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Kena Bridge of Spirits Review Thread

tommib

Member
I heard people saying that the game is kicking their asses more than sekiro and returnal on normal, mostly the boss fights and some mid bosses.

Great news if you ask me, i was ready for yet another cakewalk like ratchet.

Sure i would prefer to have a constant challenge with normal enemies too instead of boss spikes, but better than nothing i guess.
Hm, interesting. Boss spikes make me hard.
 

GymWolf

Member
World 3 Boss disagrees.

Both the enemies AND the boss were a fucking pain in the rectum.

Took me a good few hours to beat him.
Yeah i don't know, i'm pretty shitty with bullet hell games and i fucked 3 of the 5 bosses at first try, and one at second try.

And if you go in the topic for the game here or era, you can see how a lot of people had major problems during the levels but almost nothing against bosses, they shoot a lot of bullets but the damage they deal is pretty low and you can get hit a lot.


I have tbh, for me returnal wasn't harder than something like horizon on ultra hard, i literally died more times against one single boss fight in the dlc than in 30+ hours in returnal, selene is too fast and nimble and not many enemies can keep up with her speed ( and kinda automatic lock on), you just need to worry about avoiding shit since precision shooting is not requested in this game whatsoever, you just move the reticle close to an enemy and it's hard to miss with fast weapons.
 
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Ogbert

Member
About six / seven hours in now. Very enjoyable. The charm feels a little like Ori - a beautiful world and accompanying soundtrack.

I've got a *lot* of time for shorter titles like this, that are appropriately priced.

Kena 2 should be fantastic. The combat needs an overhaul. Functional but very basic. The basic animations are also off, so there's a feeling of floatiness, especially with the light attack. Ranged feels great though.

On the difficulty, just make sure you're using your rot to stun bosses and keep your distance. Just get out of the way of attacks; if you try and face roll, the mobs hit quite hard.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I like the parry in this game, it feels good to pull off. I'm glad I'm playing it on expert spirited difficulty from get go.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Imagine that life where you don't have either a decent PC or a PS4/5 and you just end up being bitter like that.

Could never be me.
I own PS4/5 I’m very happy with them but I can’t imgine not owing Switch, most of my favourite games came out for that system.
 

tommib

Member
Switch trolling is no good guys. At some point, Switch had the faster loading times and snappier UI while the PlayStations and Xboxes were all burping with their RPM hard disks. Also, Metroid Dread is coming. Please stop fighting!
 

Bartski

Gold Member
Was about to wait but I got it yesterday and tbh I'm a bit of a shock.

Was expecting a relaxing indie action platformer lite with rudimentary combat and way too many cut scenes - got a beautiful, charming epic adventure that nails the balance between puzzles exploration and screams quality, despite being a bit rough around the edges.

I immediately started on "expert spirit guide" thinking otherwise it would be too easy, shockingly enough - this way combat not only is no joke but could be this game's strongest point.
I did switch to the lower difficulty for one fight just to see how it works. DON'T DO IT - I think people complaining about the combat are all playing on "spirit guide"...
You need that enemy aggression to really see how nicely all the ranged and melee abilities come together. You also don't have constant access to OP rot powers and you have to parry.
Controls almost identical to Sekiro a big plus, not trying to make this comparison but if you think you can beat the first major boss without the use of parry - good luck. Took me around 15-20 tries.

A replay on the hardest difficulty that unlocks after-credits at this point sounds very tempting.

It is a shame that the general impression of what I could call a perfect AA game is dragged down by bugs.

I've seen zero of those little things, bugs hampering the presentation and immersion-breaking we'd all expect from experience, the moment-to-moment gameplay actually feels really polished and issue-free.

Almost all technical problems still present in the release build are something that requires a reload of, thankfully, a very generous autosave.

One instance of falling through scenery getting stuck in a black chasm, a cutscene freezing, some prompts not working and then working after reload, one crash to OS...

The single worst one I've had was a boss fight glitching out at the end consistently 3 times in a row, hanging on the slow-mo animation after the final blow, and failing to launch the cutscene. All I could do is reload the save - putting me right before the fight. Restarting the console and beating the boss for the 4th time somehow worked...

I hope all this is ironed out in future patches as Kena is otherwise another great surprise this year, with clear vision and direction nobody would guess are this studio's first.

Still playing it, entering the final area now but at this point - 8.5/10.
 
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engstra

Member
Was able to play for an hour and a bit last night. I'm digging the world and combat is surprisingly challenging. I can just never get the timing of parries in games right.
My only gripe so far is Kena herself, I would've liked a bit of dialogue when exploring the map. Maybe modern games have made me expect constant dialogue and comments/reactions to what's happening around the character but it just feels a bit quiet.
 

Ogbert

Member
I can just never get the timing of parries in games right.

Agree.

The parry window is generous, but the mobs aren't really aggressive enough, so you end up having to wait for someone to attack. The rhythm isn't there.

This is obviously a first run for the studio. There's so much to build on. The next entry could be fantastic.
 

GHG

Gold Member
I own PS4/5 I’m very happy with them but I can’t imgine not owing Switch, most of my favourite games came out for that system.

My point is only owning one system and then going into threads involving games not coming to that platform to express your bitterness isn't a good position to be in.

I have nothing against people who only have a single platform but know to stay in their lane.
 

MagnesG

Banned
Ahhhh so you're one of those, explains a lot.
Now I feel bad lol.

