I'm not sure what you mean by this. That's not how reviews work. It's not like they go "oh call of duty was an 8 so this is an 8 as well" or whatever. It's also not like when a AAA is an 8 it's bad and when an indie is an 8, it's incredible. Any game can be a 10 if they nail everything they were trying to achieve. Ember Labs was pretty good at keeping the scope reasonable for the size they are. AAA's often have bigger scopes that are just harder to make overall.
@@Ayoul It means Ember Lab put out a good product despite their limited budget and resources while some AAA studios put on broken games with major bugs or repetitive gameplay or pay to win nonsense. Not exactly sure what you meant by "Any game can be a 10 if they nail everything they were trying to achieve."...some games studios strive for unpleasant things such as the whole microtransaction bulls#!t that ruins gameplay *cough* Marvel Avengers *cough*
For a first game from small team this is enormous achievement. Finished the game already and for the price that they're asking it's a no-brainer. Wonderful graphics, AWESOME music, very good gameplay. If you can play it then you should get it.
My brother-in-law is an animator at Ember Labs. He outlined this game for me (in vague terms) back in 2018, and I am glad they were finally able to release it. I know he had concerns based on the small size of the team and their limited experience, but it seems like they have the talent to build on this experience moving forward!
Oh snap! Did you just stealth confirm a sequel? If you see this, let you brother-in-law and the team know how amazing they are and how me, as well as many others, can't wait to see their next project.
@@infinitybelt No, thinking back on it he was definitely talking about Kena based on the ideas (he was good and didn't mention anything specific). Crazy part is they wanted to announce it at PSX 2017. I am glad they didn't, would have been way too far out. I'll also definitely let him know, he is humble and was concerned about how the final product would be received.
Combat is one of the strong points for me. I love the challenge and it seemed balanced extremely well with the limited health in the battles. Great game!
Same here. I actually started the game on Spirit Guide Mode & I thought the balance was excellent. I did struggle a few times with bosses but when I finally brought them down it felt so rewarding & satisfying. The counter is tricky though I’ll admit that.
3 ปีที่แล้ว +6
I came here to say this, combat is just fantastic, currently on a master run and having a blast
I don't mind the combat either but I understand difficult Dark Souls esque combat isn't for everyone. I totally agree with the complaint about the healing mechanic. Having to take your lock off of a tough boss to get the healing flowers is frustrating. That could have been easily tweaked.
Only issue I had with the combat was fighting the camera trying to target healing pods which usually got me either killed or hit right after healing making the healing process useless lol. That and how tight parrying was that I almost never used it until the last spirit boss before the end boss.
I know it’s not for everyone, but I loved the difficulty spikes in combat. It made for a far more interesting game to play through, and also made me appreciate things like puzzle solving.
Wow I totally disagree with Damiani on the combat. It’s responsive, exciting, weighty and never feels unfair to me, with the exception of a cheesy mechanic or two in the final fight of the game. The combat is challenging in the best way. What’s wrong with the healing mechanic?
Damiani is generally really good a games. I think he went in expecting the game to be a certain way and maybe missed some of the nuances. From what I watched of Damiani playing, he didn’t really pay attention and learn the fundamentals of combat early on, which made things unnecessarily difficult. It’s probably a really bad idea to stream and talk to chat while you’re playing a game for review.
Your constantly have to fight with the camera to target a healing pod. It's frustrating when you're trying to heal but can't because the camera won't or can't center on a pod to heal.
@@chexmixkitty idk, there is a clear indicator when the heal plant is on view, then you simply press square and the camera no longer matters. You can even just run over by it and pulse to pick it up as well as the karma that more than likely has dropped. Imo, this is a nothing burger of a criticism, but to each their own.
This game has some of my favorite boss battles in some time. I wish this review had presented them as "not for everyone" rather than bad. I love puzzling through how to defeat each one.
I only had issues with the last 2. The 2nd to last was because the parry system is way too strict with it's timing and the last was because I had no idea about the spears on it's back because I never saw the icons appear because I was focusing on everything else that was happening in the fight to notice so I had to restart quite a few times.
Agreed. Its simple but timing is essential. Making defense so important makes the combat really fun. Though, the parry system could give you more feedback.
I agree. I think the combat is actually the strongest part of the game. The boss battles aren’t actually that difficult once you understand the right way to approach them.
@@smoothie01 Most of them. From DMC and Bayonetta to Sekiro to 2D run and guns. My favorite games are the ones with a good feel, and this one felt good to me, I dunno.
My GOTY. It's amazing. I have to disagree with some of these points. Like the combat for me felt perfectly balanced and the Rot are very useful throughout the entire game.
I just love the fusion of Zelda + Ghibli + Pikmin, and hope Ember Labs keeps it going with their choice of themes as they polish up their gameplay balancing and add fresh new mechanics in future titles.
The 3D graphics might make one think of Pixar but the film has a Ghibli feel, especially with the rots. I'm not a fan of Souls-like combat but it has been enjoyable so far. I'm at the end of the game but the second to last boss is proving a bit tough for me. Definitely recommend the game. My main point of contention is the checkpointing system with the boss encounters, each death resets you before the encounter so you'll have to sit through another intro; sure the cinematic can be skipped but not the intro which proves irritating after numerous deaths. The healing mechanic is definitely a sore-spot as well.
I think they do that so if you realize you’re not quite ready for a boss you have an opportunity to go level up. Otherwise you’d be stuck fighting the boss.
@@mr88nyc Nah, the game is quite linear so there is no grinding to level up. Similarly, I don't mind having run up to the boss but there should be an option to skip the boss intro. After every death, having to watch the boss stand up or walk in or form itself can get tiresome since all you want is to finish the fight to progress in the game.
