Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be releasing on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and which stands for obvious differences between both versions. Ember Lab had previously noted that the number of Rot displayed on-screen will be fewer on PS4 than PS5. That number has now been confirmed.
Speaking with the Official PlayStation Magazine for the latest issue, Ember Labs co-founders Josh and Mike Grier assured that Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be aiming to “bring the same level of detail [PS5]” on PS4. The newer and more powerful hardware of PS5 will however allow the game to show more activity on-screen compared to the PS4 version of the game.
Rot, the adorable companion spirits, will play an important role in terms of both gameplay and the story. There will be a hundred Rot to collect in the game over the course of progression. Kena: Bridge of Spirits will show all hundred of them on PS5 where “there is no slowdown [and] the 4K visuals remain clean.”
The PS4 version of Kena: Bridge of Spirits on the other hand will be able to only show 20 Rot at once, at least in the current build. Ember Lab will presumably be trying to raise that number with further optimizations but at the time of writing, players should expect less than two dozen of those fluffy spirits to be waltzing on their screens at once.
The fewer number of Rot will not impact gameplay during either combat or puzzles. The PS4 version will just not be able to visually show all of them at once. Beyond the number of Rot being displayed on-screen will also be scaled-back graphical elements like lighter forests and foliage. This was already confirmed last year to ensure smoother combat without any significant frame-drops.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits was supposed to release last year before being slated for March 2021. Ember Lab is yet to officially nail down a release date. The game will be console exclusive to PlayStation while landing on PC through the Epic Games Store. The exclusivity will however be timed, meaning that Xbox consoles as well as Steam will get their turn afterwards.
