The Chant [Xbox]
Developed by Brass Token, The Chant is a third-person action-adventure horror game. You play Jess, a woman dealing with some trauma, who decides - against her better judgment - to join her friend Kim for a ‘spiritual retreat’ on Glory Island. As the game began, we already got to see a small glimpse of just what would be in store for us on this strange island, with a flashback to 1972 showing us a bizarre cult trying to force a pregnant woman to take part in a ritual. But let’s get back to present day…
As mentioned before, Jess is dealing with some stuff, and reluctantly agrees to travel to Glory Island to see what the retreat has to offer. After all, it might take her mind off things and let her process. When she arrives, it seems pleasant enough - the people are friendly, if a bit odd, but things soon get weird. The spiritual followers hold a belief in a psychedelic dimension known as The Gloom, which feeds off of negative energy. After drinking a mysterious tea and gathering together in ritual chanting - this dimension opens up, unleashing untold terror. Kim freaks out and runs away before Jess collapses into a heap - only to awaken to an entirely empty camp.
You’ll then be faced with the task of somehow reversing this ritual, and dealing with the creepy cultists and eldritch horrors it released. Choices you make can affect your core stats of Mind, Body and Spirit, gaining you experience in these areas. Jess suffers from panic attacks, which will spring on you when your mind empties - however, you can meditate to calm yourself, swapping Spirit for Mind. This does however look a tad bizarre, just stopping for a quick meditation sesh despite everything going on. A lot of what you’ll be required to do here is collecting various resources, such as plants to craft weapons and healing items; and keys to unlock doors. Combat feels pretty clunky, but over time, you’ll gain access to Prism Abilities that will help you during combat, allowing you to perform skills such as Stasis to sort of temporarily freeze enemies in place.
I’m a little conflicted on The Chant’s visuals, as on one hand it is a gorgeous game, with brilliantly detailed environments and imaginative, horrifying creatures; but on the other, the vacant stares from characters can be very uncanny valley at times, and some of the character animations and movements appear terribly awkward. Enemies known as Cultists have different ‘types’ depending on their mindset and behaviours, including rams and horses, with these being lower on the threat scale - and totally avoidable, if you choose. Stranger, non-humanoid enemies come in otherworldy designs, including Mandahearts, a Giant Cankertoad and other cosmic horrors that are all a sight to behold. Voice acting is really well done, with a fantastic cast behind the characters - though sadly you don’t get to chat with folk all that much. The sound design is very effective too, with lots of anxiety-increasing sounds as you work your way through some of the darker, spookier areas.
Handwritten notes and other lore you find will increase your mind experience - and your knowledge of what is going on with this island. Much of the back story and explanations for things are told in this way, so you’ll get as much out of the story as the effort you put in to find and read everything (and there’s a lot of reading!). Exploring the world and keeping an eye out for anything interesting is definitely useful, but with everything feeling very linear for the most part, it removes a lot of that freedom. Some moments were very effective, and seeing how certain things have been utilised did give a sense of appreciation to the level of craft that has gone into The Chant.
It’s not quite gloom, but not quite glory either - hovering somewhere in between. If you’re a fan of horror games, and want to uncover the mysteries that lie within the island, then I’d definitely recommend you give it a go. If you like the sound of The Chant, you can pick it up digitally for £34.99 on Xbox, or you can nab a physical copy for a lower price (at least, currently).
In the end, we decided to give The Chant the Collecting Asylum rating of 7/10.
Are you interested in The Chant? What do you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!
- V x
Thank you to Plaion for the The Chant Xbox review code!