Geralt von Trivia I know it’s linear but you can go explore other areas and collect resources to unlock abilities in your skill tree. Or you can find meditation spots to increase your max health. The checkpointing is designed to make that easy to do. I’m not saying it’s perfect but it has a purpose. Also, it’s really easy to hold X and skip a boss into cutscene 99% of the time.
@@mr88nyc By the gods of Olympus, how hard is it to understand what I've written before? Like I said, I know you can skip the cutscenes but the intros are unskippable. You HAVE to watch them and when you've done all the leveling up and meditation and there is no other option but to fight, having to watch the same damn intro over and over again begins to get irritating. I don't mind that the fight resets to before the encounter, I just want the fight to start immediately should I want it to, that's all. I just feel like you skip what I say and then re-iterate the same thing ad nauseum.
Geralt von Trivia (edit) I see what you mean now. You just weren’t explaining yourself very clearly. Like I said you can skip the vast majority of boss intros and start right at the beginning of the battle. I think we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think you’re just bad at the game if it takes you that may tries to beat a boss. It’s really not that hard.
The thing is the battle system doesn't need to be in depth or complex. It actually fits so well with this game. They did a amazing job balancing out the game. Just amazing plus the music is on spot
I'm nearing the end and loving it, but I expected a lower score from Damiani based on his stream of the 1st 3 hours, where he seemed fairly frustrated, at least with the combat (which he did explain). But he landed on an 8, so that's cool.
Most of the Allies have a soft spot for emotional moments/atmosphere/direction in games. So gameplay frustrations can be balanced out by the positivity Damiani felt overall. Crossing my fingers Ember Labs nails down both aspects next game!
Same, I clearly thought that this is 7 and was surprised. Traverse - ok, Battle - ok but troubled, Hats are fun but wear off, Game is a bit buggy but ok overall, 8 for visuals and music then?
@@theme6530 Music is very very good, I would say one of the best aspects of the game. I can understand the buggy criticism but I found the battles challenging on hard.
The answer is simple imo. Kena's positive qualities are either self-explanatory (visuals, music) or spoiler-territory (heart-wrenching sequences, etc.). I don't need an extra 3 minutes of these to pad out the review to balance the pros/cons. That and Kena's not exactly going for innovation... so most of what it does well is unnecessary to write about in detail, while flaws + criticisms obviously require more text to explain the reviewers' reasonings.
@@theme6530 I mean, yeah. It is an indie game w stellar presentation and a good story, fun exploration albiet underdeveloped gameplay. Sounds like an 8 to me.
I platinum the game and during my playthrough I probably used the heal 6 to 10 times. Unlike the people who complain about the combat I notice they are the people who never or rarely block. They try to parry or dodge everything. If you get frustrated with the combat try blocking and used the strong attack it will stun the enemy. Their is more to the game then just using light attack all day.
@@battlep0t Yeah once you get the dash attack you can interrupt boss combos and it makes it much easier. Before that though it was dodge/block except on extremely obvious attacks where the parry comes in handy.
Great review Damiani! Though I will have to disagree on some of your criticisms of the combat. I honestly feel like most encounters are fairly well designed and thought out. I found almost all boss fights to be quite engaging that way. Bosses have many different attacks and most are telegraphed well enough that you can anticipate them and employ certain strategies. Especially later on as you gain more abilities, you can really start to mix things up. Maybe the parry timing is finicky, I honestly don't know because I hardly used it. There's so many other options you have to take down opponents that you never have to rely on the parries much, so while it could be a negative, it's not overly so imo. Also, I never had much trouble with the healing mechanic. I found it quite refreshing that they constrain your healing options so much actually. It forces you to learn the patterns and not slip up too much in fights, which makes the combat more engaging.
I’m loving the game. It is a joy to play. And stunningly beautiful. But the story is where it shines. I’ve only played the first part about the brothers. And on man, did I tear up at its resolution. Side note: the combat expands as you learn new abilities. I think it’s fun. And yes, more uses for the crystals would be cool. Like Kena’s outfit or tools.
It never stops blowing my mind that this is Ember Lab's first game. I cannot wait for these guys to grow and develop their studio, we're looking at the first steps of a future industry powerhouse here!
Just finished this the other day. I hope if they make a sequel to this we can dive in to kena's past and hopefully more use for the crystals. Maybe they could include potions?
The channel’s name is Easy Allies but I don’t think you mentioned the easy difficulty mode? It fixes the problem you mentioned of healing being limited and difficult in battles :)
I've already beaten the game by the time this review came out and everything said is spot on. Fighting the last spirit boss (before the last boss) took me so many tries because of the parry system being way too strict, and the last boss' 3rd phase being extremely unclear what I needed to to. Only other issue is the snowy area and parts of the last boss tanked my fps for no reason where everywhere else the game ran at a smooth 60fps.
Because this game is so good looking I think some people had unreal expectations for Kena. Its an amazing achievement that such a small team has created this on their first ever release and during the pandemic too
Yes, the parry system is not the best but come on the boss fights were fun as hell. I beat this game on master a few days ago and mostly used double jump to dodge attacks yet keep me close to do damage.
Currently playing this game and so far totally blown away by it. And the fact this is the first game of a studio that until now made animations mostly for commercials until they became famous with the incredible Majoras Mask Terrible Fate fanmade animation: th-cam.com/video/vbMQfaG6lo8/w-d-xo.html makes this even more mindblowing. This game is GOTY material and the production values and polish are of the charts. Something a lot of recent triple A developers can learn something from. I look forward to their next projects. Kena is a sign of good things to come.
