Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a good game... but not a good Metroidvania | Cannot be Tamed
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- Today I'm reviewing the recent release, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. This is a gorgeous game that I enjoyed playing, once I started thinking of it as a straight action platformer as opposed to a metroidvania. It's available on PC and current consoles.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU footage is my own, recorded on Xbox Series X. Music is from the game's soundtrack.
#metroidvania #platformer #narrativegames
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"Cantina Blues" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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It's always wonderful to get a new video from you Pam! Love hearing your opinions on new games! Plus you always have such wonderful eyeshadow that always matches the vibes of the game you are reviewing!
She's lovely
Thank you!
I didn't know Cher played video games. So that was life after love.
I pre-ordered this one based on your livestream of the demo and I'm glad it doesn't disappoint. Really enjoyed your breakdown of the game and can't wait to give it a try!
One day you'll run out of Castlevania games.
@@Cannotbetamed1 I hope not. I'm still hoping Konami gives the license to the Dead Cells guys to make one.
Thanks for providing the detailed review! I agree that it is metroid-like/ open-world like. Despite that, it is kind of a model for how to make an action game filled with story without resorting to a series of cut scenes. The interplay between Kalunga and Zau is always refreshing and is kind of a master class in how to write support characters without them only being there for informational purposes. You really never feel alone and the way characters, spirits, and deities are intertwined make the world created here interesting. I think the bantu lore is supposed to be the driving force to go off the beaten path, but if you don't know to seek this out or you don't really want more lore, then there is no reason to do this. Last, while each environment is colorful, this is still a land of the dead, so... this makes the presentation and environment's quite a bit more nuanced. There is just a ton that is packed in. That being said, I also second the criticisms you set out, and hope the development team makes use of them for their next project.
This is the most accurate review of this game I’ve heard 👍
And one of the few to highlight the quality of the in game dialogue between Zau and Kalunga. Good performances, with dialogue full of personality, wit and narrative purpose.
Thanks for reviewing it Pam!
I really liked this game and got 100%. Fun gameplay, beautiful visuals and a lovely plot.
Great review! I wanted to play this and review it for my channel but there are too many games to choose from! Really admire your work on this channel.
Thank you!
I've been wondering if I should look into this game as the premise is interesting. Framing it as a story-driven platformer/action game rather than a flawed metroidvania sounds like a worthwhile way to approach it!
Looks beautiful, with a stunning color palette.
amazing !! Thank you Pam !
Thanks for your helpful review! Great work as always
There's a new pretty looking Victorian era 2.5D Metroidvania called "Venture to the Vile" currently in development, but available to wishlist on Steam. Thought you may like it. Indie games are currently on fire. Not so much triple A.
Great review as always 👍
6:41 - now THAT is a beam attack, nicely done.
great review! a side-scrolling, story-focused experience sounds really appealing. feels like maybe they shouldn't have advertised it as a metroidvania so heavily though, since that seems to be a common point of criticism.
Decent review, just posting for the engagement. Hope you have a wonderful week.
Oooh; gonna check this out! Played Astalon because you recommended it and loved it!
Ah, great to hear you enjoyed this one. I was interested to see what you thought. With a shorter, smaller scope this will probably be a good weekend game to blast through between other huge experiences.
I got about halfway through this game and ended up tapping out, try as I might. It just wouldn't get its hook than me and getting me excited to play ever. I think it might have benefited from tossing out the """open world""" And instead designing specific levels, megaman style, and finding a reason to repay them with new abilities or something I don't know.
- level 4 crystal mines
- level 6 floating forest
Etc
I agree that it would have been a stronger game if it was more linear.
Thanks for the review.
I thank you for making this videos I appreciate it you are a kind person
Couldn’t agree more about it not being Metroidvania. It looked like the new Prince of Persia so I was expecting a similar metroidvania. Fun game though. Good review.
Your place looks nice, I like how you have things arranged.
The music spunds so nice. I might get it just for that 😊😊😊
Great review! I agree with everything you said, it would have benefit from removing the metroidvenia elements. After i finished the story and free roamed i understood how much upgrades i've missed and i do belive it is because there is no reason in the game itself for backtracking. A new subscriber right here
Welcome to the channel!
Can't wait to get my hands on this.
*Looks very challenging.*
I couldn't agree more with this review!! Exactly! Thanks for posting
Thank you, wonderful Pam💯💯💯
Your audio is super clean, no room acoustics. New software, process?
