Tropical open-world adventure Tchia, by publisher/developer Awaceb, takes players into the world of New Caledonia to experience beautiful vistas as well as a memorable and immersive story that tugs at the heart. This video game is truly a work of art, not only in its stunning graphics but in the inspiration taken from New Caledonia and its traditions, even using locals for voice acting work in the game. The culture of the area blends and weaves with the fictional tale of exploration, danger, and even a little magic.

Tchia is a colorful adventure set around an area of tropical islands rich with traditions. Tchia's father is taken from their home, leaving the young girl alone and determined to save him somehow. Though young and naive regarding much of the world, Tchia's resolve to do what it takes to rescue her father takes her on an adventure armed only with her slingshot, a small hand-crafted sailboat, a woven glider, and a magical ability she discovers within herself.

Related: Tchia's Characters Are Voiced By New Caledonia Residents

Although Tchia appears to just be a young island girl, she unlocks an unusual otherworldly ability within herself that lets her soul-jump into animals and objects. The soul-jump ability is one of the unique game mechanics in Tchia and is surprisingly very fluid and well-crafted in a way that adds rather than detracts from the overarching storyline. Using this ability, Tchia can become anything she wants by throwing herself into a bird to fly, a fish to swim faster, or even rocks and gas cans. Along her journey, Tchia comes across villainous camps of Maano: brainless soldiers spawned by the evil Meavora from fabric. Utilizing her soul-jump she can use objects around the camps to get rid of these monsters or save herself from their capture.

Throughout Tchia, players can also experience a glimpse into island culture with musical mini-games that feature villagers dancing and singing while the player can either guide Tchia in a rhythm game or set it to autoplay so that players can sit back and enjoy the vibrant cutscenes and music. Other mini-games include rock balancing challenges, target shooting with a slingshot, crane games, and more. These side activities sometimes feel that they can distract a bit from the overall story of the game, but are clever and enjoyable. Tchia's playable ukulele is a challenge to master but thankfully can be skipped.

During the game players also are able to unlock customizations for Tchia's clothes, hair, jewelry, face painting, sailboat, and ukulele. These are sometimes found in hidden chests to encourage exploration, and some are given as quest rewards. Hundreds of cosmetic items are in the game, with everything from traditional island clothing options to outrageously silly costumes available.

When playing on the PC there are options for either using a controller or keyboard and mouse. Both of these worked very well. There are some graphic settings that can be adjusted as needed for anti-aliasing, textures, effects, shadows, and more. Overall the game ran smoothly even with the high-end graphics on an older PC. There were some various bugs that occurred while testing, but developers have been quick to react to any issues as they arise.

Everything about Tchia is an obvious ion project by its developers and the feeling of love for the area of New Caledonia is carried over in a way that is felt by the player. Not only is this a beautiful game for its graphics, but for the moving and immersive story of Tchia as she learns more about her world, her abilities, and how to find her father. Tchia is a one-of-a-kind game that is meant to not only be played but truly experienced.

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Tchia was released on PS4, PS5, and PC on March 21, 2023. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Epic Games Store code for the purpose of this review.

Source: IGN/YouTube