I’m not having a issue with the combat. Just takes a bit of getting used to the timing. Honestly very impressed with this game feels like a very solid Modern platform but for me also has a ps2 era feel to it.
I have 0 issue with the combat. And I'm glad that normal requires you to still have to try. Especially with bosses. I don't see how that's a negative. But none the less. Nice review.
8.0 is a good score. Combat system, exploration, and char customization might be simple but the beautiful world, great cinematic cut scene and story were perfect for me. For their first game, actually this is surpassed my expectation.
I agree about the combat, although I don't think it's as bad as this review made it seem. Yes, it's definitely difficult, and the huge gap in how hard the fights are between normal and easy is a bit much, but I never found the boss fights (at least up to the second spirit) all that unfair. Enemies don't attack in a rhythm like in the Souls games, so it is definitely trickier to prepare for attacks. Most games that have combat like this, especially "Dark Souls" (ugh) type games have the enemies attack in a rhythm. That is absent here, which makes the combat with the bosses much harder. But other than the combat (and admittedly awkward running animation) Ember Labs' first game is fantastic! I'm excited to see what they make next!
8 Hours? You’re a wizard. It took me 18 playing on normal and I didn’t even retry any boss more than 3 times (except the last one). Some of those cursed chests are a doozy though.
I thought Kena's combat was surprisingly good. Some of the bosses were up there with the Souls games in terms of how engaging they were. I feel like this review was a bit too harsh on the shortcomings and didn't properly talk about its strengths either.
Un juego que hacia falta en el ecosistema de Playstation, espero que esto sea el comienzo de un nuevo estudio ember lamb 🧡 como miembro de los estudios de Playstation. Por cierto la banda sonora es una maravilla
4K requires access to higher end equipment, eats up a lot of hard drive space, and takes a lot more time to transfer and process footage. It's not impossible, and we have done some 4K content now and then, but reviews in particular require a ton of capture. There's a reason that not even IGN is uploading all of their reviews in 4K. Also, while it might be second nature to you, very very few people are actually watching in 4K. -Bloodworth
I like the visuals, but I'm a bit put off by what appear to be unskippable walking sections. I hate walking sections, and they always ruin every game they appear in.
Looks like a definite buy (if I can I ever find a PS5). Still, I wish Nintendo would’ve contracted them to make a Zelda movie after their Majora’s Mask short film. Very talented studio.
This Game Is Amazing And Beautiful 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾💯 I Love It..Right Up My Alley✊🏾.. Beautiful Landscapes...Puzzles.. Cool Abilities..Boss Fights...Sweet Ass Environments💪🏾😎💯..Shit..I Give It An...🤔 Hmmmmm...8/10 Easy👌🏾..And I'm Not Even Finished The Game Yet
Review sounded like a 7 or 7,5 which is fair considering reviews are subjective for a large part. But since the consensus from other reviewers is around 8 or higher I understand why you wouldn't want to go that ' low' . It would have made for a very critical comment section. At least, thats my theory
Sadly I dropped this game, just thought it was a little shallow for me... Would love to see these dudes leverage their insane animation skill more...! Gameplay might not be their forte
Great review! It pretty much sums up my feelings about the game perfectly! Had a fun time with it but definitely has opportunities for improvement in balancing the combat.
If the main issue with combat is that it is difficult... then that seems kind of subjective? Idk, maybe there were other issues that I failed to pick up from the review, but you wouldnt go around faulting dark souls for its difficulty, so why this?
It's not as simple as difficult or not difficult. If it's hard because of cheap shots, unintuitive timing, poor camera mechanics, or other fumbling controls, that's different from a game where you feel like you're learning and can see where you can improve. And as Damiani mentioned, it's really a lack of middle-ground, it's either too easy or too punishing, depending on your setting. You can disagree with any of that of course, but that's the point he's trying to get across. -Bloodworth
I agree on the healing mechanic, I think if you just got a certain amount of heals in each fight that it would be a much better system. I'm also surprised Damiani didn't mention the last boss, on hard difficulty it was the most frustrating thing in the entire game. I think the thing with Dark Souls is, people generally understand why they died and they know it's their fault, seems like Damiani was fighting things in this game in a way he didn't appreciate.
I love every part of this game but the voice acting is weird. It's not bad but it sounds like the sound isn't mixed right or something. Aside from that though, I think it might be my GotY. Combat is deceptively difficult.
Sounds like whoever played this game sucked at it and put their frustration into the review. The difficulty was nice, and made this game one not for kids. What you were saying about the game didn’t match the 8 out of 10. I give the game an 8.5 but you really didn’t talk about the important elements, just the parts you didn’t like. You guys have fantastic reviews but sounds like someone else on the team should have reviewed this one
Unfair accusation. I have seen tons of people complain about the difficulty and I personally agree as well. The balance seems very off and the easiest mode is too easy, while the difficulty above it, can be pretty ridiculous at times. This to me was one of the most frustrating games to play (at certain parts) in a long time. Not even talking about some of the, almost, game breaking bugs but mainly about the battle system. Granted, I still think the game is great, especially as a debut indie game. But even with From Software games, I had a better learning curve, while I struggled to dodge and parry and still did when I finished the game, as have many other people. It's also hard to ignore that I could turn off my brain when picking the easiest difficulty, while picking the difficulty above would make me die over and over again at certain boss fights, which to me shows that they haven't done a great job at balancing difficulty settings and visually communicating certain attacks well enough.
I finally played this game and was raging about the healing mechanic in those boss battles AND the parry and I came to this review just to see if anything was said about this... and it was like verbatim, great review. I definitely think a next effort is likely to be great from these dudes.
