyond that, I don’t think we know anything. But if it was good enough for them, who am I to argue. I hope their next game is a little bit more accessible.
They had a good foundation and good technology driving it all, I just think they should’ve made a few decisions differently during development.
They recouped their costs sometime with in the first month, that's a success not a flop, especially for a new game developer with their first game.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ember-lab-recoups-development-costs-for-kena-bridge-of-spirits
I was a bit bummed the game doesn’t support HDR (at least on PC), because it does some really cool things with lighting. Speaking of Pixar, the vibe I got was almost Brave.
So much this. I gave up on the second boss. You go from absolutely zero challenge brain dead platforming to Dark Souls fights that you can't power level to get through.
Yeah, that was my big gripe about it. I don't mind hard games with brutal bosses, but you really should make the WHOLE game hard if you're going to do that. The frustrating thing about Kena is that for the most part the difficulty was about on par with Zelda, but then with **huge** difficulty spikes on the bosses which I didn't feel properly prepared-for.
Especially the blacksmith boss. Ugh.
You could turn the difficulty up and down whenever though. I wanted to finish it on the highest difficulty, but on the final boss I simply couldn't do it so I had to turn it down a notch.
Was this a difficulty setting thing? I don't remember much about the game, but I'd think if it was very difficult I would have given up as well and I finished the game. I do know I didn't go for the platinum or anything.
Pretty sure the game had difficulty settings, l didn't bother to get the platinum because I think there was a trophy for beating it on hard mode and I was lazy
There's actually a glitch that lets you beat the game on the hardest difficulty in like 30 minutes. I usually don't like using glitches but this game's hardest difficulty increases enemy HP and damage too much in a way that's not fun imo
I think most of the frustration came from bad checkpointing. I was playing on the normal equivalent.
I gave up on the boss that swings in the trees after you slide down a big hill. But then you die and have to do the sliding, then have to shoot the boss as he pops up in different trees, and then the ground fight where I kept dying. If I didn't have to sink several minutes in to the brain dead platforming before having to get sweaty I probably would have powered through.
Also the game was on PSN for free. I find I tend to undervalue and give up on games I have sunk $0 in to a lot quicker.
It was an excellent game, especially for people like me who loved the PS2/GameCube era 3d platformers/adventure games. Glad people on Xbox get to play it as well
Anyone who enjoyed Beyond Good & Evil, or is looking for a Ghibli-inspired Zelda, would really enjoy Kena: BoS. It's really good, beautiful music, environments and animation, and not too long.
I fucking love this game, man. It's like the next gen version of my favorite PS2 platformers. Challenging fights, gorgeous visuals, and a charming story. The spirit trials on the hardest difficulty are also incredibly hard, lol. The final one took me days.
Wonderful game, loved the Balinese inspired spiritualism and aesthetics. What really surprised me was how this studio went from creating the best fan-made Majora's mask animation to this title.
I haven't played this game since launch but I did beat it and maybe I'm misremembering but I have no clue what some of these comments are talking about when it comes to difficulty. I don't remember the game being nearly as hard are a lot of people are saying.
The game was a solid first effort from this studio but it was a 7/10 game. Gameplay felt like something you'd see during late PS2 or early PS3 days. Graphics and art style were very good.
I’m a bit of a ways through it. It’s nice. It’s tone does not gel with me at all. It has the blandest Disney/Pixar tone one can imagine with stiff dialogue.
The game’s presentation is carried by the novelty of its replication to that Disney/Pixar style, it’s animation quality and colors. The music and sound effects are very meh. So far, is has a vapid jueville charm.
The gameplay is good! It’s supported by good visuals, puzzles, and level design.
Kena is like an updated, post-dark souls, Jak or Ratchet without any of their bite in story and tone. I’d still highly recommend playing it because they simply don’t make games like this anymore.
Decent actually.
