Kena:
Bridge of Spirits
Review

Kena: Bridge of Spirits (2021) is an adventure about a young girl who travels to an abandoned village in the hope of finding a sacred mountain shrine. To get there she must find and grow a team of charming spirit companions called the Rot, enhancing their abilities and creating new ways to manipulate the environment.

Like Knack it combines fast-paced action with Pixar-animated storytelling. You use your staff to hit the nightmarish enemies or as a bow to shoot at them. As well as developing your skills you also collect an army of small companions. The Rot are timid and elusive spirits scattered throughout the forest. They maintain balance by decomposing dead and rotting elements. Like Pikmin these small characters offer a puzzle aspect to the game as they unlock doors and move blockages.

"Driven by the belief that you can help these troubled spirits," says the narrator, "but you have no power here." What results is a story about restoration and resilience in the face of elders telling the young girl she can’t do it. Older players may find the linear exploration and hand-holding too much, but for new or younger players helping Kena find both the courage and ability to survive is an endearing experience with little friction. It's an adventure that wants you to progress and makes it clear that to do that will take considerable help from the characters you meet along the way.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Kena: Bridge of Spirits 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Rich Adams and updated 2 weeks ago.