Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Kena: Bridge of Spirits | |
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Single-player |
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a 2021
The game's development was led by brothers Mike and Josh Grier, founders of Ember Lab. Having spent five years creating commercials and branded applications, the development team shifted to creating an original video game after 2016. They partnered with Sony Interactive Entertainment for a console-exclusive deal, and grew the team to 15 core employees. The game's art was created in collaboration with Vietnamese animation studio Sparx, and its fictional world is inspired by Eastern locations such as Japan and Bali. The original score was composed by Jason Gallaty, who collaborated with Balinese ensemble group Gamelan Çudamani to create gamelan music respectful to the culture.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was showcased at the
Gameplay
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an
The player is tasked with collecting small spirit companions known as the Rot.
Plot
In the world of Kena: Bridge of Spirits, deceased people can remain between the physical and spirit worlds if they are traumatized or feel unfinished. The task of spirit guides is to understand their difficulties and help them to move on.[1] In the game, a young spirit guide named Kena (Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti) travels to an abandoned village in search of the sacred Mountain Shrine. She collects small companions called the Rot, who help her throughout her journey. On the way to the village, she confronts a powerful masked spirit who reveals himself to be the cause of corruption in the forest, forcing it to decay and unleashing deadly monsters on the land. Kena insists she can help his spirit move on, but he refuses and leaves. In the village, Kena meets former elder Zajuro (Vlasta Vrána), who informs her she must help the trapped spirits before being granted passage to the shrine.
Kena follows the spirits of two young children, Saiya (Sam Cavallaro) and Beni (Joshua Vincent), whose older brother Taro (
Kena seeks to help the village's Woodsmith, Adira (Amber Goldfarb); on the way, she encounters the spirit of Adira's partner, Hana (Gita Miller). After Kena finds relics of Adira's memories, Adira tells her she and Hana had discovered how to focus the energy of the Mountain within the Village Heart, but it had started to fade. When the sickness began to spread throughout the village, Hana left to search for food and supplies, but never returned. To help Hana find her way home, Adira built a tower and put the Village Heart at the top of it; while doing so, the Mountain Shrine exploded, wiping her out. Kena tells Adira to forgive herself, and the work she built with Hana would forever be a part of the land; Adira and Hana embrace, and their spirits move on.
To reach the Mountain Shrine, Kena attempts to help the powerful masked spirit, revealed to be the former village leader Toshi (Masashi Odate), but his corruption overpowers her. Kena finds relics of Toshi's past in the spirit realm and attempts to free him of corruption, but he overpowers her again and takes control of the Rot. She confronts him atop the mountain, where he fuses the Rot with corruption to create a giant corrupted Rot monster. Kena takes back the Rot and defeats the creature. Toshi tells Kena he sought answers after the village was overcome with sickness; Zajuro told him it was the natural cycle of the Rot God and they must find a new home, but Toshi refused. He confronted the Rot God atop the Mountain to inquire about the suffering inflicted upon his people. The Rot God did not answer, provoking Toshi to kill it and causing the explosion that wiped out the village and its inhabitants. Kena tells Toshi to forgive himself, and his and Zajuro's spirits move on. Kena bids farewell to the Rot, revealed to be fragments of the Rot God. The Rot combines to restore the spirit of the Rot God while Kena meditates on the Mountain Shrine.
