The Chant: Delve Into the World of Spiritualism and Cosmic Horror!
Have you ever wondered what powers certain crystals hold? Have you wanted to understand what your energies are and channel them as power? The Chant asks these questions and explores a world where this is all possible.
Have you ever wondered what powers certain crystals hold? Have you wanted to understand what your energies are and channel them as power? The Chant asks these questions and explores a world where this is all possible.
The Chant is a psychological survival horror game that's set in a remote island called "Glory Island".
The Main Story
The game starts off in the aforementioned island in 1972, where a ritual is being held by a cult to "transcend" into the cosmos. The woman who we start off as is a pregnant lady by the name of Babs (we learn this later on).
She is told by the leader to give him the final prism as a portal opens, but she chooses to run away from the leader.
We are then treated to a short chase sequence where you learn the basics of movement and shove (a very useful skill for running away). As the chase sequence ends, Babs meets her fate at the end of a cliff. The rest is history as she jumps off.
We then cut to the present day, where our protagonist Jess is seen taking a jog and remembering the death of her sister. This terrifies her and she enters a short panic attack until she takes a deep breath and calls her friend Kim. She then talks about how she needs help, perhaps about her instability and panic attacks.
Afterwards, we are seen on a boat ride to the remote getaway known as "Prismic Spiritual™ Retreat" to meet up with Kim, our good friend whom we asked for help and has been in the retreat for 4 months. It's from her that we learn the basics of crafting and meditating as well as combat with what we have crafted and resource gathering.
The Cast
The people who we shall unite our spirit with...
Once we learn the basics and arrive to the camp, we are then introduced to the cast of characters who we will be staying with and have their own prisms and reasons for staying at the retreat. Each prism contains something about the cast themselves. The cast goes as follows:
- Kim—Our close friend whom we trust a lot and invited us to the retreat to make peace with our past. She holds the orange prism, which contains her anger, which we learn stems from her IED (intermittent explosive disorder). She's a CrossFit trainer who fears her anger and that she's worthless.
- Sonny—A rich boy who seems to have connections alongside his father. He has the yellow prism and we learn that he's a self centered and selfish man who wants to be heard. We also quickly learn that he thinks he's the one in control at all times.
- Maya—A very caring woman who is the chef and mother of the group. She holds the green prism, and we learn that she carries immense grief after the loss of her son Seva through means that could have been prevented. We soon learn that she's still not over the death as she views it as a sign of abandoning her memories.
- Hannah—She is the one in charge of preparing the ritual. She holds the indigo prism. Not much is known about Hannah at first, we learn about her through notes you will find later on.
- Tyler—The leader of the Prismic Spiritual™ Retreat and the ritual master. He is the Guru of the retreat and holds the red prism, we learn it contains some very negative thoughts and energy. What exactly is in this energy? We will learn later.
Something's wrong, but what is it?
A world we do not understand, yet we are thrown into it
After we meet the cast, we are then put in white clothes and are brought to the dome to perform a ritual with everyone after gathering the ingredients for the ritual tea.
Once the ritual begins and we perform "The Chant," Kim unexpectedly breaks the circle and runs out of the dome. This yields consequences that fling us into a world we do not understand much of at all. What is this world, and why are we flung into it exactly?
After waking up from what appears to be tea that was drugged, we look around to see that everyone has been afflicted with some form of despair. All but Hannah and Jess are lost in their own demons, either tripping out or wallowing in despair. We try to do our best to talk everyone out of their trance and help us find Kim, who had run away from the camp to no avail.
It is now up to us to save Kim and bring her back to the camp. Unfortunately, we are not alone on the island, and they are NOT friendly.
The Threats We Face Are the Very People Who We Connect To
Glory Island is filled with the previous inhabitants—the cultists from the prologue, who were twisted into beings that know no mercy and only know violence and greed. We do not know why this change happened, but we can infer that this is because of "The Gloom".
The Gloom is a zone that reflects ones past via the prism that one holds. Jess' prism is the blue prism, and with it we can enter the blue gloom zones.
Once you enter these zones, you will hear your (or someone else's) past in every direction. It manifests itself in these zones and drains us of our Mind, a bar on the bottom left that helps us fight and be brave.
If said bar depletes, Jess enters a panic attack and cannot fight at all, you regain mind by meditating and using spirit or by escaping the horrors and letting the mind heal. You cannot meditate in The Gloom, however, so be very careful where you decide to meditate.
How Will We Fight Back? With Sage, Witch Stick And... A Fire Lash?!
Combat in The Chant is VERY fluid and responsive—timing your dodges with your attacks and side weapons are definitely a treat. One thing to keep in mind is that each weapon has durability (which would normally be a bad thing, but if you're resourceful enough, you can go through the whole game with at least ONE weapon on you).
Each weapon has its range and uses, some are better at executing enemies better than others:
- Sage is good for swarms (these come in the form of an apparition of flies that will hunt you down relentlessly and is 100% unkillable, you can only fight it off for a bit),
- Fire lashes are good for more "physical" enemies like the cultists and witch stick is good for enemies who are weak against occult weapons.
Each one offers a different utility and effect for you.
Alternatively, you can go through the entire game without killing a single cultist, but the Gloom beasts MUST be killed in order to advance forwards in the story. The choice is ultimately yours.
Whenever you take damage, you heal by consuming ginger, you gain mind by meditating or consuming lavender, and you can gain spirit by consuming spirit caps or by fighting while using the witch stick.
It's your resourcefulness that will ultimately help you on your journey to escape Glory Island.
Is It a Streamable Game?
This game offers many opportunities to interact with chat as you explore the island and fight your enemies. There are some instances where your focus will be shifted towards the game but those are very few in between exploration, puzzle solving and reading.
Final Rating
5/5 Skulls
This game is a great experience, everything about it is wonderful and keeps you on your toes. The game doesn't stop with its thrills and chills, The Chant is definitely a game you should pick up and play even if you're not a fan of horror.
It's one hell of a horror game with a very interesting story and plot, check it out and pick it up if you can.
