The Chant PlayStation 5 Review

Halloween is over. But a whole new scare has just begun, and if you don’t know what that means, then pay very close attention. When you hear the word cult, what comes to mind? Spiritual? Ritual? Religion? Or something else? Whatever it may be, the term is often associated with acts of evil driven by unorthodox beliefs. This is where the new horror game The Chant comes in, plus more.

2022 was filled with horror gaming titles. There was The Quarry, that had released several months ago. It’s also coming with an update to provide more scares. Same for the Evil Dead with the Hail to the King DLC. Scorn had recently come through. Much more to come with The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me and Callisto. Both of which arrive within a few weeks.

 

Horror is one of the trendiest genres in media. Films, television shows, and also in gaming. You name it. Some people avoid them for obvious reasons. At the same time, others cannot get enough of them. There’s something about it that has some people thirsting for a scare. If you’re one of those, The Chant is definitely for you.

Inspired by the cult horror of the 1970s, The Chant draws you to a story about the protagonist, Jess who travels to a mysterious remote island to alleviate a past traumatic event involving the death of her sister when they were young. This has haunted her for many years. During her healing process, she settles in, befriends other residents in the spiritual retreat, and gets to know them individually. Later that night, they perform a ritual and accidentally unravel something far more sinister. What was supposed to be a weekend of relaxation has transformed into an experience beyond their imagination. Whatever this entity is, it has taken over the island, and it’s up to Jess to reverse the curse that stemmed from 1972.

This is not going to be easy, far from it. What’s getting in your way? You’ve guessed it, the creepy and grotesque monsters that you encounter. To make things even more complicated, Jess' trauma is still there and is involved in her adventure in the forms of voices of Jess’ deceased sister and flies that chase her occasionally. She must find it in her fight the hallucinations to stand a chance of surviving the evil awakening.

 

Speaking of survival, for you to successfully complete The Chant, your brain power is constantly put to the test. In this third-person horror, the game supplies you with many ways of being resourceful and multiple alternatives in dealing with enemies. Moreover, Jess has a career in biomedicine, whether it’s from crafting or prism abilities and so on, and you could somewhat put her personal skills to good use.

But one of the benefits is that you are not required to fight everything you encounter. Sometimes, the best thing to do is escape. This is also the best way to ration your materials for more critical fights or monsters you have to defeat to proceed. And when you're not combatting evil, there are puzzles for players to solve as well as other things such as finding certain keys to open locks and watching videos from old-school movie projectors that might give hints and clues.

However, the gameplay isn’t perfect. Not even close. The movements and combat mechanics are rigid, and one-dimensional, and the pressure mounts when you’re in boss fights. Including when dodging attacks. Although, the developer displayed a bright idea of having her animations seem like a real-life individual who isn’t too experienced in fighting. Sometimes, it’s a struggle to outrun monsters when you choose to evade them, and your heart rate increases because of the possibility of them catching you.

 

There’s more to this. Actually, much more. Throughout the story, players will have to go through six gruesome chapters, interact with members of the retreat and undertake a series of objectives to advance.

Players have to understand that the core stats of Jess are her mind, body, and spirit, and balancing them properly will help you tackle monsters better and move better. The situation intensifies whenever Jess is in panic mode. But fortunately, when you remove her from certain triggers, her mind is restored.

Meditation is another method of regenerating Jess’ mind and is accompanied by harmonizing music. Think of it like this, and your job is to keep Jess mentally and spiritually stable and obviously monitor her health while fighting or evading the demonic presence. Otherwise, she becomes more vulnerable. That’s a challenging task. However, this is quite an original challenge set for players to have, and these are the kind that players should be getting in video games.

The story of The Chant was decent. It wasn’t phenomenal, and this seems like a generic horror story. Also, the writing and direction could have been a little better. But it does just about enough to gain your interest in wanting to know what happens next, and it highlights the behavior of a cult.  As the story develops, your knowledge about the past traumatic event heightens. Plus, you endure more than enough jump scares to have you moving nervously when playing as a way of being more alert.

 

It gets creepier hearing the roars from the monsters, and sometimes you won’t even know where the hair-raising sounds are coming from. You might not notice this until later, but Jess is barefooted throughout the game. Just imagine having to endure everything she went through in that condition.

As a player, you will uncover one of three possible endings based on what choices you make. That’s right; you have to think very carefully about your decisions if you wish for the best possible outcome. And, of course, some of your selections might have severe consequences when communicating with other members. Your choices during conversations impact how quickly you unlock experiences. This alone is some pressure for a player to undergo.

All of this is done on a beckoning Island, displaying some repulsive demeanors on the side and some areas look like they haven’t been visited in years. It plays like an open-world map. You can free roam practically anywhere, and you’ll discover many items around to add to your inventory. As well as missing parts to complete certain puzzles or objectives. But there are many small areas where you can easily get trapped if you are running from monsters.

 

The designs, overall, are easy on the eye and spooky at the same time. However, despite the attractive designs, the visuals don’t look next-gen at all. Not enough detail is shown, and there’s zero evidence of photorealistic effects anywhere. If you are looking for jaw-dropping graphics, you will not find them in this game. And don’t bother playing this in 4K because it doesn’t improve things that much. The game has an interesting story aided with gameplay that has a great supply of resources and a good cast, and the designs of the map and monsters are impressive, but the game’s weak combat system, substantial visuals, and a few bugs need to be addressed.

The Chant tells a gripping cult tale and offers more than sufficient terror to have you quivering in your boots. However, the gameplay is pretty inconsistent, and the visuals are not current-gen standard. A lot of things to do and many resources at your disposal, but with very limited mechanics to work with. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a game to occupy you until the release of a much bigger title, then this will do its job. On top of that, The Chant is much cheaper than your average current-gen console game. You can’t go wrong. It’s a win-win. 
 

Junior Onunkwo (@PoweredByKratos)
Editor, NoobFeed