Games have a certain way of telling stories that make us think about various aspects of life many find unimaginable. When actor Abubakar Salim took The Game Awards stage to announce a game that he made to acknowledge the love and loss of his father, it was easily one of the highlights of the show, and now that the game is out–it should be one of the highlights of the year.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the debut game from Surgent Studios, a team founded by the aforementioned Abubakar Salim who has acting credits in known commodities like Assassin’s Creed: Origins as well as an upcoming role in HBO’s House of the Dragon.
The game’s story is shaped by Salim’s own experiences with grief and takes a lot of its inspiration from Bantu cultures, and the game’s overall presentation has a distinct South African feel. Whether it’s the face paint you see from its characters, or the environments resembling various African paintings, or spiritual magic seen in the game, it all comes together in such a careful and fluid way, and the team at Surgent Studios has a lot to be proud of as far as the game’s inclusivity.
The purple gives people Black Panther vibes, right?
The game follows Zau, a young Shaman who makes a deal with Kalunga, the God of Death, to bring his father back. In order to do that, he has to capture the spirits of three monsters and present them as offerings to Kalunga. Of course, it’s not going to be that easy, and the end isn’t going to be what people think either.
At its core, Tales of Kenzera is a 2.5D metroidvania. A promising indie developer? A metroidvania? We’re all too familiar with these. They aren’t necessarily special games anymore, especially after playing games like Celeste or Hollow Knight. Ubisoft even pulled the impossible and released an amazing one in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown earlier this year. How can Tales of Kenzera separate itself? Well, for one, the storytelling and presentation already do a whole lot for the game.
All that aside, it’s the pacing that makes Tales of Kenzera: Zau fun. Obviously, it’s all been done before, but the default moveset in the game pays homage to people who are already fans of the genre. You don’t have to worry about unlocking a double jump. Zau can do it. Zau can already crawl and wall jump as well. He’s incredibly nifty and agile, and he’s an absolute joy to control on any platform, including the Switch. Double jumping off a wall jump and zipping past a waterfall make for some really enjoyable platforming, and not having to unlock any of these abilities makes the game fun from the get-go.
One important maneuver you do have to unlock and master early on is the power behind the moon and sun masks. When Zau puts the moon mask on, he can shoot projectile crystals at enemies. When Zau puts the sun mask on, his arms are imbued with the power of flaming swords, giving him the ability to slash and burn enemies in his path. Part of the fun in the combat is switching back and forth between the two to create devastating combos and when combined with the thrill of platforming, it’s a more than satisfying experience.
It’s gone pretty viral, but early on, there’s this three-stage fight that takes place in an elevator where the difficulty ramps up. Thankfully, if you clear a phase and you die, you start at the phase you died at. I wouldn’t call this bad pacing though as it was a fun way to challenge you to master the ins and outs of combat early.
These things aren’t “boss level” hard, but they’re annoying whenever they appear.
Metroidvanias are known for giving players more power and agency as you play, and it’s no different with Tales of Kenzera. It’s a genre tradition to have areas inaccessible due to lack of tools at your disposal, but what really makes Zau’s approach to this unique is the fact that once you have these new abilities, it makes the traversal gameplay that much more interesting. Whether it’s using the power of the sun to move blocks, the power of the moon to freeze water, or even launching yourself to further heights before gliding down to safety, the way the game combines everything is “chef’s kiss.”
Every area in the game comes with this “challenge” section that usually revolves around your ability to maneuver through the many platforming obstacles the game presents you. Unlike other areas in the game, if you die at challenge area, and you will, you’re brought back to the start of the challenge. Death is typically forgiving in Tales of Kenzera, as there’s no lives or “Game Over” mechanism. You just start from wherever you died with a full bar of health except, again, when you’re in a challenge area.
Aside from its visuals, clever gameplay, and bold level design, it’s the storytelling and dialog that really set Tales of Kenzera aside from the rest. As mentioned a few times now, it’s a story about dealing with the loss of a loved one. Seeing the way Zau treats his guide in Kalunga as well as other characters he crosses is very relatable. At first, we see Zau’s confidence and strong will show how awesome is, and then all of a sudden we see that confidence grow to cockiness, we see that cockiness become disrespect, and we see the burdens he carries become too heavy. It’s all very real, and the fact that a metroidvania is able to tell a story like this goes to show the love and attention that Surgent Studios and Salim put into this project.
Like any debut game, the game does suffer from some issues, but they hardly take away from any enjoyment. The most obvious of which in my playthrough came whenever I paused the game or looked at any sort of menu away from action. Whenever I unpaused, for some reason I’d lose the ability to move Zau left or right until I made him jump. I had this problem on PlayStation 5, and a few others on the site experienced this with Switch, so it’s definitely a real bug.
It’s a metroidvania. Of course you’re going to look at the map.
I’m also not a fan of the game’s fast travel system. You can only fast travel at specific points in the game, and they are very few and far between. Most games in the genre allow you travel at just about any point of interest. Typically, I wouldn’t care for this kind of thing because the game is actually fairly linear, but I had to get the Platinum and 100 percent this game, so that made backtracking pretty rough.
All this said, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is simply stunning. It looks amazing on every platform, it features some of the best platforming I’ve played in any game, the combat is fun, and the story makes you feel. Even with all this, I think my favorite part about the game is that it’s short and sweet. I Platinum’d the game in about six hours, and I loved the vast majority of time I spent playing. Here’s to hoping that Tales of Kenzera: Zau becomes the first in a long-running series, and that Abubakar Salim is back at the helm, because I want more. Or let’s give Surgent Studios the Black Panther license. That would totally work!
Here’s to hoping that Tales of Kenzera: Zau becomes the first in a long-running series, and that Abubakar Salim is back at the helm, because I want more. Or let’s give Surgent Studios the Black Panther license.
