With some Metroidvanias on the Switch the appeal is in the combat, in others its the exploration and traversal, and in some cases it’s the story that helps drive the experience. While many may hit two of those notes successfully, it tends to be more unusual to see titles that not only tackle all 3 areas, but then manage to do it well. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is one such title.

The crux of the story, and what drives your character’s journey, is the loss of his father and his attempt to bargain with the God of Death in order to bring him back. While it isn’t unusual to see games with stories involving some degree of mysticism and high stakes, it isn’t so often that you see them work this well. Your journey is often accompanied by a running dialogue between Zau and this God named Kalunga, as well as the Great Spirits he must defeat in order to acquire the means to bring back his father. What’s wonderful is that they act to compliment your journey, with most of the dialogue happening as you go rather than stopping the action, and yet it still generally remains poignant.

All of that said, if it’s action and some challenging sections requiring that you show off your jumping and traversal skills, you’ll still absolutely be well-served. What really sets ZAU apart is his ability to move between elemental powers, both for the purposes of combat and to help get through certain situations. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as jumping into the air, throwing down an ice ball, and freezing the water beneath you to conquer a specific section, and what’s terrific is that mechanically it all feels quite natural and smooth to execute… something that’s a relative rarity. Similarly, while perhaps you may find methods to exploit to cheese your opponents, I enjoyed consistently changing up my combat game, moving between elements and exploring what fun you could have with extended combos. As you get further and both take on new abilities and upgrade specific skills to suit your style, the game continues to keep you on the hook quite effectively, staving off the malaise that can often set in more than a few hours into the experience.

Taking all of this into consideration, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is truly a triple threat of a Metroidvania, aiming for and hitting all of its critical targets with a pretty equal level of quality. While perhaps the level of skill people will need in order to be up to the task may be slightly higher than average, that isn’t to say it isn’t accessible. You’ll just really need to be up on your skilled jumping game to get through certain sections. Regardless, while perhaps it would look and perform a bit better on another system, it’s one of the best overall titles I’ve played in the genre on the Switch in quite some time.