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We’re seeing more Pacific Islander culture make its way into popular media and I say, keep it coming! Tchia from Awaceb popped up on Xbox Game Pass and I was immediately drawn in by the striking characters and bright art style. The trailer spelled thrilling adventure, tantalising in-game abilities, and an open-world inspired by a real culture that was new to me. I couldn’t download it fast enough! These days, Western fantasy will always be like comfort food. However I really enjoy expanding my palate with games from other parts of the world. The story lines are less predictable and gameplay can feel somewhat ‘fresher’ due to different priorities, and we’ll explore that in this Tchia review.

Immediately after the menu screen there’s a note from the devs around the context of Tchia. We get a map showing New Caledonia’s real world location, plus photos of the island and voice actors. I really appreciated this addition as I felt better prepared to understand the influence for the game and the traditions honoured within.

Story – Not As Cosy As It Looks!

The game begins with an unnamed child settling at a home for lost children. Joining the other orphans that evening, we sit down for a story about a girl named Tchia…

Our tale starts by spending a day with the titular character on her home island with her father. We’re given glimpses into the culture; the relevance of a flower worn behind a particular ear, rules of hospitality with the Coutume. The pair are visited by the grooviest uncle figure, and life is good. Enter the villain (sinister music!) and Tchia first experiences her powers in an attempt to stop her father’s kidnapping. Tchia is then thrust into a world of grey skyscrapers, receptionists from hell, and a power hungry God who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Tchia must adventure across the islands to find a way to save her father, understand her newfound magic, and uncover the secrets of her past, lest the world be consumed by insatiable evil.

Unexpectedly dark with heart wrenching twists and compelling characters, the story was an absolute highlight of this game.

Gameplay – Jump to Success

One of the main features of the game is Soul Jumping. Tchia can use this power to ‘jump’ into the soul of animals and inanimate objects, and interact with the world in different ways. Prance quickly across the mountains in the body of a deer, soar between the islands as a gull, or swipe at the ankles of foes with the pincers of a crab. Not feeling it? How about bounding wildly down a hill as a tyre, frolicking through fields as a leek, or decimating your enemies as an explosive can of fuel? The world’s your oyster! (Sadly there are no oysters in the game, but a shark makes for a decent substitute).

Custom Tailored Combat

With only a few main quests where you HAVE to fight, you can avoid combat if it’s not your focus. There are ‘Maano’ camps scattered across the islands with cosmetic rewards if you choose to clear them out. Since these don’t massively influence the gameplay, these camps are entirely optional encounters. As Tchia has no fighting skills herself, Soul Jumping is essential for combat. Inhabiting nearby objects, you can ‘Soul Throw’ them with great force, causing explosions and obliterating enemies. There are settings you can tweak to adjust the combat to your liking. You can take the more laid back approach to gel with the more zen aspects of the game, or really test your skills and reflexes.

A Slight Misstep (Pun Intended)

Interacting with objects felt a little strange, disconnected at times. A gull walked into a wheelbarrow with a hilarious BONK. Shame this was a physics error rather than a deliberate feature. I had a slight mishap when trying to pet a dog, accidentally stowing the dog in my bag! The movement mechanics could use a little work. Tchia won’t automatically climb a ladder, but will suddenly vault the hand rail half way up a staircase (and it was a REALLY long staircase too). Many games switched to having a button specifically to engage ‘parkour mode’ for a reason. Unfortunately the lack of it does show here.

Customising Tchia’s appearance gives you different buffs; climbing endurance, stamina, fall resistance. A fun feature with plenty of opportunity for expansion.

For those ukulele fans out there, Tchia’s is vital to the game and it works fairly well. I appreciated having the melody reminders on screen every time I wanted to play. There are melodies to be found through the game through completing rock balancing challenges. They’re not vital to progressing the game, but rather they allow for different approaches to situations along the way.

Fast Travel, or Travelling Fast?

Tchia’s boat is presented as a fairly key part of the game. The only fast travel points are several harbours spread round the coasts of the islands, which themselves are sizeable. There are vast swathes of oceans between, so you can end up heavily reliant on the boat to get around. Luckily, if you accidentally jump off your boat (which I DEFINITELY did not do), it slows to a stop nearby.

Controlling the boat takes a little getting used to as you can only control one aspect of the boat at a time. There’s steering with the tiller, adjusting speed with the mast, or dropping the anchor to come to complete stop. I eventually got into a rhythm with switching between each part. I even enjoyed it for a little while… till the boat got stuck. There’s no reverse mechanism so if you stop too close to land, you can’t start it back up again. The only solution is to high tail it to one of the harbours to spawn your boat and reset it. Given how far apart the harbours are, I actually ended up scrapping the boat. I only used the harbours to quickly transfer between islands, and reverted to Soul Jumping instead.

Birds and deer made for excellent ways to get around; both being fairly speedy, and able to navigate obstacles with ease. Turning off the limit on how long you can Soul Jump for improved my game dramatically.

