Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a beautiful game where the African's culture is its main attraction. It has nice level design and its playability is so good. But it's so huge and you don't have much to do.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an earnest first video game effort from a studio that's destined for great things. Weak exploration and a lack of combat variety are minor flaws in an overall package that offers up fluid platforming, some great gameplay hooks, an emotionally-resonant story and a rich tapestry of sights and sounds that's like little else in the space. It's almost the perfect pairing to the recent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, offering a succinct and approachable take on the concept that offers even more story, worldbuilding and visual flair.

A charming but flawed metroidvania that had the poor luck to be released in a year which has already seen two outstanding examples of the genre. [Issue#41, p.90]

The worst thing I can say about Tales of Kenzera: Zau is that it’s platforming and level designs are fun, clearly inspired by some of the best Metroidvanias around, but don’t really produce any moments that rival those inspirations. Its combat, though also simple and familiar, manages to sing thanks to a small but meaningfully offering of different skills and enemies. And that action is ultimately just a satisfying break from the main attraction: a truly moving tale about how to go on in this world when your loved ones have passed on to the next.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU tells a touching, personal story of family, grief, and loss, but it's wrapped up in a game that makes appreciating that narrative a lot harder than it should be. A Metroidvania in only the most basic of ways, its combat and platforming are spoilt by basic design and structure, as well as controller issues and frustrating one-hit kills. At its best when left to simply tell its story, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU falters once you have to start playing.