*Editors Note: “After review I did a bit more research on the PS4 version of Kena: Bridge of Spirits on PS5 and it does use PS5’s Game Boost, however, that only stabilizes the 30fps framerate. Version Limitation: While it runs better, it remains the PS4 version, meaning it lacks the higher-resolution textures, improved lighting, and increased vegetation density found in the native PS5 version. I did go back and look at the screenshot resolution and it is 1440p which would mean it is running the PS4 Pro version, which uses a dynamic 1440p resolution and has slightly better shadows and vegetation than the base PS4. However, this does not change my thoughts on the Switch 2’s visuals and that it should be able to run as well as the PS4 Pro version.”

Kena: Scars of Kosmora was just recently announced at the PlayStation State of Play, and it looks fantastic! From even the little bit they had shown it looks like Ember Labs is expanding on so much and even improving on the things we had issues with for the original game which you can read here. What better way to also drum up some hype than by releasing the original on the Nintendo Switch 2 to hopefully capture a newer audience. While Scars of Kosmora wasn’t announced for Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2, I’m sure it will come later after the exclusivity deal. As far as content goes this is the same as the Xbox Series X|S release with the Anniversary content and New Game+. There is nothing new added for the Switch 2.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits follows the story of Kena, a spirit guide in search of the sacred Mountain Shrine. During your quest you will run into many different characters, some joyful, some angry, and some just lost on their path to afterlife. Being a spirit guide you must help the trapped spirits that are within a forgotten village in order to make it to the Mountain Shrine. With the help of some adorable, yet very powerful, forest spirits, Kena will fight through vengeful spirits and cleanse the corruption that is plaguing the village.

As I mentioned before, this is just a straight port to the Switch 2, so I won’t be going into all the nitty gritty details of the gameplay and how I felt about them. Content wise and mechanically everything remained the same, for good and bad. This review will just be going into the main differences I noticed between what I played originally on the PS5 back, and what I have recently played and compared this version to on the PS4 as well. Since the content remains the same, most of the changes here come from the visuals.

When I first started up Kena: Bridge of Spirits on the Switch 2 I very quickly felt like something was off. There was definitely one aspect of the original game that I didn’t criticize, and that was the visuals. As I kept playing I was thinking to myself, maybe I was remember the game just being prettier than I remember. Rose-tinted glasses, if you will. However, it was definitely more than that, so I even brought in my wife who loved the game as well to take a look. She also agreed that it just wasn’t looking how we remembered. Well, this got me into detective mode and I went to my PS5, and redownloaded the PS4 version of the game because I wanted to take some comparison shots of a few areas.

Well, what I found kind of shocked me. With how well the Switch 2 has been handling newer AAA games and pushing really good visuals, I was kind of shocked that this version. Is an all around downgrade to even the PS4 version of the game in regard to the visuals. I tested out a few difference locations, tested it out with the Switch 2 in handheld and docked as well. I know sometimes the Switch 2 will dial back certain things while handheld so I wanted to get the same shots with it docked as well to compare it to the PS4 counterpart.

The first thing that was very noticeable was the lighting. There is a clear downgrade in the lighting and how the god rays come through the trees to light up a scene. They are noticeably softer instead of the intense rays that pierced through on the original that helped bring the forest to life. Shadows and hair on both Kena and the cute little Rots have a heavily diffused, pixelated look to it which makes everything look choppy. The PS4 version also has a bit of this, but even that has sharper shadows.

The diffused pixelated shadow issue is extra distracting while sprinting with Kena. Kena has a very nice sprinting animation with a lot of her clothes and satchel moving around on her which cast shadows, and with this issue there is a lot of blurring and mess all over her while she runs. It just doesn’t look good. Another large issue that I noticed was with foliage. There is a big drop in foliage quality and density going from Switch 2 handheld, to docked, and even docked there is still less foliage than the PS4 version. There also seems to be a lack of depth of field in certain scenes which you can see below with this shot. The PS4 has the back blurred out in order to focus on the adorable Rot, and the Switch doesn’t.

The only thing that the Switch 2 version has on par with the PS4 version is the draw distance, which is not great in either version. Large sweeping vistas are marred with flat trees, and bad textures. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed here. One of the most attractive things about Kena: Bridge of Spirits was its visuals and strong art direction and the fact the Switch 2 isn’t even on par with the PS4 version is shocking. It doesn’t support any performance or quality modes either.

Now, I won’t sit here and say that the game is ugly and it’s not worth a playthrough. It still has a beautiful artistic style, and it’s filled with many heartfelt moments. If you’ve never played Kena: Bridge of Spirits and you only have a Switch 2 or want to play it on-the-go, this is still a fine port that runs well. It’s by no means broken. However, if you’ve played this before, just know that you’re getting a worse looking version than the PS4 even while docked. That being said, if you haven’t played it since the launch on PS4 of PS5 there is still the Anniversary content and the New Game+ you can experience here.

 

Graphics: 7.5 While still retaining the beautiful colors and artistic style, there is a noticeable reduction in visual quality and foliage density even compared to the PS4 version.	Gameplay: 7.0 Gameplay remains the same with its mix of platforming and slight Souls-esque combat. However, I did notice aiming with the bow is much harder with the Joy-Cons vs other controllers.
Sound: 7.5 Soundtrack is really nice with whimsical melodies that fit the style and dark intense tracks for boss fights. Kena’s voice actress does great, but the rest can be hit or miss.	Fun Factor: 8.0 While the Kena: Bridge of Spirits Switch 2 port didn’t impress me with its pulled back visuals, everything else that is great about the game is here. Having all the DLC and updates is a nice addition as well.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

A Copy of Kena: Bridge of Spirits was provided by the publisher.