Review: Tales of Kenzera: Zau offers adequate gameplay in an enchanting setting

By: Kyra Delamarre

In this metroidvania you travel to the mythical, Bantu-inspired Kenzera. After the death of his father, the main character Zau, a young shaman – or a spiritual healer – pleads to bring his father back. To achieve this he must cross Kenzera and battle three spirits. According to legend, whoever defeats these spirits may ask a favor from the Kalunga, the god of death. Of course, this does not happen without a hitch and he encounters various enemies and obstacles along his path. Armed with masks of the sun and moon, which give him various cosmic powers, and his unparalleled willpower, he begins his adventure.

Creative director Abu Salim – who we know as the voice of Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins and who voices Zau in this game – based the game on his own experiences with loss. He focused on a thought he has often had: how far would he go for one more moment with his father?

Complex personality

Where most metroidvanias mainly use the plot as an excuse for a strong focus on gameplay, Surgent Studios places the emphasis in Tales of Kenzera mainly on the story. That is also the strongest aspect of the game.

Zau is much more than a blank canvas intended solely to allow the player to move through the game. He is a well-developed character with a complex personality that is clearly expressed through his actions and dialogue. He has a certain wisdom, which suits his role as a shaman, but he is also stubborn and impulsive. The anger he harbors towards Kalunga for the loss of his father is palpable. While playing, Zau and Kalunga are in constant conversation, giving you the feeling that the narrative is progressing all the time, even when you’re running and jumping through the world alone. Zau’s journey is deeply moving and the quality, depth and nuance of the story is undoubtedly due to Surgent Studios’ filmmaking background.

Moving work of art

Kenzera is a beautiful, intriguing setting and feels like it not only exists within the context of this game, but is much bigger and richer than this adventure shows. The game uses a style that leans towards 2.5D, which gives a certain depth to all the beautiful, colorful landscapes. The attention to detail, from the backgrounds to the character design and the slick animations, makes the game a joy to watch.

In addition, the music of Tales of Kenzera should not go unmentioned. Composer Nainita Desai not only combines a Western orchestra full of string instruments and brass with traditional African instruments, but also bases large parts of the orchestral composition on African rhythms and melodies. At certain times it sounds bombastic and grand and at other times it sounds enchanting and intimate. The soundtrack therefore exceeds all expectations.

Off balance

While the story and artstyle are absolutely fantastic, the gameplay feels quite unbalanced in places. The combat is the best and most fun aspect of the gameplay. Zau has two masks – a sun mask and a moon mask – that give him unique moves. The moon mask focuses on long-range attacks and crowd control, while the sun mask is for powerful melee attacks. Both masks have a powerful ‘spirit attack’ that consumes saved energy.

They can also be upgraded separately in a skill tree. You can upgrade this by spending XP in the form of ‘Ulogi’ on so-called ‘Shaman Points’ that can be used to expand Zau’s powers. Although it pays to randomly whack around in the beginning of the game, the combat quickly becomes more challenging and it pays to approach battles strategically. It is possible to change masks at any time and by using both wisely and using the environment, the fights become more and more fun.

Naturally, you will encounter a number of different types of environmental puzzles while playing. Sometimes it is necessary to look for keys, move stone blocks and pull levers and then again you have to use the different masks. For example, the moon mask gives you the option to freeze flowing water and the sun mask makes it possible to throw fire spears that activate certain mechanisms. The puzzles are certainly not brainteasers. In most cases there is a clear way to solve them, which requires little thinking. My first instinct was almost always correct and when something didn’t work out at first, it was usually because I wasn’t fast enough and not because I overlooked the actual solution.

The speed and precision of the controls is the biggest challenge in Tales of Kenzera. Zau’s dynamic, smooth animations and the ability to double jump, dash and wall jump from the start of the game make moving through the game world a pleasure. However, later in the game there are also moments where this is a lot more difficult, sometimes even frustrating. The timing is bizarrely precise and results in a death scene if you press a button a microsecond too early or too late. And this also in sequences that are often very unpredictable and last just too long.

Don’t get me wrong, I like a challenge and I don’t mind if I have to try something a few times before I make progress. But when the slightest deviation in direction or timing throws me back to the beginning of a segment again and again, I eventually feel the urge to throw the controller out the window. Especially because when I finally succeed, I don’t experience satisfaction, but rather the idea that I was lucky this time.

Added value

You’ll reach the end screen within ten to twenty hours – depending on how quickly you progress through the trickier levels and how many optional side paths you want to explore. The game does not offer you any extremely special gameplay segments at that time, but it is very entertaining at most times. The story and the graphic style take it to a higher level. Even in moments of frustration, I wanted to see more of Kenzera and see where Zau’s adventure would take him. There are more than enough better games within the metroid vania genre, but Tales of Kenzera: Zau is still a welcome addition and an excellent gaming debut from Surgent Studios.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch and PC. For this review, the game was played on PC with an Xbox controller.