Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, the first game from Surgent Studios, a transmedia studio based in the UK founded by Abubakar Salim, known in the gaming world for being the voice actor of Assassin’s Creed Origins main character Bayek, looked like a very special game right from its reveal during last year’s The Game Awards show. Inspired by Abubakar Salim’s personal journey dealing with the loss of his father, the Metroidvania starring the warrior shaman Zau sees players travel alongside the young man throughout different biomes guided by the God of Death Kalunga to bring back Zau’s father to life.
While the game, as a whole, doesn’t push past the boundaries of the genre a whole lot, featuring mechanics that have been already done by other games, it is undeniable that Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is unlike many other Metroidvania titles, mostly thanks to how Surgent Studios masterfully weaved these mechanics together with the game’s unique visual identity and its narrative, making it so that the story elements are always at the forefront, even when Zau is fighting enemies and clearing puzzle and traversal challenges.
One gameplay element that sets Tales of Kenzera: ZAU apart from many other similar games is how Zau is quite competent from the onset of the adventure. The warrior shaman’s starting abilities, which include a double jump and a dashing maneuver, do a great job making the first few hours quite engaging, addressing one of the most common issues of Metroidvania games: taking too long to get going. This doesn’t mean that Zau won’t learn other traversal and combat abilities during the course of the adventure, as in true Metroidvania fashion, many are the areas that require a new ability to access and explore. Given the game’s short yet welcome duration of around 10 hours, abilities are learned at a quick pace that prevents the adventure from becoming stale. While some may be disappointed by the game’s short length and general lack of optional content, keeping the experience tight was one of the main focuses for Surgent, who wanted to respect the player’s time as much as possible while offering an experience that could stay engaging from beginning to end.
And an engaging experience Tales of Kenzera: ZAU definitely is, thanks not only to the tight traversal mechanics but also to combat, which has a very unique rhythmic feel to it that makes fighting enemies more akin to a dance rather than an actual physical confrontation. The Mask of the Moon and the Mask of the Sun, which grant Zau long-range and close-range fighting capabilities, are both used frequently but are not restrictive, as the enemy design emphasizes how both can be used to solve the problems enemies present, although one of them is usually the most optimal to use in a given situation, such as when having to deplete an enemy shield, which can be color-coded. The first few boss battles are also well put together, with visual and gameplay design coming together extremely well to offer a spectacular experience.
With a colorful visual design that complements the coming of age of Zau and his struggles to bring back his beloved father to life well, I feel it will be easy to ignore how Tales of Kenzera: ZAU doesn’t move the genre forward significantly. While it is too early to say if the game hides some surprises under its solid yet by-the-books gameplay, I have little doubt that the emotional story of the game by Surgent Studio and its presentation will be something that will be talked about for quite some time after it launches on April 23rd on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch.
