Kena: Bridge of Spirits


Whether Kena ends up being amazing or terrible, I like this guys point and wholeheartedly agree. If I wanted to waste precious time playing boring retro style games that usually have nothing to offer I'd buy a deck of cards or a board game. The present and future of video games is all synchronized with whether or not the story of a game is immersive, which explains why the last gen PS4/XB1 and current gen PS5/XBX consoles have had more success in attracting more people to this type of media. Most games PS3/360 era and older were just forms of mindless entertainment and had nothing important to say with very few exceptions like Shenmue, it's amazing to finally live in a time where games can be tools to teach, tools to tell compelling stories and tools to provide a healthy escape that forces us to question the world around us in real life rather than an unhealthy outlet. This can give people some food for their soul or thoughts for their brain all the while still enjoying the entertainment aspects. I'm greatly hoping that Kena delivers as I suspect it will, and the people complaining that it has too many cutscenes like a movie and not enough gameplay should perhaps consider buying a Super Nintendo or PS2 or any other archaic console if they want to experience a niche market from basement dwellers of the 80s, 90s and 00s plugging into mindless entertainment rather than something that can offer an amazing soul touching or thought provoking experience. Kena clearly has that potential from what's been shown of it so far. Life is too short for anything that doesn't touch the soul or challenge the mind while being able to enjoy it as well, everything else is escapism.

Just one more day until this releases. It's literally the only reason I've kept one of these PS5's since the beginning of the year! I'm predicting a score somewhere in the 9 to 10 range, but I'd be happy with anything over 8.
 
otbr87 said:

Whether Kena ends up being amazing or terrible, I like this guys point and wholeheartedly agree. If I wanted to waste precious time playing boring retro style games that usually have nothing to offer I'd buy a deck of cards or a board game. The present and future of video games is all synchronized with whether or not the story of a game is immersive, which explains why the last gen PS4/XB1 and current gen PS5/XBX consoles have had more success in attracting more people to this type of media. Most games PS3/360 era and older were just forms of mindless entertainment and had nothing important to say with very few exceptions like Shenmue, it's amazing to finally live in a time where games can be tools to teach, tools to tell compelling stories and tools to provide a healthy escape that forces us to question the world around us in real life rather than an unhealthy outlet. This can give people some food for their soul or thoughts for their brain all the while still enjoying the entertainment aspects. I'm greatly hoping that Kena delivers as I suspect it will, and the people complaining that it has too many cutscenes like a movie and not enough gameplay should perhaps consider buying a Super Nintendo or PS2 or any other archaic console if they want to experience a niche market from basement dwellers of the 80s, 90s and 00s plugging into mindless entertainment rather than something that can offer an amazing soul touching or thought provoking experience. Kena clearly has that potential from what's been shown of it so far. Life is too short for anything that doesn't touch the soul or challenge the mind while being able to enjoy it as well, everything else is escapism.

Just one more day until this releases. It's literally the only reason I've kept one of these PS5's since the beginning of the year! I'm predicting a score somewhere in the 9 to 10 range, but I'd be happy with anything over 8.
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I'm really looking forward to Kena. I've got it downloaded ready.

This dude talks a tonne of sense. There should be no limits on games. Let people create and see what happens. That's pretty much how we grew up with games. New ideas, pushing the envelope.
 
This is the game I've been looking forward to the most this year! Already downloaded on my PS5 and waiting for launch! Can't wait!
 
True gamers should stop to listen to so called content creators. They do not care about games. They are not passionate about games. They just want to have their clicks and spread negativtity. that stuff is just sick. Gaming should be about fun about entertainment.Not about negativity. I really abandoned gaming internet for a long time besides the dojo and for news gamefront.de and I could not be more happy. So missed the artificial negativity about Kena as mentioned in that video. It is really weird. Too many people like to make a problem out of everything.

on Topic I won't buy and play Kena day one but I will play it in November or December for sure.