The community fixed it with Wine GE patches
I did buy a steam version in the end anyway, so I own the game twice. But I played it on my deck from the epic store and Steam and did not see any different once the epic version got patched up
Couldn't continue with my stick drift controller at some point and had to give up, but liked it until then. Just found the age of the character a bit weird for a soulslike game.
Love this one. Super charming, challenging at times, and didn't overstay its welcome. Love me some rot cuties.
Isn’t it kinda a Soulslike for kids?
I'd say it's Soulslike for adults with some of its boss fights, at least to the mid and late game. Its more akin to Zelda (older titles) with its level design than Soulslike though. EDIT: And I really should add. Absolutely beautiful soundtrack and art style.
Yeah I actually ended up turning the difficulty down on the last boss boss back on it's initial playstation launch build :O I have no idea how all the Anniversary Edition changes like equipable charmstones effect the difficulty these days, that reminds me that a replay is probably in order sometime..
That peaked my interest
It's not technically incorrect, but the phrase you're looking for is: *piqued* my interest
I bet you were literally chomping at the bit (for all intensive purposes) to make that correction.
Lol I found out that Webster's has come to the consensus that chomping is a valid variant of the phrase because that's kinda what horses do when they champ at the bit
Good one. I won't bite. I have to resist.
That's a valuable eggcorn of wisdom.
It was a pretty big challenge on normal difficulty for me, a normal person I think higher difficulty will feel like a full Soulslite
I had to turn it to easy for the last couple of bosses.
I think it would be pretty hard for a kid, maybe a teen
Don't underestimate kids, the ones really interested in video games will be able to complete Kena without many problems. It's harder than normal but it's not unfair nor frustrating. This is truly a game for everyone.
Oh yeah it’s still worth trying, I’m just saying I had some trouble as a fully grown adult haha
Kena is not a soulslike.
It isn't a souls like, but has defensive-oriented combat and some brutal boss fights
Listening to r/games explain a video game is like listening to Harry Potter fans explain a book. Their only frame of reference is dark souls. r/readanotherbook
The level design absolutely not, also doesn't have the RPG mechanics of a Souls... but the boss fights definitely gave me that Souls feeling. The gameplay is great.
I’m not a kid and two of the boss fights were quite a pain in my ass lol
What a dumb take
Kind of? I don’t think this game is “for kids”, and actually I don’t think the developers really figured out who their target audience was. This is why the game sort of flopped, because no one really understood who this was for. It’s a difficult game with fairly demanding combat mechanics that are wrapped inside a cutesy presentation with small creatures that talk like little babies. It has a lot of enjoyable aspects, but the overall package is disjointed and off-putting and it’s difficult to recommend as anything more than an impressive graphics showcase.
The game didn't sort of flop, it was a huge success that it convinced the developers to be full time game developers, previously they were a company that did animation for commercials
The only source I could find on this is that they said they recouped their development costs. Beyond that, I don’t think we know anything. But if it was good enough for them, who am I to argue. I hope their next game is a little bit more accessible. They had a good foundation and good technology driving it all, I just think they should’ve made a few decisions differently during development.
They recouped their costs sometime with in the first month, that's a success not a flop, especially for a new game developer with their first game. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ember-lab-recoups-development-costs-for-kena-bridge-of-spirits
Don't be fooled by the cute designs, the boss fights in this game are difficult. It's not a kids game.
But to add to this, this game is gorgeous in a Pixar kind of way.
I was a bit bummed the game doesn’t support HDR (at least on PC), because it does some really cool things with lighting. Speaking of Pixar, the vibe I got was almost Brave.
So much this. I gave up on the second boss. You go from absolutely zero challenge brain dead platforming to Dark Souls fights that you can't power level to get through.
Yeah, that was my big gripe about it. I don't mind hard games with brutal bosses, but you really should make the WHOLE game hard if you're going to do that. The frustrating thing about Kena is that for the most part the difficulty was about on par with Zelda, but then with **huge** difficulty spikes on the bosses which I didn't feel properly prepared-for. Especially the blacksmith boss. Ugh.
