Kena: Bridge Of Spirits demands attention for being a narrative-driven outlier that poeticizes the finer details of environmental storytelling. The PlayStation exclusive and debut from developer Ember Lab hits the canonical highs of the action-adventure genre—and, in a very Pixar way of doing things, binds clever puzzles and kinetic combat to the coziest swells of exploration. Instead of posing a debate on “fidelity versus mechanics,” Kena traces the growth of a young Balinese heroine, and as the studio tells WIRED, it uses her story to underline the importance of player-led discoveries in video games.
For the Orange, California–based animation studio, hitting that sweet spot means everything. The team—founded in 2009 by brothers Josh and Mike Grier—started small. They developed animated projects for Coca-Cola and Major League Baseball, designed convention displays for Hisense, and produced experimental shorts such as Dust and Majora’s Mask—Terrible Fate—two films that harmonized with Sony’s commitment to arming independent artists with a bigger canvas.
Courtesy of Ember Lab
Kena's story has an unsettling charm, conducting readers through the labyrinthine path of emotions as one might get lost in a dense forest—leaving us endearingly curious yet somewhat disoriented.
Kena successfully crafted an ambience that enthralls the reader into a state of liminality, akin to wandering aimlessly within vast forests—a sublime journey lost in thoughts and sensations.
Kenan's writing etched the vivid feeling of getting lost in a lush, enchanted forest right onto my heart’sWith each sensory detail countless streamers down from branches as i-lights across an invisible canvas.
‘How Kena Weaved the Velvety Disorientation of Being Lost in a Forest’ masterfully captures not only visual and tactile imagery but also poignantly expresses an untethered emotional journey, reinforcing its readers' very own sense of wonder without clarity.
How Kena effortlessly conjured up the enigmatic feeling of getting lost in a vast forest, transporting readers into an ~otherworldly~ realm through his poetic art.
Kena's masterful use of descriptive language and symbolism painted a vivid picture so powerful, it succeeded in evoking the haunting feeling we all experience when getting lost deep within an enchanted forest.
The vivid merging of Kena’s narrative with the evocative quality that leads one to feel lost in a forest, where each step feels uncertain yet entrancing.
How 'Kena' expertly conjured the contemplative feeling of getting lost in a lush forest, transporting readers into an open-eyed dreamlike trance.
Kenan's prose craftily weaves a narrative that transports the reader to an ethereal realm where getting lost in dense forest becomes not just its own adventure but also a sensory symphony of emotions, each step mirroring both fear and fascination at uneasy equilibriums.
Kena's masterful prose weaves an enchanting tapestry that effortlessly conjures up the miasmic sensation of thrilling wanderlust as one is lost amidst a vast forest, their senses heightened beneath its canopy.
