Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Review (PS5) | Push Square

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There's something about playing Tales of Kenzera: ZAU that never feels quite right. Whether it's the slow, sluggish controls or frustratingly frequent one-hit kills, reaching any sort of flow state where you're vibing and jiving with the latest EA Originals title is nigh-on impossible. It's a very stop-start experience at odds with the usual hallmarks of the Metroidvania genre, instead spotlighting a touching, personal tale of parental loss. Such a heavy narrative focus is no bad thing, but with little gameplay satisfaction to count on between plot points, it feels so lopsided that anything else comes across as an afterthought.

By definition, the debut title from Surgent Studios is a Metroidvania game, but only in the loosest terms. You'll explore a reasonably sized map encompassing different areas and regions while unlocking a handful of new abilities, secrets, and shortcuts. Two skill trees enhance your combat techniques, then persistent platforming sections navigate you to objectives and optional challenges. That description could be applied to many Metroidvania greats like Hollow Knight and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, but the issue with Tales of Kenzera is it doesn't lean into these features anywhere near enough.

It's a very basic take on the genre, to the point where it might have been better off as a more straightforward action platformer so such comparisons would be moot. Rarely are new skills teased through inaccessible passages, never will its platforming really challenge you. The game's not completely devoid of such elements, though what is there won't prove particularly satisfying — it works a lot better as an introduction to Metroidvanias than anything else.

Instead, the title is made up of numerous singular paths that occasionally break off into optional impasses with a secret at the end, and combat encounters. Main character Zau utilises them on a quest to claim his father's spirit back from the dead; a story personal to Surgent Studios founder