The second release from Awaceb, the French studio based in New Caledonia, Tchia is the studio’s first open-world sandbox. The game has a heavy weight on its shoulders from the start, as Awaceb’s team must not only impress with their first foray into the genre, but also represent their home country of New Caledonia.

Tchia is basically a love letter to this small island in the Pacific. Although the names of places, people and animals have been changed, from the environments you travel to the food you eat, you will remember the place that inspired Awaceb and Tchia as a whole. Awaceb’s passion for New Caledonia is palpable when you play the game, and there’s a strong sense that creating this project feels like a dream come true.

When playing Tchia, this passion is largely reflected through the game’s multitude of features. Its visuals make the island an incredibly beautiful play space, and it’s worth noting the water in particular, which is enchanting enough to make a long rafting trip feel like you’ve flown over it in minutes. The way water catches light during a sunset can be awe-inspiring. There’s also a cartoonish appeal to the look of Tchia’s characters, animals, and more that helps in the game’s lighter moments, adding visual gags and physical comedy moments. The soundtrack also contributes to these moments as it is full of enjoyable and relaxing tracks that will help you move from one goal to another. Although after a while you’ll feel like you’ve heard all the songs, they’re enchanting enough to be worth repeating.

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Music is a big part of Tchia, as between main quests you’ll often find yourself gathered around a campfire playing the ukulele or other instrument you find in the area you’ve been exploring. These musical mini-games are quite fun, and it can be difficult to master them 100%, but with the background cutscenes, you may feel like you’re missing out on the story when playing through certain musical sections.

Besides walking and enjoying the view, Tchia has one main goal. As the main character, you must save your father from Meavora, an evil being who has taken over the islands you call home. During this journey, you will meet friends and foes, and you will have to cross sea and land in the hope of retrieving your father. Although it may not be its strong point, its main story is really good. There were a few twists that managed to keep me hooked throughout the game, and again, the charm of the base game is there, but it’s not a game that will keep you playing again, which doesn’t isn’t bad either.

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The real essence of Tchia lies in its sandbox gameplay, which gives you tons of mechanics to try out in the game. and objects you encounter, giving you plenty of options to navigate the map. Moreover, it is also the way to defeat enemies in battle. They might not appear often, but if you want to upgrade your cosmetics or just take down cloth monsters, you’ll need to dive straight into the combat system. Combat is basically a more aggressive version of Garry’s Mod prop hunting, where you have to throw flaming items and explosives at cloth enemies to burn them.

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Beyond soul-jumping to get around, there are plenty of ways to navigate the world. From your trusty glider to your raft, you don’t always need your Soul Jump powers to get by, and one of the most fun ways I found to jump was tree jumping. in a tree, taking advantage of the momentum you can gain by swinging from side to side at the top of a tree. As you travel through Tchia, you’ll need to keep an eye on your stamina, which also affects your health. This can be spent on rock climbing, diving, using your glider, and many other strenuous activities. There are ways to increase stamina, but it depletes incredibly quickly, meaning you can’t use it for more than a brief moment.

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Among the features mentioned, Tchia has many more. There is a camera to take pictures, stone stacking mini-game, mask carving mini-game, races, shooting ranges for your slingshot and many more activities you can participate in . However, although Tchia has many moving parts, the sum of these parts does not always form a functional whole. It’s hard to point out the glaring flaws of a passion project like Tchia, but the cracks are there. The open world, for example, is not as complete as it seems at first glance. Aside from the occasional activity that can be completed quickly, there isn’t much else to do other than collect trinkets and fruits that will increase your stamina. The world can be full of charm, but not necessarily full of life. No hay secretos con los que te tropieces al explorar, ni objetivos secundarios que amplíen el mundo o sus personajes, y aunque de vez en cuando hay gente deambulando por los mismos caminos que tú, está claro que tú eres lo único que tiene algo que hacer in this world.

There are also plenty of gameplay elements, but not all of them fit together or seem to have a huge impact on the overall experience. The camera, for example, is useful in a mission, but it seems the main goal was to keep you from forgetting it, rather than taking pictures as a necessary fix to fix the problem. The ukulele also feels like it’s been left out at some point, as the music slowly becomes more of a cheesy sideshow than a necessary part of the game. Soul hopping gains prominence throughout. of the game, but it feels like it should have received a lot more attention. Instead of having five different proper things, a terrific mechanic could have made the game feel less hectic.

A final mention should also be made of Tchia’s visual bugs, which are rare but show up at the worst times. Without spoiling the story’s ending, the final scenes refused to load up the environment, making all the characters look like they were floating if they didn’t get stuck in a weird “T-pose”.

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Tchia is a game with a lot of ambition, a lot of passion and a lot of charm. However, he may not live up to his ideal version. Tchia has a lot to love, and if you want to explore a visually stunning world with a solid soundtrack, then go for it. But, to really stand out in this genre, it seems like you’ll have to do a lot more. Let’s hope that Awaceb continues to develop Tchia’s ideas, since very solid foundations have been laid.

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