Development
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was developed by Ember Lab, an independent studio based in Los Angeles. Founded in 2009 by brothers Mike and Josh Grier, the studio worked on several animated commercials and branded game applications, and in 2016 released a viral short film based on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask titled Terrible Fate.[3] Following the release of Terrible Fate,[11] the development team felt creating a video game was the "natural next step".[12] While developing the story for Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Ember Lab considered an animated film or series; after creating the Rot, they realized a video game would be more appropriate as the creatures provided a connection between gameplay and narrative.[13]
Along with a small team, Mike used his experience with
In October 2020, former designer Brandon Popovich claimed Ember Lab did not fully compensate him for his work on the game and failed to honor promises made regarding equity and a promotion; an anonymous source issued similar claims, accusing the company of unpaid overtime and unfulfilled promises of a full-time position. Ember Lab responded, claiming it had records of all invoices being paid and denying any promises of equity or promotions.[17]
Art and gameplay design
For the game's art, Ember Lab partnered with Vietnamese animation studio
For some time during development, Kena had a separate spirit meter for each ability; however, the team ultimately wanted difficulty in combat to derive from enemies and their attacks rather than
Character design
Earlier prototypes of the game focused on the Rot as antagonists, and did not feature Kena. When the team created Kena, she was initially younger—around seven or eight years old—but they felt the story and themes required a more experienced and mature protagonist. She originally lacked many powers and relied more heavily on the Rot to complete tasks, which Mike Grier compared to the 2009 game
Kena is a young Asian girl. Josh Grier said the team "always planned for a unique lead character that gamers haven't seen before".[14] Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti, who voices Kena, originally became involved in the project through her parents, who founded the Balinese ensemble group Gamelan Çudamani and worked with Ember Lab on the game's score; Larassanti performed on some of the songs.[24] Larassanti was chosen for the role partly due to her connections to both Balinese and American cultures, having frequently traveled between the two countries as a child. She found the game's themes were aligned with her life experiences in Bali, and used her knowledge of Balinese culture from her father when interpreting Kena; for example, she would speak in a softer and more formal tone when interacting with her elders. Similarly, she treated the Rot akin to how Balinese people treat the Sesuhunan, the sacred spirits from whom they often ask for blessings and protection.[25]
Larassanti found her studies—a major in world arts and cultures and a minor in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles—helped with "opening [her] mind up" for the role.[25] She regularly recorded with Ember Lab on weekends to avoid disruptions with class.[26] Larassanti often rehearsed with her mother, a voice actress, before performing for the role;[25] she used her mother's home recording studio to record her performance.[27] She studied interactions between actors in games like Grand Theft Auto, as well as static or fighting sounds from shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.[25] The physicality of the role led Larassanti to move while recording, often hitting the microphone or the walls of the recording booth.[28] She would intentionally argue with her brother before recording combat sequences in order to make her performance more believable.[24] She performed most of her recording in mid-2020.[25]
The game's characters were hand-animated using keyframe animation to add more detailed personality.[22] The team wanted the player to feel connected to the Rot by using subtleties of emotion during the game, and use this bond for effective combat gameplay;[29] the creatures were often the focus of development when achieving a specific tone.[16] For his portrayal as Taro, Tod Fennell "made [his] voice a little more vulnerable" to contrast with the corrupted version of Taro (played by a different actor).[30] When depicting Taro's pain and grief, Fennell recalled his feelings of "anger, vulnerability, sadness, and guilt" he felt at 23 when his mother died.[30] He said, after losing a loved one, "it's really hard not to go over what you think you should or could have done differently".[31] Fennell felt working with the smaller team at Ember Lab made the process of his performance more "accessible",[32] and he was surprised by the length and content of the script compared to his previous video game work.[33] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing travel, Ember Lab sent recording equipment to Masashi Odate's home in Japan so he could record his lines for Toshi; while recording fight scenes, he was visited by a concerned security guard.[34] For her role as Saiya, Sam Cavallaro took inspiration from her own life as a protective big sister. She recorded her lines while talking to the development team on Zoom.[35]
