![]() Tchia's powers are limited - very limited. Being able to soar through the skies as various types of birds or running through the ground as a boar or deer made for fantastic and enjoyable locomotion options to explore New Caledonia and find the collectibles scattered throughout the world. Spanning 10 chapters, you'll follow Tchia on a quest to defeat the malevolent ruler, Meavora, as you use her unique powers of soul-swapping with various animals and objects throughout the world. This all might not have been so frustrating and infuriating if the gameplay aspects weren't as slow as they feel. I didn't care for New Caledonian culture and I wasn't told or shown why I should. It's like playing God of War (2018) and its sequel, God of War: Ragnarok, but Santa Monica Studios not caring to tell you at all what Ragnarok nor Fimbulwinter mean to the overall world. Awaceb - the developer and publisher for the title - did an abysmal job at introducing its culture to outsiders, making it difficult for me to understand (or even care) for various elements of the story that I felt was missing a "kick" to them if I knew more about the culture. The biggest insult to Tchia's narrative isn't its characters and shoddy pacing but the way that you're expected to care for New Caledonian culture magically. This constant struggle between what theme Tchia was going to take hindered the narrative significantly, as often light was made of serious moments or funny moments were ruined by serious situations. One moment, you're failing to fist bump, high five, shake hands, and more with a young ally you meet, and the next, you're staring at animal cruelty, blood, and casual jokes about chickens "living longer than they should" once you cut off their head with seemingly no warning. The title fluctuates aggressively between trying to be funny and trying to be shocking, ultimately failing at both due to its constant fluctuation. Several times throughout the narrative, it felt as if Tchia didn't really know what kind of game it wanted to be, story-wise. Tchia might as well be a silent protagonist, as she is incredibly stoic and unreactive, making it difficult to sympathise with her in otherwise horrible situations happening to her her caretakers (and every other character she interacts with) appear so little, have so few lines, and have such a shallow personalities that it made it pretty evident I was interacting with NPCs and the overall characters, including some major ones coming in later into the game, had such little screentime that they felt like total strangers by the time I should care for them. The beginning, middle, and ending all felt rushed and didn't give me enough time to properly care for any character before event after event started happening that made me feel as if I should care for these characters more than I did. Starting off with the game's narrative and setting (bear with me, they connect), Tchia doesn't do a great job of hooking you to the overall narrative until more than halfway through it when you learn about Tchia's actual story. Unfortunately, the visuals and the music are basically the only nice things I can say about Tchia, and its visual and audio charm can only carry this title for so long before it becomes a stale, boring, and convoluted experience that had me wondering half-way into chapter VI how on Earth I was going to put it all together into words (good news - if you're reading this, I managed to!). ![]() ![]() That said, the graphics pale in comparison to the execution of some of the tracks in Tchia, as I found myself becoming borderline nostalgic for its main theme. The visuals are done appropriately, with a chibi look very similar to that of Wind Waker, along with boat-sailing between the two major islands of the game, allowing you to explore its expansive open-world map. Tchia's narrative takes place entirely on New Caledonian myth, and a fantastic thing about the title is that everything is built around that ideology - the voice acting is done by local talent, the vistas and world are inspired by the islands, and even the story is based on local folklore. Better yet, its real-life roots and overall informative nature was something I wasn't only excited for - I was at the edge of my seat to learn about a new culture. And although I'm the first person in line to argue that the latest The Legend of Zelda entry isn't the masterpiece it's cracked up to be, I was hoping that Tchia would build on issues I disliked about Breath of the Wild. Upon seeing Tchia, I told my wife about it - it looked like a title that she was going to love because it seemed very reminiscent (and clearly heavily inspired by) Breath of the Wild. ![]() Tchia is an adventure open-world title in which you take control of the titular character and explore a setting based on New Caledonia. Reviews // 20th Mar 2023 - 5 months ago // By Artura Dawn Tchia Review
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