Studio Awaceb is set to deliver an incredible experience with its first title, Tchia. Before its release, MP1st was given a chance to get some time in with an early build. Read on for our hands-on impressions to find out exactly how it’s shaping up.
Putting the Soul in Exploration
At the heart of Tchia is ” soul-jumping;” a mechanic that allows you to hop into nearly any object and animal life within the open world. See that bird soaring in the sky? Or how about that sea turtle deep below the water? None of those are near you? Well, how about that rock? Or that coconut high in the tree? You could even take control of lanterns, a piece of wood, and other inanimate objects.
Everything is physics-driven too. When you soul jump into a heavy object like a boulder, you’ll feel clunky and slow, with rigid movement due to the shape. Compared to a coconut, where they’re generally well-rounded, it made moving around in the environment feel smoother, especially when going downhill. Other objects also feel lighter or heavier than others, so when they fall through the air or into the sea, they’ll react differently due to their weight or type of material.
This created some rather unique opportunities in the open world, as while traversing is in the veins of Breath of the Wild, in that you are free to go wherever you want, the physics reminded me more of Half-life, in that there is a lot of freedom in what you can do in your surroundings. It’s not as crazy as Half-life, mind you, it’s just more of an indicator of how much focus has been put into the physics.
There is also another mechanic known as soul throw. Soul throw allows you to exit an object that you soul jumped in order to slingshot it. While that may not seem helpful initially, the beauty of soul throw is that you can immediately soul jump into that thrown object, allowing you to easily travel across the map at a steady pace.
I was having an absolute blast with these two mechanics, so much so that I forgot about the main quest because I was having too much fun exploring the island and finding things to play with.
The only aspect of the soul jump that I wasn’t too fond of was that it ran off a meter. I can understand why, as the studio probably wouldn’t want people to stick with playing as a bird the whole time. But for the inanimate objects, it should have had an unlimited amount of possession time since those objects are stationary anyway. I found myself waiting for the brief seconds for the meter to refill to hop back into a rock, which broke the flow a bit. I’m sure we can upgrade it, so it’s not that big of a complaint.
Luckily, there are some things to counter that wait, as the character has a glider and a sailboat, with objects in the environment, such as a tree, functioning as a catapult. So while the soul jump does have its limitation, everything else around it felt it catered to make traversing a breeze. That made me want to explore since it was easy to go where I wanted and, if needed, to go back on track with the main quest.
Of course, when you aren’t goofing around with the game’s physics, you’ll likely be off exploring the many gorgeous locations scattered across the islands. High mountain tops, beautiful sandy beaches, coral-filled oceans, and lush green jungles. The world of Tchia is filled with variety, making it feel like an extraordinary place. There are collectibles and fun mini-games all over should you want to do some side activities.
One of my favorites so far is playing the ukulele. I may not be able to keep up with the notes sometimes (there’s an auto-play option too!) but hearing the soothing music performed always put me in a pleasantly relaxing mood. If you got the feeling of this being a “chilled” game from the trailers, well you’ll be glad to know it is.
That’s probably how I would describe my time with Tchia so far, a relaxing adventure that wants you to go at your own pace, with some of the most welcoming islanders you’ll ever meet in a video game. If studio Awaceb wanted me to leave feeling wholesome from my time playing, I’ll say they’ve done just that and more.
Closing Thoughts
Every year there is always a standout indie game that I heavily look forward to, and based on my hands-on experience with Tchia, I think it’s that title. From a gameplay perspective, Tchia knocks it out. It’s fun and charming, and frankly, feels like a breath of fresh air. I look forward to revisiting the full world that the New Caledonia inspired adventure has to offer this Summer, and hopefully we’ll be seeing you there too.
MP1st was given access to a preview build of Tchia for our hands-on session. Tchia is set to release in Spring 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5.
