It’s been a year since we debuted. To celebrate, we’re excited to share our biggest update yet – the Anniversary Update! To thank you for your great support, we’ve expanded the Kena experience with many new features, including: New Game+, Charm Stone, Spirit Guide Experiment, Kena Outfits, features accessibility, etc.
The Anniversary Update will be a free update for all PS4 and PS5 players, new and old, on September 27.
During development, we wanted to consider fan input and add more unique features and gameplay to expand the experience. New game + is already a big game! Once the player has completed the game, they will have the opportunity to convert their save file into a New game + game. From there, they will begin Kena’s journey again with all of among their previously unlocked Abilities, Upgrades, Outfits, Rots, etc as they face redesigned and more challenging fights. The combat encounter adjustments even include new enemy types unique to NG+. Many bosses even have some extra phases.
Gems is another big addition coming in our September 27 update. Individually equipable – each of these unique collections offers different adjustments to Kena’s stats and abilities. Some Charmstones contain a benefit and a downside, encouraging players to strategize about how they want to deal with certain enemies and challenges. Rare Cursed Charmstones are aimed at players who want a serious challenge by attacking the game with a reduced chance. Players will find most of the Charmstones hidden around Kena’s world, with a few connected to another major addition: the Spirit Guide Trials.
In a brand new game mode accessed from the Mask Shrine, Spirit Guide Trials will challenge players’ skills. By building a variety of replayable challenges, we want to encourage all players to experiment with different upgrade combinations and enhance their combat experience. The Spirit Guide test splits into three different categories: Obstacle Courses, Wave Defense, and Boss Reflexes.
Each Trial can be played as many times as the player wishes and includes different objectives to complete in that particular Trial. In the Obstacle Courses, for example, players focus on Kena’s key abilities: Bow, Bomb, and Dash as they navigate through courses designed to test accuracy, timing and their background.
Wave Defenses pit players against multiple rounds of increasingly difficult enemies. They must think strategically while making their way through multiple waves of unique scenarios with limited healing opportunities. We’ve prepared some pretty cool and creepy enemy combinations here, so get ready.
Finally, Boss Reflects allows players to revisit their favorite boss battles and perfect their tactics. While we love the excitement of all our smaller engagements, we especially enjoyed a good boss fight. We want to make sure players have the chance to retry these exciting events with content that belongs to their heart in one go, experiment with new approaches and become true masters.
What about the reward? By completing the Trials, the player has a chance to unlock an Outfit for Kena, each of which is inspired by one of the characters she encounters on her journey. Success at the bounty objectives in each trial can unlock color variations of each skin, as well as some unique Talismans.
There’s even an exclusive outfit for Deluxe Edition owners.
We hope players will enjoy replaying or continuing to play through Kena: Bridge of Spirits with constant reminders of the special characters Kena helps throughout her journey as a Spirit. Guide. (Plus, we also just think they look pretty cool). Even when we tested them out, every time we played with a different skin, we were reminded of helping Beni and Saiya find their brother for the first time, or learning archery from Rusu.
We can’t wait to share all of these additions with the September 27 Anniversary Update.