This review seemed overly negative. While I don't disagree with what's been said, it didn't balance these criticisms with all of what the game did right. Usually I'm a fan of Easy Allies reviews, but not this time.
@0:35 So it had me hooked on the art style, the character looked good... but then the story happened. Wow, I'm supposed to want play this thing? Why? That narrative sounds absolutely shit. It seems tailor made for people who enjoy wallowing in self-pity, victimhood & pseudo intellectualism. Like a more colourful version of Hellblade.
A lot of people are comparing this to Zelda, and I don't know anybody who plays the Zelda games for their stories. This game isn't a RPG. It's an action adventure game developed by an indie studio.
@@forkymental5154 Still, whether it's like Zelda or more of an action adventure (or a shooter or a literal survival horror) I always a prefer a traditional hero's journey which takes me into another world & doesn't remind me of this world's problems (unless it's done really well & asks smart questions). The way this game's narrative is described sounds extremely dull.
This game, while not "bad" was still a HUGE letdown. The atrocious platforming and garbage difficulty spikes alone make it a 6/10 for me. Still pretty good for a studio's first outing. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Hopefully they learn from their many missteps
I can't be the only one who thinks this game looks very generic, right? Both art and gameplay wise it feels like the most basic fantasy setting imaginable, combined with a faux-Pixar look.
Yeah this seems to be another Witcher 3 situation. Everything else looks great but mediocre combat that is considererd bad in the eyes of amazing games such as Bloodborne and DMC5. Pass for me.
the combat is 10 000 times more responsive and rewarding than Witcher 3, even mroe than the DLCs that adjusted a lot of things. Damiani failed over and over against one of the earliest bosses on the game even in story difficulty on stream whereas bosman and pretty much every other stream i watched either did it on the first try or had a few attempts. it was not a problem of design.
If you're going to compare every game's combat to Bloodborne and DMC5 and skip everything that doesn't reach that benchmark, you're gonna play very few games in your whole life.
@@DAnderMcSullivan I know kena isn't exactly a hack n slash but its a 3rd person melee action game and it looks underwhelming. I play other genres as well. Shooters, turn based, platformers. I got standards for all those too. Kena just doesnt meet mine for its genre.
I found Witcher 3's combat much worse, there never was a ton of control over the animations that Geralt did as he swung his sword. You don't have that in Kena, it's very deliberate. There is just some frustration around the healing mechanics for me.
Combat was more fluid, and enjoyable than witcher, i'm already finished the game but now i want to ga back to all boss fight and kick their ass allover again 😁
Best voice in the industry.
My dad
Sure
Kena:Bridge of Spirits ultra settings with ray tracing th-cam.com/video/Ilr0GDKGiUQ/w-d-xo.html
I'm just here because of it!
Thank you.
And they're an Indie studio being compared to triple A Studios. That's amazing
I'm not sure what you mean by this. That's not how reviews work. It's not like they go "oh call of duty was an 8 so this is an 8 as well" or whatever. It's also not like when a AAA is an 8 it's bad and when an indie is an 8, it's incredible. Any game can be a 10 if they nail everything they were trying to achieve.
Ember Labs was pretty good at keeping the scope reasonable for the size they are. AAA's often have bigger scopes that are just harder to make overall.
@@Ayoul It means Ember Lab put out a good product despite their limited budget and resources while some AAA studios put on broken games with major bugs or repetitive gameplay or pay to win nonsense. Not exactly sure what you meant by "Any game can be a 10 if they nail everything they were trying to achieve."...some games studios strive for unpleasant things such as the whole microtransaction bulls#!t that ruins gameplay *cough* Marvel Avengers *cough*
For a first game from small team this is enormous achievement. Finished the game already and for the price that they're asking it's a no-brainer. Wonderful graphics, AWESOME music, very good gameplay. If you can play it then you should get it.
Just got it for 27 bucks on my ps5 and I love it 😁
My brother-in-law is an animator at Ember Labs. He outlined this game for me (in vague terms) back in 2018, and I am glad they were finally able to release it. I know he had concerns based on the small size of the team and their limited experience, but it seems like they have the talent to build on this experience moving forward!
your brother is apart of a really talented team! i tell people about this game every chance i get
Oh snap! Did you just stealth confirm a sequel? If you see this, let you brother-in-law and the team know how amazing they are and how me, as well as many others, can't wait to see their next project.
@@infinitybelt No, thinking back on it he was definitely talking about Kena based on the ideas (he was good and didn't mention anything specific). Crazy part is they wanted to announce it at PSX 2017. I am glad they didn't, would have been way too far out.
I'll also definitely let him know, he is humble and was concerned about how the final product would be received.
Kena is a fantastic first game for Ember Labs and I really would love a extended version of Majora’s Mask Terrible Fate sometime 😊
Combat is one of the strong points for me. I love the challenge and it seemed balanced extremely well with the limited health in the battles. Great game!
Agree. The quality of the combat surprised the hell out of me. What great game.
Same here. I actually started the game on Spirit Guide Mode & I thought the balance was excellent. I did struggle a few times with bosses but when I finally brought them down it felt so rewarding & satisfying. The counter is tricky though I’ll admit that.
I came here to say this, combat is just fantastic, currently on a master run and having a blast
I don't mind the combat either but I understand difficult Dark Souls esque combat isn't for everyone. I totally agree with the complaint about the healing mechanic. Having to take your lock off of a tough boss to get the healing flowers is frustrating. That could have been easily tweaked.
Only issue I had with the combat was fighting the camera trying to target healing pods which usually got me either killed or hit right after healing making the healing process useless lol. That and how tight parrying was that I almost never used it until the last spirit boss before the end boss.
