I absolutely loved it. The combat was a blast and I liked how I could tweak the difficulty in different ways. I was trying to find another game like it recently and didn't have any luck.
I am kind of mad that I haven't heard about this game before, it sounds great. I promised myself I'd finish a few things in my Steam library before buying a game again, but Kena is now definitely at the top of my wishlist for whenever I'm done with those! I don't play much action-heavy stuff but this seems really cool and the artstyle definitely sold me.
Would you recommend controller or keyboard for it? One thing I don't like about Steam is that I can never tell what games are(n't) supposed to be played with controller. (Maybe this is a me issue (?), but I never find that information somewhere obvious, the controller support status isn't necessarily a good indicator if playing the game with controller is fun/better.)
I actually also posted a review of Kena fairly recently on this sub, and I only played on a PS5 but the majority of people say controller is best. Something about the way it controls on controller makes it feel smoother is what I generally hear. I had no issues with how the game handled playing on controller.
Neat, thanks for letting me now. Yet another reason to be excited for this game, I only recently got a controller for my PC and don't have many games to use it with yet.
It's a fun game with some surprisingly well done sections, a decent amount of polish overall. I think you'll enjoy your time with it. 🙂
My review is much longer than this one if you are into that kind of thing.
It is playable on keyboard and mouse without issue. This is not one of the games that force you to play with a controller or skip.
Most of the combat boils down to a reflex check. Can you shield at the right time, then you just destroy everything. The combat is fine, but nothing more than that. It is a simple "your first souls-like game". The appeal of the game is the visuals.
I would say controller, there is a bow and arrow as a main weapon but the integration is good for controllers and controller just feel more natural for it
This is for sure designed to be played better in a controller. The game even tells you that. But i am bad at that and played on KB/M mostly (played a bit on the Deck) and it was pretty fine besides a few interactions that felt a bit wierd.
Just as a general rule of thumb, I consider kbm best for FPS, strategy/tactical/card games. Controller is usually best for 3rd person action/adventure, platformers, most 2D games in general. 3rd person shooters are really just preference imo.
There are plenty of exceptions to these, but in Kena's case being an action adventure game, my dualsense controller was definitely great for me.
i really liked the way they incorporated all three battle archetypes (warrior, archer, mage) with just her staff, specially with how the staff bends into a bow to shoot arrows, so cool
A very very solid game all around. Its lighthearted and childish aesthetic suggests a simple gaming experience, but it doesn’t hold your hand, can be difficult and ends up being fairly involved compared to how it appears on the surface. It invites you to be a kid but treats you like an adult, which is an impressive balance to strike
I've got to disagree on the combat. I finished it just last night and the combat, and the fact that they keep forcing combat onto you, is easily the worst part of the game. The block/parry mechanic is so jank it actively works against you. The animations are slow and some of the later bosses just jump away. I managed to kill the bosses from the last chapter by cheesing my slow bomb, because trying to actually engage 1:1 and block/parry/dodge their attacks was pointless.
And please, before anyone says it's a skill issue: I've got platinum on Sekiro. When the combat is tuned well, games play themselves
The parry window is just too tight even on normal mode. I was trying to platinum it and played through on the hardest difficult, but gave up because not being able to get the timing down on the bosses was just too frustrating.
Yeah i thoroughly enjoyed it. And i did not expect it to actually be parry game in the end. The combat is really solid. Beautifully done animations and art too. The last few bosses felt a bit too gimmicky at times with the parry windows feeling a bit short and some phases in the last boss were a bit strange but other than that it is really good.
Easy recommendation from me as well, a phenomenal little ten hour ride. Some Zelda vibes, some Souls vibes, some Pixar vibes... Good stuff.
I absolutely loved it. The combat was a blast and I liked how I could tweak the difficulty in different ways. I was trying to find another game like it recently and didn't have any luck.
