While the team at MP1st didn’t get a chance to go to gamescom this year, the fine folks over at Kepler did invite us for a digital showcase featuring a number of their upcoming titles. Amongst those was one by France-based studio, Awaceb, and that title is Tchia. Based on our limited viewing, let me just say, this is one game you’ll want to keep your eye on.

The Most Chill Adventure You’ll Probably Go On

There is something about Tchia that feels utterly relaxing. Perhaps it’s the clear Windwaker inspiration that the visuals ooze with, or maybe it’s just the friendly vibe the gorgeous unnamed islands (inspired by New Caledonia, which is where members of the studio are from) gives off. Whatever it is, I felt drawn, compelled to want to know more about it. I’m a bit bummed about not going to gamescom this year to try it, but luckily, Game Director and studio founder of Awaceb, Phil Crifo did offer us and other select media members a chance to see the game in action. 

Our closed door presentation starts off like many other open-world demos. A vast world, with the player taking front and center and choosing where they want to go. No icons outside of the in-menu map view were shown off, setting the stage that this is a world that wants players to go where they want, and however they want to. That second part is the big important piece, as while many open world games have given players complete freedom to tackle the story in any order they want, none have been quite as opportunistic in their traversal as Tchia.

We were shown a number of different ways that players can travel all over the island. Obviously walking was one of them, as well as climbing cliff sides, and even using a paraglider made of leaves. Pretty standard stuff nowadays. But the most interesting part came in when Phil started interacting with some of the objects in the world. Take trees, you can climb on top of them to sway around and then use the momentum to catapult yourself to the next tree. He even demonstrated how you can chain into the paraglider to gain further distance, and use trees to fling over buildings. It looked fun when we were shown, but that was just a tease as the game featured a mechanic known as “Soul Jump.”

Soul Jumping allows the player to essentially transfer their soul into any object. The first showcase of this was with a parakeet that was stored safely in the player’s backpack. Once it was set free, the Soul Jump mechanic was activated, slowing the world down and highlighting objects that could be possessed. With the bird taken over, we could now fly around the map freely, and at various heights. We didn’t get to see too much of the bird gameplay, but we did notice that there was an dedicated poop button. Just thought I should mention that, should you fancy the idea of dropping some unexpected bombs around the island.

Land and air aren’t the only places that we’ll get to go and explore, as the demo also showcased a customizable sailboat that can be used to travel the sea and venture to other islands. Again, it had a very Windwaker vibe going on, but no complaints here because it looked spectacular. What’s more, the ocean is also fully explorable (as far as we can tell.) I know swimming and diving probably isn’t high up on people’s lists, but remember you can Soul Jump and in the ocean there are plenty of things to do just that. 

We saw a Dolphin taken possessed, which offered unlimited underwater breathing, as well as a fast, and fun way to move around in the sea. Sea turtles can also be soul jumped, though we didn’t get to see this in action ourselves. 

And like I mentioned before about being able to chain navigational features together, Phil also showed us that it was entirely possible to Soul Jump from one animal to another, as he leaped out of the water and took control of a nearby bird. It was a rather impressive moment in the demo. 

Animals aren’t the only thing that can be possessed either. One of the oddest moments during the demo was when the character possessed a coconut. No, you’re not reading that wrong you really can play as a coconut, as well as several other objects such as lanterns, and even a wooden plank. It was pretty hilarious to see Phil bounce around, and roll down a hill, showing off some of the game’s physics. You could even throw yourself while as a coconut and then jump back into the coconut as it’s gaining distance. 

Clearly a lot of attention went into Tchia to ensure that players had an easy, but enjoyable time traveling around the island. It’s a very sandbox-y experience that encourages you to play around with what’s available. 

Of course you may be wondering what else there is to do outside of exploring, and it seems like there is quite a bit. There’s the main quest, of course, but players can undertake side missions, as well as play some mini games, and even play some lovely guitar tunes. 

As for threats, there are some enemies scattered around and the combat is rather interesting as it seems to take full advantage of Soul Jumping and throwing. 

One objective was to clear a camp out by burning the enemies with fire. There were some lanterns that could be picked up and thrown at these creatures, but with Soul Jump you could get a bit  creative and possess a lantern, rolling into their path and burning them, then finishing off with a Soul Throw. You could even blow up nearby explosives this way. It wasn’t much to be honest, but it is nice to see the studio fully invested in expanding core mechanics like that into the combat side of things. Hopefully there’s a lot more than just lantern throwing. 

While I didn’t get to play it, just from the preview that I was able to see, I can tell there is a lot of love going into this. The game looks beautiful, but the sandbox gameplay it has to offer is without question the most exciting aspect. While there are other games that have offered similar mechanics, I’ve yet to see one so nicely tied together like Tchia. I have big hopes for this one, so I’ll be keeping a watchful eye on it.