Can love for one’s land be the inspiration for a video game? Surely, and Tchia is the living example of this. Let’s get ready to explore a videogame transposition of New Caledonia.
Developer / Publisher: Awaceb / Kepler Interactive Location: Interface and subtitles Multiplayer: Absent GO: 7 Available On: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
There are landscapes that look like postcards. Which it would also be obvious, given that postcards are nothing more than photographs of landscapes, and must have been taken somewhere. This does not mean that to underline the beauty of a place it is customary to say “it looks like a postcard”. The upgrade is “looks like a video game”, and could refer to an environment not just pleasing to the eyebut also full of opportunities to run, jump, swim, sail, glide, fight and explore in the most diverse ways.
So I guess New Caledonianative land del team Awacebwhich inspired the world of Byeopen world adventure distributed by Kepler Interactive. The development proceeds quickly and they have allowed us to try what has been achieved so far, which despite not representing the finished product is sufficient to step into the shoes of the young protagonist from which the game takes its name and find out together what it is.
TCHIA: LOVE LETTER TO NEW CALEDONIA
A short intro explains the reasons for some of Tchia’s key choices, and all are designed to involve players in an experience that is as closely linked as possible to the culture and traditions of the New Caledonia. Speech is in DrehuCanaca language, and French, played by local actors, and the same goes for the soundtrackcomposed of real New Caledonian musicians.
much space has been given to the typical costumes of the island
Once we have unlocked various styles, dresses and hairstyles we can dress our heroine as we please, a lot of space has been given to typical costumes of the island on the Pacific, whose biome was faithfully recreatedthen populating it with native fauna and adding various iconic spots present in the real-life counterpart.
Reaching viewpoints reveals new places of interest on the map.
Not bad if that limited the amount of environments, for example precluding the classic kingdom of ice, since forests, beaches, villages and bodies of water still guarantee a certain variety. And it could not be missing the ukulelethe particular guitar with which to compose melodies to bend nature to our will or just improvise, with results in my case forgettablein a sort of minigame in which to play the right note at the right time, un Guitar Hero unplugged.
THEY ON THE BEACH, ME IN THE QUEUE AT THE TOOL
In this earthly paradise one leads a life at an enviable pace, spending the days fishing and cooking and then going wild dancing when evening comes. But the envy of someone like me who struggles in the midst of traffic in the foggy plains of the Po valley can find satisfaction with the arrival by Meavorawicked ruler who kidnaps Tchia’s father and invades the archipelago with le truppe Maanobizarre cloth monsters.
I have a nice present ready for the enemies.
And after the first ritual quests that act as tutorials, the real adventure begins.
after the first ‘tutorial’ quests, the real adventure begins
But calmly, each at their own pace. Indeed, we can follow the main story, narrated in the form of notes to recover following a long series of treasure maps, or simply visit places of interest, participate in running or target shooting competitions, photograph landscapes and characters, stack stones and unlock various collectibles as if not nothing ever happened. And if the earth gets close to us, rafts and boats they are ready to take us across the sea in search of coral reefs full of secrets. The philosophy open world it was then embraced in full.
LET’S DO IT!
The trial version only included a portion of the entire game world, so I jumped in early in the main quest to evaluate the challenge offered. Tchia is una vera action girl capable of running, jumping, sprinting down steep hills, climbing trees, swimming, diving and gliding with a rudimentary parachutewith which the most daring will try to perform some trick, at their own risk.
The running challenges, especially with the parachute, are fun.
All this costs stamina, exhausted which, you die. You read right: you die. In fact, life points and stamina are gathered below a single bar of energy, which fortunately recharges rather quickly and whose cap can be raised by eating the appropriate fruits. And so far, we would be facing a fairly canonical open world. So, they must have said in the Awaceb offices, why not enter some crazy features?
LOOK MOMMY! I AM A GLASS!
Tchia has a magical power called “soul leap” which allows it, once properly approached, to enter the body of animals or particular objects, e take control of it for a limited time. Becoming a bird allows us to soar in flight and easily reach the top of a mountain, in the role of a crab with sturdy claws we will break the chains that keep a chest closed, and in the form of a large boulder we will roll quickly towards the valley overwhelming anyone within range .
It’s me. I’m a boulder, and now I’m going to roll down at breakneck speed.
Almost all impersonable forms they have a peculiarity to exploit to our advantagebut there is no shortage bizarre situations which ones to play in the role of a glass or a steak. Who knows, maybe later in the adventure they will come in handy.
AND JIMI HENDRIX ZITTO AND IMPARA
Even the ukulele has a fundamental roleas magical melodies are learned during the game to influence naturespawning particular plants such as explosive flowers to be used as weapons, or by modifying the course of the dayperhaps recalling the sunrise or sunset to better complete some missions.
the ukulele plays a vital role, as magical melodies are learned during the game to influence nature
The fights instead they are a little understatedwith rag monsters with a less refined look than the other elements of the game, controlled by an AI that does not allow them to chase us beyond a certain radius from their initial position, thus leading us to abuse the hit and run strategy to easily get the better of them.
In moments of anger, even in New Caledonia pigs are pulled.
Everything can still change of course, but in the face of an artistically good realization and rich in poetry – ah, if each of us loved his own country as the boys of Awaceb love theirs! – there is a need for more action. Still, it’s still a game to keep an eye on.
