Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU News

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Wield the dance of the shaman. Reclaim your father’s spirit.

A grieving boy begins to read a Bantu tale written by his late father. Adventure into the beautiful and treacherous lands of Kenzera as Zau, a young shaman who bargains with the God of Death to bring his Baba back from darkness.

With your cosmic powers and untried courage, you advance into unknown mythological lands. Once bursting with life, Kenzera is now rife with lost ancestral spirits. As Zau advances toward his goal, three mighty beings lie in wait, fearsome in their strength yet somehow strangely familiar. Will you embrace the dance of the shaman?



Embark on a poignant single-player story shaped by actor Abubakar Salim’s own experience with grief, discovering how love gives us the courage to press on after devastating loss. Wield powers from the Sun and the Moon to defeat restless spirits in rhythmic combat and become a worthy Nganga: a spiritual healer. Discover a rich universe with untold lore of chaos and order and journey through mystical 2.5D realms awash with color and depth, emboldened by multi-award-winning composer Nainita Desai's enchanting original score.

Crafted by Surgent Studios, the entertainment studio founded by actor Abubakar Salim (Assassin's Creed: Origins, Raised by Wolves) and published by EA Originals, Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU takes you on a thrilling emotional journey inspired by the rich myths of Bantu cultures.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2316580/Tales_of_Kenzera_ZAU/

The reception to our demo during Steam Next Fest and beyond was incredible. The community has been supportive and honest, and as a result we were able to improve the full game based on your suggestions, recommendations and bug reports. Your feedback was also a big part of why we decided to push for Steam Deck verification, and it made the game itself better as a whole. Thank you.

Now that Tales of Kenzera: ZAU comes out tomorrow, we’d like to take this opportunity to polish the demo!

We’ve begun to work on it now so we can give players a sample of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU that’s reflective of the full game.

For now, the outdated demo isn’t an accurate representation of ZAU. We’re going to remove it temporarily (for new players and for existing demo owners), which means players won't be able to download the demo from Steam, and that anyone who downloaded the demo already will not be able to play it anymore starting April 23rd at 5PM BST / 6PM CET / 9AM PST.

We’re excited to bring it back for players to sample Tales of Kenzera: ZAU in a version that’s truer to the final game!

It's time to begin your adventure, young shaman. Explore the beautiful and treacherous lands of Kenzera with the God of Death in Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU – available on 23 April 2024.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

It's time to wield the dance of the shaman and reclaim your father’s spirit.

Crafted by Surgent Studios, the entertainment studio founded by actor Abubakar Salim (Assassin's Creed: Origins, Raised by Wolves) and published by EA Originals, Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU is a metroidvania-style adventure and a thrilling emotional journey inspired by the rich myths of Bantu cultures.

[h3]Pre-Order* Offer [/h3]

There's still time to embark on your journey with special perks if you pre-order!

• Start with a 10% discount
  
• Wrap yourself in the Kalunga's Blessing visual effect variant
  
• Kickstart your adventure with 2 shaman points to unlock up to 2 skills in-game
  
• Discover more of our world with the “Soulshifters” digital companion comic
  

Find out more about Tales of Kenzera: ZAU at http://ea.com/games/tales-of-kenzera/zau

Follow us on

• Discord: https://discord.gg/surgent
  
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@surgentstudios
  
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surgentstudios
  
• Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/ZauTheGame
  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2316580/Tales_of_Kenzera_ZAU/

This journey has been a roller coaster - from my father’s passing, to conceptualizing this game, to building the team, to crafting it with my team at Surgent Studios, and to now releasing Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU. It’s completely surreal.

This game was inspired by the loss of my father, who passed away from cancer in 2013. I’m sure many of you can relate to or at least imagine the intense grief that consumed me once he had gone. He was supposed to see me become an actor, a father. It never happened.

At that time, the pain felt insurmountable. As the years passed, I began to let my grief fuel me - that miasma of sadness, anger, and confusion generating the spark that became ZAU. It’s my way of reaching out. Of saying I see you and your journey.

I’m often asked how I got comfortable being honest about the origins of this game. The truth is that there was no other way to do it. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that the journey towards deciding to share how you feel is as important as the sharing itself.

Many of you have noticed that ZAU is supported by the Ridley Scott Creative Group. Today I’m proud to reveal what that means.

Over the past few months, I’ve written and directed my first short film with the support and guidance of RSCG. That film, My Shoes, Your Feet, is out today.


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It tells the real story behind ZAU, showing how hard it is to reach out. To try to connect to others while you’re going through it. To make the choice to be seen.

I’m honoured to share this piece of myself with you now. It’s the ideal primer for Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, and it’s my love letter to my father and to everyone out there who holds the pain of loss in their heart.

I’m here with you. I see you.

So let’s take this journey together.

"Pre-order today and get these special perks:

1. - Start with a 10% discount
   
2. - Wrap yourself in the Kalunga's Blessing visual effect variant
   
3. - Kickstart your adventure with 2 shaman points to unlock up to 2 skills in-game
   
4. - Discover more of our world with the “Soulshifters” digital companion comic
   

Wield the dance of the shaman. Reclaim your father’s spirit.

Prepare for your adventure by checking the launch map to see when Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU becomes available in your region.



A grieving boy begins to read a Bantu tale written by his late father. Adventure into the beautiful and treacherous lands of Kenzera as Zau, a young shaman who bargains with the God of Death to bring his Baba back from darkness.

With your cosmic powers and untried courage, you advance into unknown mythological lands. Once bursting with life, Kenzera is now rife with lost ancestral spirits. As Zau advances toward his goal, three mighty beings lie in wait, fearsome in their strength yet somehow strangely familiar. Will you embrace the dance of the shaman?

Embark on a poignant single-player story shaped by actor Abubakar Salim’s own experience with grief, discovering how love gives us the courage to press on after devastating loss. Wield powers from the Sun and the Moon to defeat restless spirits in rhythmic combat and become a worthy Nganga: a spiritual healer. Discover a rich universe with untold lore of chaos and order and journey through mystical 2.5D realms awash with color and depth, emboldened by multi-award-winning composer Nainita Desai's enchanting original score.

Crafted by Surgent Studios, the entertainment studio founded by actor Abubakar Salim (Assassin's Creed: Origins, Raised by Wolves) and published by EA Originals, Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU takes you on a thrilling emotional journey inspired by the rich myths of Bantu cultures.

Join us and talk about all things Tales of Kenzera: ZAU on the official Surgent Studios Discord Server

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2316580/Tales_of_Kenzera_ZAU/

*Conditions and restrictions apply. See http://ea.com/games/tales-of-kenzera/zau/disclaimers for details.