Kena: Bridge of Spirits - PS5/PC/PS4 Pro - Digital Foundry Tech Review

First revealed in depth at the PlayStation 5 gameplay reveal showcase, Kena: Bridge of Spirits has just launched. Alex Battaglia takes a look at both PS5 gameplay modes and stacks them up against PC and PlayStation 4 Pro.
Join the DF Patreon for pristine video downloads, behind the scenes content, early access to DF Retro, early access to DF Direct Weekly and much, much more: bit.ly/3jEGjvx
Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
Want some DF-branded tee-shirts, mugs, hoodies or pullovers? Check out our store: bit.ly/2BqRTt0

[@Dryloch]

For everyone who ever said I wish they still made games like this, here it is so go buy it and support the Developers.

[@jok3r983]

i really hope it does well sales wise bought mine yesterday on ps5.

[@1RacerXer]

This and Psychonauts 2

[@CasepbX]

There's plenty of games like this still being made. They're all indie though.

[@Jarjarniks]

Amen!

[@tahsin28]

um who said that? Literally (almost) nobody wanted to play as the girl from wreck-it-ralph. Not even my niece. not to mention full price for an aa made by the effort of only 14 people, so greedy.

[@SydNyd]

Yeah this game had surprisingly difficult boss moments, but overall a blast to play... Its crazy to think it was made by only 15 people

[@lenordpark870]

15 people with a vision and a aim an perseverance and they did extremely well.. it's a wonderful game. Sony really on a blast this generation since the ps5 came out. It's just game after game after game.. I'm loving it.. an next year will be no different. . Go Sony. .

[@user-ci3xc5bz5h]

@@lenordpark870 Agreed. Truly amazing, and what an awesome month. Kena, Deathloop and Tales of Arise 🔥

[@TerraWare]

It's a beautiful game and it first the gameplay felt generic and in many ways it is but getting a bit further into the game it gets a bit more challenging and the rot abilities are quite good. It also plays extremely well with a mouse and keyboard which is how I'm playing it. I'd say it's worth the asking price.

[@lenordpark870]

@@user-ci3xc5bz5h indeed

[@creativebusinessunit7506]

15 people? Damn. Thats insane.

[@peterdemetriou2263]

This game is easily one of the best games of the year a future classic. The fact it’s only £32 and takes up minimal space on the ssd is a bonus! 👍

[@SuperSublime9]

You're grasping at straws must suck to have no good games

[@Nilanjan35]

32 pounds ONLY

[@nikkoa.3639]

@@SuperSublime9 PC got games though

[@peterdemetriou2263]

@@SuperSublime9 I don’t understand what you are talking about 🤷‍♂️

[@ShakeNbake9106]

@@peterdemetriou2263 he must've thought this was a Xbox channel 😂

[@Inquisitor404]

Hats off to Ember Lab. I legit feel love when playing this game. Hope it fares well.

[@teffhk]

More I played this game, more I wish BoTW or BOTW2 looks like this. Such a shame it is Switch only game.

[@duncanself5111]

It looks like a nice world to be in

[@Rohgamu]

@@teffhk it seems as though you haven't played the CEMU version of botw then because you have the option to remove cell shading

[@nsp6590]

Who is that in your profile picture? Wholesome.

[@originalityisdead.9513]

@@teffhk If you have a PC use an emulator.

[@TheCanadian0495]

It’s got some minor rough edges, but the game has so much charm and heart that it’s incredibly easy to overlook them. Definitely recommended

[@Kanti12311]

How can you not like those cute little helpers

[@1stNumberOne]

Is it better with performance or resolution

[@rjeez95]

The less people in a process, the less deviation from the source the more consistency, this game is a great example of that!

[@ivanleon6164]

is not like that, is about the direction, so the tech and art leads are the ones who did a great work.

[@rjeez95]

@@ivanleon6164 It is like that , as a game dev who has seen this phenomena in person if the team was 150 people that "direction" you speak of would be diluted, every decision and opinion of those extra people would steer it off course. He specifically said things even look like they're modelled consistently, as a 3D artist I can assure you that doesn't happen when you have hundreds of artists.

[@ivanleon6164]

@@rjeez95 i totally get your point and its real. but also if work is peer reviewed it should not happen, but again, in reality, people just want to finish things, so I agree with your point. Especially on outsourced work.

[@dookcurruff9047]

@@rjeez95 what games have you worked on??

[@Zenzuu]

That’s not always the case. The initial beginning of No Man’s Sky is a perfect example of that.

[@spencerdiniz]

“no issues in site” “the only issue I found…” “but that’s not an issue” I’m confused. 😂

[@wanderinglord8164]

Just support the developers if you want that Industry still produce innovative and artistically works. The game is really worth a look😁🙏🙋🙈🙆

[@pravvinp5740]

Buying this as bday gift for my nephew.

[@PersianGamer36]

No

[@GameZero2]

Except the characters and length of the game this is a masterpiece must play

[@Yugo846]

No this game performance is just garbage on pc, camera movement isn't smooth and it stutters like crazy... I would love to support small indie developers like this but get your game together!

