Tales of Kenzera: Zau (2024) review

How can I help to say goodbye? It’s okay to hurt, and it’s okay to cry.

– Patty Loveless

There are plenty of games that serve as an escape from reality. So when one comes that forces introspection, it’s important to take notice. Tales of Kenzera: Zau does just that. A short indie game released as an EA Original in April of 2024, the game tells the tale of Zuberi, a young man grieving the loss of his father. At a loss for words, he is presented with a story his father had been writing before his passing—almost as though he knew his son would need one last lesson. It is this story that we get to experience.

The tale of Zau is that of a young shaman whose father passed away. In anger he calls out to Kalunga, the god of death, to make a trade. He will guide three great spirits to the other side, and in return Kalunga will return his father. What follows is a short and fairly standard Metroidvania game. You run, jump and platform your way around the map, battling enemies with your shaman powers on your way through the three main acts. Zau has two masks, the sun and the moon, each granting different abilities. The sun mask gives ferocious melee attacks, while the moon mask provides long ranged missiles. Several shaman shrines throughout the game will enhance these masks and Zau with different abilities, such as a spear granting the sun a ranged attack, or the ability to freeze water with the moon mask. Defeating enemies or meeting certain requirements will charge up a spirit gauge that can be used for either healing or to unleash special ultimate moves that change based on the mask you are using. The main issue is that you only get two charges until very late in the game, which means you have to sacrifice your ability to heal or the use of super abilities. This does become much easier late-game with special trinkets, but it was a thorn in the side for most of the game.

Charging up spirit energy allows you to clear large groups

There are only a small handful of enemy types, and the game tries to make up for the lack of variety by throwing large numbers at you in small spaces, often with various shields. This causes combat to fluctuate between monotonous when facing small groups and unnecessarily hectic in larger fights. The game features several simple puzzles that will feel familiar to anyone that’s played the genre before. While some bosses can be challenging, most of the difficulty comes from navigating the abundance of insta-kill hazards the game is absolutely littered with. This was my largest issue with the game as even coming close to grazing these hazards leads to death. This led to a lot of frustration and some areas just being skipped because it wasn’t worth the trouble. Outside of that there are some animation lock and camera glitches, but for the most part the game runs smoothly. It’s simple and engaging gameplay that doesn’t really try to innovate the genre.

The world design is colorful and lively. Filled with bubbling swamps,  volcanoes, dry mountains and dark mines. Backgrounds are well detailed, fitting perfectly with each area really giving a feeling that this is a cohesive world. Tales of Kenzera has a beautiful and clean art style that is easy on the eyes. The stand out to me however, was the music and voice acting. Musically, Zau is inspired by African tribal music with dashes of synth and techno, it does what good music should do by enhancing the ambiance while not being overbearing. Combat themes are bombastic with constant drum lines that fit the frenetic combat. The exploration music is tailored to each region. The synth music is prevalent here, with light drums accentuated with woodwinds and chimes. It’s a charming soundtrack that is present enough to enhance the game and I never got tired of listening to it. Combat sounds and voice lines are easily discernable giving a great all-around audio blend. The voice actors invest a lot of heart into the characters. Zau and Kalunga share several tense moments of anger, compassion, sadness and fond remembrance. The excellent writing and voice acting made Zau an easy character to root for and his growth throughout the journey was impressive considering the short run time.

Beautifully detailed environments

When I say this is a story we get to experience, I mean it in a literal sense. The game’s narrative hammers home the notion of grieving, finding peace, healing, and moving on. Each act serves as a direct lesson to both Zau and the player. Act one is the message that death is a painful and unfortunate part of life. Parents pass away leaving their traditions and responsibilities to their children. Act 2 speaks to avoiding the inevitable. As Zau finds a friend that is ill and dives headlong into his work to find a cure, despite Kalunga repeatedly pressing that Zau is wasting what little time left he has with a loved one while focusing too hard on his work—only for Zau to once again be forced to deal with the fear and confusion that comes with loss. Act 3 is a message of forgiveness, a note from father to son about the dangers of harboring anger at the universe. Throughout this journey we are treated to Zau fondly reminiscing about his time with his father, be it the smell of  burning incense, the sight of a group of fireflies, or a path they would frequent on their travels. Meanwhile, Kalunga gently peels away the layers of anger from the boy, encouraging him to sit and find peace.

It’s so hard to say goodbye

On a personal note, this game struck me in a way I was not expecting. When my mother died in 2019, I let myself cry, let my children see me cry. I wanted my boys to see it’s okay to not be okay. But after the funeral I hid away from it. It would be four years before I returned to my old home or visited her gravesite. I had accepted she was gone but there was a threshold I couldn’t cross. Throughout this journey with Zau I found myself reminiscing about my own travels with my mother at my side. The late-night calls, the inside jokes, the furious Tetris tournaments, the sacrifices she made so her children would never know how bad things were. While I was talking to my wife, she remarked that I was suddenly talking about things I had avoided for years. The journey alongside Zau helped me find that peace, and while the game is far from perfect, it accomplishes that which it sets out to do. The wonderful thing about art is that it transcends barriers be those racial, political, cultural, or religious. I didn’t resonate with the mythology of Kenzera but I didn’t need to. I felt Zau’s heartache and through that connection, I found a bit of peace myself.

PIXEL PERFECT

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