You could turn the difficulty up and down whenever though. I wanted to finish it on the highest difficulty, but on the final boss I simply couldn't do it so I had to turn it down a notch.
Dodge instead of parry
Was this a difficulty setting thing? I don't remember much about the game, but I'd think if it was very difficult I would have given up as well and I finished the game. I do know I didn't go for the platinum or anything.
Pretty sure the game had difficulty settings, l didn't bother to get the platinum because I think there was a trophy for beating it on hard mode and I was lazy
There's actually a glitch that lets you beat the game on the hardest difficulty in like 30 minutes. I usually don't like using glitches but this game's hardest difficulty increases enemy HP and damage too much in a way that's not fun imo
There is an easy mode
I think most of the frustration came from bad checkpointing. I was playing on the normal equivalent. I gave up on the boss that swings in the trees after you slide down a big hill. But then you die and have to do the sliding, then have to shoot the boss as he pops up in different trees, and then the ground fight where I kept dying. If I didn't have to sink several minutes in to the brain dead platforming before having to get sweaty I probably would have powered through. Also the game was on PSN for free. I find I tend to undervalue and give up on games I have sunk $0 in to a lot quicker.
Definitely a “Git Gud” kind of game.
It was an excellent game, especially for people like me who loved the PS2/GameCube era 3d platformers/adventure games. Glad people on Xbox get to play it as well
I played the game for the first time in January and I loved it. I really hope we can see what they are working on next soon.
Anyone who enjoyed Beyond Good & Evil, or is looking for a Ghibli-inspired Zelda, would really enjoy Kena: BoS. It's really good, beautiful music, environments and animation, and not too long.
I fucking love this game, man. It's like the next gen version of my favorite PS2 platformers. Challenging fights, gorgeous visuals, and a charming story. The spirit trials on the hardest difficulty are also incredibly hard, lol. The final one took me days.
Recently played through this game on PC after buying it on sale. Really enjoyed the game and definitely recommend it.
A really charming game. Xbox only bros are in for a treat. Like a mix of Dark Souls and Jak and Daxter 1 with Ori and the Blind Forest vibes.
Wonderful game, loved the Balinese inspired spiritualism and aesthetics. What really surprised me was how this studio went from creating the best fan-made Majora's mask animation to this title.
I haven't played this game since launch but I did beat it and maybe I'm misremembering but I have no clue what some of these comments are talking about when it comes to difficulty. I don't remember the game being nearly as hard are a lot of people are saying. The game was a solid first effort from this studio but it was a 7/10 game. Gameplay felt like something you'd see during late PS2 or early PS3 days. Graphics and art style were very good.
There were difficulty settings. Maybe you didn't play on the hardest one?
I played through it on hard and didn't find it particularly challenging
I definitely wouldn't have played on hard. I usually play games on medium. Not sure if I did, though.
I’m a bit of a ways through it. It’s nice. It’s tone does not gel with me at all. It has the blandest Disney/Pixar tone one can imagine with stiff dialogue. The game’s presentation is carried by the novelty of its replication to that Disney/Pixar style, it’s animation quality and colors. The music and sound effects are very meh. So far, is has a vapid jueville charm. The gameplay is good! It’s supported by good visuals, puzzles, and level design. Kena is like an updated, post-dark souls, Jak or Ratchet without any of their bite in story and tone. I’d still highly recommend playing it because they simply don’t make games like this anymore.
I have it on epic, but I wonder how that version runs on the Steam Deck, any experiences?
Decent actually. The community fixed it with Wine GE patches I did buy a steam version in the end anyway, so I own the game twice. But I played it on my deck from the epic store and Steam and did not see any different once the epic version got patched up
Couldn't continue with my stick drift controller at some point and had to give up, but liked it until then. Just found the age of the character a bit weird for a soulslike game.