[@Assassin199410]

@@PersianGamer36 Everyone should Support it

[@BurnoutsAndBourbon]

I picked this up on a whim and I CANNOT BELIEVE this game is only $40 bucks! It’s so incredibly charming and fun, and the music is fantastic. I highly encourage everyone to pick this up, you can’t find a better value

[@jose131991]

What platform you get it on?

[@AKSBSU]

@@jose131991 I had PS5 and PC as options and went with PS5. My PS5 is hooked up to an OLED and home theater setup, and I wanted to play it with the DualSense controller.

[@jaredheaven-smith4417]

It's 100 bucks in newzealand

[@James-gj8rn]

I’m loving Kena Bridge of Spirits, it’s hard to believe it’s an indie game in all honesty, its a phenomenal game (also i really wish we could get an extended version of Majora’s Mask Terrible Fate from Ember Labs 😊

[@girl_on_fire_x_x]

It's so cute isn't it, and surprisingly challenging(!)

[@James-gj8rn]

@@girl_on_fire_x_x ive had to turn the difficulty down a few times 😂

[@robreich6881]

@@girl_on_fire_x_x The final boss on Harder difficulties is like a Dark Souls, Bloodborne final boss.

[@solid_justice5855]

And it is also their first game. Pretty impressive for a small indie team

[@girl_on_fire_x_x]

@@James-gj8rn Got to admit I'm about to turn it down for a boss 🤣

[@zedsdeadbaby]

the information to get TAAU working for the PC version is at 6:17 optimised pc settings at 9:36

[@mizavici]

thanks!

[@project0332]

Thank you very much

[@zulu3636]

When I add those two lines and save they do not save. When I open the file back up they are gone.

[@HardyDimension]

The Engine.ini file is not in the folder...

[@jdmahle]

Been waiting for this video. Such a beautiful game.

[@mandrews6282]

Finished the game a couple days ago. Been waiting to see a DF review of it. I thought it was an amazing first game from this dev. They’re on my radar for sure now.

[@ErenTheWarcriminal]

Bruh it came out a couple of days ago

[@mandrews6282]

@@ErenTheWarcriminal it came out on Tuesday. It’s Saturday. The game is only like 9 hours long.

[@bushkilla7348]

@@ErenTheWarcriminal 4-5 days. Well enough time

[@TheMrNukeman]

@@ErenTheWarcriminal Bruh you're point?

[@robreich6881]

@@mandrews6282 A few days to complete a 10 hour game is perfectly doable?

[@XiLock_Alotx]

I have been very much engaged with this title on PS5.

[@-thiagobg-1984]

I'm sad that the base PS4 didn't get any attention on this video. I understand that the PRO model has become the point of comparison for last gen games because of the higher specs but as myself there are still a ton of players stuck on the base machine. Or maybe it's just because Alex is the PC guy (sorry for the bad english).

[@-thiagobg-1984]

Hahaha

[@zackariasevertson7733]

The base last gen systems are irrelevant

[@VariantAEC]

@@zackariasevertson7733 Why? Keep in mind most PS4 gamers are still on a standard PS4.

[@ruekurei88]

I think this is a 'graphics showcase comparison', as opposed to a console or pc vs console comparison. If it was on Xbox, we'd be seeing the Series X and One X versions as opposed to Series S and base XBO.

[@zackariasevertson7733]

@@VariantAEC yeah I know but they are still irrelevant no matter the player base, they were already outdated when they released back in 2013 that’s why Microsoft, Sony and 3rd party developers are prioritizing the enhanced versions of those consoles for cross gen games because the base systems is pretty much beyond saving for newer titles

[@Taijifufu]

After this, there's the question of whether you should use dx11 or dx12. 9:34 And after _this,_ there's the question of whether you should use dx11 or dx12. 9:54

[@Chrisgamechannel1]

Dx11 better ...some games dx12 bring a modern next gen featured than dx11 depends tho but dx12 is low level than dx11

[@TRONiX404]

DX12, dx11 stuttering reported on redit threads. Resizable bar or Sam seems to help multi thread preformance and max power setting.

[@raresmacovei8382]

DX11 + DXVK Async is the way to go.

[@bearpuns5910]

@@TRONiX404 I’ve been watching DF for 2 years and I still have no idea what you just said lol

[@TRONiX404]

@@bearpuns5910 Resizable BAR and Sam just released a few months ago for RTX and Radeon Nvidia control panel you can set power options to max.

[@Vincornelis]

Can't really blame Ember Labs for any of the issues. Can't expect a tiny independent studio to fix the known inherent ussues with Unreal 4.

[@AngryApple]

@@kev1nno yes and no, I would say that they just didnt know. Its a animation studio and probably well to settled into the 24fps workflow. 24fps to 30fps actually makes a big difference how motion can be felt,

[@anarfox]

​@@AngryApple If you work with video production professionally you more than likely to know what issues occur if you try to play a video in framerate that's not perfectly divisible with the original framerate. Telecine judder have been an issue for ages.

[@snakebebop]

I can't blame Alex for enjoying this game, especially since the female protagonist isn't "problematic from the neck down"

[@TexelGuy]

@@AngryApple I've seen lots of people upload 24/25 fps videos onto youtube for that "cinematic feel" without having any knowledge of what kind of a display 99% of people are going to be watching their videos on, resulting in the majority of people having an inferior experience (Especially noticeable during camera panning).

