This isn’t a review, but it would be disingenuous not to provide a few words about what Tales of Kenzera: Zau aspires to be – a deep and solemn look at love, loss and longing delicately framed against the backdrop of an industry and world that continues to be increasingly antagonistic to black and African bodies.

Abubakar Salim is on an upward trajectory of a career that has seen him voice one of the most iconic characters of a storied franchise, co-lead an HBO series as well as found and run his own game studio. However, most within the gaming sphere might recognize him as the articulate, grounded, but emotional core of the 2023 Game Awards. When he took to the stage to not only present his game, but to talk about its significance to him and for his father.

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, is a heartfelt metroidvania-inspired single-player action-adventure platformer that brings a new take on the experience of finding hope and courage after loss. The loss of a parent figure has been explored across the gaming medium numerous times, but rarely from the perspective of a black creator straddling a multitude of lines that include what it means to be a black man shouldering fear, deep sadness, emotional awareness, colourism, vulnerability, the need for space and the duality of being a proud African rooted in the vanilla lands of Europe.

I could talk about the tight mechanics and how wonderul it felt to play a game brimming with confidence and pride in its source material. A game steeped in the rich tapestry of Africa’s complex landscape or that the core cast is made of primarily black characters. Or that the game is one half of a companion piece to a short film called My Shoes, Your Feet. Those are wonderful traits worth highlighting especially for a continent that continues to produce new gaming experiences despite financial and infrastructural adversity.

What I would however like to highlight is the significance of a man and a black man at that proudly wearing his heart on his sleeve and making a game built of that core tenet. As black men, especially within the medium of gaming, long has violence, aggressive or humor traits been at the fore of a characters personality. That is if the main character isn’t being oversexualized.

What Abubakar Salim shows and Surgent studios supremely delivers is the clearest representation of the complex nature of man. One that is capable of love whilst also over encumbered by sadness and the weight of responsibility. It is a door and an opening of the potential narrative threads we can weave, when we choose to look inwards. And it all starts and ends with love. For ourselves and one another. That is the strength of Tales of Kenzera: Zau and should be the basis for more stories from the African continent.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau is available to buy and experience from most digital store fronts including Steam now.