Released this week, Tchia is the newest game from the Awaceb studio. Inspired by the customs and traditions of New Caledonia, a small island in the Pacific Ocean (which is also the birthplace of the studio’s founders), the game follows the adventures of a young girl full of courage, creativity and a lot of emotion.
TudoCelular had the chance to test the game and we will share our impressions in our spoiler-free review.
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24 Fev
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24 Fev
Tchia’s world
As we said above, Tchia is inspired by New Caledonia, but despite relying heavily on the culture and customs of that region, the game makes it clear that it is a fictional work and that the situations experienced by Tchia, as well as the people she meets in their way, do not aim to reproduce reality.
In the game, we see the girl starting a journey alongside her father on a paradise island, until their peace is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious villain, who kidnaps Tchia’s father and takes him to another island. From then on, it’s up to the girl to live her own adventure to try to rescue her father.
In the midst of this, Tchia discovers that she has some special abilities, which allow her to transfer her soul to objects and animals, but this discovery is also connected to her father’s kidnapper.
the skills
Tchia’s main ability is to momentarily transfer her soul to objects and animals, which opens up a range of possibilities during her exploration.
Whether on land, air or water, Tchia manages to take advantage of the ecosystem to help him, being an experience very similar to the God Maui, from Moana. At times, taking the form of an animal can be hilarious, like birds, which in addition to letting you fly, also allow you to release your waste, with a dedicated button for that (no, you didn’t read that wrong), or lay an egg when it takes the form of a chicken.
In addition to soul transfers, Tchia can also shoot with the slingshot she got from her father, dive, climb and glide with the help of a leaf. As in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, many of Tchia’s actions are limited by an energy bar, including the time she spends in the air with the glider or underwater diving.
Even with a transformation into a bird or a dolphin to move around in the air or in the water, Tchia also has her raft, which can be anchored at points scattered around the map to help her on more distant trips.
Although the map does not present major natural threats, since even dangerous animals such as sharks can be possessed by Tchia, you will have to use your skills intelligently when you come across enemies made of fabric, controlled by the great villain of the plot.
To help her, Tchia also has her ukulele, which allows her to play special melodies to control the time of day or summon animals, her flashlight and other paraphernalia.
An embryo for the future
Tchia is one of those games full of good ideas, but that still needed to be polished a little more. While the “possession” system is a lot of fun, it doesn’t make moving around the map any less excruciating.
Even counting the fast travel between docks, they are very limited, as you must go to one dock to travel to the other, which is quite problematic when you are far away. In addition, the fact that the docks are on the edge of the map also makes it difficult to reach an objective that is in the middle of the map.
Speaking of the map, this is also a very problematic point, since by not having a traditional minimap on the screen, opting for a compass that only points in the direction of the main objectives, the game ends up being not very intuitive, especially when you need to visit a city he has visited before.
At one point, I needed to collect a chicken egg, but to do so, I needed to visit a specific city that stored chickens so that I might own it and lay the egg. The problem is that the map did not indicate which city this was and I had to keep looking until I remembered where this city was.
The controls are also unintuitive, making it take you a while to get the hang of all the functions and abilities.
Another problem is the repetitive pace at which the story unfolds, since everything boils down to collecting items from point A and taking them to point B, even if this is permeated by complementary activities such as finding collectibles, stacking stones, sculpting, etc.
As for the optimization, even running the game on a PC that far exceeds the recommended settings, I might notice some FPS drops in more open regions of the map, but nothing that seriously affects the experience.
Image gallery
Worth the investment?
Tchia is an ambitious indie, which makes clear the affection played by its developers, as well as its strong cultural roots, well-written dialogues, catchy soundtrack and a very pleasant cartoony look.
Unfortunately, the lack of some resources that would improve the quality of life of the gameplay end up overshadowing a little of the brightness of this adventure, but we cannot deny the potential contained in the project and the ability of the Awaceb to accomplish incredible feats in the future.
Lack of map and more intuitive controlsLack of a more complete fast travel system
Adopting an attractive art style, the game’s graphics work well.
The lack of some quality of life features and the repetition are the weakest points
Exciting and fun moments stand out in the plot.
One of the strongest points of the game.
The cultural roots and affection of the developers are magnificent
Even with gameplay issues, Tchia has her chance to shine.
Tchia is available now for PS4, PS5, and PC via the Epic Games Store. The game is also available in the PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe catalog.
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*We would like to thank TheoGames for providing us with a copy of the game for this review.