[@lulkLogan]

@@snakebebop hey bro it might be time to unsub from DF and just switch to Tucker Carlson permanently. You'll feel much safer from hearing opinions you don't like

[@kylerclarke2689]

This game is so freaking lovely. Wonderful - literally brimming over with it. I hope this video directs a few more players towards it

[@tigercloud6945]

Loving every bit of this game relaxing and fun and beautiful! Ty all involved! Keep it up

[@Kutkabouter]

I love this game! Ember lab did a great job indeed🙏

[@cinematicpassages8884]

Aside from the fps gap...the ps4 still holds up pretty good, no massive texture difference or stuff like that, still a pretty solid machine. 👌

[@anasbakhit4303]

I bet the game is originally was made for the ps4 and then ported over to ps5 and PC, just like Miles Morales.

[@dannywoods3928]

Yeah, that's because it looks like a ps4 game. Static bland and lifeless, small environments with just about no interaction due to the utter garbage cpu.

[@cinematicpassages8884]

@@dannywoods3928 tell that to games like horizon. Clown

[@anasbakhit4303]

@@dannywoods3928 you obviously never played horizon zero dawn, you can even see all sorts of bugs flying around and even ants minding their own business and that's the game got nothing to do with these things, stuff that most modern games doesn't bother doing. the ps4 yeah its old but its more than capable of running intense games, these sort of things is depend on the devs to do and the people behind kena are just new and they're indie, despite the huge effort they put in this game but it's still on a budget, it can't reach that quality of Sony's first party games. let's not forget the unreal engine 4 as well, it's one of the most popular and friendly engine out there, yet the most buggier out there.

[@Ayoul]

@@anasbakhit4303 I mean, realistically there's never that much going on in Horizon and it's not like the game is known for its AI. Bugs and animals flying around has been a standard for a while predating the PS4. I don't know why your mind went there as if it was a unique feature.

[@--Anurag--]

Ember Lab are a small indie team and this is their first game. Let us give them some time.

[@gamesthatmatter9374]

what time ? they woke as hell. look at developers racist tweets (white patriarchy and shit)

[@ralphdailey9503]

@@gamesthatmatter9374 As long as they keep it out of their games, it makes no difference if some of them have crazy sociopolitical beliefs.

[@Jbayz]

It's like grow a set of balls.

[@gamesthatmatter9374]

@@ralphdailey9503 dream on

[@ApexLodestar]

Your optimized settings are lovely. Keeps the game looking beautiful at 1440p (100%) while maintaining high fps with a GTX 1660 Super. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@goeddy]

the big hitch that happens when an effect is displayed, its quite simple. it happens when an effect uses a texture that has not been loaded into the VRAM yet. since the VRAM is usually not big enough to hold all the textures in a level, they have to be streamed in and out. with most textures on environment or characters thats fine because they have mipmaps that can be streamed in super quick in a pinch, but usually VFX textures are configured to not have mipmaps so they always appear crisp. if an effect appears that uses such a texture and it has not been loaded into the VRAM yet, the big hitch will occur and it can be fixed by just asynchronously preloading that texture before the effect can occur, for example based on character proximity. a lot of earlier UE4 games had a similar bug where you could always see the mips loading in on character creation screens or inventory screens when you equip something new, cause its quite hard to predict what model will be displayed the next frame. usually during the final polish phase before ship there are a lot of more important bugs, so often times this kind of bug might fall to the wayside since it not very critical to the function of the game, and then sooner or later it might be patched.

[@N0N0111]

I miss that they don't have movement inertia animations in this game. It would clean up smooth animations so much.

[@monkfishy6348]

Unreal Engine and streaming stutter. Name a more iconic duo.

[@000HHHWEE]

Great game... played it on da PS5...great graphics best 40 bucks I spent this year 👌🏾 👍🏾

[@watcheem]

oh wait so it's the running animation that hitches? I thought my game was stuttering. Good to know, thanks DF! :)

[@topooly]

Been playing it on PS5, and it looks and plays great.

[@SC0RPI0NFURY]

@Lov Mir What specs do you have on your PC?

[@gamenation93]

@@SC0RPI0NFURY lol

[@mitchboland9591]

So far this is unquestionably my game of the year

[@tenshin2002]

Great coverage in this one, thanks!

[@uselesstilxmas]

This game truly is a gem

[@AAAGameVids]

i was hesitant at first but now i feel i must buy this!

[@dmk_weaver]

I'm playing on base Playstation 4 and it looks gorgeous and plays well.

[@AKSBSU]

Great artistry tends to scale and age well. I like the extra frames of the PS5 version, but I think the PS4/ Pro, which far more people have, does look very nice due to the superb artistry.

[@3212seis]

Love this game (easily one of the best game I have played this year). Crazy this is their first game, such an amazing job. The soundtrack is brilliant.

[@Nolasco.]

I thought that your optimal settings Alex was motion blur to med max and Ray tracing turned on 🤭😜 Thank you for a great video homie 💕

[@JamieChorley]

Probably my favorite game so far this generation. Yes, it's a little "janky" at times, where you find yourself clipping through random objects, or floating along the top of rocks you aren't supposed to be able to jump on, but the game is a testament to how far real vision can take a project, even with a small team. The other thing with the game is that if you want the challenge, it's certainly present here, especially if you crank up the difficulty!

