Chasm
Welcome to Chasm, an action-adventure game in which you play a new recruit undertaking your first mission for the Guildean Kingdom. Thrilled to prove your worth as a knight, you track strange rumors that a mine vital to the Kingdom has been shut down. But what you discover in the mining town is worse than you imagined: The townspeople have disappeared, kidnapped by supernatural creatures emerging from the depths.
Honor-bound to solve the mystery and restore peace to the Kingdom, you embark upon an epic adventure, with deadly battles against cunning monsters, exploration of ancient catacombs and castles, and powerful new equipment hidden at every turn. Though the overall story is the same for all players, your hero’s journey will be unique: each of the rooms has been hand-designed, and behind the scenes Chasm stitches these rooms together into a one-of-a-kind world map that will be your own.
Although Chasm offers a rare procedurally generated spin on the classic Metroid formula, its demanding combat is what makes it stand out from the sea of imitators. Monsters roam among the twisted confines of an underground lair, demanding deft swordwork and stubborn determination to survive. And it’s in that deadly dance against lurching zombies, scurrying rats, and all manner of creepy-crawlies that Chasm truly shines. The tense fights leave you with sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate, keeping you glued to the action as you venture ever deeper below ground.
Chasm Review
The layout of Chasm’s map is randomized, pieced together with pre-built rooms to build a custom map that no one but you will experience. You still progressively unlock new movement abilities in a specific order — like a wall climb or a double jump — that open new paths as you go, but you won’t be able to look up the locations you unlock them in a wiki.
The randomization only really comes into play in future runs. After the credits rolled, I started a new game and was amused that I didn’t immediately know where everything was. It’s an awesome idea, and the way Chasm assembles its worlds works surprisingly well, to the point where it feels so seamless that I imagine many people may not even notice on their first run.
The world is put together in a way that’s impressive for being generated by a formula, it doesn’t apply itself in an interesting way in the slightest. The randomized construction is successful enough that the result doesn’t feel wonky, but it’s also devoid of personality or thoughtful care. Each area is just a series of rooms that lead to other rooms, oftentimes even repeating layouts and enemy patterns in a way that no designer would.
Chasm’s straightforward but charming story puts you in control of a knight in training who has to rescue the citizens of a kidnapped town by venturing deep into a mines below. As you do, more shuttered shops will open back up and those same townsfolk will then ask you to find specific items in the mines for further rewards.
Chasm’s bosses were especially well designed, with exciting visuals and some crazy attacks. A sand worm that also shot balls of lightning was definitely a highlight, even if it wasn’t too difficult to beat. I was a little disappointed that every boss only rewarded me with +3 max HP when your total health already starts at a whopping 60 (compare that to going from three Hearts to four from the first boss of any Zelda game and Chasm’s reward feels miniscule) but fighting them was a treat regardless.
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