Games have a certain way of telling stories that make us think about various aspects of life many find unimaginable. When actor Abubakar Salim took The Game Awards stage to announce a game that he made to acknowledge the love and loss of his father, it was easily one of the highlights of the show, and now that the game is out–it should be one of the highlights of the year.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the debut game from Surgent Studios, a team founded by the aforementioned Abubakar Salim who has acting credits in known commodities like Assassin’s Creed: Origins as well as an upcoming role in HBO’s House of the Dragon.
The game’s story is shaped by Salim’s own experiences with grief and takes a lot of its inspiration from Bantu cultures, and the game’s overall presentation has a distinct South African feel. Whether it’s the face paint you see from its characters, or the environments resembling various African paintings, or spiritual magic seen in the game, it all comes together in such a careful and fluid way, and the team at Surgent Studios has a lot to be proud of as far as the game’s inclusivity.
The purple gives people Black Panther vibes, right?
The game follows Zau, a young Shaman who makes a deal with Kalunga, the God of Death, to bring his father back. In order to do that, he has to capture the spirits of three monsters and present them as offerings to Kalunga. Of course, it’s not going to be that easy, and the end isn’t going to be what people think either.
At its core, Tales of Kenzera is a 2.5D metroidvania. A promising indie developer? A metroidvania? We’re all too familiar with these. They aren’t necessarily special games anymore, especially after playing games like Celeste or Hollow Knight. Ubisoft even pulled the impossible and released an amazing one in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown earlier this year. How can Tales of Kenzera separate itself? Well, for one, the storytelling and presentation already do a whole lot for the game.
All that aside, it’s the pacing that makes Tales of Kenzera: Zau fun. Obviously, it’s all been done before, but the default moveset in the game pays homage to people who are already fans of the genre. You don’t have to worry about unlocking a double jump. Zau can do it. Zau can already crawl and wall jump as well. He’s incredibly nifty and agile, and he’s an absolute joy to control on any platform, including the Switch. Double jumping off a wall jump and zipping past a waterfall make for some really enjoyable platforming, and not having to unlock any of these abilities makes the game fun from the get-go.
One important maneuver you do have to unlock and master early on is the power behind the moon and sun masks. When Zau puts the moon mask on, he can shoot projectile crystals at enemies. When Zau puts the sun mask on, his arms are imbued with the power of flaming swords, giving him the ability to slash and burn enemies in his path. Part of the fun in the combat is switching back and forth between the two to create devastating combos and when combined with the thrill of platforming, it’s a more than satisfying experience.
It’s gone pretty viral, but early on, there’s this three-stage fight that takes place in an elevator where the difficulty ramps up. Thankfully, if you clear a phase and you die, you start at the phase you died at. I wouldn’t call this bad pacing though as it was a fun way to challenge you to master the ins and outs of combat early.
These things aren’t “boss level” hard, but they’re annoying whenever they appear.
Metroidvanias are known for giving players more power and agency as you play, and it’s no different with Tales of Kenzera. It’s a genre tradition to have areas inaccessible due to lack of tools at your disposal, but what really makes Zau’s approach to this unique is the fact that once you have these new abilities, it makes the traversal gameplay that much more interesting. Whether it’s using the power of the sun to move blocks, the power of the moon to freeze water, or even launching yourself to further heights before gliding down to safety, the way the game combines everything is “chef’s kiss.”
Every area in the game comes with this “challenge” section that usually revolves around your ability to maneuver through the many platforming obstacles the game presents you. Unlike other areas in the game, if you die at challenge area, and you will, you’re brought back to the start of the challenge. Death is typically forgiving in Tales of Kenzera, as there’s no lives or “Game Over” mechanism. You just start from wherever you died with a full bar of health except, again, when you’re in a challenge area.
Aside from its visuals, clever gameplay, and bold level design, it’s the storytelling and dialog that really set Tales of Kenzera aside from the rest. As mentioned a few times now, it’s a story about dealing with the loss of a loved one. Seeing the way Zau treats his guide in Kalunga as well as other characters he crosses is very relatable. At first, we see Zau’s confidence and strong will show how awesome is, and then all of a sudden we see that confidence grow to cockiness, we see that cockiness become disrespect, and we see the burdens he carries become too heavy. It’s all very real, and the fact that a metroidvania is able to tell a story like this goes to show the love and attention that Surgent Studios and Salim put into this project.
Like any debut game, the game does suffer from some issues, but they hardly take away from any enjoyment. The most obvious of which in my playthrough came whenever I paused the game or looked at any sort of menu away from action. Whenever I unpaused, for some reason I’d lose the ability to move Zau left or right until I made him jump. I had this problem on PlayStation 5, and a few others on the site experienced this with Switch, so it’s definitely a real bug.
It’s a metroidvania. Of course you’re going to look at the map.
I’m also not a fan of the game’s fast travel system. You can only fast travel at specific points in the game, and they are very few and far between. Most games in the genre allow you travel at just about any point of interest. Typically, I wouldn’t care for this kind of thing because the game is actually fairly linear, but I had to get the Platinum and 100 percent this game, so that made backtracking pretty rough.
All this said, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is simply stunning. It looks amazing on every platform, it features some of the best platforming I’ve played in any game, the combat is fun, and the story makes you feel. Even with all this, I think my favorite part about the game is that it’s short and sweet. I Platinum’d the game in about six hours, and I loved the vast majority of time I spent playing. Here’s to hoping that Tales of Kenzera: Zau becomes the first in a long-running series, and that Abubakar Salim is back at the helm, because I want more. Or let’s give Surgent Studios the Black Panther license. That would totally work!
by Danreb Victorio