[@Loumius]

I bought both the regular base game and deluxe version to support the devs!

[@Coroice]

Protip: if you watch/play a lot of 60fps and 24fps content, use a 120Hz monitor (or use that refresh rate if available). I know it won't solve the cutscenes issue for people who can't do that (for lack of such a monitor, playing on consoles, or simply using a different/higher refresh rate), but it's good to keep in mind should you want proper 24fps video playback. 144Hz works too, but then it will affect 60fps content.

[@xbox360dm]

Kena Bridge of Spirits is just absolutely awesome indeed, cannot get enough of it. I am only 2 hrs into the game but really enjoying it so much it’s a beautiful colourful game. Well done Ember Labs in incredible 👍👍👍👍👍

[@HeloisGevit]

Thanks for the TAAU tip on PC Alex, gives a great free performance improvement!

[@Psychos1s]

I wish 40fps at 120Hz would become more readily available. It really is a game changer over 30fps.

[@Redonepunch]

Yeah it makes a big difference.

[@brewski535]

Meh, I'd rather they just dropped 30fps and focused on optimizing a single 60fps option. 40fps still sucks.

[@Ray-dl5mp]

@@brewski535 you’ve played it on 120 hz on a tv with a console?

[@brewski535]

@@Ray-dl5mp no, but I played on a 120hz monitor for years with vsync 1/3 because my old pc's CPU couldn't hit 60fps. It's fine and much better than 30fps but developers should focus on 60fps now that the CPUs can easily handle it. For example, I'm just guessing the 40fps figure here obviously but in this game on PS5 you might get: 30fps at 2160p (dynamic) 40fps at 1800p (dynamic) 60fps at 1440p (dynamic) I would always choose the 60fps 1440p option here. Frames are generally more important than resolution. Obviously there is a balance but 60fps is the standard. It should be the minimum, not the maximum this gen. Maybe as the generation goes on 40fps will become more useful but right now I'd prefer that developers just lowered the resolution of the 60fps mode.

[@Ray-dl5mp]

@@brewski535 yea I get what you’re saying. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the monitor pc experience you did is different than ratchet at 40 fps on 120 hz on a tv. Also the visual wow with higher graphic settings on a big tv also might make the smoother than 30 fps more impressive in that mode. Perhaps that’s why people were loving it on Ratchet based on the KZbin comments. I’m just guessing because I haven’t tried it yet. I just think a monitor of course you always want higher frames because your eyes are right next to it. Also I think people just appreciate the option. Why not add it if people loved it on Ratchet? You will always have a 60fps option it seems like on this gen if you want it.

[@Vintagesonic1]

Here are, in my opinion, the best optimized settings for Kena: Bridge of Spirits, whilst maintaining performance and keeping visual quality: *Visible Rot:* _All_ *Screen Percentage:* _100%_ *Depth of Field:* _Limited (Preference)_ *Motion Blur:* _Off (Preference)_ *Volumetric Fog:* _Low_ *Ambient Occlusion:* _Low_ *Post Processing Quality:* _High_ *Textures:* _Ultra_ *Foliage:* _High_ *Shadows:* _Medium_

[@giannis_tar]

is the benefit from high textures really worth it? You would expect the devs to know better by keeping it low...

[@Fezzy976]

Add [SystemSettings] r.CreateShadersOnLoad=1 r.Streaming.PoolSize=8000 to the bottom of engine.ini config file to help with the stutter, this basically eliminates those shader compilations on DX12. And you can add r.ShadowQuality=5 r.Shadow.CSM.MaxCascades=4 r.Shadow.MaxResolution=2048 r.Shadow.RadiusThreshold=0.03 r.Shadow.DistanceScale=1.0 r.Shadow.CSM.TransitionScale=1.0 to further increase shadow quality, if you have the horsepower.

[@brewski535]

Cool, I'll try that tomorrow. Can you add fov adjustments to the engine.ini or does that go somewhere else? I've been using Unreal Engine Unlocker but if I can bypass it that would be even better.

[@Fezzy976]

@@brewski535 More than likely, I have not found the command for that yet. Sorry.

[@Naranek]

This game is so beautiful it almost hurts sometimes… it‘s a masterpiece.

[@twocityfoodies8476]

I've been waiting for this!!! Been playing constantly for days! Definitely one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.

[@GameOverMan76]

If you've been playing constantly for days your either lying or slow at games as it's only a 7 or 8 hour title...

[@ryulanda9399]

@@GameOverMan76 What? Maybe he only wants to play an hour a day.

[@tgk3624]

@@GameOverMan76 It took me a lot longer than 8 hours to finish the game and find all the collectibles and stuff.

[@twocityfoodies8476]

@@GameOverMan76 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ I play when I have free time...it's been the game I constantly play. Also collecting everything does take time.

[@nico5179]

I’m having a blast with this game on PS5 using performance mode. Really a hidden gem, people should really give it a chance.

[@jaspelino1963]

It’s not exactly hidden, is it.

[@Ozzyozzysheesh]

Does it dip often? I got a ps5 and considering to pick this game up but I’m so use to 60 FPS so just wondering from your experience has it dipped below 60 often?

[@macoliderken8385]

At least wait 1 or 2 years to call it a hidden gem.

