The Game Awards are filled with excited looks at the most anticipated games, but the ceremony is full of surprises. One of them is the brilliant metroidvania Tales of Kenzera: Zou, the debut game from Sergeant Studios.
Zhou is a boy on a quest to bring his father back from the dead. Guided by Kalunga, the god of death, he uses his abilities as a warrior shaman to defeat the ancestral spirits that roam the land of Kenjera. His main tools are a pair of magical masks; With the Moon Mask he can manipulate time and crystallize enemies, and the Sun Mask allows him to launch flaming spears. Studio founder Abubakar Salim says the two masks are reminiscent of the Devil May Cry series, and they allow the player to flip between ranged and melee modes.
The world is inspired by Bantu lore and imagery with bright colors and mythical animals. Additionally, the game will be scored by British composer Nainita Desai, who scored the Half Mermaid’s Telling Lies and Immortality.
Salim founded Sergeant in 2019, but most gamers currently recognize him as the voice of Baek from Assassin’s Creed Origins. According to him, the death of his father inspired him to create a new project – he wanted to tell a sad story in the form of a video game. Five years later, Tales of Kenzera: Zhou tells that story, with the help of Ridley Scott Creative Group and Critical Roll.
The trailer ended with the news that Tales of Kenzera: Zou will be coming to PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on April 23, 2024.