Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU review shaped by grief and love [Video]

EA presents a new indie Metroidvania with a very personal theme and setting, as it explores issues of loss in a fantastical African setting.

Although there’s usually only one reason why big budget video games are made there’s often a more interesting story behind indie titles. Developer Surgent Studios’ founder, Abubakar Salim (who voiced Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins), saw making this game as a way of dealing with the loss of his father, and so Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU focuses on a shaman who has also just been bereaved.

The shaman’s reaction to his loss is to make a deal with Kalunga, the god of death, who quickly hands over the two masks that form that basis of the game’s combat. A 2.5D Metroidvania steeped in African folklore, Tales Of Kenzera is at once both familiar and interestingly unique in its presentation and setting.

The Mask of the Moon offers ranged and ice attacks, while The Mask of the Sun …