I really like the art style of the game. It just looks fun.
 
otbr87 said:

Whether Kena ends up being amazing or terrible, I like this guy's point and wholeheartedly agree. If I wanted to waste precious time playing boring retro-style games that usually have nothing to offer I'd buy a deck of cards or a board game. The present and future of video games are all synchronized with whether or not the story of a game is immersive, which explains why the last-gen PS4/XB1 and current-gen PS5/XBX consoles have had more success in attracting more people to this type of media. Most games PS3/360 era and older were just forms of mindless entertainment and had nothing important to say with very few exceptions like Shenmue, it's amazing to finally live in a time where games can be tools to teach, tools to tell compelling stories, and tools to provide a healthy escape that forces us to question the world around us in real life rather than an unhealthy outlet. This can give people some food for their soul or thoughts for their brain all the while still enjoying the entertainment aspects. I'm greatly hoping that Kena delivers as I suspect it will, and the people complaining that it has too many cutscenes like a movie and not enough gameplay should perhaps consider buying a Super Nintendo or PS2 or any other archaic console if they want to experience a niche market from basement dwellers of the 80s, 90s, and 00s plugging into mindless entertainment rather than something that can offer an amazing soul touching or thought-provoking experience. Kena has that potential from what's been shown of it so far. Life is too short for anything that doesn't touch the soul or challenge the mind while being able to enjoy it as well, everything else is escapism.

Just one more day until this releases. It's the only reason I've kept one of these PS5's since the beginning of the year! I'm predicting a score somewhere in the 9 to 10 range, but I'd be happy with anything over 8.
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I mean no disrespect when I say this, but if I did not know you or about Kena this post would not convince me. If anything, it would turn me off because it comes across as being completely arrogant, condescending, and pretentious. Or the fact that your post makes it sound as if 'mindless' entertainment is a bad thing. Not everything has to be some nirvana-inducing spiritually enriching experience. Besides, if everything was that way it would dull the senses like someone who only eats high-class food all their lives.

The best way to convince people to your position is to rationally speak to them as your equal. Or allow the work to speak for itself.
 
in.ign.com

Kena: Bridge of Spirits PS5 Features Revealed and Yes, It Includes a Photo Mode

Kena: Bridge of Spirits developer Ember Lab has announced that the game will indeed include a photo mode along with new PS5 features ahead of its digital release.
in.ign.com in.ign.com

"
Photo mode, which is available on all versions of the game, will let players pause the action to take pictures of Kena and the Rot, with similar functions as found in Ghost of Tsushima's photo mode.

“We’re very excited to share the “Cheese!” function in Photo Mode,” said Hunter Schmidt, Ember Lab’s Animation Director. “When players have set up their perfect photo angle, they’ll have the option to have the characters in the photo say “CHEESE!” and strike a pose. Many characters have multiple poses, so you can snap a great variety of fun shots in the same location. I’m very excited to see what kinds of photos players will capture!”"
 
9dragons said:
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I'm experiencing a new feeling while watching this trailer after all the other trailers and soaking in the anticipation for this title. This is the first game before its release since the release of Shenmue 1 that I feel could **possibly** surpass the Shenmue franchise as my favorite game of all time. Whether that will happen (I doubt it) or if that is likely to happen (it's possible), just the simple fact that no other game in over 20 years, not even Ghost of Tsushima has felt even close to being possible at surpassing Shenmue before even playing it. What a bizarre yet exciting emotion to experience. Kena's release is bittersweet. I've waited so long to experience this title that once I do, there's literally no other games I'm looking forward to at this level of depth, and only a small handful of titles that are closer to the entertainment side of things that aren't coming along until 2022. In the last 20 years, I can count on less than one hand the amount of times I've felt this level of excitement and anticipation for a video game experience, once in 2019, once in 2020 and twice in 2021. I am savoring this moment in gratitude. I hope this title delivers as anticipated!
 
I first saw Kena: Bridge of Spirits when Sony announced PS5 with a lot of games and this game was one of my favorite announcements at that time, i really enjoy that trailer of the game, i saw now the new trailer and is beautiful, i love the different art direction and the graphics of this game, music and much more, the gameplay and the story looks really interesting, is one of the games i'm looking forward to play.


spud1897 said:
There should be no limits on games. Let people create and see what happens. That's pretty much how we grew up with games. New ideas, pushing the envelope.
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I agree, like i said in another thread diversity is really important in my opinion, different gameplay styles, art and graphics, stories, ideas and much more are good for the game industry.

For example, let's imagine i want to make a game with the gameplay style similar to Shenmue, or a game with the gameplay style of the old Resident Evil games, it is wrong that i want to do in this style? in my opinion of course not, is just a different style. Same thing if i want to try something more unique, with new ideas, is just a different style, there should be no limits on games.
 
9dragons said:
True gamers should stop to listen to so called content creators. They do not care about games. They are not passionate about games. They just want to have their clicks and spread negativtity. that stuff is just sick. Gaming should be about fun about entertainment.Not about negativity. I really abandoned gaming internet for a long time besides the dojo and for news gamefront.de and I could not be more happy. So missed the artificial negativity about Kena as mentioned in that video. It is really weird. Too many people like to make a problem out of everything.

on Topic I won't buy and play Kena day one but I will play it in November or December for sure.

