Tales of Kenzera: ZAU preview: a powerful and emotional Metroidvania experience

A heartwrenching story, wonderful visuals, incredibly epic music, and more wrapped with smooth and fun gameplay: It’s only been a few hours since we’ve started playing Surgent Studios’ debut title, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, and already it’s become an enthralling and outstanding experience that wears its passion on its sleeves.

Originally announced during the 2023 Game Awards at the end of last year, Kenzera was presented to us as an extremely personal project of Abubakar Salim, who previously voiced the protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Origins before jumping into the director’s chair by creating his own studio. A Metroidvania game at its core, while we expected lots of combat and exploration as is typical of the genre, what we were met with instead was a captivating story all about grief and love, of the passing of a parent and a young boy’s journey of self-discovery and comfort through a story in a book and those who surround him. It’s all much more emotional and story-heavy than what most people are used to, but that is exactly why we think it has enormous potential to become a complete hit.

A tale of grief and growth

Tales of Kenzera: Zau tells the story of Zuberi, a young boy who’s left grieving the sudden death of his father. While clearly in despair and harrowed, he finds a way to connect with his parent through a book that was left for him. In it, he finds a tale of a young shaman called Zau who is himself dealing with the death of his father, except he goes on a quest to make a deal with the god of Death to bring back his father, no matter the price.

From the very start of the game, it’s clear that the parallel stories of Zuberi and Zau are what the focus of the game are. It’s no secret that the director was inspired by the passing of his own father to create this game as both a tribute and his own way to process grief, and in this way the title is incredibly emotionally charged at every moment. The story presents grief in very human ways, even when one of the main characters is out fighting gods and primal creatures that defy traditional logic. From anger and sorrow, to the incredible pain of losing such an important person in your life, every aspect of Zau is drenched in this exploration of loss and personal growth.

Full screen

Of special note is the voice acting, as the entirety of the game is performed by an incredible cast of talented individuals (including Salim as Zau himself). Each scene so far makes an impact due to the various actors involved in giving life to the characters you meet during the story. Protagonists in video game tend to be one note only, typically incredibly stoic or very dark and moody throughout their entire adventures. But Zau instead is harsh, rough character at the beginning of the story because of his suffering, who little by little starts to warm up to his companion (the god of Death itself) and reveal what grief has covered almost entirely.

Dance the pain away

Besides an incredibly well crafted story and presentation, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a Metroidvania through and through. For the vast majority of this title you’ll be exploring a massive world, making your way through wonderful lands, powerful vistas and meeting friends, but most importantly: foes.

Which is a good thing because combat in Kenzera is incredibly fun. Called “the dance of the shaman”, fighting in this game is built around the power of the Mask of the Moon and the Mask of the Sun, and your character’s ability to harness their abilities while swapping between the two to adapt to every situation in battle.

Full screen

The Sun mask gives Zau a melee moveset, granting him quick melee combos and powerful strikes, all of which can result in you juggling enemies in the air and setting them up for follow-ups with the other mask. The Moon mask, on the other hand, gives you ranged attacks that fire fast projectiles at a safe distance. You’re encouraged to master both styles and switch them up constantly during combat (this being the titular “dance”) to uconjure up some deeply satisfying combos.

While it’s not exactly the most difficult and impossible fights, combat is still pretty challenging so far. A good way to describe them would be as a mixture of Hollow Knight and Devil May Cry: it’s got the sidescrolling action of the first, but somehow mixes up the adrenaline-pumping style of the combat of the second. This, accompanied by the presence of separate upgrade trees and unlockable skills that help you both expand your toolkit in combat and explore the world by doubling as movement and utility, means that Tales of Kenzera:ZAU has plenty to capture the attention of action game fans.

More than a simple Metroidvania

Perhaps you’ve written off Kenzera as “just another Metroidvania”, rightfully as the market has been flooded with many entries of the genre. Many have been stellar, others not so much, but the reality is that with so many games having released in huge density during the past few months (and even more on the horizon) perhaps this wasn’t on your radar as much as it should be. We’re here to tell you that, at least for its opening hours, this is a journey that is 100% worth diving into.

Full screen

Besides the powerful story and its extremely fun combat and exploration, the world of Kenzera comes to life with an incredibly vibrant and colorful design that is seldom seen in the industry as of late. The land you explore is full of life and color, from the lush forests you begin the story that sees you exploring the epic treetops of Baobab trees, to the more desertic areas of the world. Each aspect of it is taken from real-life inspiration, coming from African folklore and mythology that hasn’t been truly explored in this art form as much as it should be.

Compounding on the visual aspect is the music and sound design of the title.The soundtrack, composed by Nainita Desai, is absolutely mesmerizing with its featuring of authentic Bantu African instruments mixed with modern styles of music. The choir (which also worked on Marvel Studios’ Black Panther) contributed to the recording alongside musicians from all over the world, which has resulted in extremely moving and epic compositions. It’s even been revealed that the soundtrack is getting a full release after the game’s launch, with it being available on streaming services as well.

Full screen

With its compelling narrative, engaging gameplay mechanics, and vibrant world, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU stands poised to captivate both seasoned adventurers and newcomers to the Metroidvania genre alike. As players embark on Zau’s journey of self-discovery and redemption, they’ll find themselves immersed in a rich tapestry of emotion and action, bound together by the universal themes of love, loss, and resilience. This is one tale you won’t want to miss out on when it finally releases on April 23, 2024.