Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an easy game, but it has two near insurmountable difficulty spikes.
The first is the compulsion to constantly sit with your companion critters and make them dance around you or kiss you on the cheek, which brings the game to a screeching halt. The second is an overwhelming urge to use the game’s photo mode on nearly every frame of animation or lush vista. Being completely enamoured with this world and its inhabitants is the real hardest difficulty.
Released on PS5/4 in 2021, this beautifully animated and cinematic platforming adventure arrives on Switch 2 in optimal form. It is an essential purchase for fans of character-driven platformers and one of the best-looking games on the console. With blockbuster visuals and a sweeping orchestral score, it’s truly mindboggling that Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an indie title.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
Developer Ember Labs has a history with Nintendo. They made their name with Terrible Fate, a 2016 animated short that tells the origin of Majora’s Mask’s Skull Kid. Moving from short films to video games, they partnered with animation studio Sparx to create the rich fantasy world and Pixar-like characters of Kena. This partnership between two creative houses has resulted in the unique artistic achievement of this small-scale title.
Kena herself is a spirit guide who must navigate a land blighted by darkness, ushering the grieving dead into the next phase of existence. In her search for a sacred mountain shrine, she happens upon an abandoned village and decides to help the people that dwell there. As she delves deeper into the forest beyond the village, corrupted spirits emerge to stop her. Each area cleansed brings light and life back to the forest and helps ease the pain of the lost dead.
It’s an oddly melancholy set of stories that our hero becomes embroiled in, with moments of beauty frequently intertwined with sadness and grief. Thank goodness for the Rot, the tiny creatures that she befriends. These little mascots help Kena in her quest to find and aid the spirits of the village.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)
The Rot form one half of the gameplay loop in Bridge of Spirits. When exploring, the Rot scurry through the environment around Kena, popping out of jars, hiding behind rocks, and occasionally pointing out things of interest.
They can be used to solve puzzles, moving objects or tidying up toppled shrines, but their primary use is to clear the blight that eats away at the land and blocks progress through the environment. They do this by making corrupted flowers vulnerable to destruction and forming an amorphous creature that Kena can direct to smash down barriers.
The other half of the game is a typical mix of light combat and platforming. Thankfully, the Rot also have utility in combat. They can heal Kena and swarm enemies, making them vulnerable to attack. Kena dishes out damage with her staff and bow, using simple combos alongside parries and a bubble shield. Combat is mostly fine, though it lacks depth and isn’t as gratifying as the exploration or narrative.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
The game’s biggest shortcoming is that, despite the visual splendour of the environments and the distinctive look of the characters, enemies feel bland and lack variety. It’s appropriate that they look like twisted humanoid trees, because they spend most of their time rooted to the ground, slowly attacking in predictable patterns.
All of the usual types are present, including melee fighters, shield carriers, aerial threats, and magic users. Bosses and sub-bosses interrupt Kena’s journey through the forest; however, none of them poses much of a threat, and upgrades quickly turn the titular spirit guide into a formidable force in the mid to late game.
Some extra challenges can be added with four difficulty modes, but this doesn’t make the combat any more exciting. Charmstones can be found hidden around the forest which, once equipped, add modifiers that can tweak difficulty to your liking. This extra versatility was added later in the original release, but comes bundled along with this Switch 2 version.
Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked)
All other post-release content is present in this new version, including a New Game Plus and several trials to test out your expertise with the game’s systems. All of Kena’s outfits can be unlocked as well. And speaking of outfits, I can’t finish this review without lauding its best feature – unlockable hats for the Rot!
Critter headgear aside, the visual optimisation is exemplary. When this game is in motion, it feels like an interactive Disney movie, so any drop in performance would ruin that experience. Thankfully, I did not notice any frame issues during my playthrough, and the game looks just as gorgeous in handheld mode.
Gripes with the samey combat and repetitive enemies aside, this is a wonderful experience for gamers of all ages – particularly fans of old school platformers, who will enjoy collecting hats and hunting down secrets. Here’s hoping that recently announced sequel, Kena: Scars Of Kosmora, makes it over to Switch 2 in good time.
Conclusion
Kena: Bridge Of Spirits is a great addition to the Switch 2 roster. A visually stunning platforming adventure with great storytelling and an adorable companion mechanic. Combat and enemy design leave a lot to be desired, but this doesn’t do much to dent the experience of Kena’s journey.
