New ideas and styles of play are among the traits that indies often try to promise, even if they aren’t always able to deliver them in a way that’s ultimately compelling. Tchia, with its clear cultural influences and quite exotic location, absolutely comes roaring out of the gate with the promise of something new. While it does ultimately succeed in delivering on that promise to a degree, there’s no question that the execution can be quite bumpy in spots as well.

Starting with the positives, there’s no question that Tchia’s likely to surprise you with its unusual mix of periodic exploration, island culture, and a variety of mini games that often assist in you taking it all in. Whether you’re learning to strum along to various songs on your ukulele or simply trying to get a top score with your slingshot, the game has some pleasant distractions for sure. Perhaps the greatest of these is taking advantage of your ability to soul-jump into various creatures for a short while, helping you to get around faster and with a little more fun along the way.

Weirdly, the game’s biggest negative in my mind is that all of those charming and unique elements ultimately feel overshadowed by the less endearing need to take on the game’s villains who have captured your father. Rather than taking in the game’s lush tropical environments, you’ll instead be stuck in pretty generic industrial-style areas trying to clear out Maano soldiers, somewhat unusual foes who are made out of cloth. Thankfully, you can typically count on there being an ample supply of incendiary materials that you’ll be able to use to literally burn them to the ground and destroy their key buildings. The combat is serviceable, but it’s also less engaging and unique overall than the game’s milder elements, which gives the game the feeling of having a conflicted soul.

In the end, I’m not quite sure how to feel about Tchia since it has plenty of the elements it would need to be a great game, it just uses them in what feels like the wrong levels of concentration and time. In a way, the game feels like an odd bait and switch, typically leading with its gorgeous lush visuals and soul jumping features, and yet too little time seems to have been reserved for fully enjoying those aspects, while pushing you towards more traditional combat that isn’t as engaging. Yes, I suppose you could opt to simply spend your time exploring every nook and cranny out there, and it could probably be fun for a while, but without more compelling rewards for doing so that doesn’t necessarily feel like time well-spent. There are elements here that are special, it just feels like its two styles of play are fighting each other for your attention, with the less compelling one winning out more than it should have.