Now that the days are shorter, it’s the perfect time to play some survival horror games. It’s hard to find good games in the genre but first-time developer Brass Token thinks they know how to deliver a thrilling experience. Is The Chant the cult hit we’ve been hoping for? Let’s find out!
Time to relax
In The Chant, you’ll follow the story through the eyes of Jess. She’s clearly overstressed and needs to find a way to unwind and escape from reality. It’s Kim, Jess’s friend who might have found the solution. Kim found a place called the Prismic Science Spiritual Retreat on Glory Island. The retreat is there for those who search for peace and quiet in a world that demands all of your energy. Everyone is welcome there, the resort understands the baggage you’re carrying and wants to offer a safe place, a place where you can come in touch with your true self once again.
Since Jess is currently struggling with a lot of unresolved trauma, she decides to follow Kim’s advice and travels to Glory Island for the weekend. It’s here where the game starts. Since it’s a single-player horror experience, the game takes things slowly at first. You’re arrival and chat with Kim while walking through the gorgeous nature of Glory Island serves as the tutorial and immediately sets the tone. It’s clear from the start that a lot of time went into the creation of the world and its characters. The Chant is gorgeously created and the voice acting adds to the realism. Your first walk really sets the tone and although nothing scary is happing just yet, you can feel there’s something off although it isn’t until the first group session that shit really hits the fan.
During the group session, all members open up their chakras using a special crystal that enables them to open their third eye, the ritual is called the Chant. The Chant opens up a portal to another dimension, called the Gloom. The Gloom sucks up all the negative energy coming from rage, guilt, and more. It all goes well until some participants start panicking. From that moment on, you’re catapulted into a thrilling ride that lasts around seven hours.
Survive on the island
The story is key in The Chant so I won’t spoil it in this review, the only thing you need to know is that Glory Island transformed into a new type of hell when the ritual went South. There’s no relaxation for Jess, she has to fight her way to her freedom if she ever wants to make it out alive. During your quest of finding out the truth and solution, you’ll wander around different locations on the island. Although the paths are rather linear, it never gets boring thanks to the variation in both environments and enemies. Most of the environments offer that traditional scary horror atmosphere while some are surprisingly colorful and bright. The one thing that always remains is the feeling that you’re never truly safe. It’s been a while since a single-player horror game gave me that type of experience and often reminded me of the fun a had in the original Alan Wake game. Just like in Alan Wake, the atmosphere in The Chant is spot on, and just like in Alan Wake, you’ll need to learn the weaknesses of your enemies if you want to come out of this nightmare alive.
The variation in those enemies is perhaps one of the best things about the game. You’ll face plenty of enemies that you’ll be able to take down without too much trouble but more often than you would like to admit, you’ll run into enemies that can easily take you down with just one hit. Learning their weaknesses and learning how to exploit those to use them to your advantage is important to continue your adventure. Jess doesn’t have a lot of power to work with, she can hardly defend herself so the game demands you to think outside of the box. There are certain statistics you need to take into consideration, namely those of Mind, Body, and Spirit. These three meters are the ones you need to keep a close eye on because it’s the combination of those that will guide you to safety during intense combat scenes. Using those powers to your advantage is pretty unique and offers a fun combat experience that can certainly be labeled as original. It’s not perfect since there are a couple of technical hiccups and pacing issues that keep this game from becoming a modern cult classic but the exploration and combat check a lot of boxes.
Conclusion:
The Chant isn’t a long experience but it’s one you’ll certainly remember playing thanks to the stellar atmosphere and fun exploration and combat mechanics. It’s not the perfect game but definitely one of the better choices in the genre. If you’re looking for a fun survival horror game to escape from all of those triple-A games, this is one you certainly should add to your list.
