Kena: Bridge of Spirits was one of my most anticipated games this past year. In addition to this, Ember Lab, like myself, are avid fans of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and have stated that it was influential in creating Kena. Because of this, I am a tad more critical of this game than I might otherwise be. So at the top I would like to say that I very much enjoyed the game to the end. It is a beautiful and refreshing game that while it isnt completely groundbreaking, felt new to what I have played over the past few years.
While I think the game is a fantastic first entry for a team who has previously focused purely on animation, it is riddled with seemingly rookie mistakes and the occasional odd design choices make it slightly frustrating at times. The difficulty curve is incredibly uneven, with the beginning and ends feeling simply easy and the middle having spikes of bosses that felt so brutal. Level design seemed to forget to take swimming into account as most of the areas with water feel just dreadful to get into. Some areas had so much packed into such little space, with little information to determine what was useful to explore (spirits, rot, hats) and what was mostly trivial (doing an elaborate puzzle for some currency which you will have way too much of through the whole game).
HOWEVER, setting these gripes aside, there are some wonderful things being done in Kena. It somehow feels nostalgic while not taking too strong of an influence from any one game, even Majora's Mask which only comes thru in themes and rarely in play. By the end your kit feels very powerful and fun, the combat feels quick and diverse. The world is deeply engrossing and you can't help but to feel for many of the spirits you guide. Their stories are simple yet powerful and help paint a picture of the interconnected struggles this village faced before the big finale. This is of course the biggest influence from Majora: Several tales of grief, loss, and acceptance. I cannot wait to see what this team does next, taking what they have learned from this project.

An absolute delight from beginning to end. The game quickly teaches you to stop worrying about the loop and if you embrace this it opens up so much freedom to explore the combat and story at a pace that interests you. As someone who had difficulty getting into the Dishonored games (and other stealth games in general), Deathloop feels less restrictive in terms of letting you truly choose stealth or guns ablaze on a whim. The recurring sense of this unrestricted freedom sits nicely in the games themes.
The characterizations and performances are fantastic and I love listening to every piece of dialogue. The world of Blackreef and the loop feels deep and rich with history despite only being worried about a select few people and a select few locations.
It is incredibly stylish in every sense. The art direction has a clear vision that in conjunction with the music and themes feels very fresh and interesting. More games should have original songs to accompany them like Deathloop's Deja Vu, which is a great nod to Bond themes.