Hot and cold takes on Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

Plus, The Indicator from Planet Money dives deep into game industry economics!

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU’s roaring soundtrack slapped me through my headphones and rings in my ears still. Its luminous Afro-futurist setting, butter-smooth traversal, scintillating character portraits, and genuinely moving voice-over performances stirred my soul.

Pity that the combat let me down — and that the promising story ultimately felt abrupt and predictable. I had a good time, not a great time.

But ZAU does manage to be the most incandescent, rambunctious game about loss I’ve encountered. Studio lead and starring actor Abubakar Salim spoke about how the death of his father inspired him to make the game in a conversation with All Things Considered’s Juana Summers:

You know, a lot of the time whenever I've seen grief depicted in an entertainment medium, it's always been quite sad and quite down and morose, and it's been a lot, right? Whereas, my experience was very colorful in a way. It was vivid. It was almost like these - the rose-tinted glasses were ripped from my face, and I'm seeing the world anew.

That fresh approach carried over to the game’s saturated colors and rich score. Contributor Jamal Michel praised that attentiveness in his NPR review:

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU's brilliance comes from pairing this memento mori with a satisfying, familiar game genre. Even though it may not be as innovative as other Metroidvanias, its heart-rending acting and peerless presentation add up to a game I'll be thinking about for years to come.

While I know someone who completely bounced off ZAU’s platforming challenges, I’d still recommend it to connoisseurs willing to tolerate its pitiable enemy variety and tedious fights — and I look forward to whatever the next tale from Kenzera may be.

Indomitable producer Corey Bridges and the team at The Indicator from Planet Money also debuted a full week of podcasts on the game industry. They’re all exquisite:

• Forever games: the economics of the live service model

• Designing for disability: how video games become more accessible (see also, Vinny Acovino’s reporting from 2020 on the subject)

• The boom and bust of esports

• Work. Crunch. Repeat: Why gaming demands so much of its employees

• Video Game Industry Week: The Final Level

Here & Now Mastromarino productions

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• NASA makes sense of Voyager 1's garbled signals from the edge of the solar system

• New York State's plans to give $30 million to local newsrooms: Why it matters

• 'Dead Boy Detectives' is a rollicking supernatural mystery set in Netflix's 'Sandman' universe