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KENA Bridge of Spirits is Amazing (PS5)

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This game absolutely floored me out of nowhere. Spent the last week playing it with the gf and loved every second. The music, the animation, the rich world, the story, even the combat was surprisingly good and the game was fairly challenging. It’s got little bits of so many games, it’s 1 part Pikmin, 1 part Horizon, 1 part Zelda, and a little bit of it’s own spin mixed in. It’s completely wholesome and family friendly as well if that matters to you. I’m so glad we bought it on the PSN sale, what a cool, fantastic adventure. Honestly can’t say enough good about this game. I hope it did well because I will be playing the sequel day 1. This is now a series on my radar. God, even just exploring the world was fun, the meditation spots and fixing various statues gave me huge Ghost of Tsushima vibes. I can’t stop gushing about this game.


9/10

Some slight camera issues here and there and a few minor bugs are my only complaints. Still absolutely worth it if you’re even slightly curious about this game. On PS5 on a 4K display it’s utterly ridiculously beautiful. It looks better then many CGI movies, and completely outclasses the straight to Netflix animated shows.

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Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Graphically it looks amazing, the gameplay is like a very polished PS2-era action adventure platformer, and the story is pretty good. Overall a solid 8/10. If Sony's gonna buy some more studios, Ember Lab better be on the top of the list.

Edit: I held out waiting for a physical edition, which is what I'll do for Call of the Sea too when it releases physically for PS5 next year.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
I don't know of I'll like it but it's a game I want to at least give a try just for it's visuals, it looks so pretty.

Do we know if the PC port is worth it and well optimized?
 
Yeah one of my favorites from this year, and bonus points for the boss fighting being interesting and challenging and kind of souls-like.

Really hope sony invest a lot of money into them for their next game. If they did something else like this at a greater scale it could rival 3d zelda. Graphically and musically its already surpassed it, imo
 
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Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Really hope sony invest a lot of money into them for their next game. If they did something else like this at a greater scale it could rival 3d zelda. Graphically and musically its already surpassed it, imo
Sony got their Soulsroidvania by paying for Returnal, and seeing how Sony was happy from the returns of investing in Kena, Sony could have their graphically amazing 3D Zelda if they fork out for Ember Lab too.
 

Bragr

Banned
I was a little bit disappointed. The issues with the dodge and parry and the lack of new ideas were a problem. And the last boss was extremely shitty, so you end on a bad part of the game.
 

TidusYuna

Member
Sony was happy from the returns of investing in Kena, Sony could have their graphically amazing 3D Zelda if they fork out for Ember Lab too.

Is it time for Sony to bring back Alundra?

Edit: If Sony were to purchase Ember Labs, would you want to see Ember Labs continue with Kena, make another new IP, or revive a game like Alundra who many consider Sony's Zelda.
 
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Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Let's not pretend Zelda as a series is any good or interesting 😴 Even the first Darksiders was a better and more interesting 3D Zelda than The Legend of Hiyah has ever been.
Is it time for Sony to bring back Alundra?
It's time for Sony to bring back a lot of IPs. Sony owns Ghostbusters, so pay the fuck up for an exclusive AAA Ghostbusters game.
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
Got the PS4 physical version for my wife for Christmas. She seems to like it quite a bit, plan on playing it once she's done.

It does have a great visual style but I've been avoiding watching her play it cause I want to experience it fresh.
 

TheGrat1

Member

Let's not pretend Zelda as a series is any good or interesting 😴 Even the first Darksiders was a better and more interesting 3D Zelda than The Legend of Hiyah has ever been.

You: Zelda is crap.

Also you: Sony could have their graphically amazing 3D Zelda if they fork out for Ember Lab.

Zelda as a series is shite.

Sony could have their graphically amazing 3D Zelda, with an actual story, if they fork out for Ember Lab.
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Banjo64

cumsessed
Ok, that's actually a great reply! I laughed at that 😂 You did good!

Seriously though, I never got Zelda. I played it on NES, SNES and N64, played BotW and it's just not for me. Darksiders was the first Zelda-like game I liked.
You should try Okami HD if you haven’t played it, as it seems you like the genre.
 

//DEVIL//

Member
It will be only be amazing when they become first party for Sony or MS . This way I will enjoy the game more knowing future games are exclusive to one system ( evil me muahaha )

seriously though. yeah the animation on that game is nice and I really do not play indie games if at all because usually, they are low-budget. This one is just wow.

