Highlights

  • Abubakar Salim, known for his role in Assassin's Creed: Origins, announced his debut game Tales of Kenzera: Zau, an homage to his late father and a competition to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
  • Both Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are AAA Metroidvania games with a focus on combat and movement, but they also incorporate significant cultural elements from African and Southwest Asian storytelling and mythology.
  • While details about Tales of Kenzera: Zau are limited, both games are highly anticipated by Metroidvania fans and expected to launch in the first quarter of 2024.

In a night that was practically a back-to-back onslaught of world premiers and new trailers for upcoming games, one of the most interesting surprises from The Game Awards 2023 was Raised By Wolves actor (and voice of Bayek in Assassin's Creed: Origins) Abubakar Salim taking the stage to announce his new game Tales of Kenzera: Zau. Described as an homage to his late father thanks to the connection the two shared through gaming, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the debut game from Salim's newly minted game company Surgent Studios, and it also looks to be providing some strong competition for another of 2024's upcoming Metroidvanias – Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Outside his role as Bayek in Assassin's Creed: Origins, Abubakar Salim's voicework credits in the medium of video games are wide-ranging, including roles in Diablo, Xenoblade Chronicles, and one of 2023's indie gems, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. The announcement of Tales of Kenzera: Zau comes as a twofold surprise, not only for being the debut game from a new studio but for it being a Metroidvania coming to players courtesy of an AAA publisher, in this case, EA. Prior to Zau's reveal, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was the only known AAA Metroidvania releasing in early 2024, and it now has a clear rival arriving not long after its launch.

Prince of Persia Castlevania
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Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Share More Than Just Genre

Outside both being side-scrolling Metroidvania titles with a twin emphasis on combat and movement, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Tales of Kenzera: Zau are that rarest of quantities within the genre thanks to both being Metroidvanias coming from AAA publishers. Tales of Kenzera: Zau is one of the games releasing on EA's newer EA Originals label, while Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the latest game in the franchise since it's been under Ubisoft's tutelage. But where many longtime fans are hoping The Lost Crown will breathe life into a mostly dormant franchise, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is not the type of risk that AAA publishers normally take, giving a bit of weight to EA's belief in Abubakar Salim's vision.

Additionally, both games utilize a significant cultural component through their use of mythology and folklore in their storytelling and environmental design. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown utilizes Persian mythology and the rich cultural history of the Middle East as the framework for its narrative, while Tales of Kenzera: Zau looks to the traditions and tales of the Bantu people for its story revolving around courage in the face of grief. It's not common for a Metroidvania title to embrace African or Southwest Asian cultural storytelling in its presentation, much less to get two games doing just that, releasing within 3 months of one another.

What remains to be seen about Tales of Kenzera: Zau is how it incorporates the twin halves of its Metroidvania gameplay, as well as what players can expect in terms of the game's world and expected length. Hands-on previews of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown have been mostly positive, with many walking away sharing the sentiment that it's both a bold new step toward bringing the Prince of Persia franchise back into the spotlight and a quality action-platformer that stands on its own two feet.

The reveal trailer for Tales of Kenzera: Zau was certainly impressive, but little more is known about the title beyond its initial announcement at The Game Awards. Still, Metroidvania fans have a lot to look forward to in the first quarter of 2024 thanks to both of these excellent-looking titles' planned launches.