[@nico5179]

@@Ozzyozzysheesh barely any dips, u wont notice 1 or 2 frames dipping. Its practically smooth the entire game.

[@nico5179]

@@jaspelino1963 I wasn’t referring to the fact that tech youtubers dont talk about it, its the fact that Sony themselves aren’t really pushing this game with commercials and the likes. Its like it released with barely anyone knowing about it.

[@8bitboss929]

I’ve never really been into indie games but I really enjoy this one! Such a charming art style and it just makes me happy when I play it. I can’t wait for that physical copy to come in.

[@IIMANIXII]

Got this for My GF and the Kids they love it - Runs well looks great - Great job for the Devs I wish them all success. Congrats.

[@Carlisho]

I bought the PS5 version without realizing there was a PC version but i dont regret it, the triggers on the dualsense are something else, loved playing Returnal and now this game too.

[@92juanreus]

Thank you!! The optimized settings on PC with the TAAU tweak worked PERFECT for my use case. At lower resolutions (meaning my monitor is 1080p), when TAA not tweaked, the AA solution in native rendering looks very bad, with a lot of temporal jaggies and artifacts, especially around the grass and hair. But using DRS and the game tweaked scaler brings out a really clean image now.

[@samdixon3719]

i have same as you, so if i add lines he said it will be better? no res scale needed?

[@92juanreus]

@@samdixon3719 with DRS I meant the nvidia downscaler, Kena is a bit wonky with resolutions so for it to work I had to set my desktop res to 4k with it, and then ingame to borderless windowed, after that put the scaler to where you are comfortable with your performance (in my case 80% was ok between 40 and 60)

[@samdixon3719]

@@92juanreus oh oh i did the same, i use amd's vsr which is the same.... 4k with 65% (in the game settings) for 60-70ish

[@samdixon3719]

@@92juanreus let me guess tho, u have 2060s or 1080 ti

[@92juanreus]

@@samdixon3719 I wish! I have a 1070 but it performs surprisingly well (maybe the perf is closer to 30 I didn't really check but ot was smooth ^^)

[@erikhendrickson59]

Kena is one of the few games out right now that feels like a "true" next-gen title! Absolutely gorgeous and the animations are Pixar-perfect!

[@GameslordXY]

That 24 pre-rendered thingie,looks just fine to me,myself and I on me phone.

[@hueypautonoman]

It's interesting. On Linux with DX11, I experienced the frame drops he described. With DX12, I didn't notice any. Either I just got lucky or VKD3D (translating to Vulkan) does something to smooth it out. I have an RTX 3080 with an AMD Ryzen 7 3800x.

[@adriancoleman2876]

I love that in 10 years we will be emulating this game on a handheld powered by a raspberry pi 7 (raspberry Pi Foundation now owned by Disney 2031. )

[@VictorHuff]

I somehow didn't even hear about this game releasing. Last time I saw it was the reveal trailer. Glad to see it released having just as much charm and beautiful animation as I had hoped it would.

[@GamerInVoid]

Ahhh was SOOO Waiting for this... THANK YOU

[@Doomster-jl9rx]

Hold on. What about the base PS4? That's the console I have.

[@jfd4706]

RIP

[@TaimatCR]

You may want to check out "El analista de bits" or IGN games analysis made by nx gamer

[@Korpus_Draige]

Search it, there's a few videos showing it off.

[@Doomster-jl9rx]

@@jfd4706 Sadly no, not until I can actually buy PS5. It's a bloody nightmare trying to get one, and I'm not buying one off a scalper.

[@ionseven]

This indie game spoiled me like we were back in the Golden Age of Gaming in Gen 7. Before microtransactions destroyed it all.

[@Navhkrin]

Problem with Unreal is that it will stream an effect or an asset whenever it is "called". Developers can prepare them in background async to make sure no hitchup happens but most developers ignore this or forget it in some places. UE5 will try to fix this issue with gameplay features addition where you tell engine "ok so at this point I'm going to use these abilities, effects, this map, so make sure everything is ready".

[@hiyasuamv9776]

Game flowed like water on my pc, love it so much

[@Deedric_Kee]

I like to my time and explore,fidelity mode. Moving around to fast you definitely easy miss stuff. I really like "Kena's dive and backflip ppl seem to still not know about in the game. I agree hope soon after some updates. It looks good when playing so this is great to hear. It's such a beautiful fun game. Great video "DF👍🏼

[@HuGiv5]

Great across all versions, insane since it is the 1st game of the studio & Cross Gen. They already said next game is Ps5 Only and Pc most likely so it will be a true next gen showcase.

[@Jrfeimst2]

True next gen on next game means it’ll be PC only. By that time 40 series will be out to absolutely destroy consoles. And before you say anything I love PlayStation. Just that PC is “true” next gen wether you like it or not

[@dxsuperstarl]

@@Jrfeimst2 yeah.. the only problem is, not everyone wants to spend $3k building a high end PC that in 2 years will require another upgrade if you want the “latest next gen features” a 2080 is irrelevant now days compared to the 30 series. Tho I guess this can be said about everything Tech wise.

