First shown off during the PS5 reveal in 2020, Kena: Bridge of Spirits has quickly captured the attention of fans due to its beautifully rendered graphics and cinematic sequences. Now, a new trailer during Sony’s State of Play on February 25th has really put the quality of the animations and art design of Ember Lab’s debut title in gaming.
Much of this instant success comes from how Ember Lab started as a visual effects studio, as opposed to a game developer first and foremost. So, this means that while Kena: Bridge of Spirits is coming from a rookie developer, the visuals and graphics might still be strong enough to elevate the title, especially on PS5.
The gameplay in no way looks like it might be lacking, but the boasting of Kena: Bridge of Spirits‘ PS5 capabilities seem to be leaning harder on the visual experience than anything else. This could and should increase players’ confidence in the game, rather than lower it, as the game at least knows what its strengths are. With more and more games being rewarded for offering cinematic experiences, Ember Lab seems to be bringing its history with visual effects to the forefront with this upcoming title.
The developer Ember Lab has an incredible portfolio of visual effects works, including a short film titled Dust and a fan video inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. While Dust is a live action film, there is huge showcase of CGI within the 26-minutes runtime, including digital lighting effects and animals that have been modeled and implanted onto the real-world footage. However, between both the studio’s animated and live action works, the stellar cinematography and art are what are on full display, even if some areas like the voice dubbing can be lacking at times.
From the beginning, this means that Kena is primed for gorgeous visuals and a focus on cinematic storytelling through a lens that isn’t often seen in modern gaming. Most triple-A titles these days often go for as realistic as possible, making graphics that attempt to be true to life in attempts at making games immersive. The debate on what exactly “immersive” means from one player to another, there is a benefit to bringing a unique style into the art design of a new game that trends away from hyper-realistic skin and hair textures.
Whenever a new game arrives that appears to be making its name through a new style, especially one that hasn’t been seen in the market before, it is usually either an Indie title or a JRPG. The look of Indie games can definitely vary more than their triple-A counterparts, and JRPGs have some opposing styles within themselves, but most players will recognize it with the one word description of: Anime. In contrast, Kena‘s unique visuals can be better described as a full-length version of Pixar’s Sparkshorts with a more unique style elevated to a professional level.
Even if the combat, or exploration is boring, the world is vibrant enough that it might still have its own immersive quality with the simple fact that the beautiful style is so enticing. If success stories like Dear Esther and Firewatch have shown anything, it’s that even games branded “Walking Simulators” for having little to now interactive combat absolutely can triumph through visual storytelling alone. That being said, from what Ember Lab has shown with Kena‘s earlier trailers, there seems to be some halfway compelling gameplay in addition to the stunning graphics and cinematography.
As far as the interactive part of the experience goes, Ember Lab has given some details on the gameplay in Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which has some players even more excited to jump into the upcoming title. For one, there is the staff, which acts as a melee weapon, bow, and shield all at once that is built into what appears to be some fast-paced combat complete with attacks, dodges, and parries. Then there’s the introduction of the Rot, little helpers that reward the player for exploring the vibrant world with more abilities based on how many are found throughout the game.
The Rot may be one of the most impressive additions to the Pikmin-like gameplay in Kena, where the gameplay and the game world are perfectly integrated into each other. While only a few enemy encounters have been shown so far, the use of both the staff and the Rot make for some integrated combat in which the helpers can stun and distract enemies for the player to follow up with an attack. There appears to be plenty to be attached to, and other developers or visual effects efforts with a similar background outside of the gaming space should look at how popular Kena has already become before even releasing.
As mentioned before, a number of players looking at Kena have mentioned that it could easily pass as a Pixar short, either theatrical or in the form of the individual Sparkshorts series the studio has shared online. Seeing Ember Lab bring that level of graphical quality to an interactive format, while only really available with modern gaming hardware, is a surprise considering how much money companies like Disney have had to throw at the process. Disney even has Disney Interactive Studios, an entire branch of the company that has had input on dozens of instant classics, from Epic Mickey to Ducktales.
So, with Ember Lab leading the way and showing exactly the type of budget and development that is required to bring the modern Disney style to the world of gaming, other companies should take notice. Considering that a Kena reveal for PS Plus was one of the wildest spreading rumors for the free games for March, there is clearly a starving market for such a visually expressive title. Disney already owns most of the entertainment that people watch now, so maybe Kena is a sign that fans can start getting some better quality from the interactive branch of the company.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is set to release on August 21st, 2021, for PS4 and PS5.
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