Kena: Bridge of Spirits - Review

Spirits of regret.

Console: PlayStation 5

I have been aware of Kena: Bridges of Spirits ever since I got my PS5. The game’s physical version released around the same time I got the console and thus saw it on the shelf when I went shopping for some games. The cover intrigued me, but not enough for me to buy it. I kept seeing it favourably compared to Horizon Forbidden West, however, so when the game was half off at my favourite online retailer for games last year, I put it my cart. 

It sat on my shelf, waiting for its time, until its moment came at last. That moment is the announcement of its sequel of, Kena: Scars of Kosmora, at the PlayStation Showcase in early 2026. Fun fact: that reveal trailer is the most I've ever seen of Kena. Part of the fun with Indies with me is buying them without knowing much, if any, about them. Watching the trailer of that sequel, repeatedly, had given me better impression of what this game is all about but there was still a lot left for me to discover and I was eager to do so.

Now, without further ado, let's talk about Kena: Bridge of Spirits and see what this Indie game is all about and what led to it getting that sequel. 

On her way to a sacred mountain shrine Kena, a young spirit guide, comes across a forest suffering from some sort of corruption and home to small spirit-like being called the 'Rot'. She doesn’t get much time to think all of this over, however, as she comes face to face with a masked spirit who claims to be responsible for the corruption and refuses Kena's help before flying of in the direction of an abandoned village. From an old spirit living there, she learns that a great tragedy befell his people long ago that has left many restless spirits roaming the area. To gain access to the Mountain Shrine, she needs to help those trapped spirits find peace and move on. With her trusty staff in hand and with the Rot in her wake, Kena sets out to do just that. 

I think it's pretty clear that the two biggest draws of Kena: Bridge of Spirits are its narrative and visuals. Makes sense for a studio formed by people from the animation industry where, well, these two things are the most important things. In that, Ember Lab succeeded. It didn't take longer than the opening for me to see that background into action. 

This might be bias born from knowing Ember Labs’ background going into this game but that cutscene, all cutscenes really, reminded me of the type of animation you’d see in a Disney Pixar film. It has that same kind off body rigging, cinematography and general vibe to it. The warm, vibrant colour pallet, which makes for a good contrast to the corruption, just seals the deal on the excellent visuals of this game. 

I'm particularly fond of one specific cutscene, the introduction of the first big boss. It was a great idea to introduced the boss this way and they executed that idea flawlessly. That I saw it multiple time because I kept dying to said boss made the latter a less bitter pill to swallow.

Quite a striking visual, don't you think?

What also reminded me of Disney Pixar is that this game sure tries its best to make you cry! The premise that the game is built upon is that of helping souls with unfished business move on to the afterlife. To help them come to grip with whatever tragedy in their life is keeping them bound to the mortal plain. The few characters you help move on have very relatable plights, each and every one filling you with tragedy and heartbreak but also a strong sense of satisfaction once they’ve found that peace they’ve been yearning for after so long.

It’s good than that, other than tragic, this game can be a very calming and serene experience. You can just walk around its well realized forest or mining areas while this sense of calm washes over you thanks to its scenery and soundtrack, finding more Rot, amulets and other things to upgrade your abilities and mediation spots to increase your health along the way. It's one of the reasons why I kept playing even though I felt a bit disappointed by it at first. It made it easy to calm down and relax after a hectic day. 

I will say that I wished there was more focus on Kena herself. Aside from some brief bits in the opening, and a more extended sequence about 70% the way in, Kena is very much a passenger. A way for the player to experience those heart wrenching tales of Taro and the others. There's some dialogue about her dead father and the camera zooms in on the weird veins on her right hand a couple of times, but no word gets over spoken about it. It's all kept very vague which makes that entire situation a bit confusing, just as the story as a whole can be early on when you haven't quite figured things out yet. That is one of the things the sequel needs to do. Dive into Kena herself. Make me care for her. 

Now that I'm on this last quarter of the adventure, that is where the game finally hit its stride for me. A combination of that Kena focused sequence be and the last ability of the game gave it that shot in the arm it needed for me.

The gameplay loop of Bridge of Spirits is simplistic but not in a bad way, far from it. It's mostly a combat and exploration focused game with some RPG elements thrown into the mix, such as upgradable abilities and skill modifyers. It actually reminds me, somewhat, of Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc in its general gameplay style and vibe when you're in the heat of combat. It has that same, excuse me for the buzzword, old fashion feeling to it just with a modern look and conveniences.

