Zau is the main character of Tales of Kenzera Zau. The Sun Mask focuses on melee attacks, while the Moon Mask is perfect for ranged combat. (Electronic Arts)
While making Tales of Kenzera: Zau, Abubakar Salim remembered his father, who passed away from cancer 10 years ago. The Sargent Studio founder said his father believed dead is dead and didn't want his son to spend time thinking about his end.
That didn't happen. Salim founded his game studio and gathered his team of 30 people to create a video his game in his honor. “The Story of Kenzera” not only brings to life the Bantu culture of his father's homeland of Kenya, but also tells part of Salim's story. The story is about a boy named Kebeli who mourns the death of his father. He searches through the belongings of his deceased parents and discovers a book written about Zau, the shaman of Amandora.
make a deal
This is the narrative framework of the video game, with the player primarily controlling Zau, who has made a pact with Kalunga, the god of death. If this young shaman can drive away his three great spirits who refuse to move on, Kalunga will return Baba to Zau. The journey takes the young man through his three realms, testing the player's combat skills and platforming skills in this Metroidvania-style adventure.
As Zau, players start wearing sun and moon masks. The Sun Mask specializes in powerful melee combat, while the Moon Mask allows the protagonist to attack with projectiles from a distance. In combat, the player must switch between his two and use them strategically while dashing to avoid enemy attacks.
Masks have their own strengths, gaining power over time. The Moon Mask can freeze enemies, allowing players to switch to the more powerful Sun Mask for greater damage. In other scenarios, the player must match the mask to the color of the enemy's spirit shield to destroy it and defeat the enemy. It may sound simple, but when you're dealing with multiple flying enemies and warriors with shields, it gets hectic.
Thankfully, combat becomes easier over time as players gain Uroji soul energy from defeated enemies and use it to earn Shaman Points. Players spend their resources on upgrading Zau's attacks, making them more powerful.
Platforming as tough as combat
Interactions between masks also extend to platforms. For example, the power gained allows Zau to destroy barriers when he has the Sun Mask and rebuild temporary platforms using the Moon Mask. Players must flip and activate switches as they fly around the levels. Elsewhere, a flaming spear for Sunmask is needed to activate a switch that opens a door, but players must race to the opening before time runs out.
As with other Metroidvania titles, areas have gates and can be accessed through these powers, but in Zau's case, areas are hidden in shaman shrines scattered around the world. Other abilities include glide, which allows you to jump longer distances, directional dash, and the ability to use lasso anchor points to move to other areas. These moves rely heavily on timing and positioning, so they take a lot of time to master. In some cases, players may want to throw their controllers or pull their hair out because of the learning curve.
Interestingly, these powers lend themselves to rapid traversal, which feeds into Tales of Kensela's challenges. Difficulty doesn't come from puzzle-like rooms, but rather focuses on how quickly the player can navigate obstacles. More difficult scenarios require quick reaction times and understanding the intricacies of abilities such as directional dash cooldown times.
Hidden power-up details
Players will learn more about these platforms and combat mechanics by tackling hidden challenges in the world. Players will encounter shamanic challenges that will reward players with trinkets that provide stat tweaks and bonuses. Players can mix and match these to complement their playstyle. On the other hand, in Challenge His Room, the player will be able to equip more trinkets at once, but will have to go through trials in which he will have to defeat waves of enemies. Other locations, such as Reflection Points, are easier to find and provide a big bonus of increased health.
Salim says Tales of Kenzera takes about 8 to 10 hours to complete, but it may take longer for some people. There are some frustrating levels that punish players with instant death spikes and brutal checkpoints, forcing players to repeatedly run through some sections until they get it right. It's a lot of trial and error, but the difficulty may perhaps reflect the struggle Salim said faced his father's death.
The more difficult moments, such as the dark clouds, convey the raw emotions and moods of the grieving process. Meanwhile, the central stories and characters of her three regions of the world explore other aspects of loss throughout the story. Unfortunately, the storytelling in these parts of Tales of Kensela doesn't always hit the right notes. The backstories behind the young girl Lyana and the great spirit of the sky Impundur are touching, but other stories, such as the old warrior Bomani worrying about the fate of her son, are more underdeveloped. It's hard to connect.
That makes the journey a complicated one, but at its core, Tales of Kensela still has an emotional truth. This is a game about grieving, coming to terms with loss, as Salim ultimately did. But deeper than that, this process allowed him to keep his father's memory and culture alive and share it with the larger world.
“Tales of Kensela: Zau”
2 and a half stars out of 4
platform: PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X and Series S, PC
evaluation:All over 10 years old
