Tchia

Tchia comes out absolutely recommended for anyone who is looking for a fascinating adventure with a couple of original twists, with the bonus of some truly striking tropical vistas. This is a game brimming with soul – actually, make that souls.

Explore a beautiful tropical island as a little kid with magic powers.

Though it has its flaws, Tchia is one of the best open world games I've played in a long time. The variety of things to do in its gorgeous world will keep most any player occupied for the duration of their playthrough, and will almost certainly leave them glad they gave the title a chance.

A gorgeous open-world game that encourages exploration, discovery and getting lost!

“Tchia pays tribute to New Caledonia with a gorgeous open-world game that takes the right notes from Breath of the Wild.”

Developer Awaceb created Tchia as a love letter to its native home of New Caledonia. Though the game itself is set on a fantastical archipelago, it draws deeply from its real-life counterpart in terms of environment and story. It feels really genuine as a snapshot of the culture; its story is heavily rooted in the territory's folklore, and some of the cast and crew are also New Caledonian natives. From members of the dev team, to the voice actors and the soundtrack composers, this game is as authentically New Caledonian as it's possible to be.

Ultimately, Tchia has left us slightly cold – and that in itself is disappointing, because we had high hopes for this title. If you’re expecting a Breath of the Wild-style adventure, as trailers and previews (even ours) may have led you to believe, you probably should keep your expectations in check. There is beautiful island fun to be had here, and Tchia’s abilities are wonderful – but by the time you’ve fought your way through its surprisingly drab and disappointing campaign, you’ll unlikely see much reason to return.

A glorious spell of island hopping, with some surprisingly nasty moments.

Tchia's gorgeous archipelago is bursting with character and exploration potential. Together with a heartfelt story and authentic New Caledonian inspirations, this adventure is an impressive debut from developers Awaceb.

Tchia is a terrific ode to New Caledonia that's sadly hampered by a bloated and standard open-world design that tries to do too much. Still, even if the gameplay isn't wholly original, there's fun to be had here, with truly impressive sights and sounds that can make the archipelago a delight to explore at times. Just try to maintain some focus as you navigate the numerous distractions and you'll experience quite the impressive trip.

Tchia has some interesting things going for it with its beautiful rendition of New Caledonia and fun traversal mechanics, but poor mission design and cookie-cutter side activities mar down those strengths by a significant margin.

Tchia review for PS5 and PS4. Developed by Awaceb and published by Kepler Interactive. Is it worth buying and playing?