Loved the hell out of this game and can't wait to see more from Ember Lab. Please go watch their short animations. So great! Awesome review!
is it worth buying I'm thinking about buying it
@@wrightfamily7381 I was skeptical about it but I actually loved it. Worth the $40 imo
I know it’s not for everyone, but I loved the difficulty spikes in combat. It made for a far more interesting game to play through, and also made me appreciate things like puzzle solving.
💯💯
I just got the plat for the game. The master difficulty wasn’t that bad but man, the game goes from a simple joyous adventure to dark souls lmao
I couldn’t imagine corrupted taro on master difficulty
GG on that, I used the exploit before they patched it, some of the bosses on hard were enough for me haha.
Wow I totally disagree with Damiani on the combat. It’s responsive, exciting, weighty and never feels unfair to me, with the exception of a cheesy mechanic or two in the final fight of the game. The combat is challenging in the best way. What’s wrong with the healing mechanic?
Damiani is generally really good a games. I think he went in expecting the game to be a certain way and maybe missed some of the nuances.
From what I watched of Damiani playing, he didn’t really pay attention and learn the fundamentals of combat early on, which made things unnecessarily difficult.
It’s probably a really bad idea to stream and talk to chat while you’re playing a game for review.
Your constantly have to fight with the camera to target a healing pod. It's frustrating when you're trying to heal but can't because the camera won't or can't center on a pod to heal.
@@chexmixkitty to each their own for sure, I personally didn’t have that issue during my two playthroughs
@@chexmixkitty idk, there is a clear indicator when the heal plant is on view, then you simply press square and the camera no longer matters. You can even just run over by it and pulse to pick it up as well as the karma that more than likely has dropped. Imo, this is a nothing burger of a criticism, but to each their own.
This game has some of my favorite boss battles in some time. I wish this review had presented them as "not for everyone" rather than bad. I love puzzling through how to defeat each one.
I only had issues with the last 2. The 2nd to last was because the parry system is way too strict with it's timing and the last was because I had no idea about the spears on it's back because I never saw the icons appear because I was focusing on everything else that was happening in the fight to notice so I had to restart quite a few times.
Interesting, I loved the combat and the intensity of the boss battles. Felt very polished and fluid to me.
What other action games have you played?
Agreed. Its simple but timing is essential. Making defense so important makes the combat really fun. Though, the parry system could give you more feedback.
I agree. I think the combat is actually the strongest part of the game.
The boss battles aren’t actually that difficult once you understand the right way to approach them.
I 100% agree. The combat is pretty freaking solid. Simple doesn't mean bad.
@@smoothie01 Most of them. From DMC and Bayonetta to Sekiro to 2D run and guns. My favorite games are the ones with a good feel, and this one felt good to me, I dunno.
If this is their first game, then they have a bright future ahead of them.
Makes me sad that Zelda can't look this good.
Cuz switch's capability can't handle this graphic u know it
But zelda graphic is beautiful enough in switch
@@superduper6419 BotW is very pretty, for Switch.
@@jizzledoops6789 yeah but compared to kena botw looks like dog 💩
My GOTY. It's amazing. I have to disagree with some of these points. Like the combat for me felt perfectly balanced and the Rot are very useful throughout the entire game.
I just love the fusion of Zelda + Ghibli + Pikmin, and hope Ember Labs keeps it going with their choice of themes as they polish up their gameplay balancing and add fresh new mechanics in future titles.
I haven’t played this game in almost a year I really need to get back to it I’m almost at the end
The 3D graphics might make one think of Pixar but the film has a Ghibli feel, especially with the rots. I'm not a fan of Souls-like combat but it has been enjoyable so far. I'm at the end of the game but the second to last boss is proving a bit tough for me. Definitely recommend the game. My main point of contention is the checkpointing system with the boss encounters, each death resets you before the encounter so you'll have to sit through another intro; sure the cinematic can be skipped but not the intro which proves irritating after numerous deaths. The healing mechanic is definitely a sore-spot as well.
I think they do that so if you realize you’re not quite ready for a boss you have an opportunity to go level up.
Otherwise you’d be stuck fighting the boss.
@@mr88nyc Nah, the game is quite linear so there is no grinding to level up. Similarly, I don't mind having run up to the boss but there should be an option to skip the boss intro. After every death, having to watch the boss stand up or walk in or form itself can get tiresome since all you want is to finish the fight to progress in the game.
Geralt von Trivia I know it’s linear but you can go explore other areas and collect resources to unlock abilities in your skill tree. Or you can find meditation spots to increase your max health. The checkpointing is designed to make that easy to do.
I’m not saying it’s perfect but it has a purpose. Also, it’s really easy to hold X and skip a boss into cutscene 99% of the time.
@@mr88nyc By the gods of Olympus, how hard is it to understand what I've written before? Like I said, I know you can skip the cutscenes but the intros are unskippable. You HAVE to watch them and when you've done all the leveling up and meditation and there is no other option but to fight, having to watch the same damn intro over and over again begins to get irritating. I don't mind that the fight resets to before the encounter, I just want the fight to start immediately should I want it to, that's all. I just feel like you skip what I say and then re-iterate the same thing ad nauseum.
Geralt von Trivia (edit) I see what you mean now. You just weren’t explaining yourself very clearly. Like I said you can skip the vast majority of boss intros and start right at the beginning of the battle.
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree. I think you’re just bad at the game if it takes you that may tries to beat a boss. It’s really not that hard.