The whole thing is recorded at my computer on my voiceover mic, rather than recording on camera on my couch, with a worse mic that's further away.
its linear, no back tracking and you don't get lost: SOLD
You found the Wall Climb module! Now you can open that one ceiling hatch on the opposite end of the map to progress the story! Hope you crafted enough Warp Stones or it's going to be a long walk.
Ah a fellow adult, I see.
Exactly, time is the limiting factor.... Waisting peoples time seems to delight developers lately
nah I like getting lost and exploring in a metroidvania. I hate when they railroad me and make it extremely linear.
You know there’s a map in most games these days.
I will definitely check this out eventually when there is a sale
The mask mechanics reminds me of the game Outland on Xbox 360. It's pretty pretty good actually.
And yes, I'm aware it's an idea borrowed from Ikaruga and its polarity system.
I'm playing through it now and can agree with this take! I've been clearing out all collectables on the first visit, and it's pretty linear. But I've been having fun!
That is a good concept.
The music sounds good
Another game added to my wishlist thanks to you. Thank you so much for this very thoughtful video, and for helping us manage expectations when it comes to the game's exploration.
Have you checked the Metroidvania Mania bundle on Humble? 9 Years of Shadows, Cookie Cutter and Ghost Song are all on my wishlist, seems like a great deal. Have you tried any of these? Take care :)
I played the 9 Years of Shadows demo, and it was all right. Ghost Song I didn't like at all. Cookie Cutter is on my wishlist.
*Fup yeah*, someone who mentions Cookie Cutter! I love that game.
It's solid as it is despite some annoying enemies and bugs, and I would have liked to see more of the characters, story and world. The world and art direction is really cool, interesting and out there.
The lead dev wants to keep building up the base game for a long time to come, if support allows for it. Entire new story beats, characters, areas, enemies, weapons, bosses, and on his twitter he's shown WIPs of some sort of battle arena as well.
Really hoping that he can properly finish and tell the story he wants to as time goes on. Cookie Cutter's his baby and he's got his finger on the community's pulse to fix bugs and make it as best as he can.
I wonder if Pam has played/reviewed the Trine series. Does anyone know and, if she has, can you guys point me to the video?
Pam has never made a full review, but did talk about Trine 4 a bit in this video th-cam.com/video/r2mZCBMb79c/w-d-xo.html
@@Cannotbetamed1 ah, thank you!
Before I watch this video I just wanted to say something: I played this game and thought it was okay. It looks gorgeous and the story was beautiful, I teared up a few times, but as a game that's designed to be played, it was too easy . Maybe they thought that a higher difficulty would take away from the story being told? I don't know, I could see that being the case.
I like the point you made about the lore items that had to be accessed in the menu. It wasn't much on an issue with me, but I definitely can see it being an issue for others.
Did you play it on the harder difficulty?
@@Cannotbetamed1 yup, I played it on Challenging. It was good fun, but I died more to the environment than combat.
actually now that I think about, the majority of the times I died was because I was trying to rush through something, which feel like that could have been an intentional choice to mirror Zau's journey. A lot of the times where Zau has a setback, it's because he was too hasty....huh...neat... I'm gonna have to play this again.
So more like a sides scroller platformer from the early nineties with gorgeous graphics then.
Yes
I'm a sucker for gorgeous looking games!
By the trailers, I had a great impression that this game was a mix of adventure and platformer. But like you said, it's still a good game. About the game's music. Are they cool or will you feel bored listening to them after a while?. That was a good review. Thank you Pam
Killin' iiiiit 🤘
Great video 💕
Thanks!
@@Cannotbetamed1Hopefully you will consider doing one on 360 games to get before the store closes down?
I don’t know how popular it would be though.
I agree
Yes, I saw your review of the unfinished version of this game (I think... I see a lot of things 😄). I believe that it reminded me of the NES version of Batman and Strider.
There's one other game that has a double jump, but I can't remember it.
It is definitely linear... just clearing one zone after the other. Like the Mega Man series.
I always wonder if certain games like this one are actually Metroidvania's but are more leaning on their Castlevania side more then the Metroid side. Castlevania games though I only played a couple are very linear compared to Metroid games. The only reason I say this is because the action plat former reviewer I watch reviewed this game because he thought it was a action plat former, and he was disappointed because he felt the game was more Metroidvania lol, then I watch your review and you say its more action-plat-former then Metroidvania.
Some Castlevanias are linear platformers. But the ones that are metroidvanias are not linear at all.
I recently beat this on ps5 . It does a lot good but the combat is very shallow. It never evolves after U acquire the 2nd mask .
Yes it does, almost every ability you gain through the game can be used in combat.
