Review of The Chant – a great survival horror

For some, The Chant from the new Canadian studio Brass Token (whose creators have worked on games such as Bully or Sleeping Dogs) at first glance may resemble “cinematic” games in the style of Dark Pictures Anthology or The Quarry, but this is something of a hoax body. Although the game contains a large amount of cinematic sequences with emphasis on facial expressions, it is actually a relatively linear and relatively traditional survival horror game in the style of the original Resident Evil or Silent Hill series. In particular, it reminded me very pleasantly of the second game.

• Platform: PS5 (Review), XSX|S, PC
• Publication date: 03/11/2022
• Producer: Brass token (Canada)
• Genre: survival horror
• Czech localization: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 35 GB
• Game time: 10 hours
• Price: 1049 kr (PS Store)

Sect on the island

The game’s plot is quite quirky and fresh: you take on the role of a girl named Jess (played by the lovely Siobhan Williams, who you might know from the aforementioned game The Quarry, for example). Jess arrives to spend a weekend on a remote island to deal with their childhood trauma with his longtime girlfriend. In this they are assisted by four more visitors to the island, belonging to the Prismatic Science sect, who believe in the power of healing crystals, with the help of which they want to connect with the “spiritual” world beyond our dimension.

At first, it all seems like a relatively harmless meditative game, but as soon as it gets dark and the “cleansing” ritual begins, everything will turn out to be much more tangible than it seemed at first glance. A group of six meditators manage to open the gates to the “Darkness” dimension, and monsters large and small begin to pour onto the island, representing an honest cosmic horror. In addition, individual meditators begin to slip into their own hallucinations and manic states, so they cannot be relied upon or trusted, as they, too, can turn into a deadly threat.

Monsters begin to flock to the island, representing an honest cosmic horror.

You’ll explore the island from a third-person perspective, collecting keys to various forbidden buildings or recording the history of a cult that dates back to the 1970s. The color from space also corresponds to this period. During numerous dialogues and cinematic sequences, you will have the opportunity to choose answers, which affect, among other things, your statistics (health, mental stamina and spiritual strength), as well as one of three possible endings for about ten hours of play. (you will probably get through it even noticeably faster on the easiest difficulty).

Modernized classic

As befits a survival horror genre, finding and making efficient use of limited resources such as weapons and healing herbs is essential to your survival. The authors of the game even explicitly point out that resource management is key, and it may happen that you will find yourself in a dead end if you do not cope with it, so you have to start playing again from the checkpoint or from the beginning of the entire chapter (there are six of them in the game) . The game only provides for automatic position saving, so you can’t “abuse” it easily by going back a few steps. Depending on the difficulty you choose, it’s also worth paying close attention to the order in which you unlock your character’s abilities and upgrades. This requires both the experience of combat and conversations, as well as special raw materials.

Managing resources such as ammo or medicine is the key to progress.

While the enemies are relatively traditional monsters of the humanoid, animal, and abstract types, your weapons are much more original. These include two types of torches (for the physical and spiritual worlds), two types of throwing “fire cocktails”, as well as special insect incense that will temporarily paralyze an unstoppable monster whose arrival at a given location means you’ve already finished it which was possible Looking at this gear, I was worried that the combat system would be a bit clumsy or boring, but quite the contrary – the game is very nice to control on the console, and the need to switch weapons over frequent changes and transitions from the real world to the spirit world will keep you focused. Unfortunately, the absence of a map can sometimes be confusing when you can inadvertently waste valuable resources while wandering.

The Chant is not trying to be some kind of revolution, it relies on popular genre stereotypes, but at the same time stands out with an interesting setting and its own complex mythology. While uncovering the mysterious evil, very often I felt like I was playing the very first Silent Hill, which is certainly a big compliment. Applause also deserves the very successful facial animations and acting, thanks to which the six characters successfully drag out the story. The creators have been working on the game for five long years, and by the standards of AA games of this type, it is pleasantly tuned and narrative. It may seem relatively short, but you have the option to play it on a higher difficulty or three times to reach three different endings requiring different choices and ways to fight.