Agreed 100% with the review but I'll personally give it a 9/10... it's just a beautiful game
The thing is the battle system doesn't need to be in depth or complex. It actually fits so well with this game. They did a amazing job balancing out the game. Just amazing plus the music is on spot
I'm nearing the end and loving it, but I expected a lower score from Damiani based on his stream of the 1st 3 hours, where he seemed fairly frustrated, at least with the combat (which he did explain). But he landed on an 8, so that's cool.
Glad he didn't just write it off after his teething issues with the combat system. Great game, well deserved score.
@@TheHanleyProject Absolutely
Yeah I was scared for this game after Damiani's playthrough
Most of the Allies have a soft spot for emotional moments/atmosphere/direction in games. So gameplay frustrations can be balanced out by the positivity Damiani felt overall. Crossing my fingers Ember Labs nails down both aspects next game!
Lately I feel like a lot of Easy Allies reviews have scores that are higher than the content of the review would lead you to believe.
It screamed “7”
Same, I clearly thought that this is 7 and was surprised. Traverse - ok, Battle - ok but troubled, Hats are fun but wear off, Game is a bit buggy but ok overall, 8 for visuals and music then?
@@theme6530 Music is very very good, I would say one of the best aspects of the game. I can understand the buggy criticism but I found the battles challenging on hard.
The answer is simple imo. Kena's positive qualities are either self-explanatory (visuals, music) or spoiler-territory (heart-wrenching sequences, etc.). I don't need an extra 3 minutes of these to pad out the review to balance the pros/cons.
That and Kena's not exactly going for innovation... so most of what it does well is unnecessary to write about in detail, while flaws + criticisms obviously require more text to explain the reviewers' reasonings.
@@theme6530 I mean, yeah. It is an indie game w stellar presentation and a good story, fun exploration albiet underdeveloped gameplay. Sounds like an 8 to me.
I platinum the game and during my playthrough I probably used the heal 6 to 10 times. Unlike the people who complain about the combat I notice they are the people who never or rarely block. They try to parry or dodge everything. If you get frustrated with the combat try blocking and used the strong attack it will stun the enemy. Their is more to the game then just using light attack all day.
Also when it comes to the later bosses a lot of their attacks can be interrupted with the dash attack.
I found the game got easier in the 2nd half with all the abilities you get
@@battlep0t Yeah once you get the dash attack you can interrupt boss combos and it makes it much easier. Before that though it was dodge/block except on extremely obvious attacks where the parry comes in handy.
Great review Damiani! Though I will have to disagree on some of your criticisms of the combat. I honestly feel like most encounters are fairly well designed and thought out. I found almost all boss fights to be quite engaging that way. Bosses have many different attacks and most are telegraphed well enough that you can anticipate them and employ certain strategies. Especially later on as you gain more abilities, you can really start to mix things up. Maybe the parry timing is finicky, I honestly don't know because I hardly used it. There's so many other options you have to take down opponents that you never have to rely on the parries much, so while it could be a negative, it's not overly so imo. Also, I never had much trouble with the healing mechanic. I found it quite refreshing that they constrain your healing options so much actually. It forces you to learn the patterns and not slip up too much in fights, which makes the combat more engaging.
This is what I love out of a review - “it’s not perfect, but a great foundation.” And not just ripping on a combat system that isn’t all there
Nice! Waiting for the physical copy…in November😣.
I’m loving the game. It is a joy to play. And stunningly beautiful. But the story is where it shines. I’ve only played the first part about the brothers. And on man, did I tear up at its resolution.
Side note: the combat expands as you learn new abilities. I think it’s fun.
And yes, more uses for the crystals would be cool. Like Kena’s outfit or tools.
It never stops blowing my mind that this is Ember Lab's first game. I cannot wait for these guys to grow and develop their studio, we're looking at the first steps of a future industry powerhouse here!
It definitely shows that although this is their first game, they're not new to this kind of thing.
Just finished this the other day.
I hope if they make a sequel to this we can dive in to kena's past and hopefully more use for the crystals. Maybe they could include potions?
The channel’s name is Easy Allies but I don’t think you mentioned the easy difficulty mode? It fixes the problem you mentioned of healing being limited and difficult in battles :)
I've already beaten the game by the time this review came out and everything said is spot on. Fighting the last spirit boss (before the last boss) took me so many tries because of the parry system being way too strict, and the last boss' 3rd phase being extremely unclear what I needed to to. Only other issue is the snowy area and parts of the last boss tanked my fps for no reason where everywhere else the game ran at a smooth 60fps.
Because this game is so good looking I think some people had unreal expectations for Kena. Its an amazing achievement that such a small team has created this on their first ever release and during the pandemic too
Great review. I actually loved the combat though. But I also never attempted a parry the whole game. I look forward to their next project.
Love this game! Including the combat and boss battles
Gotta say based on the review I was expecting something lower than an 8.
With all the criticisms I was expecting a 7.0 or a 6.5.. that 8.0 came out of the bleu for me..
Thanks for this Review!
Another awesome review! This channel is pure gold! I'm impressed!
10/10 Review!
Why don’t easy allies have more subs? They’re so good!
I love the combat, Ok
Yes, the parry system is not the best but come on the boss fights were fun as hell. I beat this game on master a few days ago and mostly used double jump to dodge attacks yet keep me close to do damage.
Have waited for this review for a long time! So happy it's finally here!
Idk what you’re talking about. The combat feels absolutely fantastic. It’s way better than a lot of so-called “AAA” games.
Currently playing this game and so far totally blown away by it.
And the fact this is the first game of a studio that until now made animations mostly for commercials until they became famous with the incredible Majoras Mask Terrible Fate fanmade animation:
th-cam.com/video/vbMQfaG6lo8/w-d-xo.html
makes this even more mindblowing.
This game is GOTY material and the production values and polish are of the charts.
