Kena: Bridge of Spirits is not a bad game. However, it is a very disappointing one considering the comparisons I've heard people make between it and The Legend of Zelda series. One website went as far as saying that this game is the real 35th anniversary celebration of the Zelda series since Nintendo merely released a half-assed remaster of Skyward Sword. I'll give them this: Kena is like an homage to Zelda except the gameplay differences are bad. It is much simpler and less captivating than a Zelda game is, and a major issue is in the narrative.
You start the game thrust into a cave with no explanation as to why you are there or what you are supposed to do. You are never given a reason for anything about Kena before the game. It essentially copies the opening of the first Legend of Zelda. The game's main story is that you get out of the cave and see two boys/spirits in the forest and decide to follow them. When you finally catch up they state their problem and that they'll help Kena reach the Mountain Shrine in exchange for your help. That's it. Everything afterwards in this game is you helping other people simply because it's the right thing to do rather than anything else. Kena has no character development herself, there are very few other characters to talk to or interact with, and the world doesn't have much to really pull you in. The lack of any sort of characters to help immerse you into the world of Kena and the lack of any real reason for what Kena does or any character development for her is one of the game's two monolithic weaknesses.
Every location you go to is deserted, desolate, and quiet. There is no one to help you get into the game and interested in what is happening because nothing is happening. You basically go to one area, solve some extremely simple puzzles, fight a bunch of bad guys by spamming R1 (light attack), rinse, and repeat. While you do learn a few new abilities throughout the course of the game (shooting an arrow, an energy bomb, and dashing), they don't do much except make the puzzles slightly harder in exchange for giving you a new way to approach and solve said puzzles. They can help in fights, but again you will mostly be spamming the R1 button to fight. Unlike Zelda, you are forced to fight enemies and many at a time. This unfortunately makes combat painfully repetitive and dull because it's forced encounters of button mashing. On the rare occasion where you do need to get creative with fighting (one or two boss fights require it), you can parry by pressing L1 at the exact right moment. Be warned: this is very finicky and unreliable. The penultimate boss of the game was a major challenge for me because I believed parrying was the key to defeating him. A guide on Gamespot gave me some tips that helped me pull it off using other methods, but combat in this game is the second of Kena's two big weaknesses.
This game is fun to play and the graphics are beautiful. The environments are beautiful green with flowers and rivers and all sorts of fun to get you sucked into the world. But the lack of any real reason for doing anything except "because you want to" and the lack of any real characters makes this game feel dead in a sense. I don't care to find all of the remaining rot/hats/etc. because I don't care to run around for the sake of getting the trophies. Having finished the game I still don't understand what Kena wanted to do to begin with besides "get to the Mountain Shrine."
In short, this game is fun but the gameplay is where everything falls short. If a stronger narrative had been made then I would like the game better. However, it just tries to be an homage to Zelda and fails so miserably. While I do recommend you play the game to make your own decision (I am being quite harsh), I highly recommend you borrow the title from a friend or get this cheap. Don't pay $50 for this. It's too short and simply fails to pull you into this gorgeously designed world to be worth the money.
You start the game thrust into a cave with no explanation as to why you are there or what you are supposed to do. You are never given a reason for anything about Kena before the game. It essentially copies the opening of the first Legend of Zelda. The game's main story is that you get out of the cave and see two boys/spirits in the forest and decide to follow them. When you finally catch up they state their problem and that they'll help Kena reach the Mountain Shrine in exchange for your help. That's it. Everything afterwards in this game is you helping other people simply because it's the right thing to do rather than anything else. Kena has no character development herself, there are very few other characters to talk to or interact with, and the world doesn't have much to really pull you in. The lack of any sort of characters to help immerse you into the world of Kena and the lack of any real reason for what Kena does or any character development for her is one of the game's two monolithic weaknesses.
Every location you go to is deserted, desolate, and quiet. There is no one to help you get into the game and interested in what is happening because nothing is happening. You basically go to one area, solve some extremely simple puzzles, fight a bunch of bad guys by spamming R1 (light attack), rinse, and repeat. While you do learn a few new abilities throughout the course of the game (shooting an arrow, an energy bomb, and dashing), they don't do much except make the puzzles slightly harder in exchange for giving you a new way to approach and solve said puzzles. They can help in fights, but again you will mostly be spamming the R1 button to fight. Unlike Zelda, you are forced to fight enemies and many at a time. This unfortunately makes combat painfully repetitive and dull because it's forced encounters of button mashing. On the rare occasion where you do need to get creative with fighting (one or two boss fights require it), you can parry by pressing L1 at the exact right moment. Be warned: this is very finicky and unreliable. The penultimate boss of the game was a major challenge for me because I believed parrying was the key to defeating him. A guide on Gamespot gave me some tips that helped me pull it off using other methods, but combat in this game is the second of Kena's two big weaknesses.
This game is fun to play and the graphics are beautiful. The environments are beautiful green with flowers and rivers and all sorts of fun to get you sucked into the world. But the lack of any real reason for doing anything except "because you want to" and the lack of any real characters makes this game feel dead in a sense. I don't care to find all of the remaining rot/hats/etc. because I don't care to run around for the sake of getting the trophies. Having finished the game I still don't understand what Kena wanted to do to begin with besides "get to the Mountain Shrine."
In short, this game is fun but the gameplay is where everything falls short. If a stronger narrative had been made then I would like the game better. However, it just tries to be an homage to Zelda and fails so miserably. While I do recommend you play the game to make your own decision (I am being quite harsh), I highly recommend you borrow the title from a friend or get this cheap. Don't pay $50 for this. It's too short and simply fails to pull you into this gorgeously designed world to be worth the money.