I try my best not to fall back and rely on easy (some might howl “lazy”) comparisons. Primarily because it feels unfitting to credit one specific series – sometimes, one specific entry in said series – with a concept or even just a way in which a handful of ideas weave together. Sure you could say they remind you of one game or another, but to go out of your way and proclaim that x is like y because…there’s combat? Or that a game is clearly taking inspiration from another purely on the basis that a world has a specific art-style or visual style? I get it; sometimes the most popular names at the time – or of all time – can help a reader in grounding the prospect. Or at the very least, making it seem a little more familiar and easy to grasp than it otherwise may be. You could, if you so desire, sayI’m guilty of that already. Easy to ridicule that may be (justifiably so at points) when such comparisons are hastily relied on, sometimes you come to a game whose presentation and representation of certain mechanics just make avoiding it that bit more impossible.
Thus, a few minutes into being shown a vertical slice of Tchia’s early period. The titular player-character gliding over a stretch of the environment with a familiarly-circular green icon beside her to denote stamina. And then, out of nowhere, the sight of the player-character being able to possess not just animals wandering the open world, but inanimate objects on top. Who knew drawing comparisons with aseries reboot of five years priorwould pop up? With that, my title/heading was born – for better or worse. But I suppose that surprise revelation is perhaps emblematic of one’s hands-off time spent with Tchia. An open-world adventure whose emergent, sandbox nature ended up being far more interesting and curious to survey, than the geometry of its environments. Or lack thereof.
Early a period in the game this was, though, it does mean that the jury is still out on just how detailed or complex Tchia may or may not get in so far as exploration. The only consolation being that Tchia’s expanse isn’t simply that of its island locales, but so too the ocean depths appear to suggest a sort of inverse-verticality for players to poke around in. If nothing else – and here comes another unexpected comparison – the game, specifically when it comes to actually moving about, has a touch of the Just Cause flavor to it. In that Tchia seems less interested in punishing you for making daring leaps across large swathes of ground. To the point that the risk of in-game physics feel dialed back so as to encourage this more playful attitude to exploring. Which plays well into one of the more notable features in its ability to swap control between various animals and objects alike. What the game itself dubs Soul Jumping.
Even if this mechanic is solely for movement purposes and little else, it’s one with clear potential to flesh out – the one element of Tchia I’ve found myself naturally gravitating toward. Made more accessible given how the game utilizes a slow-down effect upon that pivotal moment of transferring one’s soul from that of your main character, to a coconut, to a bird soaring above and then back to solid ground. Plus, the fact one can slingshot the object you’re currently possessing up into the air, so as to maintain a build-up of momentum, is a nice touch. All of which most importantly, much like the stamina needed to glide above ground, is governed by a meter dictating how long this ability can be used. So if later segments and subsequent islands to discover, lean more into that subtle puzzle-like deduction of traversal – which sequence of interactions can help you get to certain points on a map. Admittedly this is stemming more so from personal hope rather than any material proof seen thus far, but in theory it’s the most logical way by which this mechanic can be utilized. Given how flexible and free-flowing these introductory examples look and how Tchia as noted, seems more focused on letting its players loose.
Which in the end is what any open-world should provide. Aside from the brief distractions by way of a mini-game here, or momentary stealth segment – in avoiding a group of foes – there. At the very least, developer Awaceb’s unusual-yet-novel approach to traversal may prevent some from simply dismissing this game on first glance. The assumption that its primarily-green attire and all-too-familiar nature of exploration means that this game is purely an imitation of what’s come before. Sure, it’s hard not to ignore the obvious inspirations here – not least when icons and prompts alike are presented too familiarly. But just how far can Tchia push this Soul Jumping mechanic? Or as may be more befitting a description: how far it ends up slingshotting from animate to inanimate object alike. It’s a neat, if unusual, spin on the sandbox appeal that open-world exploration can lean towards, but one that hopefully ends up utilized here, to sufficient lengths come Tchia’s full release sometime next Spring.
