Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Review

You'd expect Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, a tale that deals with themes of loss and grief, to be a fairly joyless experience, but it's quite the opposite. Developer Surgent Studios' platforming adventure is more a celebration of life, as young Zuberi discovers the past exploits of his departed father, Zau, the game's eponymous protagonist. In turn, Zau is on a quest to rescue the spirit of his own father (his 'Baba'), and bring him back from the dead, with Kalunga, the god of death, as your guide. All of this provides the backdrop for a cracking 2.5D platformer – a fluid and engaging journey, sprinkled with some neat metroidvania elements.

Zau is a warrior shaman, armed from the outset with Sun and Moon masks that grant some rather formidable powers. The Moon mask fires a volley of projectiles, while the Sun mask unleashes flaming melee attacks – the idea is to perform a 'shaman dance,' switching between the two at the touch of a button, combining long and close range strikes to vanquish your enemies. The game's rhythmic combat can be intense, but the platforming is never anything less than a joy, channeling the likes of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown or the Ori games. It always feels fair, too, mistakes seldom punished with more than a short hop back to a nearby checkpoint.

Tales of Kenzera is challenging, though not to the point that you're driving yourself up the wall trying to beat a section again and again, save for a few exceptions – some tough combat segments and sequences where failure sees you sent back to the very beginning to try again. The latter rely a lot on trial and error, which can be enormously frustrating, but, then again, it feels immensely rewarding to make it through a gauntlet and reach the other side unscathed. It's testament, too, to how intuitive everything is that you're never adrift when it comes to reaching for the right buttons to push – even as more and more abilities are added to your arsenal, Tales of Kenzera remains streamlined and simple. It just feels right.

As you progress, you'll build up 'Ulogi,' which goes towards earning skill points, which, in turn, can be spent on upgrading your existing skills or acquiring new ones. Many of these grant more options in combat, like being able to bat away projectiles with good timing, or increase the damage and radius of your devastating Supernova or Lunar Blast specials – great to bust out when you're overwhelmed by rampaging foes, provided you have the requisite 'spirit' built up to do so. Trinkets can also be earned by beating difficult trials, providing helpful combat buffs once you've slotted them in at a workbench. Battling enemies is telegraphed by the camera zooming out, before your routes of escape are closed off, then you have to clear the screen before you're allowed to move on – you're always well aware when a fight is about to go down.

Thankfully, the game's combat is strong, albeit not as strong as the buttery-smooth traversal mechanics. Enjoying Zau's sprightly running and leaping across the seamless, interconnected world of Kenzera is enormous fun, taking in the vibrant vistas of the lush Ikakaramban Highlands, the magical Kivulian Woodlands, and searing deserts of the Itshokan Deadlands. You can double jump, spring from walls, dash through the air (and through projectiles and enemies alike), throw flaming spears, freeze the various hostile creatures on your journey, and solve traversal puzzles using those same abilities (freezing jets of water to create surfaces to wall jump from, for instance). It's a smartly designed, impeccably put together metroidvania experience.

And then you'll hit Act 3, at which point the game starts to pour it on, confining you to enclosed spaces overrun with enemies, and, quickly, that zoomed out camera becomes a pain, as you can occasionally lose Zau amid the chaos. The spike in difficulty at this point can seem a little jarring, but it makes the struggle through the game's closing two acts (there are four in total) all the more rewarding once you've overcome their myriad obstacles. But to say it gets a little tricky late in the game is a gross understatement.

Despite a gentle first half and relatively punishing second half, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU gives Prince of Persia and similar 2.5D metroidvania stablemates a damn good run for their money, delivering wonderfully fluid and intuitive traversal, challenging combat, and an ample environment to dig through for secrets and hidden areas. Surgent Studios has crafted a vibrant and hugely enjoyable 2.5D platformer, with a touching, heartfelt story that will stay with you.