DaRmaZat When Kena: Bridge of Spirits first hit the scene, it felt like a playable Pixar dream brought to life by the small but mighty team at Ember Lab. After its initial release on PlayStation 5 and PC—and later making its way to Xbox Series X|S— it’s now finally made the jump to the Switch 2, bringing its signature mix of high-end animation and Zelda-inspired adventuring to the hybrid screen. And while it’s a port of an established title, the charm of Kena and her trail of adorable Rot companions hasn’t aged a day.
A Classic Hero’s Journey with All the Bells and Whistles
In this action-adventure, you step into the boots of Kena, a young Spirit Guide tasked with helping restless souls transition to the afterlife. With the forest and nearby village choked by a mysterious corruption, she must step in to restore the balance. Her journey to the Sacred Mountain Shrine is as poignant as it is epic. It’s a classic “hero’s journey” that hits most of the right notes, largely thanks to its incredible presentation.
This Nintendo Switch 2 version arrives as a comprehensive edition, incorporating the previously released Anniversary content. This includes additional customization options, challenge modes, those funny hats for your Rot, as well as expanded accessibility features, offering a more complete experience from the outset. After completing the game, you can access New Game+, allowing a replay of the adventure with retained upgrades and abilities, alongside reworked encounters designed to provide a greater challenge.
An Audiovisual Dreamscape on the Go
The first thing that hits you—and it hits hard—is the art style. It’s easily the closest a game has ever come to looking like a Studio Ghibli film fused with a Disney-Pixar production. On the Switch 2, the lush forests and meticulously detailed character models look fantastic. The cinematic cutscenes are absolute showstoppers, and being able to pause them or save your progress manually at any time is a very welcome quality-of-life touch, especially for portable play.
Complementing the visuals is a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack. Inspired by Balinese Gamelan music, the score uses flutes, heavy percussion, and gongs to elevate the atmosphere to a spiritual plane, often building genuine tension leading up to the more frantic encounters. Personally, I was floored by the audio design—it’s a deeply resonant experience that gives the world of Kena its true heartbeat.
Clearing the Corruption with the… Rot?
While Kena‘s world, even while scarred by the decay, looks cozy and soft, the combat can be surprisingly bitey. You’ll spend much of your time clearing the red, jagged “corruption” that has infested the land—often by battling monsters and using your Rot (those soot-sprite-like cuties) to cleanse the area. The mechanics are simple but satisfying: light and heavy hits with your magical staff, and a Pulse power which also serves as a shield and parry. Later, a spirit bow and bombs join your arsenal, and both combat and exploration become more diverse, unlocking new parts of the map.
However, there are some growing pains in the gameplay loop. Too often, Kena: Bridge of Spirits falls into a predictable pattern of exploration, a simple “move-the-object” puzzle, and then a combat arena against corrupted foes. Sometimes it’s also a bit unclear where you need to stand to trigger an interaction with environmental objects. The button prompts for your Rot only appear within a very specific (and sometimes finicky) radius. Because the telegraphing of enemy attacks isn’t always 100% reliable, nailing that perfect parry while managing your Rot and dodging can feel a bit clumsy during the more chaotic boss fights. Thankfully, the Story Mode and various difficulty toggles make this accessible for everyone, ensuring the younger crowd can enjoy the story without getting absolutely bodied by the first brutal mini-boss.
The Switch 2 Trade-off
Performance-wise, this port is a solid effort, but it’s not without its quirks. The target is a steady 30 FPS, which holds up well for the most part, though you will regularly notice some slight stuttering when rotating the camera, during combat, or while loading into a dense new area. There’s also sometimes minor pop-in with the foliage, but given the sheer density of the world, it’s a fair trade-off. Sadly, there is no option for a 60 FPS mode, resulting in a noticeable bit of input lag.
In handheld mode, when things get busy, the image quality can get a bit fuzzy, so docked play definitely offers the crispest experience. However, the core art direction is so strong that the “magic” remains intact even on the smaller screen.
Final Thoughts
Kena: Bridge of Spirits on Switch 2 is an easy recommendation if you haven’t experienced this journey yet. Its loop of “fight, cleanse, repeat” can get a bit familiar, but the art style is just so mesmerizing, despite the 30 FPS cap. Kena is a protagonist with a heart of gold, the Rot are impossibly cute, and both the engaging story and the world they call home are a genuine joy to experience. To conclude, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a beautifully crafted adventure that proves high-end animation and traditional gameplay are a match made in heaven on the Nintendo Switch 2.
Additional Information
Release Date: Mar 26, 2026
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch 2. Download code provided by the publisher and PR agency.
Developer: Ember Lab
Publisher: Ember Lab
Relevant links: Available on Nintendo eShop (BE, NL, US)
