The debut title from Ember Lab, Kena: Bridge of Spirits just shows what it takes to be a great game.
Have you ever played a game that just made you want to frolic all around like Maria from The Sound of Music? The game that makes you stop in awe of the wondrous world in front of you? While I sure have. Games like Flower come to mind where it’s a feast for the eyes, soul, and mind. So many emotions evoked from lush greenery to fields of flowers to quiet moments roaming in dimly lit caves.
These are just a few examples of settings found in the world of Kena: Bridge of Spirits. It was one of the earlier PlayStation 5 titles to catch my attention with its gorgeous visuals, simplistic but fun looking combat and cut scenes comparable to something you’d see from Pixar. There is a good explanation for that. While Kena: Bridge of Spirits is the debut game from studio Ember Lab, this isn’t their first rodeo in the animation space.
Forming in 2009 by brothers Mike and Josh Grier, Ember Lab began life as an animation and digital content studio according to their site. In 2016, the brothers and a host of other talented artists worked together to make the Majora’s Mask terrible fate short film. Outside of some animated shorts for advertising, this was all they needed to show to get me excited for a movie or story-driven gaming experience. I left my jaw on the floor in awe of its sheer quality. Ember Lab’s past efforts culminated in Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
You play as Kena, a young spirit guide on a quest to lead distressed souls from the physical realm back to the spirit realm. Along the way you meet Toshi who is responsible for the corruption plaguing the land. It’s up to Kena with the help of the ever adorable Rot to heal the forlorn spirits as she treks to the sacred mountain shrine. Dealing with her own inner strife in the process.
Studio Ghibli seems to have strongly influenced Ember Lab in creating Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Spirited Away come to mind with the abundance of mystifying areas, a female lead and its “show, don’t tell” approach to storytelling. Kena is a warmhearted, empathetic character. You can tell she genuinely cares for the spirits. The way Ember Lab expresses that care is through facial expression and body language. We can see an example of this with the first few spirits you help, two young siblings named Beni and Saiya.
Their parents had passed and their older brother Taro was the only one left to protect them. To make matters worse, a famine swept the land as the corruption from the mountain shrine spread like wildfire. Taro was injured in the confusion of falling debris everywhere and returned late from a food forage to see that his siblings were no longer there. His guilt over the death of his siblings leads to the corruption taking over his soul. Once Kena frees Taro, Beni and Saiya reunite with their brother in a tender moment. This broke me the first time I saw this.
The spirits have passed on from flesh and blood, making Kena the only living character in this world. To complete this journey largely by herself speaks volume of her character. For each area of the game, they are your friends and help Kena by giving her advice towards her next objective.
Much of Kena: Bridge of Spirits‘ fictional world actually has ties in reality. Many locations are based on actual places in Bali which is part of Indonesia. I relish exploring the game’s many breathtaking locales and becoming fully immersed in its beauty. Luckily for the amateur photographer in me, the game features a photo mode with plenty of settings and filters to mess around with.
Photo modes have been an industry standard feature in most titles but Kena: Bridge of Spirits has been the only one to catch my attention. I’d take breaks from the story just to find awesome photo spots, spending minutes at a time to get the perfect shots. One of my personal favorites are areas in the forest leading up to Rusu’s house. Beams of sunlight permeate through the trees onto stone steps with lanterns adorning the surrounding area.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits has PS2-era title written all over it. That could be for better or worse depending on how you look at it. Kena’s animations, from her movement to her combat capabilities harken back to classic franchises such as Jak and Daxter and Sly Cooper. Luckily for me, I’m all about it. I found the combat rather simplistic, but doesn’t limit my fun factor. Collecting the Rot furthers Kena’s skill tree with new abilities that enhanced my options. For instance, you can infuse Kena’s arrows with the power of the Rot to really send those distant enemies packing.
Infuse her staff to deliver a crushing blow that eats enemy’s health or bombs to stop them in their tracks for a moment. I had a lot of fun thinking of ways to use all my tools to take down the baddies, especially from getting a well-timed parry as it leads to massive damage.
Besides enhancing your abilities, you can command the Rot much like you would Pikmin to perform tasks that Kena cannot. The Rot can pull levers, move platforms around so that Kena can access higher ground, and remove huge planks of wood so she can enter doorways. There are forest tears that the Rot can use to return to their original form and clear corruption. There are usually goodies covered in corruption close to forest tear locations so it’s always good to check the surroundings.
Kena offers a challenge but never feels unfair. Anytime I died fell completely on me. The bosses got me more times than I’d like to admit. I had to rethink my approach and study their attack patterns. The last few trials before reaching the mountain shrine were especially tough as it should be. To this point I had conquered many a beast and faced my demons. It was time to put those skills to the test.
As much fun as I had with the combat, It’s not what struck my fancy. I even understand the gripes people have with it. Like I said, It feels like a PlayStation 2 game for better and worse. The gameplay of Kena: Bridge of Spirits certainly feels twenty years old but doesn’t deter this retro gaming enthusiast. The game is an entire vibe. Even hovering over its icon on the PlayStation 5 dashboard, a mysterious bamboo flute plays, creating an ethereal sound that invites my curiosity.
There are meditation spots around the world that increase Kena’s max health. These areas are straight eye candy. When Kena meditates, the camera pans all around her cinematically showcasing the many serene landscapes. Quiet moments like these are some of my favorites. It reminds me again of Spirited Away like those moments when Chihiro looks off into the distance accompanied by Joe Hisaishi’s expertly crafted compositions. Kena’s soundtrack is no slouch either.
I may or may not have shed a few tears because of the game’s stunning score. It was composed by Jason Gallaty in tandem with the Balinese ensemble group Gamelan Çudamani to create music that was respectful to the Balinese culture. An actual bamboo orchestra was used to capture the sounds of Bali for Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
I was not aware of Bali prior to playing Kena but I now have a snapshot into their culture. Trapped Spirit is my favorite track as it comes in somber and then gradually works its way to thunderous flutes that fill me with that sense of adventure. In the game’s lighter moments the music shifts to playful music just as it does in intense moments with a dynamic sound.
Gems are only used to buy rot hats which can be bought from Rot carts. You must unlock them for purchase by first finding the hats in the chests across the map. You can outfit your Rot with these adorable hats to give them that extra layer of cuteness. Charmstones gives you perks like full-health restore on parry or dishing out extra damage with the downside of enemies able to do the same. They extend combat potential and gave me re-playability in subsequent playthroughs.
The mystery and wonder of Kena: Bridge of Spirits kept me coming back for more. I’d light some incense, get the LED lights just right and become enraptured by its world. The more I explored, the more secrets and collectibles I uncovered. I would spend the entirety of a day playing just to find them. Sprinkled across the world are treasure chests which contain various things from gems to rot hats, and charmstones with the latter being added as of update 2.02.
Ember Lab clearly know how to craft an engaging story. I was rooting for Kena the whole time and wanted to see this character make a return. I have nothing negative to say about Kena: Bridge of Spirits. From beginning to end I was hooked. I got such a warm, fuzzy feeling in the lighthearted aspects of the game and felt the sorrow and coldness of the serious parts.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits truly is a title that made me feel in such a different way. It is not the best game I ever played, but it certainly makes my list for one of my favorite video games ever made. It’s hard expressing into words honestly. Traversing this lush world with its popping greenery, mystical soundtrack, lovable heroine and concise storytelling left me with a title I will remember for years to come.
