Tales of Kenzera: Zau Tackles Grief As A Metroidvania With Dance-Like Combat And Incredible Music

At The Game Awards 2023, Surgent Studios finally revealed what it has been working on: a colorful metroidvania called Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, which uses its puzzles, combat, and bosses to tackle loss and the spiritual journey many take to come to terms with it. Surgent was founded by Abubakar Salim (best-known in the gaming industry for voicing Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Bayek), who is also voicing Tales of Kenzera’s protagonist, Zau. The game is being published by Electronic Arts as part of its EA Originals program and has received help from Critical Role.

Tales of Kenzera is a story within a story–the game itself is a Bantu tale that’s being read by a boy lost in his grief over his dead father. You play through that tale, which is about Zau, a young man who makes a bargain with Kalunga, the god of death, to bring his dad back from the dead. There are Inception levels of grief and sons mourning their dead dads in this game. I spoke to Salim about Tales of Kenzera to better understand the game beyond the scope of its trailer. Our conversation largely focused on Salim’s understanding of loss and how the metroidvania genre presented the perfect framework for Tales of Kenzera’s narrative themes. We also discussed how tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons and Blades in the Dark had a hand in inspiring Tales of Kenzera, and geeked out about how dope the music is going to be.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is set to launch for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, Switch, and PC on April 23, 2024. The game will feature voice acting in both English and Swahili.

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Source: Gamespot