Music production
The game's original score was composed by Jason Gallaty. Gallaty listened to gamelan music for inspiration, and reached out to gamelan groups in 2017 to seek a collaboration, wanting to remain respectful to the culture.[1][25] He originally reached out to Balinese ensemble group Gamelan Sekar Jaya, who referred him to Gamelan Çudamani.[26] Çudamani's associate director and lead singer Emiko Saraswati Susilo was initially hesitant, not wanting traditional gamelan music to be featured in a video game, but agreed to collaborate after speaking to the team and resonating with the game's themes;[36] she presented an "orientation" of Balinese culture to Gallaty and the development team, ensuring they would be respectful.[27]
Gallaty and Mike Grier traveled to Bali to record with the group. Çudamani's founding director, Dewa Putu Berata, created original compositions based on footage and descriptions of the game. When Gallaty presented samples of sacred music, Berata would inform him if it was inappropriate, and instead create a new composition with a similar feeling.[36] For one piece of music, Gallaty was inspired by an Indonesian funeral chant; upon discovering its origin, Susilo and Berata used it as inspiration for a new piece, not wanting to disrespect its original usage.[26] The game features music with vocals from Larassanti, Susilo and Berata's daughter, who voices Kena;[1][22] her performance was recorded "last-minute" while on tour in 2018.[26][27] Despite being influenced by the films of Disney, the team avoided in-game musical performances to keep the game more grounded.[22]
Release and promotion
The game was announced alongside its debut trailer on June 11, 2020, at
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was showcased at the 2021
The game received a content update for its first anniversary on September 27, 2022, adding
Reception
Critical response
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Push Square | 7/10[75] |
Kena: Bridge of Spirits received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic,[68] and 84% of critics recommended the game, according to OpenCritic.[69] Mitchell Saltzman of IGN described it as "a wonderful first game from Ember Lab, combining its outstanding pedigree in art and animation with some really solid combat, fantastic world design, and a great balance of action, platforming, puzzle solving, and exploration".[74] Giovanni Colantonio of Digital Trends called it an "exquisitely crafted adventure that fuses classic and modern game design concepts with ease",[7] while Phil Hornshaw of GameSpot wrote it is "an exciting, often heartbreaking journey that will make you want to explore every corner and crevice to see all that you can".[72] In a less positive review, Kotaku's Alex Walker described it as a "mechanically comforting and a constant visual pleasure, albeit lacking in a little ambition".[76]
Reviewers particularly praised the game's artistic design;[72][77][78] some critics were unsurprised considering Ember Lab's previous work,[71][79][80] and several drew comparisons to the films of Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, and Studio Ghibli.[8][76][81] IGN's Saltzman lauded the facial animation and character designs,[74] and PCMag's Tony Polanco wrote they added personality to the characters.[82] Ozzie Mejia of Shacknews considered the game's visuals among the best of the PlayStation 5,[4] and Colantonio of Digital Trends wrote the developer was "pushing video game animation to its limits".[7] Rachel Weber of GamesRadar+ praised the enemy designs, noting they continued to feel alive even when duplicated.[73] The detailed environments and variation of color in the art design was praised.[70][71][75] Some critics noticed a discrepancy between the gameplay and cutscenes, with the latter produced at a lower frame rate;[4][83] Alan Wen of NME considered this outdated, comparing it to PlayStation 2 games.[80] VentureBeat's Mike Minotti lauded the art design but found it began to become "a little monotonous",[81] while Eurogamer's Malindy Hetfeld questioned the use of Balinese and Japanese iconography due to the absence of explanation.[79]
Several critics found the game's exploration and puzzles to be satisfying, imaginative, and rewarding,
The game's Rot creatures were praised by critics, many of whom drew comparisons to the titular creatures of the Pikmin series.[10][72][73][74][80] Several reviewers lauded the Rot's involvement in the game's combat;[7][8][70][78] GameSpot's Hetfeld wrote the Rot "makes Kena stand apart from similar games",[72] and GamesRadar+'s Weber felt they "heighten every other aspect" of the game.[73] Paul Tamburro of GameRevolution said the creatures demonstrated the developer's animation skills and appreciated their customization.[71] Push Square's Tailby found the creatures enjoyable in all interactions,[75] and NME's Wen considered them to have more personality than Kena.[80] Conversely, Middler of Video Games Chronicle wrote the Rot "almost feels like an exercise in marketing".[83]
