Tchia sounds to be an interesting indie title, and has been given a Spring 2022 release window, releasing only on Playstation and the Epic Games Store. You can find the new trailer here:
At the end of 2020, Tchia was announced from French developer Awaceb. Very little was shown of the game but it was enough to pique the interests of many gamers. Exploration, an interesting setting based on New Caledonia, and Super Mario Odyssey-esque capture mechanics all seemed very interesting, and now we have a new trailer with even more information about this upcoming title.
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Showing off a seemingly mechanics-heavy experience, The exploration in this new trailer feels very inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, with similar climbing and gliding mechanics, as well as a tool wheel that allows you to take out a lamp that functions similarly to the bombs in the afformentioned Zelda game. These look to be a lot of fun, and are added to by additional exploration mechanics like swinging on trees to slingshot yourself across wide areas, and a boat that seems to be very central to gameplay. On the website the boat is described as; ‘Customise (and) sail your boat to cover longer distances’ (across a) vast archipelago with varied biomes and weather’.
But, the mechanic that initially caught everyone’s eye in the initial trailer is the ‘Soul Jumping’ mechanic. This allows you to take control of over 30 animals and hundreds of objects within the game world in order to experience the game in a new way and reach areas you previously couldn’t.
And, outside of this trailer, Awaceb has also talked more about the story and world of Tchia. The game will reportedly feature a ‘Diverse characters inspired by New Caledonian culture’ with ‘Fully animated and voiced cutscenes’ and an ‘Original orchestral score infused with local sounds’ that one imagines will be bolstered by the ukelele mechanic, that appears to function similarly to the guitar in The Last of Us 2, and will feature ‘Story-specific rhythm segments’ and ‘Unlockable melodies that affect the open world’.
Tchia’s main marketing push is that it’s inspired by New Caledonia, a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean, and the homeland of Awaceb’s founders; ‘Inspiration was taken from the rich and varied local landscapes, cultures, music, languages, folklores and traditions to create a fictional world and to tell a universal story that anyone can understand and enjoy. The characters are voiced by local talent in traditional languages, and subtitled in many languages including English, French, Russian, Chinese, German, Spanish, and more.’
