''Chasm'' is a

Metroidvania Metroidvania is a sub-genre of action-adventure games and/or platformers focused on Nonlinear gameplay, nonlinear exploration and guided progression with a need to acquire key items to enter certain areas. The term is a blend word, partial blend ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by Bit Kid, Inc. for

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and

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

in July 2018, the

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in October 2018, and the

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in November 2018.

Gameplay

Inspired by '' Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'', ''Chasm'' tells the story of an aspiring knight eager to prove their worth, on a quest to a mining town whose resources are essential. Although the story is the same for all players, the exact layout of the

world map A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of t ...

is unique for each adventure, through the game's use of

procedural generation In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated content and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. I ...

combined with handmade room sequences. Combat (also similar to ''Castlevania'') gives the player an option of a melee weapon and a sub-weapon to do most of your damage. As the players venture down into the mine, they can level up, collect new weapons from swords to whips, and use artifacts which make the environment explorable in different ways for new areas. The boss fights in the game rely on memorizing attack patterns. Besides that, there are rooms with moving or disappearing platforms, environmental hazards and traps, making a balance between combat and platforming. On the journey, there are townspeople trapped in cages. Releasing them sends them back up to the town, with a shop or service offered in the process, and unlocks a new sidequest expanding on the service they offer. Each map is segmented into themed sections like catacombs and gardens.

Development

Initial development started in 2012 with a prototype. The main character was only able to fight and jump, and his design barely changed since then. Maryland, USA-based studio Bit Kid, Inc. hoped they could sell the idea of an old-fashioned game to publishers at the

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, but nobody offered to fund the game. The team decided to crowdfund the game instead through Kickstarter in 2013, which was successful.

Reception

Critical reception for the PC version of ''Chasm'' was mixed to positive. Jeremy Peeples of ''Hardcore Gamer'' called it "one of the finest Metroidvanias ever created." Tom Marks of ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' said: "''Chasm'' is a lovely and fun Metroidvania with a lot of cool new ideas, even if its randomized maps are uninteresting." Writing for ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'', Tom McShea said: "''Chasm'' is a well-crafted adventure" and praised its "superb combat and visual design."

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.chasmgame.com/ 2018 video games Indie games Metroidvania games Linux games MacOS games Microsoft XNA games Windows games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Vita games Nintendo Switch games Retro-style video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Xbox One games Kickstarter-funded video games