Mejia of Shacknews found the game's narrative to be powerful and emotional, noting it was "so touching that mechanical shortcomings can be forgiven".[4] Colantonio of Digital Trends favorably compared the game's story to Hayao Miyazaki films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke, considering it one of the game's best elements.[7] Push Square's Tailby thought the narrative was predictable but "hits an optimistic yet bittersweet tone, akin to any number of animated films" from the last decade.[75] Middler of Video Games Chronicle remarked a discrepancy in the game's story and the player's actions, and described the writing as a "something you'd see in a B-tier Illumination animation".[83] Matusiak of Gry-Online and Wen of NME found the narrative unmemorable;[77][80] similarly, Tamburro of GameRevolution considered it forgettable, noting the lack of emotion in its delivery of its themes of bereavement and loss were unaffecting.[71] PC Gamer's Kemp said the story felt incomplete.[8] Shubhankar Parijat of GamingBolt felt the backstory and details of the game's world told a better story than the main narrative.[84]
GameSpot's Hornshaw wrote the character interactions made each area of the world feel more alive.[72] Mejia of Shacknews considered the character arcs to be "heartbreaking".[4] Conversely, some reviewers thought the characters were undeveloped or uninteresting.[8][80][83] Kotaku's Walker lauded the developer's skill in character animation,[76] though Push Square's Tailby found some character designs to be "a bit lacking";[75] Eurogamer's Hetfeld wrote the Pixar-inspired character designs "made it difficult for me to tell if all these characters with Japanese names were in fact Japanese".[79] Several reviewers criticized the lack of character development for the protagonist, Kena;[76][77][80] IGN's Saltzman wanted to learn more,[74] and PC Gamer's Kemp was curious enough about her story to keep playing.[8] Some critics lauded the cast's performances[70]—Antistar of Jeuxvideo.com praised Larassanti's performance as Kena,[78] and Walker of Kotaku applauded Odate as Toshi[76]—while others criticized the voice acting;[10][70] NME's Kemp noted a preference for a silent protagonist and gibberish-speaking supporting characters.[80]
Reviewers lauded the game's music.
Several critics commented on the game's originality and its borrowing of successful elements from other popular games, with both favorable and unfavorable comparisons to
Accolades
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was awarded
Award | Date | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annie Awards | March 12, 2022 | Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Video Game | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [96] |
British Academy Games Awards | April 7, 2022 | Animation | Hunter Schmidt | Nominated | [97] |
D.I.C.E. Awards | February 24, 2022 | Outstanding Achievement in Animation | Hunter Schmidt | Nominated | [101] |
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction | Mike Grier, Wanchana "Vic" Intrasombat, Julian Vermeulen | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Character | Kena (written by Josh Grier, voiced by Dewa Ayu Dewi Larrasanti) | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition | Jason Gallaty, I Dewa Putu Berata | Nominated | |||
Game Audio Network Guild Awards | May 25, 2022 | Best Main Theme | "Beneath Worlds" | Won | [105] |
The Game Awards | December 9, 2021 | Best Independent Game | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Won | [92] |
Best Debut Indie Game | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Won | |||
Best Art Direction | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [106] | ||
Game Developers Choice Awards | March 23, 2022 | Best Debut | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [100] |
Best Visual Art | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | |||
GLAAD Media Awards
|
April 2, 2022 | Outstanding Video Game | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [98] |
Golden Joystick Awards | November 23, 2021 | PlayStation Game of the Year | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [91] |
New York Game Awards | February 1, 2022 | Central Park Children's Zoo Award for Best Kids Game | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [99] |
The Steam Awards | January 3, 2023 | Outstanding Visual Style | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [107] |
SXSW Gaming Awards | March 12, 2022 | Indie Game of the Year | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Won | [103] |
Excellence in Animation, Art, & Visual Achievement | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | [102] | ||
Excellence in Original Score | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | |||
Excellence in Narrative | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated | |||
Webby Awards | April 26, 2022 | Games, Adventure | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Won | [104] |
Games, Best Art Direction | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Nominated |
Sales
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
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External links
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits at IMDb