[@dockgamer973]

@4K 60FPS da hell are you taking about pc has the largest gameing user base in the world with more games and exclusives than the console's combined, its the majority of the gameing market, console is the minority so how you work out its unless for gameing when its the number 1 platform for it is bloody idiotic. Pc is the luxury console's are a poor mans gameing system, this game at 60fps on ps5 dosent come close to 4k and at all pc lowest settings and thats luxury to you.

[@Jrfeimst2]

@@dxsuperstarl I did say I love PlayStation. I’m not going to spend 3k on a pc. Just stating facts unfortunately

[@Jrfeimst2]

@4K 60FPS That’s irrelevant to my comment. I’m stating facts. I love PlayStation as I said. It’s the unfortunate fact that PC is next gen. Not a console.

[@TurboXray]

"Figure it out" my fav phrase hahah

[@oktusprime3637]

Such a beautiful game. A perfect example of talent and art trumping budget and tech.

[@Ratchetti]

The sound design is amazing too!

[@user-ml6sg7le4z]

It takes a budget and tech to make a game lol. They are also using unreal 4. No game can be made without a budget or tech smh. Stop trying to throw shots and just appreciate the game and the hard work that went to it. All these developers work hard on their games and lots of money goes into every game made. This is a good game. This team deserves a bigger budget and more tech.

[@Ratchetti]

@@user-ml6sg7le4z what xd

[@oktusprime3637]

@@user-ml6sg7le4z What nonsense are you typing?

[@bearpuns5910]

Kena: *has 24fps cutscenes* GSync/FreeSync: MY TIME TO SHINE

[@XZ-III]

o.. actually that's unnecessary for 24fps

[@AchiragChiragg]

@@XZ-III it actually isn't

[@helloguy8934]

@@AchiragChiragg Are they fmvs? It's going to stutter regardless. They shouldn't lock them to 24fps if they are real-time.

[@konga382]

That is, if your monitor goes down that low for VRR (many stop at 40Hz). Also I've seen VRR not work with pre-rendered cutscenes before. Most PC gamers have 120Hz or better monitors though. Set your max refresh rate to 120Hz, 144Hz, or 240Hz, and you're good. Or any other refresh rate 24 divides into that your monitor supports.

[@helloguy8934]

@@konga382 Most vrr displays have lfc. So if it's outputting 120hz. Lfc will kick in and the display will drop to 48hz. Edit: but alas it would divide evenly with 120/144hz

[@cole6383]

Played it a few minutes ago for the first time and it's a graphic masterpiece. Wow it's stunning

[@MrMisuma]

I rarely play my games to the end, I quickly lose interest. But suddenly I was playing Kena til 01.30 last night. I’m loving it!

[@minhaankhan5072]

Same here

[@loutronz4708]

I'll wait for the physical version release. Hopefully they have the PS5 performance mode sorted and 24fps cut scenes up to 30fps by then. Impressive game from this small studio! Thanks for the video Alex!!

[@thomascrinall5761]

They've already patched the juddering in cutscenes. It's much smoother now.

[@Shadow_Play3r]

Thomas Crinall they did but the op is saying they wish movies to be 30fps target instead of 24 which I don't think has yet changed

[@AngryApple]

@@Shadow_Play3r I can tell from my own experience that the Unreal Video Player is just bad even with 30fps it still wouldnt look smooth.

[@michaeldearie5266]

The 24fps is intentionally cinematic, Ember labs was an animation studio before this and most animated features are developed & rendered at 24fps (same as the vast majority of movies, anime and live action TV shows)...I think Alex has been staring at videogames too long because the 24fps cutscenes look gorgeous

[@Shadow_Play3r]

@@michaeldearie5266 that is true and exactly why we need 30fps variation because difference is so instantaneous when coming from so many other games

[@ccdani2]

This game is Awesome , runs at 45fps maxed out at 4k with my 6700xt , drop the shadows and 90% resolution and it's smooth 60

[@XZ-III]

What does Afterburner/Rivatuner say is being used at 100%?

[@ccdani2]

@@XZ-III 99% gpu usage

[@samdixon3719]

There is litirally 0 reason to max it out, running same res as you are doing with ps5 settings makes you run it at 90 fps atleast

[@Abrioso]

Just finishing the game now, what an amazing game the visuals and the soundtrack is incredible what an experience

[@idealirreal]

Thanks for the TAA AI upscale tip. That improved the edges a lot.

[@SKHYJINX]

Such a fun game, and lush visuals. 2080ti/3070 does well on 80% 4K Maxed visuals then drop shadows 1 step. 60-100fps, but the 60minimums are the focus on these settings. And that's before I saw this.

[@Varusal]

Use my 3060 Ti and play on 4k (all maxed). Avg. is about 61 fps but it can sometimes drop down to 55fps. If I would optimize some settings, stable 60fps shouldn't be a problem. DLSS / FSR would still be a great addition to the game.

[@OSgaming93]

Is 80% 4k ultra ok? I used 4k 100res and i kept having drops to mid 50 and some times below, gpu is 3070 btw.

[@SKHYJINX]

@@OSgaming93 Gained 12-15fps avg by dropping shadows alone.....at 80% of 4K Ultra. I'd just use Alex settings going forward with the ini tweak for better TAAU on top. "Ultra isn't everything, enjoy frames and visuals both" 80% 4K is noticibly sharper than 1440p 100%, without the TAAU tweak. I've got two videos on the game, 80% 4K and 1440p Native. On DX11 though, without any ini tweaks.

