Review: Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Switch 2)

Kena has it rough. She’s a spirit guide in a world full of spirits who don’t want her guidance. Throughout the beginning of Kena: Bridge of Spirits, she’s constantly facing adversaries with plucky optimism, only to be thrust into combat for her efforts.

But her misfortune is your gain, because it provides an upbeat, engaging adventure.

As mentioned, though, it doesn’t start well. The developers took the old-school approach of leaving the important parts in the manual, only there isn’t a manual. Key gameplay elements aren’t explained at all. It’s so bad that one site I checked for tips has a section called, “What Kena Doesn’t Tell You.” Just tell me, Kena; you need to learn to trust.

So, you begin the game by making your way through a forest collecting the ironically named Rot. These are cute, little forest spirits that allow you to immediately decompose rotting plant life so you can gain access to new areas. As you find and acquire more Rot, their abilities—and, in conjunction, yours—will grow.

New abilities are helpfully required immediately, either to use the Rot to break through barriers or to take advantage of a new skill in combat.

For the latter, I did find I could muscle through some battles without utilizing a new attack or defensive measure. Compare this to some Zelda titles where you’re forced to properly execute new moves in a training area before being allowed to proceed. I definitely prefer Kena’s approach, which keeps things moving.

Combat, on the other hand, does slow things down. Fights take place in confined areas and are unavoidable. The battles generally focus on the typical dodges, parries, and various attacks with your staff and bow, often against multiple foes at once. The Rot come into play, too; they can be used to swarm enemies, and are often required to close spawn points before you can proceed. It’s a lot to manage, and I found myself fumbling with the controls early on. There are multiple difficulty levels if that’s an issue.

There are also multiple paths you can take to level up Kena’s abilities. Again, a bit more explanation would’ve been welcome here. Many of the skills and abilities aren’t explained well, so upgrading is a blind process until you get things figured out.

Worse, there’s no map. Although Kena follows a linear course through most of the game, there’s no on-screen guide to clarify where you have and haven’t been. Bridge of Spirits offers a very fun world to explore, but it’s a confusing one, too. And to warn you, the path ahead is often obscured. If it seems like you’re trapped, you just have to look harder. Or use the masks you’re provided, which often help you located items you may have missed.

Although both have their positives and negatives, neither combat nor exploration are what make Kena: Bridge of Spirits work. That distinction belongs to the game’s presentation. The graphics are fantastic. Colorful and detailed, they’re very effective at setting a mood that’s appropriate for a specific scene or section. Both the gameplay and animated segments are wonderfully rendered, even if Kena and her companions are a bit too Disney-cute for my personal tastes. I did experience some stuttering here and there, but nothing that impacted the gameplay.

The music is amazing, as well, often reminding me of Bruno Coulais’ score for Coraline, which is very much my personal taste.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits was originally released elsewhere in 2021, and was followed up by various DLC releases. All of that is rolled into the Switch 2 release, and that makes it worth considering if you’ve played it on other consoles and are considering giving it another run. If you haven’t played Kena before, it’s an easy recommendation for action/adventurers. You may need some guidance early on, but once things get rolling, it’s a game you’ll race to finish.