Everyone knows how important a good mascot can be. Not only can they give us a closer connection to any given story, in today’s world there’s an endless supply of merchandising opportunities. Gone are the days when you just stuck something on a t-shirt - now there’s cuddly toys, FunkoPops, Nenoroids, Tubbz, memes, stickers, and tattoos on your bum cheek that can all be adorned with the face of a good mascot. Kena: Bridge of Spirits seems to understand this unique appeal, but also misses the point entirely.

The best - or perhaps worst - example of blatant mascottery in recent years is the Porgs in Star Wars. While cute enough, they don’t add anything of value to proceedings; no comic relief, no reflection for human connection, and no involvement in the plot. But they’re cute, so here - have a FunkoPop. Not all mascots are like this. I recently played Lost in Random, a great game stretched out too thin and overloaded with too many ideas to work cohesively. At the heart of Random is Dicey, your die companion who talks in gobbledigook invented by the game’s creative designer, Olov Redmalm. Dicey is a core part of the game - you must roll him in order to attack - but manages to feel like both tool and companion at once. Through exaggerated body language and expressive actions, Dicey feels like Stitch, Scrat, Pascal, Toothless, and the Minions. If you don’t know who they are, please watch more cartoons. It’s these characters that the Rot in Kena should be aping, but instead, they feel like the Porgs.

Related: Kena Is The PS5's Jedi: Fallen OrderThe Rot are at the heart of your journey throughout Kena. As a spirit guide, you are assisted by them on your journey - they follow you around, make your attacks stronger, and collecting them is a major part of the game. Upon completing certain quests, you also get a handful of Rot to add to your legion. This is obviously to ensure even players who skip the collectibles and just rush through the story still have a sizable amount of Rot to call upon, but it’s part of the reason they feel less like Stitch and more like Porgs. The Rot are companions, but they’re also collectibles, and they’re also powerups, and they’re also currency. You can find or unlock hats for the Rot, which gives them a morsel of visual personality, but mostly it just feels like they’re there.

Kena Bridge of Spirits Kena and Rot

Maybe it’s because Ember Labs, Kena’s developer, is trying so hard - and mostly succeeding - to keep up with the triple-A visuals, and so busy borrowing gameplay conventions from other games, that the Rot don’t reach their full potential. People will like the Rot, but then people like Porgs. People like Coldplay. They can’t be trusted.

In fairness, the Rot feel far less cynical than the Porgs. There’s a clear attempt to actively include them in the game. Not only are they involved in basically every enemy encounter, their constant presence makes them a part of each moment. One Rot is always sat on Kena’s shoulder. When she swims, they paddle after her. Then run around the map in real time. Certain barriers can only be cleared, and certain objects only picked up, with the Rot’s help. Even in Meditation, the Rot sit patiently by while Kena finds bliss in the quiet moments. You can sit amongst the Rot and kiss them, make them sneeze, or watch them dance. In photo mode, they even have some poseability.

Kena Bridge of Spirits Rot

Also, while making them a collectible does make them feel interchangeable and forgettable, it also means they’re constantly on your mind. You discover new Rot all the time, but while all 100 of them wouldn’t need a layered and fleshed out personality, it would be nice if there were a few different attitudes. A playful Rot, and inquisitive Rot, a mischievous Rot, a timid Rot - you get the idea. That makes them stand out a bit more than a cracked pot on their heads.

The Rot are so close to being a great mascot, just as Kena is so close to being a great game. There’s enough there that people will connect with them, especially those charmed by the handful of different ‘I’ve found a Rot’ animations without being bored to tears by collecting the full century. Like everything in Kena, the Rot feel so close, yet so far. The rocky execution of the Rot is classic First Game Syndrome, and Ember Labs has shown it has a lot of brilliant ideas, it just needs a chance to figure out how to use them all. While word is a Kena sequel is unlikely - although never say never - hopefully we’ll see the lessons of the Rot in whatever Ember Labs does next.

Next: Kena: Bridge Of Spirits Is The Breath Of The Wild Game I Always Wanted