Tales of Kenzera ZAU

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU on PC is a story-driven 2.5D metroidvania from Surgent Studios, published by Electronic Arts through EA Originals. Current Steam, Epic Games Store, and EA storefronts continue to use the same name, with no verified rebrand or replacement definitive edition. You play as Zau, a young shaman who crosses a mythic land inspired by Bantu cultures while bargaining with Kalunga, the God of Death, to reclaim his father’s spirit.

The game is built for solo play and combines side-scrolling exploration, acrobatic platforming, environmental puzzles, and fast combat. Its strongest identity comes from the contrast between Zau’s two masks, which change his attacks, movement options, and approach to enemy encounters without switching characters or opening a separate equipment screen.

How the metroidvania loop works

Kenzera uses a connected 2.5D world with branching paths, ability-gated routes, optional rooms, collectibles, challenge areas, and boss encounters. The main path moves Zau through distinct regions, while side routes reward players who inspect vertical spaces and return after gaining new traversal abilities.

Zau begins with a useful movement kit that includes jumps, wall movement, and aerial control, then expands it through powers granted by ancient relics. These abilities are not only combat tools. They also interact with waterfalls, gaps, switches, grapple points, and other environmental obstacles, making exploration feel like a steady sequence of movement puzzles.

Players who enjoy 2.5D action platformers with acrobatics and ability-gated exploration like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will recognize the basic rhythm, but ZAU places more emphasis on mask switching and narrative progression than on a large inventory or equipment system.

Sun Mask, Moon Mask, and combat decisions

The Sun Mask specializes in close-range attacks, combo strings, launches, and spear techniques. The Moon Mask focuses on ranged combat, firing magical projectiles that can be aimed at distant targets and used to control space. Swapping between them during a fight is immediate, so the combat loop depends on combining both styles rather than choosing one permanent build.

Moon projectiles use a limited charge that must be reloaded, while some enemies use shields or defenses that encourage the player to select the appropriate attack. The result is a combat system based on movement, target priority, and elemental-style counters rather than simply repeating the strongest combo.

Skill trees improve the existing mask abilities instead of turning Zau into a traditional role-playing character with dozens of unrelated statistics. Upgrades can increase projectile capacity, strengthen attacks, extend combo options, or improve techniques such as the Sun Mask’s spear throw and the Moon Mask’s recharge timing.

Combat arenas become more demanding as enemies are combined in groups with different roles. Shielded opponents, ranged attackers, explosive threats, and enemies that support others force players to keep moving and decide which target should be removed first. Health recovery and powerful attacks also share limited resources, so careless spending can make a difficult encounter harder.

Traversal, relics, and challenge content

Movement powers are central to the adventure. Relics introduce new ways to cross the environment, freeze selected objects or enemies, reach distant switches, and grapple across gaps. These tools are generally tied to recognizable world objects, so the game communicates its puzzles through visual placement instead of relying on abstract menus.

The optional Spirit Trials provide focused combat and platforming challenges outside the main route. A later update added additional hard trials and a Big Head Mode toggle for players who complete the new challenge set. These activities give completion-focused players more to do after learning the main movement and mask systems.

Progress is organized around a handcrafted story campaign rather than procedural runs, randomized builds, or a loot treadmill. Players who prefer a clear beginning-to-end adventure will find a more direct structure, while those seeking extensive backtracking or deep character customization may find the exploration deliberately streamlined.

Story, setting, and audience fit

The narrative follows Zau as he travels through Kenzera to capture three powerful spirits and fulfill his bargain with Kalunga. The premise is framed as a tale written by a grieving father for his son, connecting the fantasy journey to themes of grief, acceptance, memory, and the difficulty of letting go.

That focus makes ZAU a strong fit for players who want a compact, story-led metroidvania with a distinctive cultural foundation. The game is less suited to players looking for a huge open-ended map, extensive build crafting, competitive modes, or a party-based adventure.

