Autumn is well and truly here, and for my October game, it’s time to check out one of the more recent purchases in my Steam backlog.

Normally, I try to be a bit coy with these introductions, but I’m going to spoil the whole review by saying this month’s game might be the best one I’ve played for the Year of Gaming Challenge so far!

Reminder: For the Year of Gaming Challenge, I have to play one of the many games I’ve bought in Steam sales and never got around to playing. I must give it a fair chance and write up my thoughts by the end of each month. (That may not sound like much of a challenge, but as a father with a lot going on right now, it will be hard to fit in!)

I can’t remember when I first saw Tales of Kenzera, but it immediately caught my eye. It had a striking art style and a sort of fluid motion that looked like it would be fun to play. Plus, as I said in my review of Never Alone back in March, I love learning about other cultures, and gaming has proven to be a surprisingly good way to do that.

So, all of those promising signs bumped the game to the top of my To Do list, and this month, I finally got to see if it lived up to that promise.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau

I would describe Tales of Kenzera: Zau as a 2.5D action platformer with Metroidvania influences, following the adventures of a young shaman who must explore the world and battle corrupted spirits. The game was released in 2024, developed by Surgent Studios and published by EA Originals.

Story & Writing

The framing device follows a young man living in what can only be described as a Wakanda-like futuristic country. He is in mourning and discovers that his father wrote a story before he died. It is that story – Zau’s story – that you play through for the majority of the game. Zau is a young shaman whose father has also recently passed away. He has taken up his father’s masks, powers and responsibilities, and goes on to make a deal with Kalunga, the god of death, to get his father back.

A screenshot of Zau running across a desert landscape with a volcano in the background.

I won’t spoil too much, but it’s a beautiful story that deals with death and grief and loss. It became pretty obvious early on where the story was going, but the writing and voice acting were more than enough to keep it engaging to the end. It’s a surprisingly powerful story, and one that will stick with me for some time.

Gameplay

It’s described as a Metroidvania, but I’d say it was mainly a platformer with some Metroidvania elements. You can run, jump, double jump, dash and bounce off walls to get around the levels. There are platforming challenges, some light puzzle elements and a few paths that are inaccessible until you unlock new powers and abilities. But you can fast travel, and any challenges you have unlocked are marked on your map, which cuts out a lot of the tedious backtracking that usually infests these sorts of games.

There’s also combat. Zau has two masks that he can switch between, which give him different abilities that are used in both platforming and combat. Basically, one does more melee damage while the other gives you ranged attacks, and some enemies have colour-coded shields that are resistant to each mask’s magic. It’s not particularly deep. I kept expecting to unlock another mask and skill tree during the story, but that never happened. You’ll also find yourself fighting a lot of the same enemies. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun and engaging, and it does a pretty good job of mixing up the action with different combinations of enemies and abilities throughout the story.

The gameplay is fast, fluid and fun. When I say it’s not overly deep, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing! At least you don’t get overburdened with a massive skill tree of abilities that you forget about and only ever use by accident. I much prefer games like this to ones that are overstuffed with features and content just to pad them out. Tales of Kenzera is relatively simple, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome, which is another refreshing change!

Craft

The art style is gorgeous. It’s “2.5D”, so the levels are 3D, but you move along a 2D plane. There are often interesting things like jungles and volcanoes in the background, or breathtaking scenes of trees silhouetted against aurora-filled skies. Despite this, it’s always clear where you are and where you’re supposed to be going. Personally, I much prefer this to the use of 2D (and, often, ugly) “retro” graphics, which are often used in similar games!

As I said, the writing and voice acting are amazing. The animation is generally good. When you’re in cutscenes, you get Hades-style 2D images of the characters talking to each other. I’d have liked to have seen more expression and animation in the 3D characters of these moments, but they’re pretty stilted. However, as I said, the voice acting more than makes up for it!

The result is an aesthetic that feels unique, the general gameplay and combat are beautifully rendered and animated, and the world never feels overly complex, cluttered or confusing.

Stats

• I got the game on Steam in late 2024 for £7.19, a roughly 60% discount on the current full price of £17.99.
• I played it for just under 12 hours and have completed it, earning all achievements.

Final Thoughts

Some would view a game that you can beat in a handful of play sessions as a bad thing. For me, it was perfect. An actually fun game with a satisfying story that I can 100% within the confines of my lifestyle is fantastic! It’s gorgeous and well-written and isn’t an endless grind. I also can’t overstate how refreshing it is to play a “fantasy” game (i.e. a game with magic and mythical creatures) that isn’t set in yet another facsimile of Middle-earth!

Yes, I’ve seen all there is to see, but it’s a game that will stick with me, and it’s definitely one of the highlights of the YoG Challenge so far!

Find out what I thought of the other games I’ve played for the Year of Gaming challenge, or check out my other gaming-related rants and reviews.