Tales of Kenzera: Zau Review Thread

[John Elden Ring]

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Game Information​

Game Title: Tales of Kenzera: Zau
Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (Apr 23, 2024)
• PlayStation 5 (Apr 23, 2024)
• PC (Apr 23, 2024)
• Nintendo Switch (Apr 23, 2024)

Trailers:

• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer
• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Official Reveal Trailer

Developer: Surgent Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Review Aggregator:


OpenCritic - 73 average - 80% recommended

Metacritic - 74 Based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews​

Atarita - Eren Eroğlu - Turkish - 80 / 100

With an emotional story, fluid gameplay and beautiful visuals, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an adventure that will take you on a journey to faraway lands.

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But Why Tho? - Kate Sanchez - 10 / 10

Legends of Kenzera: ZAU is a triumph of storytelling. It's immersive and thoughtful in every element of Zau's journey. But the narrative, for all of its impact, doesn't stand alone. Instead, the difficulty and complexity of traversing Kenzera complement and add a tactile nature to the emotional endeavor of moving through grief.

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COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 80 / 100

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Cinelinx - Becky O'Brien - 4 / 5

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU offers players a gorgeous world and captivating story, but some of the gameplay challenges might prevent you from seeing it all.

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Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 3.5 / 5

Tales of Kenzera: Zau tells an emotionally impactful story reinforced by creative design decisions that put a physical feeling to abstract emotions. Its struggles lie in its approach to the Metroidvania genre, as its surprisingly straightforward structure sometimes undercuts the winding tale of acceptance. It’s an imperfect debut, but that’s fitting for a game about something as messy as grief.

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Easy Allies - Daniel Bloodworth - 7.5 / 10

While there’s certainly more to be desired in terms of exploration and discovery, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a solid first take from Surgent Studios... There’s clearly a lot of love put in from the team, and that passion comes through in every aspect of its presentation.

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GAMES.CH - Sönke Siemens - German - 81%

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GameSpot - Jordan Ramée - 8 / 10

Surgent Studios' debut game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, is another incredible EA Originals title.

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Gameblog - French - 8 / 10

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GamingTrend - Jack Zustiak - 70 / 100

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU rests on a solid foundation, yet prioritizes its narrative at the expense of its game design. Rather than allowing its gameplay and narrative to support each other, it discards some of the medium's unique strengths for a competent if bland experience that fails to give full weight to its subject matter.

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Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 7 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU doesn’t reinvent the metroidvania genre and if anything, is quite watered-down. However, its emotional story and refreshing African influence deliver a surprising yet short game that I high recommend you all play at least once.

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God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 8.5 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a well-made, confident adventure with some great voice-acting, and fluid, addictive platforming.

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IGN Italy - Diego Cinelli - Italian - 6.5 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a video game with su much heart... enclosed in an imperfect container. Moving within the various regions of Kenzera is a pleasure, but for a good part of the game the combat remains more of a burden than a pleasure. When things finally start to get more complicated the adventure finally seems to take off, but unfortunately this happens far too late.

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One More Game - Vincent Ternida - 7 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: Zau, as a narrative-driven adventure, is a must-play due to its unique lore, world, and memorable characters that keep you engaged until the end. However, as a Metroidvania, it doesn't offer too many innovations but rather more of the already established foundations of the genre, such as moderately challenging platforming, basic combat, and little else in the way of new skills and exploration.
It is a short and sweet indie game that respects your time, and, with a friendly price point, it's definitely a great meditative weekend adventure to get into that gives you some exhilarating 2D action while exploring some aspects of grief and identity that only Tales of Kenzera: Zau can offer in its unique presentation.

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PCMag - 4 / 5

Tales of Kenzera: Zau builds upon the Metroidvania formula to deliver exciting action, emotional storytelling, and African cultural specificity.

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PSX Brasil - Portuguese - 85 / 100

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Press Start - Kieron Verbrugge - 8 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an earnest first video game effort from a studio that's destined for great things. Weak exploration and a lack of combat variety are minor flaws in an overall package that offers up fluid platforming, some great gameplay hooks, an emotionally-resonant story and a rich tapestry of sights and sounds that's like little else in the space. It's almost the perfect pairing to the recent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, offering a succinct and approachable take on the concept that offers even more story, worldbuilding and visual flair.

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Push Square - Liam Croft - 5 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU tells a touching, personal story of family, grief, and loss, but it's wrapped up in a game that makes appreciating that narrative a lot harder than it should be. A Metroidvania in only the most basic of ways, its combat and platforming are spoilt by basic design and structure, as well as controller issues and frustrating one-hit kills. At its best when left to simply tell its story, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU falters once you have to start playing.

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Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Unscored

Tales Of Kenzera has a sensitive story and is beautifully designed, with an intriguing world to explore - but some imprecision lets it down in the platforming and combat. It's still more than worth a go for players looking for something fresh.

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Shacknews - Ozzie Mejia - 8 / 10

As a story of loss, grief, and acceptance, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a game like few out there. It's short and, in some ways, it can be basic. Given the story that it's telling, that's just fine.

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Spaziogames - Italian - 7 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is a metroidvania enjoyable for both casual and hardcore players, as long as you don't expect a complex gameplay or huge replayability.

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TheSixthAxis - Adrian Burrows - 5 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is an ambitious game, and this kind of endeavour should be applauded and encouraged. Seeking to harness the difficult topic of grief in the form of a Metroidvania was always a big ask. Unfortunately, on this occasion, it proved a challenge that simply hasn't been met.

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VGC - Jordan Middler - 3 / 5

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU feels like a studio stretching its legs for the first time. Visually inventive, and full of great platforming, average combat and exploration lets it down

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VideoGamer - Antony Terence - 8 / 10

In Tales of Kenzera: Zau, grief and acceptance tug at your heart between bouts of refined combat and slick traversal. While seasoned Metroidvania fans will want more diversions and mystique, the game’s platforming abilities and challenges do justice to its setting.

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WellPlayed - James Wood - 8 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU infuses the action platformer with earnest, emotional storytelling and a vibrant, compelling world to explore.

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XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.5 / 10

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is a triumphant debut for Surgent Studios. At $20, and available on day one for PlayStation+ subscribers, any fan of the action-platformer genre would do well to check it out. Zau’s journey through loss will stick with me for a long time, and the excellent gameplay already has me itching to play through it all again.

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