Graphics are main selling point for Kena: Bridge of Spirits and they do not disappoint

Since the PlayStation 5’s launch, Sony has published several visually stunning games – but new Ember Labs release Kena: Bridge of Spirits might well be the prettiest of them all.

Following a delay of several weeks, it has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year, ever since it was unveiled in 2020.

Its graphics are impressive, often described as the Pixar of gaming by many industry critics and media outlets.

But has the relatively small team at Ember Labs managed to overcome the adversities in the way of developing a game for the last 18 months?

It’s certainly a family friendly adventure, with a rare absence of blood and gore in a new release, replaced with fluid combat, both melee and ranged.

You play as novice spirit guide, Kena, who discovers a village in the forest afflicted by corruption and decay. Kena must work through personal struggles in her past to untangle the secrets of this forgotten town.

Most of your upgrades will come in the form of improving the abilities of your “rot”, a merry band of black minion-type-beings, which can help you lift heavy objects, purify corrupted zones, and deal extra damage to enemies.

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Despite the 10+ age rating, however, even for the seasoned video game pros at Sky News, certain boss battles and puzzles could prove difficult on the medium setting.

It is the graphics that are the main selling point for Kena, and they do not disappoint.

Environments are either bright and vibrant, rivalling the works of Disney animation, or eerie and dark – without falling into the common trap of not being able to see anything, despite playing on a 58″ 4K HDR TV.

There does come a stumbling block however, in which some of the game’s cutscenes suffer from frame rate drops. In these instances, the player will see videos, the quality of which are rarely seen on a console, play out in a disjointed, jerky fashion.

These performance issues can spoil what is a game that is sure to please adults, as well as appeal to their children – though whether PC players with far superior hardware would experience similar problems remains to be seen.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is out now, at a surprising price of £32.99 (Sony’s last big release, Ratchet And Clank, cost nearly £70 at launch), currently exclusive to the PlayStation store, it offers enough hours of play to make it a potentially worthwhile purchase.

Sadly for Xbox players, there’s no word on whether it will not be coming to the Series X – however PC players will be able to enjoy it via the Epic Games Store.

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