Something a lot of recent triple A developers can learn something from.
I look forward to their next projects.
Kena is a sign of good things to come.
I’m not having a issue with the combat. Just takes a bit of getting used to the timing. Honestly very impressed with this game feels like a very solid Modern platform but for me also has a ps2 era feel to it.
I have 0 issue with the combat. And I'm glad that normal requires you to still have to try. Especially with bosses. I don't see how that's a negative. But none the less. Nice review.
That's a high score considering what was said in the review
8.0 is a good score.
Combat system, exploration, and char customization might be simple but the beautiful world, great cinematic cut scene and story were perfect for me.
For their first game, actually this is surpassed my expectation.
Exactly. It just needs to be simple which fits in this game so well. They did a awesome job on this game
Combat was great. Challenging but satisfying as you learn. I agree with all the rest of the review.
I agree about the combat, although I don't think it's as bad as this review made it seem. Yes, it's definitely difficult, and the huge gap in how hard the fights are between normal and easy is a bit much, but I never found the boss fights (at least up to the second spirit) all that unfair. Enemies don't attack in a rhythm like in the Souls games, so it is definitely trickier to prepare for attacks. Most games that have combat like this, especially "Dark Souls" (ugh) type games have the enemies attack in a rhythm. That is absent here, which makes the combat with the bosses much harder. But other than the combat (and admittedly awkward running animation) Ember Labs' first game is fantastic! I'm excited to see what they make next!
100% agree with this review. I loved my 8 or so hours with Kena, but the boss battles were cranked a little too far towards the dark souls direction
8 Hours? You’re a wizard.
It took me 18 playing on normal and I didn’t even retry any boss more than 3 times (except the last one).
Some of those cursed chests are a doozy though.
@@mr88nyc yep you right, just checked play time and it was 11 hours
I thought Kena's combat was surprisingly good.
Some of the bosses were up there with the Souls games in terms of how engaging they were. I feel like this review was a bit too harsh on the shortcomings and didn't properly talk about its strengths either.
My goty 2021 so amazing thx for the Review ♥️Love and Respect
About fricking time! Been waiting forever for this!
Finally! Been waiting for your review
I'm working on some fan art for Kena right now ☺️☺️☺️
Un juego que hacia falta en el ecosistema de Playstation, espero que esto sea el comienzo de un nuevo estudio ember lamb 🧡 como miembro de los estudios de Playstation. Por cierto la banda sonora es una maravilla
Really enjoyed the game and disagreed with some of what was said. Great review, super honest, agree with many posts.
I’ll be back after I finish the game!
The visuals look nice.
I think now we're in the PS5/Series X gen these reviews really need to be in 4k. You really miss out on a lot of detail when only being 1080p.
4K requires access to higher end equipment, eats up a lot of hard drive space, and takes a lot more time to transfer and process footage. It's not impossible, and we have done some 4K content now and then, but reviews in particular require a ton of capture. There's a reason that not even IGN is uploading all of their reviews in 4K.
Also, while it might be second nature to you, very very few people are actually watching in 4K. -Bloodworth
The problem is most people don't have 4k monitors, even 1080p isn't entirely universal yet.
I like the visuals, but I'm a bit put off by what appear to be unskippable walking sections. I hate walking sections, and they always ruin every game they appear in.
8.5 / 10 for me. Really good game.
Was waiting for this.
Looks like a definite buy (if I can I ever find a PS5). Still, I wish Nintendo would’ve contracted them to make a Zelda movie after their Majora’s Mask short film. Very talented studio.
It is also available on PC and PS4
I Would Like To See A 2🙏🏾😎
This Game Is Amazing And Beautiful 👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾💯 I Love It..Right Up My Alley✊🏾.. Beautiful Landscapes...Puzzles.. Cool Abilities..Boss Fights...Sweet Ass Environments💪🏾😎💯..Shit..I Give It An...🤔 Hmmmmm...8/10 Easy👌🏾..And I'm Not Even Finished The Game Yet
Paused at 3:41, look at right side of the screen..."next gen".
Review sounded like a 7 or 7,5 which is fair considering reviews are subjective for a large part. But since the consensus from other reviewers is around 8 or higher I understand why you wouldn't want to go that ' low' . It would have made for a very critical comment section. At least, thats my theory
I don't think Damiani or any other easy allies reviewer lets that kind of thinking influence a score.
L&R.
This game is fantastic! I am loving it 😊
Sadly I dropped this game, just thought it was a little shallow for me... Would love to see these dudes leverage their insane animation skill more...! Gameplay might not be their forte
Great review! It pretty much sums up my feelings about the game perfectly! Had a fun time with it but definitely has opportunities for improvement in balancing the combat.
The story never grabbed me at all, gameplay is what kept me playing
'Pikmin-like'. Put it in the dictionary.
The review led me to believe in a score of 6-7 instead of what it actually got..
Yeah I'm usually not one to nitpick the score vs. the review but that just doesn't make sense.
Sounds like instead of complaining about the boss fights, someone just needs to GET GOOD!!!
The rots remind me of Boobah
Good game but developers should’ve done a better job with sense of direction. I’ve gotten lost and gone to TH-cam one too many times.
💙
If the main issue with combat is that it is difficult... then that seems kind of subjective?
Idk, maybe there were other issues that I failed to pick up from the review, but you wouldnt go around faulting dark souls for its difficulty, so why this?
It's not as simple as difficult or not difficult. If it's hard because of cheap shots, unintuitive timing, poor camera mechanics, or other fumbling controls, that's different from a game where you feel like you're learning and can see where you can improve. And as Damiani mentioned, it's really a lack of middle-ground, it's either too easy or too punishing, depending on your setting. You can disagree with any of that of course, but that's the point he's trying to get across. -Bloodworth
Maybe thats why...you know...reviews are subjective....?
