Out of my 20-ish hour playtime with Tchia, the story ran around 8 hours, and if we took out all of the times I got distracted by spurts of exciting exploration or playing with the latest shiny activity I found, it would be less than that.

Tchia leaves her island to save her father and put a stop to Meavora’s evil reign. The two’s tranquil isolation is rudely interrupted, however, when Tchia’s father gets kidnapped by a henchman of Meavora, a half-human half-worm god creature who rules over the archipelago. We first meet Tchia on her home island, a tiny reef on the outskirts of a larger, sprawling archipelago, where she lives in peace and quiet with her father. We've had a good run of Bestest Bests on RPS this month, and I'm more than happy to extend it because Tchia is an absolute triumph. The game's incredible scope doesn't feel like the debut of a nine-person team, but astonishingly, it is. Never once does Tchia feel like it’s bursting at the seams its balance of activities, exploration and story make it feel perfectly whole. It's a lot, but Awaceb seem to take it all in their stride. Not only that, but there’s a 10-hour story to follow, quests to complete, and baddies to tussle with. Not only is it gorgeous, but it’s bursting with things to do: sailing, climbing, totem carving, gliding, pearl diving, sharpshooting, tree hopping, treasure hunting - the list goes on and on. Together with a heartfelt story and authentic New Caledonian inspirations, this adventure is an impressive debut from developers Awaceb.Īfter playing a short snippet of Tchia back in January for a preview, I had complete faith that developers Awaceb would deliver on their promises for their open-world adventure.

Tchia's gorgeous archipelago is bursting with character and exploration potential.

Tchia review