The Chant Review (Dr. Phibes)
Adventure! Horror! Cults! Psychedelic drugs! Lovecraft? Psychology? You know there is such a thing as too many ingredients, right? I’m getting ahead of myself so why don’t we take a trip to Glory Island to see if the horror adventure game The Chant is worthy of a vacation to.
Pros
A pretty island setting
Cool creature designs
Free DLC expansion that continues the story (more on this later)
Solid opening that makes you think you’re about to play a b-horror movie with several good ideas however
Cons
The game takes itself too seriously by hopping into another genre while the other genres established take a back seat with said several ideas ending up being duck tapped together and as a result the game as a whole is a mess
Several of the games mechanics are undercooked and probably could have been cut out. There’s a few dialogue choice you are given which seem to only give you XP in one of the three stats rather than make any significant difference to the events of the story. There’s even a portal hub system that I completely forgot about until I stumbled across it again starting my second play through.
The upgrade system also feels like an after-thought, outside of increasing how much you have of the three stats the rest seemed to make minimal difference to game play. Hell I didn’t even unlock the ability to upgrade my dodge until I was basically at the end of the main game.
Combat consists of using craftable weapons/throwables/traps and powers you unlock as the story progresses with three different flavors of the enemy types. Using the appropriate one will deal more damage but there isn’t really a downside to using the incorrect one.
Said new powers you gain from progressing the story I ended up finding that I barely used them in game simply because I just didn’t have enough resources to utilize them often and when I did I just used one of them. I got this same experience even when attempting a build based on using said powers and even then found myself mostly using melee attacks.
The story feels like it was written by multiple writers who each did separate sections of the story with minimal consultation with each other and then they duct taped it all together. As a result of this, there are several moments that come off as unintentionally funny
The characters, who are also bland enough I have a hard time remembering their names, sometimes come off as if having multiple personalities literally going from “everything is fine” to “I’m completely losing my shit” the very next scene.
There are three endings to the main game however it’s safe to assume that with the inclusion of the DLC that only one of them is cannon considering that’s how it continues. This might not be so bad if the ending for the DLC also didn’t leave off on obvious sequel bait. Speaking of which…
Mini review for Into the Gloom DLC
Pros
Combat feels slightly improved; I had more chances to use the powers you’ve gained from the prisms much more often but still resorted to using just one of the powers.
A new craftable weapon and a new craftable throwable/trap
Cons
It plays vastly different from the main game, its less story focused and plays more like a rogue lite where if you die you just return to the main hub with only your XP and key items. Unlocked short cuts also remain unlocked when this happens and everything you’ve collected or killed respawns as well.
None of your stats from the main game are carried over into this and same issue with the upgrade system I had in the main game seems to have carried over with even more fluff.
So would I recommend The Chant? Not really, this game feels very much like a game by committee with minimal leadership. If it’s on sale or you’re curious, it’s a harmless enough purchase but this isn’t a game I would recommend seeking out. There is too many different ingredients in this dish to make it a special experience and there for I give The Chant 2 Glooms out of 5.