My save game glitched after saving the game after the first boss. I can't progress forward anymore. I gave up.
This is the one that got hammered because it’s linked to sweet baby. It’s a bit of a shame as there aren’t many African art style games.
It's not just linked. It's made by one of the founders of SBI.
@@DraxlarYeah I try to avoid anything to do with BlackRock, they are war profiteers. It’s difficult though as they are everywhere.
They make money off of the weapons that kills people, rebuild what they helped destroy then charge the country for the rebuild costs.
This definitely isn’t the channel for politics though as it just causes arguments and ruins the comment section.
@@DraxlarLooks like my reply got filtered, YT doesn’t like a certain evil investment company being mentioned.
Everything the huge corporations touch seems to get tainted, music, sport and now video games.
I think there is going to be a crash though, I think the Switch 2 will be a bit of a flop.
@@DraxlarOh wow. Hard pass then.
Hi from miranda !
I truly enjoyed this game. The story is fantastic. The boss fights were pretty decent. I don't like violent games like Assasins Creed. If I was a 9 yo old, it would be perfect - no profanity, no gore, it's truly an E rated game. I wish more games were like this. Today, most games outside of sports seem to have been created with a premise focused on violence and horror.
Wait.. you still have not played souldiers? is on xbox and switch
I played it when when it came out.
@@Cannotbetamed1 I guess you didn't like it
It looks a lot like the new prince of persia.
Looks to be in the same tier as Ori presentation-wise, not a small feat. Shame about Denuvo
Looks fun. Better than Prince of Persia that lost me?
I like Prince of Persia way more.
I agree with Pam exactly as outlined in the title. Shitty MV. Decent game. Ultra repetitive combat hurts it overall. Great art design. Maybe too similar to new POP.
I'm tired of metroidvanias railroading you into a linear path or giving you a GPS route to the next place you're supposed to go. I wanna get lost and explore on my own, otherwise it doesn't feel like a metroidvania. I'll skip this, thanks for your insight.
the only thing good about it is its visual presentation and storytelling and overall theme. the actual gameplay is mediocre. The controls/movement is functional but not good enough. Its sloppy and lacks precision and finesse. the dash is way too harsh for example, annd jumping and traversing is like the opposite of floaty. its like the charachter weighs nothing when in the air. like the movements are too harsh. I love responsive controls (like in MD and PoP, HK) but here its not very well-balanced. the enemies are bland, and and level/world design is also quite basic/bland. the combat is functional but kinda basic aswell. it becomes a button-masher without nuance. it does feel responsive but theres no real weight or satisfaction to it , like POPLC or MD. Its like a "lite" metroivania/platformer with beginner-friendly gameplay imo.
Why does it have Denuvo though??
Pam is such a doll.
I love your opinions pam, you have a great power of discription,also you look absolutely stunning..nothing new there though❤
Smokin hot
It's just a good game instead
Denuvo on PC.
I played it and got platinum in 10 hours. It's a solid game, metroidvania or not.
Game devs need to stop marketing their games as metroidvania anyway, since that genre doesn't sell. It's self sabotage.
I’m a bit sick of metroidvanias, I keep trying to catch the Hollowknight vibe but I’ve not quite found it again yet.
I’ve bought loads since but most of them have disappointed me.
@lesserspottedmugwump.363 I'd try Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Blasphemous 2, The last faith, Ori and the Will of wisps, and Grime.
There's a few good ones beyond that, but that's the best of the whole lot imo.
@@OhmagawdjrTried them all, only Afterimage and Islets scratched the itch.
Endedillies came close but was that trip like dodge was a bad idea.
Thanks though, check out Tails of Iron, it’s a 2D action game not really metroidvania but it’s up there as one of the best games I’ve played.
why are your eyes so big?
why is your comment irrelevant to this video?
@@r_latham SOYBOYYYYYY
@@EfsaneSaran Was expecting a witty riposte. But no…
This looks like a cheap Ori knock off.
Um, no. It's definitely not cheap, as the visuals and gameplay look like they took forever to create. And Ori takes place in a sad, desolate world, while this game is full of bright, cheerful locations.
There are certainly Ori comparisons to be made, but nothing about this looks cheap, or like a knock-off. All the art, characters, enemies, environments, are quite different, there's a much bigger focus on combat.
It looks cheap and like a knockoff
Hey, hallowed are the Ori. Wait, wrong genre 😆.
It looks more like Prince of Persia dlc to me. Maybe it’s because it’s been made in Unreal engine.
Where in Canada are you based?
Toronto.