Welcome to the world

Inspired by their homeland of New Caledonia, developer Awaceb has crafted a vibrant open world that is surprisingly large. Tchia’s story starts out on a small island, though tragic events soon force her to leave and explore nearby villages and cities.

Tchia navigates the archipelago by boat, which has a simple yet charming mechanic where players must raise and lower the sails to control speed, in addition to Soul Jumping, a less conventional method of travel that sees Tchia taking control of nearby animals and objects. She can take control of a bird to fly (and poop) high above the ground, for example, or manipulate a dolphin to speedily glide through the water.

Trouble in paradise

Soul Jumping isn’t just a great way to travel, but it’s also handy for combat. Bouncing Tchia between lanterns and explosive canisters as she catapults them into enemies — magical beings crafted from wood and fabric — can be very satisfying. Time slows down while you take aim, so it’s easy enough to keep the flow going and create fiery chaos.

When she isn’t sailing across the ocean or jumping between souls, Tchia is either hunting for the generous amount of collectibles and cosmetic unlocks, enjoying one of the many mini-games and diversions, or playing her ukulele.

Though the ukulele plays a relatively small part in the game, the amount of effort the devs have clearly put into Tchia’s musical instrument must be acknowledged. It’s on par, if not better, than Ellie’s guitar playing in The Last of Us 2. It also has magical properties, changing the time of day, causing it to start or stop raining, drawing animals towards Tchia, and more.

Hide your kids

Another element of Tchia that deserves special mention is the story. With a very evil villain who commits some unexpectedly harrowing atrocities, I was taken aback by how dark the game can be. Without going into spoilers, let’s just say that this isn’t a Disney movie and leave it at that. Thankfully, a “Family Friendly” toggle is available in the menus which I’d recommend for younger audiences.

Tchia is not only darker than expected, but it’s also quite funny. Tchia herself often reacts in a hilarious way when she doesn’t understand something or is frustrated. She might be from a secluded island where only her dad and the rare visitor offer company, but she can still deliver some sass.

All good things must come to an end

Unfortunately, Tchia’s lack of depth in combat and exploration led to my loss of interest about halfway through the 12-14 hour experience. From the beginning until the end, combat is approached in much the same way, while exploration is made monotonous by the mostly empty world. The map might be big, but there’s a hollowness that is eventually tough to ignore.

It’s good that there is an endgame state where players can keep fighting enemies and collect items to earn 100%, but I felt no urge to continue.

Not so next-gen

Performance issues make Tchia even harder to love on PS5. Though the game appears to target 30 FPS, it often drops below it, and there’s a minor stutter whose consistency quickly leads to frustration. (EDIT: Awaceb has added the ability to toggle between “Fidelity” and “Performance” modes, the latter of which targets 60 FPS.)

Tchia Review: The final verdict

During the course of Tchia’s tropical adventure, players will experience many great, carefully-implemented ideas. The open world influenced by New Caledonia remains sensitive to its cultural inspirations, the unique soul-jumping mechanic is a joy to use and explore, the boat controls and fully-functional ukulele are overkill in the best kind of way, and the story has both unexpected darkness and humor. Unfortunately, a handful of good ideas can’t save Tchia from running out of steam before the finale and crumbling beneath a wave of performance issues.

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Tchia’s ukulele takes on Ellie’s guitar

In Tchia, the titular character can play various songs to change the time of day, cause it to start or stop raining, spawn useful fruit, attract animals, and more. However, when switching from the “Soul-Melody Mode” to “Free Jam Mode,” an impressive amount of customizability is unlocked.

Switching to Free Jam Mode makes it possible to: select the chord, pick the note, pick a high note, bend notes, strum up, strum down, change accidentally, and change quality.

Once the game launches on March 21, both available to buy and as part of PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium, I’m sure many players will be toying around the ukulele and trying to play familiar songs. Perhaps we’ll see renditions of Mad World, Through the Valley, and Hotel California, just as we did when The Last of Us 2 launched.

The Tchia gameplay trailer embedded above also provides a new look at many of the game’s locations, though they are only featured for a brief moment.

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What is the Tchia PS Plus release date?

Tchia will be released on March 21, 2023. The game will join PS Plus Extra and Premium on the same day, becoming just the second title to be a day one release into PlayStation Plus Extra after Stray back in July. Four other Extra and Premium games were also confirmed during the State of Play show and the rest of the month’s games will be released on March 16.

The newly-revealed Oléti Edition is named after the Drehu word for “thank you”. Players who purchase the Oléti Edition will get the Kepler Customization Pack that includes outfits, boat skins, and ukulele skins from Sifu, Scorn, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and Cat Quest. There’s no word on whether the Kepler Customization Pack will be exclusive to the Oléti Edition or whether it will be sold as separate DLC further down the line.

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When will Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn release?

A release date for Flintlock has yet to be announced but A44 Games and publisher Kepler Interactive are targeting a general release window of 2022. You can watch an IGN-exclusive announcement trailer below.

In Flintlock, “The Door to the Afterlife” has somehow opened, allowing the Gods’ army of the dead to escape and threaten mortal beings. Forming a coalition to combat the threat, humans take on powerful Gods and the dead with guns and magic. The protagonist is Nor Vanek, a member of the coalition army, who is joined by a strange companion named Enki. Enki is equipped with magical powers.

An official synopsis reads:

Challenge the Gods. Master a demanding yet rewarding combat system blending axe wielding, gunplay, magic and more. Unleash powerful combos and embrace your creativity with every encounter. Explore a dangerous open world. Fly through the desert sands, journey through cavernous ruins, and unveil the secrets that lie in the towering City of Dawn. Reassemble the Blackstream sappers, a team of crack explosives and weaponry experts, to lend their skills in the last siege against the gods.

Opinion: Guns and magic are always welcome

Zarmena writes… I’m suffering from open-world RPG fatigue at the moment but give me guns and magic in a well-executed game and I’m back in! The premise isn’t what I find intriguing about Flintlock, it’s the announcement trailer, which looks pretty crazy. That said, I’m conscious of the fact that announcement trailers seldom represent the final product so I have my fingers crossed that this one turns out to be good. Worth reiterating that the developer behind Flintlock also made Ashen, which received positive reviews and was nominated for numerous awards.

In other news, Ghostwire Tokyo will have six graphical and performance modes, and Ubisoft Stockholm is creating a brand-new action IP.

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