[@kidShibuya]

@@OSgaming93 You should not use ultra, its often identical to high but with extra overhead.

[@OSgaming93]

@@SKHYJINX thx man I'll try the tweak. I didn't understand alex setting that well, like the SSAO didn't find it there, i guess im a newbie when it comes to graphics.

[@campos3452]

The price is very generous for the quality of this superb game. 9/10

[@CorePixels]

The cutscenes look just fine to me. My only problem with them is their quality (bitrate?) sometimes as some have obvious banding in there. That and it's a little odd it's not realtime. They just fixed that running issue where she would pause though in patch 1.06 thankfully.

[@tyrcipher8811]

The base PS4 would never be able to run this games cutscenes in real time

[@lulkLogan]

Hey Alex, I found that using Special K to limit the framerate to your refresh rate (even when using vsync) really smoothes out the frame pacing. Not completely of course, but way better than vsync alone.

[@N0N0111]

11:45 It is sad to see that performance dips issues is not shared industry wide by Epic. This should be so well known knowledge by all the companies that use UE.

[@ionseven]

Yeah Alex is wrong about other UE4 games "figuring it out". A ton are still messy with stuttering and other problems on PC. Hell I returned Pshychonauts 2 because it was nearly unplayable with all the stuttering, but that's from a MS studio so he'll never call it out. And Ascent is still choppy with stuttering btw.

[@sd19delta16]

@@ionseven I'm sure he would've called it out if he had the chance to cover Psychonauts 2. The reason it wasn't covered was because the one who was supposed to cover it, John, was on vacation.

[@piotrmazek540]

@@ionseven I played the game on Xbox and it was super smooth. The only noticeable thing I noticed was texture streaming in cutscenes. Maybe there's something wrong with your PC?

[@Ayoul]

@@piotrmazek540 Don't mind the troll, I'm sure he didn't even play the game.

[@Ayoul]

@@ionseven You just took his words out of context. He doesn't mean other games are perfect. He's talking about a very specific issue and the point he's making is simply to support the idea that they could fix it since others were able to as well.

[@7gaggo]

It's crazy to think, i played gamed for years, i have pretty high expectations generally. I see all those big games with a lot of complexe mechanics, i'm currently playing tales of arise and i find it kinda complicated to remember all the mechanics that are present in the game and use them efficiently. I then there's kena, very simple, not a lot of mechanics, but i'm totally sold on it, i find my time in this game much more enjoyable than the time i've spend in a lot of games for years. Now that i think about it, it's been a while since i felt that.

[@bobdole2184]

Facts this will be a ps5 era classic

[@Jbayz]

Honestly I'm pretty deep into tales of arise and I just button mash and hit the special moves of each character as they come up and its worked on moderate difficulty. Lol.

[@Jbayz]

The story of tales is very gripping for me. Emotional.

[@7gaggo]

@@Jbayz Yeah thats basically what i do too, i'm not struggling with the game, but there's that feeling that at don't play it at full potential (talking about tales), and also the enemy variety is almost insulting to me. What i expressed in my previous comment is that kena is simple and "little" in the scale of the different mechanics, and i'm enjoying it more, my time in the game is always good. In the opposite, tales is good but i sometimes find myself playing without really having a real good time, and asking myself " why am i doing this ? " (tales is not the only game where i felt that i recent years, maybe is just me). Far is the time when i was young, playing final fantasy 7, 8, 9 on my ps1, with stars in my eyes and heart. Sometimes playing games is like a chore for me these days, i don't know why i'm still doing it. I like the idea, but my heart is not always in it. That's why Kena surprised me, and i surprised myself in the way i enjoy it. It's not the best game of all time, it's kinda modest in a way, but if i look at how i feel when i play it, compare to the games i played this year and how i felt playing them. It's kinda my game of the year. In the first hour, i had chills all over my spine, and the environments and ambiance made me shed a tear.

[@7gaggo]

@@Jbayz There's love in that game and i can feel it. It makes me want to go back to work in unreal engine when i'll be done with other 3D projects. Maybe create my own little world. It inspires my creative side a lot.

[@Soulintent95]

Easily one of the nicest looking games ive ever seen. The devs really knew how to execute the artstyle. Perfect blend of cutesy cartoon and slight hint of realism. Looks like a cg movie. After i beat sonic frontiers im gonna buy this and try it out.

[@chrisb3358]

One Question: If you compare loading times and test streaming issues on PS4 are you using standard PS4 (Pro) or PS4 (Pro) with SSD upgrade? (I'm always wondering. I consider the SSD upgrade standard. But I guess it is not for most people)

[@mistermidas11]

As somebody who mainly only plays "adult" titles (Bloodborne, Last of Us, GoT, etc) this game was an absolute joy to play and I'm glad I bought it.

[@darthwiizius]

Kinda has a Beyond Good and Evil mixed with Pikmin vibe going on.

[@baxter009]

Or original Jak and Daxter vibes.

[@brewski535]

Or mini ninjas :)

[@cc75936]

i have truly been enjoying the game so far im glad i chance it and pre ordered it and it looks so beautiful

[@pgp]

Just finished it, excellent game, some boss fights are quite hard tho. Here's hoping all games have a performance mode with that sweet 60fps this gen.

