Kena: Bridge of Spirits may look like a family-friendly adventure at first glance, but the game provides a surprising challenge reminiscent of FromSoftware's Soulsborne games (as they've become colloquially known). As Ember Lab's entry into the video game production space, Kena: Bridge of Spirits has generally positive reviews coming in that paint the title as a visually beautiful and solid game that tends to play things a bit safe by drawing inspiration from other popular games. One unexpected aspect of Kena is how difficult some of the combat encounters in the game are, with Ember Labs seemingly drawing from the Soulsborne games.

FromSoftware's lengthy Soulsborne games thrive off of a reputation for being extremely difficult experiences. Each game in the series features some of the hardest enemies/bosses that have ever been conceived in video games, forcing players to use all of the skills at their disposal to find successFromSoftware's penchant for difficulty has caused the development of a whole subgenre of games called Soulslikes that try to emulate the profound challenge of the Soulsborne games.

Related: Which Dark Souls Game Is The Best Soulslike (& Why That Is)

On a surface level, Kena: Bridge of Spirits does not look like a title that would fit within the Soulslike category. The graphics evoke feelings of watching a delightful Pixar film, and the adorable Rot creatures that accompany Kena on her adventure don't exactly allude to a mighty challenge on the horizon. However, the release of the game has caused players to take to online forums (like Bunkyz on the game's subreddit) to discuss how the sweet exterior of Kena was hiding a much more devilishly challenging experience than expected.

Tough Bosses & Limited Healing Plays Into Kena's Difficulty

Kena Bridge of Spirits Combat

Like the Soulsborne titles, boss fights in Kena: Bridge of Spirits are grand affairs, with enemies that move fast and hit hard throughout the entire encounter. It’s a constant ballet of skill as players constantly switch between attacking, dodging and parrying just to stay alive. The bosses in Kena also feature multiple phases of attacks that force players to adjust their approach to succeed, similar to bosses like Father Gascoigne in Bloodborne and Lady Butterfly in Sekiro.

Kena’s limited health pool also plays into the difficulty of the game, with bosses capable of defeating the young Spirit Guide in only a couple hits. Kena goes the route of the Soulsborne games by limiting the amount of healing items players have at their disposal, with arenas typically only featuring 2-3 healing flowers that Kena can use to restore her health. Limited healing creates tense situations where players have to determine the best opportunity to back off and heal in the midst of chaos, and tying the mechanic to the Rot abilities that have to build over time causes some white-knuckle moments when Kena is close to defeat and players have to execute everything perfectly until they gain the chance to heal.

Smaller enemies in Kena: Bridge of Spirits tend to take on the mob mentality of the Soulsborne games, with handfuls of corrupted beings attacking Kena on foot and from the air. Mini bosses that players face early on in the game make appearances in normal enemy encounters to up the challenge as the game goes on, much like Bloodborne does with the Shadow of Yharnam and Dark Souls has often done with a variety of its tougher enemies. It's worth noting that players can adjust the difficulty of the game to make things a bit easier, but enemies still present a decently formidable challenge on the lower difficulties. For those looking for a solid Soulsborne adventure to hold them over until Elden Ring's releaseKena: Bridge of Spirits is the game that could unexpectedly fill that role.

Next: Kena: Bridge Of Spirits' DualSense Support Makes PS5 Easier Than PC

Source: Bunkyz/Reddit