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Tchia’s traversal options are so good I never want to walk in games ever againWhy walk when you can climb, glide, sail, and soul-jump
Why walk when you can climb, glide, sail, and soul-jump
There’s a lot I’m excited for inTchia. Revealed at the Game Awards back in 2020, the trailer boasted a whole load of activities: sailing, climbing, ukelele playing, swimming, tree-hopping, slingshot sharpshooting, totem carving, gliding - the list is never ending - and all set on a beautiful island with characters to talk to, quests to complete, and enemies to fight.Andon top of all that, you also have the ability to “soul-jump” letting you control any animal or object.
It sounds too good to be true, right? But two years after Awaceb’s trailer debut, I’ve gotten my hands on a preview build to see whether a nine-person dev team’s tropical island exploration game is pie in the sky. Turns out, it’s the opposite; my hands on time suggests Tchia will deliver on everything it promised and more.
Sailing is one of the fastest ways to move around the island, the most scenic too.
One thing to note about the surprising start to this relaxing island game is that characters in Tchia speak in a local dialect. It’s a mix of French and Drehu, both native languages of New Caledonia, a small archipelago in the southwest Pacific that acts as the main inspiration for Tchia. New Caledonia is the homeland of developer Awaceb’s co-founders, so look forward to plenty of New Caledonian culture, wildlife, folklore, and traditions in the game.
There are the sounds of gentle waves, crickets chirping, birds squawking, and a light breeze making the trees rustle. There are mountains jutting out further inland, and I can see thickets of trees as well as swamp lands further along the coastline. As I continue along the winding river, Tchia’s island feels almost like a collection of mini-biomes, each with different plants and animals. It seems strange to see so many different terrains and wildlife, but after reading theNew Caledonia Wiki pageI found out the island is known for its micro-climates and exceptional biodiversity - cool!
It’s me as a crab! The list of animals I’ve played as includes a warthog, turtle, like three types of birds, dolphin, crab, dog, cow, fish, gecko, and stag.
Soul SearchingThere are shrines dotted around the island and carving a totem that matches its door will transport you to another realm with a thundering giant. Sneak past them and your prize is a fruit that extends your soul-jumping bar, letting you possess animals and objects for longer.
You have a map, but there’s no icon showing exactly where you are. If you do wanna know, Tchia will circle a large area of the island you’re in, but it doesn’t get any more specific then that, which I like. The archipelago’s different micro-biomes and smaller satellite islands help you orientate yourself pretty easily, and when in doubt you can just find a high point and climb. It’s a cool feeling knowing that you can look at a huge mountain and decide “I’m going to climb that.”
You also have your handy ukulele with you, which you not only get to jam out on during musical cutscenes, but also has magical abilities. Whip it out and start strumming your chords in a certain order and the time of day will change; twang out another combination and you can summon birds to soul-jump into or giant bouncy plants that launch you into the air. There’s a cool-down timer on these abilities, but I only really used them when I was stuck for traversal options (which was maybe once or twice during my handful of hours). Basically, having your handy ukulele means that you’ve never stuck for a ride.
The last thing I discovered was soul-jumping into objects. Jumping into something like a chair or an axe means you just kinda just flail around on the floor and jump a little, but where it really comes into play is when you take on the Maano, fabric monsters that lurk around designated camps that hold special items. This is where your familiarity with soul-jumping comes into play, as you can possess animals to make the approach and then quickly hop into lamps and other flammable objects placed around the camp to hide, or choose voilence and launch yourself at the Manno to set them on fire. I’ve not cleared all the camps yet, but it’s on my to-do list.
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