It's not even that serious. I do get pissed when a game can't even nail the first thing that happens when you move that joystick. It's like the clunky FFXV, RDR2 movements all over again - spending the absolute developments on graphics and set pieces while sidestepping the most critical stuffs.

Does that counts as whining? :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Now I feel bad lol.

It's not even that serious. I do get pissed when a game can't even nail the first thing that happens when you move that joystick. It's like the clunky FFXV, RDR2 movements all over again - spending the absolute developments on graphics and set pieces while sidestepping the most critical stuffs.

Does that counts as whining? :messenger_tears_of_joy:
No need to feel bad my friend! I just figured you were a classic console warrior given the terms used!

That isn't whining, that's an opinion and one I agree with in ways, with my own bug bare for RDR2's movement I know exactly what you mean. I haven't discovered that same feeling with Kena as of yet however.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Only 5 minutes in, just giving impressions
-Graphics amazing
-60 fps amazing
-cutscenes appear to be in 30fps? yuck

I hope these devs get bought up and get a chance to make a big sequel. I dont know where the game is going to go as i said only literally 5-10 minutes in. Id love to see ability to upgrade gear/loot type mechanics. Sony could buy this studio and have their own fable franchise on their hands.
Odd. RTSS is reporting ~700fps for me. :p
 
This was everything I wanted Horizon Zero Dawn to be, and more.
Hzd as a more linear games would be great, these open world tropes are killing gaming.... It's just rince and repeat for 60 hours at a time.

Like, I wanted to get into HZD and the zombie game... I had fun until the games "opened" then I saw the stupid map with the towers and enemy bases and it felt like a list of chores. So I ended up not going too far in because I did not like being forced into this to advance, despite the combat being great in both of these games.
 
Just stating the obvious. 2 Pokemon games in the nearest future would get the same shit. SMT V too, absolutely.

Bunch of graphics whores doing God's work.

It's in your head mate

The open world pokemon game will probably be a cesspool, but that's because even people in your own lane know how shit it looks

Otherwise no. Your SMT V review thread will be fine, just as your NMH3 review thread was fine.
 
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Stuart360

Member
Hzd as a more linear games would be great, these open world tropes are killing gaming.... It's just rince and repeat for 60 hours at a time.

Like, I wanted to get into HZD and the zombie game... I had fun until the games "opened" then I saw the stupid map with the towers and enemy bases and it felt like a list of chores. So I ended up not going too far in because I did not like being forced into this to advance, despite the combat being great in both of these games.
The thing with most open world games, the vast majority of them actually, you dont HAVE to do the side content. You dont HAVE to clear the map. You can almost always just stick to the main questline.
I'm someone who does usually clear the maps in open world games, as sometimes some of the side quests can be just as interesting as the main content. Point being you dont have to do everything though.
Surely its better that the side content is there than not though.
 

leo-j

Member
I saw some comparison videos and it seems the game is built ground up for ps4. The differences really are just resolution and sometimes frame rate. It looks graphically the same on PS4 as it does on ps5.
 

kyliethicc

Member
Good hack. Devs really should have given pc/PS5 60 cutscenes
They may yet. I wouldn't be surprised to see a patch. Have they confirmed if it is a bug or a choice?
They're a small team who was making a PS4 game. They come from film/animation background, so 30 FPS is to be expected.

Plus the cutscenes are pre-rendered right?

Ember Lab said they only made a PS5 version because Sony encouraged them to. Doubt they focused on 60 Hz too much.

Maybe they'll update it, idk.
 

GHG

Gold Member
They may yet. I wouldn't be surprised to see a patch. Have they confirmed if it is a bug or a choice?

Doesn't seem like a "bug", it looks like the modder has taken the original cinematic videos and then re-encoded them to be 60fps vs the original 30.

Anyway had a bit of time to try it out on PC and it's gorgeous as expected. Was a bit worried there was no ultrawide support because the menus and cinematics don't support it but all good once in-game:

gjFZra.png



gjFg4e.png



gjFrPk.png



gjF1ix.png



gjFRdH.png



Looking forward to playing it with the OLED on the PS5.
 
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tommib

Member
Want to support good work, but I still have R&C in the backlog and Deathloop barely installed. I just cannot give it any more captn!
Join me in not buying new games until Elden Ring comes out (opening exceptions for Kena, Metroid Dread, Diablo 2, Alan Wake, Death Stranding PS5 Upgrade, No More Heroes 3, GT7 Pre-order, Terminator Resistance Enhanced on sale, Eastward, Castlevania Advance Connection…). “Free” games on Gamepass and Apple Arcade also don’t count. We can do this.
 
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engstra

Member
The thing with most open world games, the vast majority of them actually, you dont HAVE to do the side content. You dont HAVE to clear the map. You can almost always just stick to the main questline.
I'm someone who does usually clear the maps in open world games, as sometimes some of the side quests can be just as interesting as the main content. Point being you dont have to do everything though.
Surely its better that the side content is there than not though.
While I realize games are designed in that way nowadays, that completely goes against how I play games. Doesn't matter how much I'm enjoying a game, I will always go to an unexplored map point or do a side quest before progressing with the main story. Modern open world games are daunting for that reason.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Well, this certainly does run well on a 3090/5900x. Not 120 all the time but close enough. I only turned off motion blur.

I can lock it at 60 and be done with it but it runs very well.
 
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