2024-04-22 14:19:38
Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Hollow Knight, The Messenger, Rogue Legacy 2 and even this year’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. We’ve been blessed with so many incredible 2D action games and platformers over the past few years that it’s difficult for new games to break into the upper echelons these days. Overview, controls, level design, combat and much more. Everything has to be great to please privileged players. This is why I think the fun and enjoyable Tales of Kenzera: Zau will be lost in the shadow of other great games in 2024.
I feel bad for starting this way, because Abubakar Salim pointed out that Tales of Kenzera: Zau was inspired by the grief of losing his father, but the game’s story is nothing special. Anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, or even just thought regarding it, knows where this story is going in five minutes. That’s not to say it’s completely boring. Most of you can relate to young shaman Zau’s journey to defeat and capture three souls in order to resurrect his father. Every conversation and boss reminded me of my own experiences with death, which will obviously affect some people more than others. My only problem with this version is that Tales of Kenzera: Zau ends up being very predictable and forgettable, although it is interesting to learn regarding Swahili culture.
Here is an announcement:
The same goes for gameplay. It should be noted that I prefer very responsive characters in platform games. Some of the best include Dead Cells and Hollow Knight, as the characters responded immediately to most of my inputs, regardless of the situation. Tales of Kenzera: Zau feels very slow and unresponsive in comparison. When I played the game on PlayStation 5, my commands took a long time to register, and it didn’t help that Zau barely responded when jumping. This is a good thing for those who are less experienced with this type of game, as it makes wall jumping and other more complex platforming sequences much easier. However, for more experienced players, it becomes a bit more simple and mundane. For Platinum Hunters on PlayStation, areas with obstacles look like filler, just expired cream on top.
Still, when you get used to it and play in the game’s locale, it’s not too bad. After playing more difficult games, it’s somewhat refreshing to run, dash, and jump through levels effortlessly. Watching pretty colors and eye-catching environments pass by while a great soundtrack plays in the background is a relaxing experience, perfect for a peaceful evening. At least until you encounter an enemy.
“Come on, we need something to stop players from running straight for too long…”
Because compared to some similar games, one of the things that Tales of Kenzera: Zau really excels at is combat. You don’t exactly get a diverse enemy lineup here, but the system itself is pretty fun and engaging. Seamlessly switch between Sun (close combat) and Moon (long range) masks, while mixing in awesome dashes/dodges, ice balls that freeze enemies, and a super special attack that can clear the screen if timed and used correctly. All that is fascinating. We’re not talking regarding God of War, Dead Cells, or other world-class combat systems here, but this is hands down the best part of this game.
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Sure, I’ve given the platformer some praise, but the flaws don’t stop at the slow and unresponsive controls, which may explain why the level design is somewhat linear and simplistic. One element that every so-called metroidvania game must master is the map, and Tales of Kenzera: Zau fails miserably in this department. Showing tiny versions of environments on the map is pretty cool, but not being able to see or mark areas you can’t access is a huge failure. If each biome wasn’t small enough to keep track of how much I lost there, I might have spent a few more hours searching for the latest collectibles. That’s not to say that it’s not frustrating to return to an area with a new skill, just to realize that the unexplored area requires me to learn another one later.
Long story short: Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a fun game particularly suited to those who are a little new to the genre and/or want to think regarding the different stages of grief. There are plenty of better options for anyone looking for more, as unresponsive controls, fairly simplistic level design, and horrible maps are downsides you can’t have when the competition offers something better. Finally, I want to say something that I know a lot of people will use to summarize their experience in the podcast: it’s a good PlayStation Plus Extra game.
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#Tales #Kenzera #review #Zau
