Tales of Kenzera: Zau review

What is it? A metroidvania based on African folklore.

Expect to pay £18/$20

Release date April 23, 2024

Developer Surgent Studios

Publisher EA

Reviewed on RTX 2070, i7-10750H, 16GB RAM

Steam Deck Verified

Link Official site

Mythologies often paint the Sun and the Moon as complementary opposites, two sides of an enormous shiny coin, as it were. And rarely has this relationship been clearer than in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, inspired by the Bantu folklores of southern and central Africa, where solar heat and lunar cool together help you survive its metroidvania challenges. In short, it's the stuff legends are made of, even if the design of said challenges doesn't itself quite reach for the stars.

Most of the freshness in Tales of Kenzera stems from its setting, given that African mythologies (ancient Egypt excepted) remain a largely untapped resource in games. Playing as young shaman Zau, there's a real sense here that you've been dropped not only into an adventure but a legend passed between distant ancestors, drawing on regional lore of magical artefacts, spirits and gods.

Zau's mission is as much about his personal growth as his aims, as he quests to reclaim his deceased father from the land of the dead. In order to get permission from Kalunga, God of death, he first has to send three great spirits the other way, as they're running amok about the country, refusing to acknowledge their time is up. In the process, Zau might just learn a thing or two about accepting the cycle of life.

As for the Sun and the Moon, their power is infused into a pair of shaman's masks that previously belonged to papa Zau, and our hero can quick-change between them to banish the plethora of smaller hostile spirits loitering around the otherwise deserted tribal lands. Don the moon mask and you can run and gun, slinging magic bullets as if wielding an automatic pistol. The sun mask is suited to closer encounters, letting out a flurry of melee blows or a launching strike that leaves enemies