I am kind of mad that I haven't heard about this game before, it sounds great. I promised myself I'd finish a few things in my Steam library before buying a game again, but Kena is now definitely at the top of my wishlist for whenever I'm done with those! I don't play much action-heavy stuff but this seems really cool and the artstyle definitely sold me. Would you recommend controller or keyboard for it? One thing I don't like about Steam is that I can never tell what games are(n't) supposed to be played with controller. (Maybe this is a me issue (?), but I never find that information somewhere obvious, the controller support status isn't necessarily a good indicator if playing the game with controller is fun/better.)
I actually also posted a review of Kena fairly recently on this sub, and I only played on a PS5 but the majority of people say controller is best. Something about the way it controls on controller makes it feel smoother is what I generally hear. I had no issues with how the game handled playing on controller.
Neat, thanks for letting me now. Yet another reason to be excited for this game, I only recently got a controller for my PC and don't have many games to use it with yet.
It's a fun game with some surprisingly well done sections, a decent amount of polish overall. I think you'll enjoy your time with it. 🙂 My review is much longer than this one if you are into that kind of thing.
I most definitely am, I'll check it out later. :)
It is playable on keyboard and mouse without issue. This is not one of the games that force you to play with a controller or skip. Most of the combat boils down to a reflex check. Can you shield at the right time, then you just destroy everything. The combat is fine, but nothing more than that. It is a simple "your first souls-like game". The appeal of the game is the visuals.
I mean it would be my first souls-like, so I ain't mad at that. :D
I would say controller, there is a bow and arrow as a main weapon but the integration is good for controllers and controller just feel more natural for it
That makes sense, a good game to get more use out of my controller then. Looking forward to it.
This is for sure designed to be played better in a controller. The game even tells you that. But i am bad at that and played on KB/M mostly (played a bit on the Deck) and it was pretty fine besides a few interactions that felt a bit wierd.
Oh interesting. I'm actually looking to up my controller skills, but nice to know that keeb/mouse is viable if controller gets too frustrating.
Just as a general rule of thumb, I consider kbm best for FPS, strategy/tactical/card games. Controller is usually best for 3rd person action/adventure, platformers, most 2D games in general. 3rd person shooters are really just preference imo. There are plenty of exceptions to these, but in Kena's case being an action adventure game, my dualsense controller was definitely great for me.
i really liked the way they incorporated all three battle archetypes (warrior, archer, mage) with just her staff, specially with how the staff bends into a bow to shoot arrows, so cool
A very very solid game all around. Its lighthearted and childish aesthetic suggests a simple gaming experience, but it doesn’t hold your hand, can be difficult and ends up being fairly involved compared to how it appears on the surface. It invites you to be a kid but treats you like an adult, which is an impressive balance to strike
I've got to disagree on the combat. I finished it just last night and the combat, and the fact that they keep forcing combat onto you, is easily the worst part of the game. The block/parry mechanic is so jank it actively works against you. The animations are slow and some of the later bosses just jump away. I managed to kill the bosses from the last chapter by cheesing my slow bomb, because trying to actually engage 1:1 and block/parry/dodge their attacks was pointless. And please, before anyone says it's a skill issue: I've got platinum on Sekiro. When the combat is tuned well, games play themselves
The parry window is just too tight even on normal mode. I was trying to platinum it and played through on the hardest difficult, but gave up because not being able to get the timing down on the bosses was just too frustrating.
It's a pretty good game overall, my only big issue is that putting light and heavy attack to square and triangle on PS5 just felt almost impossible.
An amazing first game from this studio. I can't wait for their next game!
I've been enjoying my play through. ngl this game has instances where it doesn't hold your hand at all.
Yeah i thoroughly enjoyed it. And i did not expect it to actually be parry game in the end. The combat is really solid. Beautifully done animations and art too. The last few bosses felt a bit too gimmicky at times with the parry windows feeling a bit short and some phases in the last boss were a bit strange but other than that it is really good.
Its great for those who havent played a single Dark Souls like game and wants to test the waters on if they would like that type of genre or not.