Tales of Kenzera: Zau Game Review – This Is Going To Be Huge

If you were watching the 2023 Game Awards, you would have seen the stunning announcement trailer for an upcoming game from Surgent Studios, Tales of Kenzera: Zau. With beautiful art, stunning gameplay footage, and hints at an even more beautiful story, Tales of Kenzera: Zau will be one of the best games released in 2024 and will leave a massive impact on the gaming community.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a side-scrolling platformer where players step into the role of Zau, a young shaman of Kenzera who is on a journey to get his father back and to become a worthy Nganga, a spiritual healer. Full of vigour and energy, Zau must learn patience and accept the wisdom of great spirits before him to reach his goal and see his father again. “Discover how love gives us the courage to press on after devastating loss.”

Gameplay

Loading into the demo, I was launched straight into the beautiful world of Kenzera. The game instantly hooked me instantly with quick glimpses of the realm, vivid colour, stunning textures, and scenes that extended far into the background.

After a quick chat with Kalunga, the God of Death, I hit the ground running, going straight into the platforming dynamic of the game. Suppose you have played any kind of platforming game before. In that case, you will instantly grasp the game’s controls. I quickly adapted to the movements as I explored through platforms and levels.

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If you haven’t played a platformer before, don’t sweat it. I found that Tales of Kenzera: Zau had an extremely user-friendly feel and was happy to explain its controls to me without making me feel like I was being overloaded with information right at the start.

As I went through the demo, the game explained different elements and mechanics beautifully with quick and informative infographics and prompts the first time I used any of Zau’s attacks or abilities. The game quickly takes you through simple movements throughout the environment into combat and back to roaming the world of Kenzera again.

Speaking of combat, it is very clear why they call this the dance of the Sun and the Moon. Throughout the game, Zau uses the Shamanic masks inherited from his father, his Baba, who taught him everything he knows. The mask of the Sun is ferocious and strong, with strong melee attacks that offer a more standard combat feel, even allowing for combos and effects. Then, there is the mask of the Moon, offering a colder feel as it enables Zau to use some ranged attacks, letting you swat your enemies from a little further away. Switching between the two masks in combat is possible with a button press. I found myself thoroughly enjoying fluidly switching depending on what the moment required. I loved watching Zau literally dance across platforms as I controlled him.

While I tried the demo through Steam and was initially playing with a mouse and keyboard, I noticed that the game suggested a gamepad for the best experience. After finding some wall climbing challenging, I plugged in a PlayStation remote and found the experience much more enjoyable. Unless you are a PC player through and through, I recommend trying the game with a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard.

Final thoughts on the gameplay? I found it incredibly addicting, and I might play the demo a few more times before the game is released just so I can experience it again. Combat and movement in Tales of Kenzera: Zau feels incredibly intuitive and easy to grasp.

Amazing Studio Behind The Game

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the first game out of Surgent Studios. This recently (in the last four years) founded a development studio that started as a media company. Initially invested in filmmaking as their primary choice for storytelling, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is their first step into the video gaming world.

Surgent Studios was founded by British actor Abubakar Salim, a self-proclaimed lover of video games. If the name sounds familiar, you would have seen him nominated for a British Academy Games Award for his role in Assassin’s Creed Origins. This role would forever change his life and set him on the path of game development himself.

Surgent Studios’ philosophy is to tell beautiful, original narratives across any form of media that they can get their hands on, whether it be screens through film or video games. Courtesy of EA, we briefly chat with Salim about Tales of Kenzera: Zau and what he and the studio hope to accomplish with the game. Without giving too much away, the brilliant actor hinted that the studio has many plans for future projects, especially in video games. Although the studio is still emerging, it is one to keep an eye on in the gaming world. I really can’t wait to see what Salim and the studio are working on next.

Beautiful Story and Lore

While the main ideas of Tales of Kenzera: Zau are fictional, such as the world, the people, and the places, there is a deep meaning and rich lore behind the game. During a heartfelt introduction of the game to the world at the Game Awards 2023, Abubakar Salim shared that one of the driving forces and inspirations behind creating the game was to explore his own journey through loss in losing his beloved father, the influence that introduced him to games in the first place.

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Zau, much like many of us who have lost beloved family, is on a journey through his grief of losing his own father. Not only does Tales of Kenzera: Zau wish to explore the human experience of tragedy, but it is doing so in a way that is relatable to all of us in a beautiful world with a beautiful overarching story.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau also has a unique perspective in that it is rooted in the vibrant world of African folklore and culture, tapping into an abundant vein of stories, myths, legends and iconography that modern media has barely scraped the surface of. The characters, though fictional, are all rooted deeply in the folklore and traditional stories of indigenous African tribes.

Not only is it exciting to see this stunning new game coming out of this intriguing new studio, but it’s also exciting to see the studio tapping into this well of lore and knowledge with so much to offer.

Where To Buy The Game & Release Information

If you are dying to play the game and share in the fantastic experience that we have had, you can play the demo of Tales of Kenzera: Zau for yourself, available on the Electronic Arts page. Warning: You will fall in love with the game and wish the release date would come sooner.

Luckily, we only have a little time to wait, as the game will be released on April 23^rd, 2024. Still, these next two months look long, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the full release.

If you are like me and can’t wait to dive into the beautiful world of Kenzera, the game is currently available for pre-order at a 10% discount (dropping the price from $19.99 to $17.99), as well as some fantastic goodies. The pre-order bundle includes the Kalunga’s Blessing visual effects variant, extra Shaman Points that you can use towards in-game skills, and the stunning Soulshifters digital companion comic.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau will be available on various platforms, including Xbox X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Windows (through the EA app, Steam, and Epic Games Store).

From playing the demo, I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves side-scrolling platformers or single-player games with a brilliant story. The demo only showed a bit of the immaculate story that will be told in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, and from that little bit, I already know that this game will be tugging at my heartstrings when it comes out in April.

If you liked playing games like Ori and the Blind Forest or the sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the next game for you.

Have you played the demo for Tales of Kenzera: Zau yet? What do you think of this beautiful new game?