Feedback For the Devs

If you’re going to make a game where you want players to focus on the journey without using fast travel points, you’d better make sure its a good experience. Or that the travelling isn’t tedious at least. This can also clash with things like having a small inventory. There was more than one annoyed sigh as I tramped back across the entire island to find essential quest items. Tchia is the second slowest thing in the game, the slowest being a crab. When a possessed rock can get around faster than the main character, you might want to rethink the mechanics.

A New Take On Maps

Frequently in open-world games, one heavily relies on a map with a trusty little marker pinpointing our exact location. However, Tchia has taken a different approach by removing that marker altogether. You can use a ‘Point of View’ to spot locations of interest within the area, but you’ll have to navigate there on your own. The devs kept Tchia’s map feature deliberately loose to encourage players to use observational skills to find their way. A noble idea, but dependent on having a certain level of detail in the graphics and environment design. Tchia is a little too rudimentary in that area and the swathes of identical trees had me running in circles.

I’ve noticed different approaches to travelling appearing more in often in games. Devs want players to explore their games fully and so are putting in fewer fast travel points. As someone with a deep love for environment design I’m all for this. Sometimes I like it when a game forces me to slow down and really take in the world I’m seeing. However, a balance needs to be achieved. Getting from A to B must still be enjoyable for more than just sight seeing.

Audio and Visuals – a Sensory Wonder

Art style is a big factor for me when it comes to quality of a game. Tchia’s simple yet effective look is very appropriate for the story-telling nature of the game. It’s like playing in a children’s book, but one that can be enjoyed at any age. Bright and joyful to look at, with exciting tone shifts for nefarious villains and their schemes. New skills are introduced with 2D illustrations in complimentary style to the 3D, including helpful tips during loading screens.

As much as I took issue with the sailing mechanics, the ocean was a joy to experience. With impressive water animation to rival bigger titles, it’s obvious a lot of love was put into this part of the game. I even noticed a cool effect; if you swing the camera under the boat when sailing, the camera resurfaces with a water run-off effect.

Audio – Simple and Clean

I’m listening to the soundtrack as I type this review. There’s something about the music that’s just so easy to listen to. It gives us real insight into the culture of New Caledonia and how integral music is to the people. It’s clearly woven deeply through their lives and traditions, and is conveyed beautifully in this game. Hiding parts of the plot and greater history of the area within the songs was a nice touch. When Tchia’s friend Louise changes the lyrics in a song they duet together it’s the CUTEST thing (IYKYK).

The first item the game has you possess to train you in the skill is a coconut and I must say, bouncing around with a CLUNK sound was immensely satisfying. There were countless points during my playthrough when the sound effects pushed the dopamine button in my brain. Those, along with the near constant sound of the ocean and wind through the trees, created a rather wonderful ASMR experience. The difference between the city area of the world was demonstrated well through the jarring transition of all those wonderful sounds being replaced by car horns and whining machinery.

A glossary section in the menu for some of the native words would be the cherry on top for future.

Accessibility – Play At Your Own Pace

Tchia really does shine in how much you can tailor the game to your personal preferences. ‘Family mode’ is perfect for children playing, or being in the room, with the game. Be aware, there is a certain amount of violent or gory content. There’s an entire section for “Comfort” settings containing standard vibration options, and replacing mashing buttons with holding. You can also choose to never pass out once your Stamina Meter has depleted, and to have an unlimited Soul Meter. Several of the cutscenes present an opportunity for Tchia to play her ukulele and you have the choice to play it yourself, or let Tchia strum automatically. I was never much of a Guitar Hero fan so I appreciated having the option to simply sit back and enjoy the musical sequences.

Playing a game where the spoken and written language is entirely Drehu and French might seem a little daunting, but fear not, the subtitles are incredibly flexible. You have the option of changing the stylised font for something more legible, along with the font size. Being able to specifically adjust the volume of effects like explosions and the voices of characters makes it feel more accessible.

Tchia definitely has the vibe of not wanting to pressure players into playing a certain way. There are plenty of options to make it easier or more enjoyable.

Verdict

Tchia will make you smile, grimace in horror, and laugh out loud. Maybe occasionally grind your teeth in frustration when Tchia parkours off a high place suddenly for the umpteenth time.

Don’t let the art style fool you. It’s not as cosy as it looks and does require a certain amount of focus. There’s a lot to this game that may remind you of features done before, yet they manage to feel like a unique take rather than being derivative. This is a game that should not, but can, be rushed. You can push through the game in about 8 hours if you ignore the side quests and various items and challenges, but your enjoyment will be lesser for it. Take your time with it. Play a few hours here and there and I think you’ll be in for a rather magical experience.

I’d pitch Tchia to those seasoned gamers who are looking for something a little bit different but still has those warm familiar comforts. A great palate cleanser between those AAA titles.

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