Its difficulty is adjustable at any point through five settings: Story, Relaxed, Balanced, Challenging, and Brutal. Story mode is designed to reduce combat pressure and provide additional support during traversal, while Brutal is aimed at players who want a more demanding version of the same encounters.

PC storefronts, controls, and accessibility

The PC version is available through the EA app, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Steam lists the game as single-player and includes Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, Family Sharing, controller support, and a third-party EULA. EA’s support information identifies the Steam build as native to Steam and states that EA Play or an EA account is not required for that version.

Keyboard and mouse controls are available, and the game supports controllers for movement, aiming, combat, and menu navigation. Input remapping is available for basic gameplay actions, with adjustable stick dead zones, aiming sensitivity, hold-input options, and vibration intensity. Movement actions have more limited remapping than the other controls.

Localization covers interface and subtitles in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish from Spain, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish from Latin America, Brazilian Portuguese, and Swahili. Full spoken audio is listed for English and Swahili, which is especially relevant to players interested in the game’s cultural setting and voice presentation.

Accessibility options include adjustable screen shake and camera sway, colorblind-accessible interface design, subtitle controls, automatic dialogue progression, separate volume sliders, and visual cues for important combat and exploration information. Chase sequences can also be skipped, and the difficulty can be changed without losing progress.

Content model and current PC edition

The current PC storefronts present Tales of Kenzera: ZAU as a paid standalone game rather than a free-to-play title. The purchase is centered on the single-player campaign, mask abilities, skill trees, relic-based traversal, collectibles, Spirit Trials, bosses, and Steam or Epic achievement support.

No season pass or paid gameplay expansion is listed on the current Steam product page. The notable post-launch additions identified by EA are gameplay updates, including expanded difficulty options, extra Spirit Trials, controller improvements, encounter tuning, and the Big Head Mode unlock.

There is no verified online multiplayer, local co-op, split-screen mode, or competitive matchmaking. ZAU is designed around one player mastering Zau’s movement, mask combinations, environmental puzzles, and story progression.

Similar PC games

For a larger hand-drawn world with more open-ended exploration, Metroidvania adventures such as Hollow Knight provide a useful comparison. Hollow Knight is broader and more discovery-driven, while ZAU is more linear, more accessible, and more focused on delivering a defined emotional story.

Players interested in faster combat and repeated experimentation may also compare ZAU with action-platformer roguelites such as Dead Cells. The mechanical overlap is limited to responsive movement and demanding fights: Dead Cells is built around procedural runs and temporary loadouts, whereas ZAU uses a fixed world and permanent story progression.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU FAQ

The following answers cover the most important PC buying, gameplay, and platform questions that are often left unclear in shorter storefront descriptions.

Has Tales of Kenzera: ZAU been renamed on PC?

No verified rebrand has replaced the original title. Steam, Epic Games Store, and EA storefronts currently use Tales of Kenzera: ZAU.

Is Tales of Kenzera: ZAU a metroidvania?

Yes. It is a 2.5D, side-scrolling metroidvania with ability-gated routes, environmental puzzles, optional areas, collectibles, relic-based traversal, skill trees, and boss encounters.

Does ZAU have co-op or multiplayer?

No. The PC version is a single-player adventure with no verified online multiplayer, local co-op, or split-screen campaign.

What are the Sun Mask and Moon Mask used for?

The Sun Mask supports melee combos, launches, and spear attacks, while the Moon Mask provides ranged magical projectiles. Switching between them during combat is a core mechanic, especially against enemies with different defenses.

Can the difficulty be changed after starting?

Yes. The five difficulty settings are Story, Relaxed, Balanced, Challenging, and Brutal, and the game allows players to change difficulty during the adventure without losing progress.

Does the PC version support controllers?

Yes. The PC editions support controller input, keyboard and mouse play, adjustable aiming sensitivity, stick dead-zone settings, vibration controls, and remappable basic gameplay actions.