I really like the art style of the game. It just looks fun.
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I used to follow Yong Yea ages ago. Back when he was small and just talking about Metal Gear. He then started farming for clicks so the channel turned into hyperbole reactions to every little thing in the gaming industry. Following that, turns out he made an apology video because he hyped the shit out of Cyberpunk and decided to leave out all the bugs and other issues.

Bak to Kena, it's getting 8s and 9s which I am so happy about. Great to have a game that just looks different. And at a good price point too.
 

I'm about 3 hours into Kena and so far, I agree completely with this woman's first impressions assessment. With all of the cinematic trailers and delivering on their film background during the marketing it's sad to see that the unique ability they have with the PS5/PS4 technology and their film making talent is not going into story development. Cinematics have so far taken a massive backseat to the gameplay elements, which the gameplay itself is fine though nothing special so far. This isn't 2001 yet so far it's sort've like playing Starfox Adventures on GameCube, only with better graphics. It's feeling a bit like a massive missed opportunity to do something more than what 90% of video games have been doing for the last 30 years. At least upon very first impression something isn't clicking for me, and I'm seeing quite a few others sharing that same feeling. I hope it turns around drastically going forward and gives the player some context and understanding of what's going on and why we should be invested in Kena and her journey.
 
otbr87 said:

I'm about 3 hours into Kena and so far, I agree completely with this woman's first impressions assessment. With all of the cinematic trailers and delivering on their film background during the marketing it's sad to see that the unique ability they have with the PS5/PS4 technology and their film making talent is not going into story development. Cinematics have so far taken a massive backseat to the gameplay elements, which the gameplay itself is fine though nothing special so far. This isn't 2001 yet so far it's sort've like playing Starfox Adventures on GameCube, only with better graphics. It's feeling a bit like a massive missed opportunity to do something more than what 90% of video games have been doing for the last 30 years. At least upon very first impression something isn't clicking for me, and I'm seeing quite a few others sharing that same feeling. I hope it turns around drastically going forward and gives the player some context and understanding of what's going on and why we should be invested in Kena and her journey.
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I'm probably slightly further on that you. I'm liking the game but the story hasn't got going yet. I was more invested in the people you're trying to help than Kena but that might change as it's early doors.

Gameplay wise it's fine, solid. I've got the hang of them and there's a fairly decent level of challenge to the bosses I've come across.

Hope the story picks up more with Kena. I want to know why she's a spirit guide, what happened and why is going where's she's going to?
 
spud1897 said:
I'm probably slightly further on that you. I'm liking the game but the story hasn't got going yet. I was more invested in the people you're trying to help than Kena but that might change as it's early doors.

Gameplay wise it's fine, solid. I've got the hang of them and there's a fairly decent level of challenge to the bosses I've come across.

Hope the story picks up more with Kena. I want to know why she's a spirit guide, what happened and why is going where's she's going to?
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Yeah, I agree with you on the gameplay. Its fine, nothing broken or unplayable but nothing stands out other than the aesthetics and graphics so far. I remember 20 years ago thinking that Starfox Adventures was just fine too. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, instantly forgettable after completion like so many games were during that era. I found that game to be in the 6 or 7 category. So far, Kena is a bit flat and I'm hoping that will change. I was expecting an easy 9 or more realistically a 9.5-10 range, and while there's still hope, its already being pointed out by many who have completed it that it never really picks up and feels a bit hollow. To a much lesser degree it sort of reminds me of Horizon Zero Dawn..with Horizon I was expecting an 8/10 and got a 6/10. Nothing broken or awful, but forgettable and wasted potential to be something more. There's so much creativity here and the studio has talent, lets hope it shifts into a great game that can get people invested in it's character and the plot.
 
Nathanial Essex said:
I used to follow Yong Yea ages ago. Back when he was small and just talking about Metal Gear. He then started farming for clicks so the channel turned into hyperbole reactions to every little thing in the gaming industry. Following that, turns out he made an apology video because he hyped the shit out of Cyberpunk and decided to leave out all the bugs and other issues.

Bak to Kena, it's getting 8s and 9s which I am so happy about. Great to have a game that just looks different. And at a good price point too.
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Yes I found these creators amusing for quite some time until I realised it is a waste of time to watch them. It is just the adult version of school yard talk about games. We all did it and there is nothing wrong with that. But unlike your average youtuber we did not try to speak with autority. We did sold our very subjective opinion a fact and tried to convice the world that we are the only one who knows stuff. Would not have worked anyway. No adult would ever listen to the opinion of a 10 to 12 year old kid.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

But these youtubers are often just kids in the body of the adult. They have their subjective opinion (nothing wrong with that) but they act like they are speaking true facts about gaming. They act like they are the only one that knows stuff.

