Kena: Bridge of Spirits - Deluxe Edition (PS5)

Nothing negative to really say about this. For a somewhat early next gen title, it does the PS5 justice. And gives a vibe similar to the early PS1/N64 games like Crash Bandicoot or Ocarina of Time, mixed with a Disney or Dreamworks movie.Visually, it's one of the best looking games I've seen, vibrant, sharp details and full of colour and texture (grass, tree's, sky box in the distance) plus the characters. The animation is also very nice, flawless actually, the dense trees and grass move on the wind and Kena's combat is smooth as butter as she transitions from one move to the next, there's no jank here. This is what Zelda: Breath of the wild should look like by now, yet sadly fails to; still relying on decades old washed out cel shading.The sound and music is very nice, whether it's the voice acting or fitting music. The music uses Japanese wind instruments, sparing tribal drums and delicate bell/wind pads to give a meditative and lonely vibe; perfectly fitting for exploring lonely ancient woodland where spirits remain.In terms of gameplay, there's some exploration and platforming/climbing mixed with a little puzzle solving and quite decent combat. You can lock on, do a weak or strong attack and evade or parry. You also gain some abilities from the little cute 'rot' creatures you find that become your companions. These range from binding enemies and heavy power attacks to a bow and using blue healing flowers in the battle area's. The collectibles extend to rot hats, costumes for Kena, unlockable perks or attacks, masks and charms that give passive abilities. There's even a trial area to complete difficult challenges for unlockables and a new game+ mode. For an indie game, this won't be finished in under 30hrs unless you rush through it on easy difficulty neglecting most collectibles.This game has an easy difficulty for those that want to enjoy the story or may be younger. And then on the hardest difficulty (master spirit guide) it will give veteran souls/borne/ring players a tough run for their money, trust me - it's brutal. On master spirit guide, some bosses are like those from Elden Ring but harder as perfect parry timing is needed and death comes in 1 - 2 hits.The story deals with spirits and death, your character Kena is a spirit medium or guide that can interact with the dead - helping them move on from 'limbo', but also must stop lingering evil or malevolent spirits. There's also a corruption caused by these malevolent spirits that is poisoning her village and land, killing the tree's and grass. Her little rot friends are able to heal and reverse this.Age rating, I'd say 10 or 12+ based on some of it's more somber themes and slightly darker/menacing looking enemies.I hope this indie studio make a lot more games, fresh and original games like this are strongly needed this generation. Between the Switch's vast copy/paste re-release library and the PS5/Xbox's many odd simulator and niche/generic titles, this generation is off to a bit of a slow start.

Got this game without much expectations and surprised me in a very good way. I have enjoyed to play and besides a great graphic the game history is nice either.

This game plays as you would imagine from the videos and images, it is exactly what I expected. Really pretty and cool theme! I love the graphics!This also has to be the buggiest game I have seen in years, most of the bugs are hilarious but some really hinder your play. I wasted hours trying to get past a thing that wasn’t actually meant to be there on screen thinking there was a trick to it but when I reloaded the file the object was gone and I could just proceed - gah. Also in the already hard time trials sometimes it will bug out and just stop counting and doesn’t reset, interrupting your finest attempts. I have honestly had to reload this game hundreds of times because I find myself stuck inside a boulder or due to other weird glitches. In the new era of PS5 I can’t believe they would release a game with such glaring bugs.I also am someone who always plays through games on the hardest modes, like some others this game unlocks the hardest mode when you have beaten the game once, so I have played it through twice. I usually enjoy these modes but this one isn’t much fun, the fights are very long and you have to hit the enemy hundreds of times barely making a dent in their health bar, it is very unsympathetic to any healing and your creatures won’t help you for the most part in this mode, meanwhile the boss can just kill you in one or two hits so you basically need to stay untouched. You may like that challenge but with the control button layout calling for holding down the joystick etc the intensity just made my hands ache. I got there in the end but was the least fun I’ve had in taking on the worst mode in a game and I personally think the encounters could have been designed better.Overall I have played through the game twice so definitely think it is worth a play but can’t give 5/5 when it is the buggiest game ever.

Great game, great price and fast delivery. Thank you Amazon.

This is a beautiful and really fun game for both younger and older gamers. I bought this for my twin nieces, who are 11, and they really love the game. It can be quite difficult and challenging, but there are different difficulty levels, so players of all ages can enjoy the game. I think the game it is a really suitable gift for younger players. It's a really fun game that is also child friendly, which is increasingly rare these days.

I was looking for something after finishing elden ring that was somewhat similar to the soulsbourne genre. This is great. Really fun and a great mix of cute and creepy at the same time.I played on the hardest difficulty thinking it'd be easy as I'm the kind of sad sack who's platinumed the souls games... This was a mistake! The game is really challenging! Don't be fooled by the pretty graphics, this game is tough on the hardest settings!

Not my usual go to game genre but I saw a trailer and thought I’d give it a go.Firstly on the PS5 it is stunning to look at, the graphics are bright and colourful and are a real visual treat. Game play is steady and the challenges are, well challenging, but not to a point where you’re bouncing off the walls. Although a few trips to Utube when things got a bit confusing.The story is thought provoking and keeps the interest throughout and so it was a worthwhile purchase.

The game is good. The story is quite interesting but it is quite short.There is nothing to do when you finish the main story.