Kena has the tried-and-true combo of a light attack, heavy attack and a parry which you string together with some other abilities such as bows and bombs to fight your way through corrupted monsters. These monsters aren't too hard to takedown and the combat system itself isn't all that invigorating, but it's all fun enough when you’re doing it. You might fight the same 3-4 types of monsters a lot but with their varying attack patterns and the whole concept of shooting of these crystals to do extra damage and power up Kena at the same time is neat. Gather enough and those little Rot creatures that follow you can use special abilities to either do some heavy damage or restrict their movement, which is what you want to do. 

What is a problem in my eyes is the overly punishing counter system as well as some other, general, clunkiness. To start with the latter, I can't count the number of times that I didn't shoot an arrow or didn't throw a bomb because I let go of the trigger a millisecond to early. Unlike any other game I’ve played, if the charge for the heavy attack isn’t yet complete when you let go, Kena won’t just default to a normal attack. She just does nothing. Pretty dumb decision if you ask me.

Back to the former: I've never been good at parrying because of how poor my timing is but, for some reason, Kena is giving me an extra hard time. The window is very tiny and on top of that, I feel that there is an input delay that only worsens the problem. Going online tells me that, for once, I’m not the only one having problems in this department. In short: parrying is not worth it here. Best use the dash once you get it late in the game. Much easier to pull off and thus more reliable.

What I've seen online is that the Rot are a big draw for people. They find them cute and an interesting gameplay mechanic. Aside from the special abilities they unlock, I did not find them all that useful. You can, at times, control them simultaneously ala Cheshire and Cereza in Bayonetta: Origins but I found the controls too finnicky and limited. 

For me though, the spirit masks were far more interesting. The masks are not as involved in the actual gameplay as the Rot, not even close, but I simply liked the concept here. While wearing them you go into a 1st person perspective and can see things you otherwise cannot, helping you with finding collectables and give hints for puzzles.

Perhaps the reason I like the masks so much is that they remind me of good-old Bionicle.

For a long while I did enjoy playing Bridge of Spirits, but in part due to the issues I just talked about, I couldn’t say that I understood why it won Game of the Year back in the day. It is a good game, clearly, but something exceptional? I just didn’t see. Once I got to that 73% mark though, things finally came together for me. I still wouldn’t give it that price myself but I now at least understand why it won.

The introduction of that dash gave me a great alternative to the counter and the game upped the ante when it came to the normal encounters, making them a bit more challenging and thus a bit more fun. The area you travel through this last leg of the journey is also the best in the game. It has this very eerie atmosphere and mixes combat with all the platforming tricks you've learned so far to make for a very effective, 3-pronged 'level'. 

And then we have the boss fights! One of my very first notes about this game was that I liked that first, opening boss you encounter. That was just the first of a slew of positive notes on the them. They have such neat gameplay/battle concepts, from a boss that digs its way all across the arena to an archer that can fly around and slam into you. The final boss is also great, cycling through multiple faces that don't just test your combat skills but also, you’re platforming once. 

They could be hard, I feel that the boss with giant hammer is made way too difficult for the moment in the game she pops up, but that's about all when it comes to the bad for me. Even if it could take me a while to beat them, unlike another game I recently reviewed, I feel that the frustration that came with this challenge was worth it in the end.

Small tip though: remember that lock on feature the game tells you about at the very beginning. The bosses here love to move all over the place, causing me to lose sight of them and take hits form out-of-screen attacks. Had I remembered the lock on function earlier than the lost hour of the game, it would've a great help.

Conclusion

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a good game. It's a game that is a bit of a blast of the past in a modern package. It's action-platforming that reminds me of the PS2 days in its simplicity but challenging nature but with modern graphics and storytelling. It is a beautifully vibrant and well animated experience with a minimalistic but emotional tale. This is a very fun and well-made game but that has some clear room of improvement. The combat leaves quite a bit of thanks to unbalanced and unpolished combat and a narrative that can be more obtuse than mysterious. I now understand why it won Indie Game of the Year back in the day, even it’s not a call I would’ve made. Still, it's a game worth checking out if you the trailers or this review piqued your interest. 

Now that I’ve played Bridge of Spirits, my eye is even more on is upcoming sequel, Kena: Scars of Kosmora. If Ember Labs addresses these issues, smooth out those combat kinks, focuses more on Kena herself and just be bolder in general, I think we’ll have a great game on our hands.