I find it hilarious when a nerd thinks he has the "right" to call out company yxz for their business decisions. Although this arm chair experts know nothing about business.


Like Harry Callahan in Magnum Force said "A good man always knows his limitations" and these youtubers do not know their limitation.

The destroy the joy of gaming. They just seek negavity for clicks and fame. They are always angry over nothing. Like the real world and normal life has not to offer enough things to be angry about. Gaming should be about joy. About fun. About forgetting the reality and the negative aspects of it.

I am too old to understand that life style. I do not understand the appeal of such videos. I am better with ignoring such nonsense and get my info the tradional way.

But every gaming youtuber is a weirdo therre are some good ones too but there is no market for serious adult gaming talk. The normal youtubers have way less sucribers than the always angry type of youtuber.
 
www.videogameschronicle.com

Kena Bridge of Spirits review: A PS2 throwback, for better or worse

Excellent visuals elevate an inoffensive and generic action-adventure game for PlayStation and PC.
www.videogameschronicle.com www.videogameschronicle.com

“It’s very evocative of the era that so clearly inspired the game design, but compared to modern games in a similar genre like 2021’s incredible Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, it leaves a lot to be desired.

There’s nothing wrong with Kena’s story, but it feels incongruous with what you’re actually doing in the game. In 2021, you’d expect a journey to settle someone’s soul would include some kind of exploration of those concepts in a gameplay sense, not arrow shooting puzzles and “lift the thing and put it here” ephemera.

Kena’s story attempts to broach sentimentality are also incredibly hollow. Not enough time is spent with any character to become truly invested in them. It’s perhaps a byproduct of the general boredom that sets in as you repeat the same tasks over and over that we found the story difficult to actually recall, despite how basic and formulaic it is."

I'm 5 hours in without any real change in the dynamics and this article about sums it up. I didn't run to my PS5 to play this when I got home, nor did I spend a whole lot of time playing it for hours on end like I would something more engaging and less PS2 era. No joke, this game so far feels like something from the N64, PS2, GameCube, PS3, Xbox 360 eras. Banjo Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Ratchet and Clank, Starfox Adventures and other 'mediocre' to 'its good enough' type of games from a long time back. Despite feeling a bit bait and switched from the way the trailers were and the way the studio promoted the game, I'm starting to shift my expectations to games that came out 20 years ago, basically really low and see if I can get something deeper out of this experience and enjoy it at face value. Fingers crossed.
 
"The destroy the joy of gaming. They just seek negavity for clicks and fame. They are always angry over nothing. Like the real world and normal life has not to offer enough things to be angry about. Gaming should be about joy. About fun."

Spot on, I love this statement. In a world full of potential that has so much hate, anger, sadness, apathy, nihilism where people don't get to eat or have clean water everyday in many places across the globe it's staggering to see so many of the youtubers from the gaming community going on about video games in general as if they matter in some bigger picture type of way. 1st world issues for sure. If we can't have fun and enjoy the deep experiences that some games can offer, then whats the point of getting angry over all of the other details that don't matter? I see this in the phone/computer industry as well, only its not quite as toxic because its usually an opinion based on facts, or just comparing a $1,000 piece of tech to a $20 one, there's obviously differences. But think about how good the modern parts of the world have it, even $20 smartphones or a $200 laptop can do amazing things that we could only dream of 20 years ago. Whether people enjoy video games for their current gen potential and depth, or the retro stuff for entertainment purposes doesn't make a difference in this matter, it's all 1st world problems. I do wonder though how a game like Deathloop gets a 10/10 from many of those people, that alone tells me to stay away lol.
 
Interesting review for sure. But I really wonder which modern games the reviewer is playing that really uses the gameplay to tell some story concepts. Story and game play are not connected in games at all. We just have open world game today that are terrible at telling a story. Because it is impossible to connect story and gameplay because the worlds are too big and bland to tell a story at all.

I like old games more to certain extant anyway so negative aspect the game has some old school gameplay is a badge of honor to me. But still curious how different the reviewer rates modern games.

I have not to say much good stuff about your modern day open world driven game. They do not feel more sophisticated at all in story telling to me. In fact they are way worse than the older stuff. The older stuff had way much better environmental story telling and so forth. In your average modern game you ran from a to b and after a long running way you reach the next cutscene and that is pointless because due to long running way you have forgotten the story anyway.
 
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