I agree on the healing mechanic, I think if you just got a certain amount of heals in each fight that it would be a much better system. I'm also surprised Damiani didn't mention the last boss, on hard difficulty it was the most frustrating thing in the entire game.
I think the thing with Dark Souls is, people generally understand why they died and they know it's their fault, seems like Damiani was fighting things in this game in a way he didn't appreciate.
Better late than never 🤷🏼♂️
I love every part of this game but the voice acting is weird. It's not bad but it sounds like the sound isn't mixed right or something. Aside from that though, I think it might be my GotY. Combat is deceptively difficult.
Jesus Fucking Christ.... apparently easy allies only know the 8.0 score for almost all the reviews.
Sounds like whoever played this game sucked at it and put their frustration into the review. The difficulty was nice, and made this game one not for kids. What you were saying about the game didn’t match the 8 out of 10. I give the game an 8.5 but you really didn’t talk about the important elements, just the parts you didn’t like. You guys have fantastic reviews but sounds like someone else on the team should have reviewed this one
Unfair accusation. I have seen tons of people complain about the difficulty and I personally agree as well. The balance seems very off and the easiest mode is too easy, while the difficulty above it, can be pretty ridiculous at times. This to me was one of the most frustrating games to play (at certain parts) in a long time. Not even talking about some of the, almost, game breaking bugs but mainly about the battle system. Granted, I still think the game is great, especially as a debut indie game.
But even with From Software games, I had a better learning curve, while I struggled to dodge and parry and still did when I finished the game, as have many other people. It's also hard to ignore that I could turn off my brain when picking the easiest difficulty, while picking the difficulty above would make me die over and over again at certain boss fights, which to me shows that they haven't done a great job at balancing difficulty settings and visually communicating certain attacks well enough.
Sounds like a 7 from the review
Sounded like an 8 to me.
Your reviews are the only reason I come to this channel now. The rest is pretty meh.
This somehow reminds me of Kameo: Elements of Power.
Berry noice
So kena gets 8 and the shitty psychonauts 2 gets 9
No, Psychonauts 2 got a 9.5. -Bloodworth
@@EasyAllies 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
8 feels like a fair score considering the criticism leveled at the game in this review. Not sure why you're bringing up another game either.
@@EasyAllies LOOOOOOOOOL
@@EasyAllies This was the perfect response. GJ Blood
The score is too high for the amount of criticism given
the review gave me a 6.5 or maybe a 7 vibe lol
Kena is a really stunning game visually but I found it to be rather flat. Yes it plays nicely too but it's just forgettable to me which is a shame.
I finally played this game and was raging about the healing mechanic in those boss battles AND the parry and I came to this review just to see if anything was said about this... and it was like verbatim, great review. I definitely think a next effort is likely to be great from these dudes.
This review seemed overly negative. While I don't disagree with what's been said, it didn't balance these criticisms with all of what the game did right. Usually I'm a fan of Easy Allies reviews, but not this time.
@0:35
So it had me hooked on the art style, the character looked good... but then the story happened. Wow, I'm supposed to want play this thing? Why? That narrative sounds absolutely shit. It seems tailor made for people who enjoy wallowing in self-pity, victimhood & pseudo intellectualism.
Like a more colourful version of Hellblade.
A lot of people are comparing this to Zelda, and I don't know anybody who plays the Zelda games for their stories. This game isn't a RPG. It's an action adventure game developed by an indie studio.
@@forkymental5154 Still, whether it's like Zelda or more of an action adventure (or a shooter or a literal survival horror) I always a prefer a traditional hero's journey which takes me into another world & doesn't remind me of this world's problems (unless it's done really well & asks smart questions).
The way this game's narrative is described sounds extremely dull.
This game, while not "bad" was still a HUGE letdown. The atrocious platforming and garbage difficulty spikes alone make it a 6/10 for me. Still pretty good for a studio's first outing. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Hopefully they learn from their many missteps
ya boo bay
Temple OS
A little sad to hear, but as good review nonetheless. I'll be sitting this one out.
I can't be the only one who thinks this game looks very generic, right? Both art and gameplay wise it feels like the most basic fantasy setting imaginable, combined with a faux-Pixar look.
It's crazy how good the game looks until you jump or attack. Alot of animations are amateur
i dont like the pixar look
Yeah this seems to be another Witcher 3 situation. Everything else looks great but mediocre combat that is considererd bad in the eyes of amazing games such as Bloodborne and DMC5. Pass for me.
the combat is 10 000 times more responsive and rewarding than Witcher 3, even mroe than the DLCs that adjusted a lot of things. Damiani failed over and over against one of the earliest bosses on the game even in story difficulty on stream whereas bosman and pretty much every other stream i watched either did it on the first try or had a few attempts. it was not a problem of design.
If you're going to compare every game's combat to Bloodborne and DMC5 and skip everything that doesn't reach that benchmark, you're gonna play very few games in your whole life.
@@DAnderMcSullivan I know kena isn't exactly a hack n slash but its a 3rd person melee action game and it looks underwhelming. I play other genres as well. Shooters, turn based, platformers. I got standards for all those too. Kena just doesnt meet mine for its genre.
I found Witcher 3's combat much worse, there never was a ton of control over the animations that Geralt did as he swung his sword. You don't have that in Kena, it's very deliberate. There is just some frustration around the healing mechanics for me.
Combat was more fluid, and enjoyable than witcher, i'm already finished the game but now i want to ga back to all boss fight and kick their ass allover again 😁