HomeFeaturesTales of Kenzera: ZAU
Watch out Prince Of Persia, there’s another platforming-packed Metroidvania coming to steal your crownTales Of Kenzera: ZAU impresses with its 30-minute Next Fest demo
Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU impresses with its 30-minute Next Fest demo
Image credit:EA
Image credit:EA
Confession time, folks. Of all the games shown off during The Game Awards last December,Tales Of Kenzera: Zauwas the one I glossed over the most. Listen, it was very early in the morning at the time, and it must have come at a peak eyes-glazing-over moment for me. However, having now played the first 30 minutes of Tales Of Kenzera thanks to its just-released early Steam Next Fest demo, I have seen the error of my ways. The demo might only cover the game’s opening, but this 2.5DMetroidvaniaalready looks to be quite the promising newcomer in this ever-crowded genre - so much so that it may even be able to go toe to toe with Ubisoft’sPrince Of Persia: The Lost Crown. Yep, I went there.
At the heart of Tales Of Kenzera is its eponymous shaman Zau, who begins the demo very much in the throes of mourning his recently deceased father. Developer Surgent Studio’s creative lead Abubakar Salim has spoken previously about how the game was originally borne out of hisown experienceof losing his dad, and it’s clear right from the off that this Metroidvania is going to be as much of an emotional journey as it is a physical one played out through your finger taps and button presses. Crucially, though, Tales Of Kenzera seems refreshingly earnest in how it’s gone about portraying that grief onscreen, with its both its dialogue and voice performances conveying a lot more nuance and depth of feeling than you might expect.
Image credit:EA
That said, it’s still clearly very video game-y, as straight off the bat, Zau makes a pact with Kalunga, the god of death, to bring his dad back to life - a premise that has historically never ended well for anyone involved, but one that does involve bringing Kalunga the spirits of three great beasts who have defied shuffling off their mortal coils. Yep, that sure sounds like one handy recipe for a rollicking Metroidvania to me, doesn’t it?
Kalunga is less than convinced that Zau will be able to pull it off, but it didn’t take much to convince him he’s worth keeping an eye on either. Zau’s a capable and affable chap, after all, able to double jump, wall jump and dash through waterfalls (and other spirit enemies) with ease, feeling just as athletic and easy to control as Sargon from The Lost Crown. Zau can also call upon the power of the sun and moon thanks to a pair of masks passed down to him from his father, which he can switch between at will to give him different shamanic abilities. The sun mask is all about fiery, up close and personal melee combat, while the moon mask is focused more on ranged and magical attacks, and each has their own upgrade path to follow as well. Only the moon mask will let you unlock a parry, say, while the sun mask gives you a powerful downward strike to blast enemies from above with.
Image credit:EA
What really impressed me about Tales Of Kenzera, though, is how it seems to be binding its Bantu-inspired tales, myths and story beats into its wider platforming. Despite Zau’s initial confidence in summoning Kalunga, for example, you can see his grief and frustration start to bleed through into his dialogue and behaviour even in the space of 30 minutes. This gets him into a slightly sticky situation in the latter half of the demo, where he ends up tumbling into a watery ravine after an old bridge collapses when he tries racing across it. It’s a good framing device for what you’re about to play next, but the fallout of his actions is also handled with surprising care and sensitivity in the moments of dialogue that follow. Kalunga is a stern, but refreshingly forgiving guide, it turns out, and the way he talks with Zau as they try and get themselves out of this literal and metaphorical hole feels almost - dare I say it - fatherly, thanks in no small part to the heartfelt performances of its voice cast. Kalunga proves to be anything but a grim reaper as the demo goes on, and the pair of them feel like they’re going to be quite good hangs for the rest of the game.
Image credit:EA
