Tchia Preview

Every once in a while, there’ll be a new game that you launch for the first time, and you’ll immediately know that you’re in for something special. Tchia was the first title in some time that gave me this feeling. The debut from developer Awaceb, Tchia is an open-world adventure game that draws inspiration from the islands of New Caledonia, the homeland of the founders of Awaceb. With the entire voice cast performance in the native Drehu language, as well as the commonly spoken French, Tchia reflects its New Caledonia cultural inspiration in other forms as well, such as music, folklore, and the landscape that shapes the game world.

You take control of Tchia — a girl armed with a ukulele and the power to Soul Jump between animals and objects — on her quest to save her father from the evil Meavora, the ruler of the isles. The preview begins a short time after the introduction of the story, placing us just outside of the village of Weliwele, where you meet the matriarch of the area, Gaby, and her daughter, Louise. You’re tasked with finding a crab for Gaby from the nearby area of Kwéö in return for help acquiring the items Tchia needs to be granted an audience with Meavora.

Everybody get comfy now, this first song's over a half-hour long

Tchia grants you the freedom to explore the world as you wish, starting or continuing quests by interacting with characters around the island, but where it really shines is the vast choices in how you can travel. You can sail around the island and down its rivers with your little raft. You can climb trees, swaying back and forth at the top to fling yourself off. You can glide from heights (and do flips in mid air!) similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. My favourite, however, was Soul Jumping. Tchia has the power to take control of both inanimate objects and the various animals that populate the island. Controlling animals will give you access to a special power, such as crabs being able to do a pincer attack that can break chains, or birds being able to fly, meaning you can traverse great heights and distances quickly within the short period that your Soul-Meter allows.

Around the island are little outposts of Maano, hostile creatures made of fabric that need to be burnt and destroyed. Luckily, you can Soul Jump into a lantern to fling at them, causing a flaming explosion, or you can possess a burning log in a fire to launch in their direction. Tchia herself doesn’t have a traditional health bar, instead having a universal stamina metre that goes down when she’s attacked. When it reaches zero, you pass out and awaken at one of the island’s campfires, which act as checkpoints where you can rest, customise Tchia’s look, or just jam on her ukulele. Be careful with your stamina though, as it also goes down when you climb or glide. Thankfully, the stamina metre can be upgraded by locating and consuming Stamina Fruits. The Soul-Meter can also be increased through Totem Shrine challenges.

The raft and the furious

The soundtrack is stunning to say the least. I was treated to a beautiful song during a gathering in the village, and I got to control Tchia playing along on her ukulele. There are musical sections that play like a rhythm game, where you have to line up your cursor to the notes as they appear around a circle. If you’re not rhythmically inclined, however, there is the option to let the game auto-play the music. The ukulele can be played freely outside of these sections, giving you full access to swap between chords and notes. With some practice, you might even be able to crank out a rendition of Wonderwall (please don’t, though). Aside from free jamming, there are various Soul-Melodies that you can play that affect the game world, such as summoning various animals, or changing the time of day, similar to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Visually, Tchia feels like an elegant mix of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and a Pixar movie. The stylized graphics don’t fully dip into cell-shaded territory, but the character designs maintain their sort of hand-designed charm. The island feels alive through its gorgeous mountainscapes and dazzling blue oceans, and the ambient lighting at various times of the day immerses you right into that Pacific island space.

It's ok, I saw Tom Cruise do this in Mission: Impossible 2

Tchia feels just as much a love-letter to the Zelda series as it does to New Caledonia, drawing clear inspirations from various titles in the series, and blending the elements into a fascinating new concoction. I’m not ready for my time with Tchia to end, and I look forward to experiencing the story in full when it releases.