Tchia Review
Sun soaked sand and clear skies await players as they venture into the world of Tchia, an open world adventure platformer from developers Awaceb. The islands of Tchia bring the real-world location of New Caledonia to life with breathtaking vistas and meditative island vibes. Whether you’re sailing across the water or playing ukulele and making music with a colorful cast of characters, this coming of age tale separates itself from the pack by bringing authentic representation to celebrate the culture and history of the people of New Caledonia.
The game’s narrative centers on Tchia as she sets out on her journey to rescue her father who was kidnapped by the evil ruler Meavora who is bringing darkness to the islands with their army of fabric-based creatures known as the Maano. This story setup serves as a solid entry point into exploring the world of Tchia and all that it has to offer.
Exploration and a sense of wonder is at the heart of Tchia’s open world experience. The islands are bursting with unique quests and activities to uncover as you progress through the game’s story at your own pace. From thrilling sailboat races, to meditative rock stacking to the incredibly detailed and fully playable in-game ukulele, there is no shortage of variety within the world of Tchia.
Tchia brings new ideas to the open world genre through its innovative and engaging physics-based gameplay mechanic known as Soul Jumping. Soul Jumping allows Tchia to momentarily take possession of inanimate objects or animals within her environment. You are encouraged to utilize Soul Jumping for traversal and combat encounters throughout the game. I absolutely loved how this mechanic allowed me to be creative and improvise how I approached different situations. Some of my favorite results of Soul Jumping include possessing a bird to quickly descend to the beach from high above in the mountains or when I possessed a flaming log and quickly set fire to a group of nearby enemies. Soul Jumping allows players the freedom to set the course of their own adventure with consistently fun gameplay variety.
The music of Tchia is intrinsically tied to the gameplay and overall atmosphere of the world. Authenticity and representation help elevate the music of Tchia to another level. The team at Awaceb made it a point to record locally based vocalists, instrumentalists and large choral ensembles onsite in New Caledonia to give the music a unique style and level of authenticity that is truly representative of the culture that Tchia is seeking to depict. Each melody immediately transports you into the beautiful and vibrant world of New Caledonia and interactive musical moments allow the player to connect with the music on a deeper level.
In addition to the locally recorded music, Awaceb also made it a point to cast native voice actors from New Caledonia to portray the game’s characters. All in-game dialogue was recorded in Kanak, which is the native language of New Caledonia. Its the small details like this that illustrate how Tchia symbolizes the importance of representation within video games.
With the release of Tchia, the team at Awaceb has created something truly unique and memorable. While representing their home of New Caledonia through striking visuals, engaging physics-based gameplay and representation of local talent, the world of Tchia is certainly one to stand out for good reason amidst the all too overcrowded open world genre. I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring the world of Tchia and look forward to seeing what adventure this studio takes players on next.
A huge thank you to Kepler Interactive for providing LukeWarmGames with an early PC code for review purposes. Tchia launches on March 21st for PlayStation 4 & 5, Day 1 with PS+ Extra & Premium and PC (Epic Games Store).