I really honestly hope they get acquired by a big company ( happily of course ) just so get access to much bigger budget. its clear those guys are beyond talented. and for some reason I see them fitting Sony more than MS but doesn't matter which to me.
 
Ember Lab said they aren’t doing another kena, at least as their next game, just a game in the same genre. They said they would be open to turn kena into a cartoon or tv show. That kinda signifies to me that they have a better concept brewing already.

In an interview with SoulVision Magazine (thanks, The Gamer), Kena: Bridge of Spirits developers Mike and Josh Grier said that they aren’t sure they’ll do a direct sequel to Kena: Bridge of Spirits and instead would prefer to do "another IP with the same style in terms of gameplay and story-driven experience."

Instead, Josh suggests that Kena’s story could be adapted and expanded into another creative medium such as an animated series or movie adding: “Exploring and taking [Kena: Bridge of Spirits] into a more linear experience like a TV show or film is a possibility.”


The Ember Lab team discussed this in previous interviews, even hinting at the possibility of DLC for its first game, but Josh Grier, one of the company’s founders, went a little farther in this most recent article. Grier stated that, “looking at game two” the studio intends to reach the limits of what Sony’s hardware can offer. As to what that next title will be, the studio does not clarify.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
theres 25% discount on Kena now, do you guys think I should wait for the next bigger sales (if any) or buy it now?
 
I was a little bit disappointed. The issues with the dodge and parry and the lack of new ideas were a problem. And the last boss was extremely shitty, so you end on a bad part of the game.
Ya sometimes I felt like she wouldn’t quickly perform some action, but it always seemed to be tied to other animations. You kind of have to wait for the game a bit, once I got used to it, it was fine. The final boss was different that’s for sure, but I felt like other fights and some chests were harder for me then it.


What surprised me was I was more impressed by its combat than the story, I was kind expecting the story be the highlight of this game but end up up being very bare bones while the combat and boss fights what kept me going.
I wasn’t expecting the combat at all either. I loved defeating all the cursed chests. And once you get the dash, shit just gets wild between that and hammer time 😎
Would love to see the sequel expand on it.
 
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Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Is it a full exclusive? Or is it coming to XSX?
Unless Sony forks out and buys the studio and the IP, it's a timed exclusive.

But considering Sony bought something as random as Housemarque, I wouldn't be surprised if they bought this studio too.

theres 25% discount on Kena now, do you guys think I should wait for the next bigger sales (if any) or buy it now?
Buy it. Game's legit good to great.
 
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skit_data

Member
It’s pretty damn hard, I intend to complete it at some point but I’m stuck on a cursed chest challenge that mops the floor with me at the moment.

Very impressive debute from such a small studio, looking forward to what they bring us in the future.
 

ManaByte

Member
Didn’t like the Dark Souls boss difficulty spikes on Normal. Much better once the difficulty was dropped.
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
I'm still at the beginning, like in the first village after you save the kids. Something just isn't clicking with me, I don't know why. Not necessarily anything wrong with the game, I got a bit bored of the latest ratchet and clank as well (though I pushed through that one to the end). I would say it's just the genre, but I'm playing another game right now in the same vein that I'm finding more compelling (don't want to derail the thread by mentioning the title).

I've seen people remark on the difficulty, but is the combat customizable at all?

I need to give it another shot, but I've definitely gotten to the point where the graphics won't be enough. One thing that is a bit funny for me is that the main character looks like someone I know as well.
 
Don't know when I'll get round to playing it. Backlog is already stacked and 2022 is insane for new releases. I really do want to play it eventually. It looks amazing visually.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Knew about the weird difficulty spikes on normal, so I played it on easy. Made for a very enjoyable experience and perfectly fine challenge.
I would say whole “difficulty spike” is much more about regular enemies being piss easy compare to the bosses instead of bosses being too difficult.

I played the game on Expert Spirit difficulty from the get go and some bosses were tough but not compare to some of the games I played this year.
 

Combichristoffersen

Combovers don't work when there is no hair
I would say whole “difficulty spike” is much more about regular enemies being piss easy compare to the bosses instead of bosses being too difficult.

I played the game on Expert Spirit difficulty from the get go and some bosses were tough but not compare to some of the games I played this year.
I'm too old with too little time and patience for games, and tremors in my hands, so I have to play everything on easy. Kena was perfectly fine for me on easy as a challenge, the only boss that was a bitch was the Hunter. Jesus, that shit was annoying.
 

wOs

Member
I really enjoyed it. That final fight sucks. Which is a shame. Would have love for them to have stuck the landing.
 
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