[@mitu123Copper]

Same, it needs to be a standard for all PS5 and XSX games.

[@Kowanpoop]

I had an issue with the fps when i was changing to performance and fidelity on The ps5 a lot of times. There was one time wherein i was playing on fidelity then changed to performance then loaded the game and the fps was i think still 30fps or was just dipping severely. Even when i changed it back to fidelity and back to performance, the fps remained low. I had to close the game and restart it again for performance mode to work properly.

[@CasepbX]

Reminds me of other launch console games. Like how impressive Kameo was on the 360 for its time.

[@mr8I7]

PS5 came out in 2020. It's old news.

[@sergeantxdan]

I found massive drops in smoothness to frames in the fidelity mode along with the controller taking full seconds when moved for any registration to happen on the screen. This being for attacks and looking around.

[@ImJustPeter]

I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do for a sequel with a bit more funding.

[@bas1176]

loved the video but please include the base ps4 on your next projects

[@Jbayz]

It runs like potato 🥔 there. Done.

[@deepinsight1175]

@ B A S I L Look at ign technical review done by nx gamer. This game runs almost locked 30fps on Base ps4. So u will have a great time playing the game on ps4.

[@kenway346]

Why aren't you covering the base ps4 version?

[@GameOverMan76]

Because only peasants have base ps4

[@kenway346]

@@GameOverMan76 Still better than my rtx 3070 equipped gaming pc which only plays pinball and minecraft without any real games, so kindly understand that it all basically boils down to preference.

[@RemixerUltimate]

@@kenway346 um...what?

[@paolobricarelli]

Base ps4 is the God of gaming

[@chamamemestre]

Finished it yesterday on the Steam Deck. Locked 30fps. Amazing game.

[@Console_Gaming_Vids]

Sad to see no mention of the issue where Kena will stop moving for a second then start again. It’s not a frame rate issue or loading. It may tie to the fact that there’s a big dead zone on the left stick, and then beyond it, the slow walk doesn’t change to a jog until the stick is almost fully moved out. If they’d fix these issues, the game would look and play incredible.

[@euro1923]

It's a shame no one is mentioning this as it is one of the more annoying things i'm experimenting with the game so far. More even than the camera animation jumps.

[@jaajjajaja]

I really prefer ps5 60 fps Mode, still look's really good and is much enjoyable

[@justenbenally522]

I liked it until I switched on performance mode and saw half of my rots dissappear. Now I can't stand it

[@andremalerba5281]

I can't believe that after that many years and now with a new console gen games are still using low anisotropic filtering on consoles! It makes a huge difference on textures clarity!

[@Luke-fx9gw]

Yeah it's baffling to me considering how low-cost it is in terms of performance.

[@helloguy8934]

Man. That initial pixel count from that one channel was way off. Wonder where they got the 1800p figure.

[@Jbayz]

I'm just honestly happy we are finally getting a 60fps option on most of these games with this generation.

[@helloguy8934]

@@Jbayz We will see if this trend continues.

[@lampenpam]

I think the optimized settings should use higher SSAO. On high it makes a big difference, especially on trees and foliage and the performance impact is rather small. If you need performance, reduce shadow quality instead.

[@e2rqey]

If the DX12 stutter issue is the same as in The Ascent, there is some settings you can change in Windows that may fix it.

[@gondalasatvarsh5892]

This is an amazing game considering this is the first game from Ember Labs.

[@Ryzen-gh1en]

lol bruh really and EA cant even optimize star wars jedi which use same UE4 engine, i played 4 hour so far and game run pretty smooth without any stuttering which is something very rare in UE4 games now a days, tho there are some framepacing issue but its much better then any recent UE4 games i played so far, it is way more smoother then biomutent which also has stunning visual tho but gameplay is way better, i consider to buy this game just because a small 14 peoples team can do much better then big AAA cant do which is really slap in the face for them

[@darthsreepa2820]

@@Ryzen-gh1en what

[@bensunnyisaac]

@@Ryzen-gh1en I too am shocked that Kena was made by a team of 14 PEOPLE. WOW. And it's not that big, nor is it too small. It lasts about 10 to 15 hours, which is fair and definitely not as big as AC Valhalla.

[@katphoodplaysagame9260]

This game reminds me of Kameo: Elements of Power.

[@damonbaird1173]

That game was so good.

[@Zoolookuk]

I know this is an old video now, but this game really does shine on Steam Deck - might be worth a revisit, as it's popular to play on that platform.

[@low_key_relaxing4644]

Im considering whether to get it on PS5 or the steam deck. I see that it is steam deck verified...

[@dpmjmun]

I look forward to playing it with my little sister. Great review

[@vicvijay2129]

Digital Foundry, please do a modern tech review on Battlefield 3. It is one of the games mainly developed for the pc-platform, which are rare now. It presented a massive shift in graphics for FPS games as a whole, though not on the scale of what Crysis achieved.

[@CyborgSodaCollects]

Battlefield 3 on console was amazing. Even though if I booted it up now with 2021 lenses I probably would say otherwise.

[@sushimshah2896]

Overlord gaming did a video on it a year or two back iirc, just search "BF3 aged like fine wine"