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Wind Waker meets Breath of the Wild in this island adventure - Tchia Quick Review

3K View2023-03-21

PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?

Play it, especially if you love exploration-heavy games. Set on a tropical island, Tchia is an open-world sandbox game that’s all about navigating. the world around you. The game’s title character, a young girl named Tchia, can swim, soar through the air, and even transfer her consciousness into animals and objects. At times, finding the best ways to get around feels like a puzzle, and the solution is always rewarding. Tchia feels distinct from The Legend of Zelda, but at times, I was reminded of certain games in the series, like The Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild.

TIME PLAYED

I played around six hours of Tchia, which gave me plenty of time to explore the island and experiment with the game’s traversal mechanics. I was also able to unlock lots of cosmetic items and meet a variety of characters, though I’m not sure I was close to the end of the story when I stopped. It’s possible to complete Tchia in around ten hours, but if you’re like me, you’ll spend a lot of time wandering around instead of progressing the story.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Immersive setting. Tchia’s environment is inspired New Caledonia, an island in the South Pacific Ocean. The game’s developers call this island home, and they filled the world with little details that make it feel more real. Near the start of the game, Tchia picked up a pair of dried palm leaves and used them as a percussive instrument while her father sang a song. Little moments like that made Tchia feel real, which made the fantastical moments all the more magical.

• Incredible exploration. Not only did Tchia allow me to climb every cliff and tree I saw, but movement in the game is physics-based. When I jumped off a cliff, I could use my glider and sail to the nearest tree. The tree would swing when I landed, propelling me further forward. Catapulting off trees is a blast, and so is sailing on your boat, but my favorite way to get around was actually swimming in the ocean. I loved diving beneath the clear blue water and seeing all the colorful creatures around me. All of the traversal controls feel really solid, even the swimming controls.

•Unlockable cosmetics. As I played through Tchia, I frequently unlocked new cosmetic items, including clothing, masks, and new sails for my boats. I love character customization, and the steady flow of new items really motivated me to play more. While a lot of the cosmetics draw inspiration from traditional New Caledonian clothing, there are plenty of goofy items to unlock too, like a crab costume. Clothing items can be mixed and matched, and I had a ton of fun trying out different looks.

• Soul jumping. Tchia has the ability to possess most animals and objects in the game, including dolphins, birds and even rubber tires. For example, if I wanted to search for something underwater without worrying about running out of air, I could jump into a fish and swim around until I found what I was looking for. This is one of Tchia’s most unique mechanics, and it adds a ton of variety to the game. Every time I spotted a new creature or object, I could try out a new method of exploration.

WHAT SUCKS

• No map markers. Tchia has a map, but there’s not any player marker, which can make it tricky to find your way, especially if you have a terrible sense of direction like I do. I don’t mind wandering around a world as beautiful as the one in Tchia, but getting lost when trying to do something specific was sometimes frustrating. Map markers and minimaps are pretty standard in games these days, so if you prefer to play without them, you might appreciate the lack of guidance more than I do.

• It’s easy to run out of stamina. Tchia has a stamina bar that drains whenever she does something that requires a lot of energy, like climb or use her glider. If her stamina is drained completely, she'll pass out, which sends her back to the last campfire she visited. Stamina is a limited resource, and I lost progress a few times because I wasn’t watching the car closely. This was less of an issue later on, since I was able to boost my stats by eating Stamina Fruit. The Soul Jump mechanic also helped me get around my stamina limitations. Still, there were some pretty rough moments at the start of the game!

💬 Will you sail the sea, climb mountains, and possess animals in Tchia, or do you plan to avoid this adventure? Tell us more in the comments!

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