Introduction
We are going to dig deep for ore, Chasm is a Metroidvania that plays more like a Castlevania game but nonetheless, I have enjoyed this game a lot. In this game you play as a knight that is sent out to investigate a town, this is where your knight will eventually learn that he is a special person, he is the only one that can save the day! Chasm features a randomly generated world but you will always need to follow the same route, sequence breaking might be available but this will only break your game.
You are going to backtrack many times when after you find a new upgrade. I can tell you that you will certainly see the same tilesets in the randomly generated world but it does change enough to be fun but I think that depends on personal taste. Cham has a high replay value as there will be new things to try out and do in a new run, there is no new game+ but you will unlock new options after beating the game. I have done four runs in total and I had an amazing time when playing Chasm. The new skills that you gain while playing the story are very useful and the best one is of course found before the final boss. You can even miss certain skills if you don’t check every nook and cranny!
What did I think before playing Chasm?
I have had Chasm on my to play list for too long and suddenly I just decided to play it and started installing, meanwhile, I was hunting for some trailers and information before I started playing.
The art in this game looked beautiful and the trailer was very descriptive of what to expect, a class mode for after beating the game, a different adventure each time, and much more!
I have been wanting to play this game for a long time and when I saw the trailer again I was stumped as to why I have not played Chasm yet. The monsters in the trailer look very well crafted and the start menu reminded me of Castlevania, there seemed to be many different weapons and I was looking forward to getting a whip.
You can find unique or legendary items and I saw sub-weapons just like in Castlevania, luckily my installation was already finished, I quickly jumped into the Chasm!
My rating for Chasm before playing is an 8.5.
Anyone that loves either Metroid or Castlevania genres will have a great time with Chasm, the random generation is not for everyone but I considered it to be a fun extra element.
Story
Something evil has awakened in the mines of Karthas, the mines are much deeper than you would expect. You are a knight who wants to prove himself and you are send to investigate what has transpired in Karthas.
Upon arrival, you find out almost everyone went missing and they are most likely in need of your help. Without fear or hesitation, you delve into the mines to fight dangerous battles to save the town and ultimately the world.
Can you prove yourself to be a true knight and save the world?
I rate the story of Chasm with a 7.6.
I liked the story more than I had expected and the lore books that you find make the world of Chasm feel more alive. The bosses are not just random but they tie in very well into the lore of the story.
Gameplay
Chasm is a Metroidvania game but it plays more like a Castlevania game, exploration, and combat is the most important factors in Chasm. The combat feels very fluent, some enemies might just walk around (this is mostly, at the beginning of the game, to get accustomed to the battle system of Chasm) but later enemies can be very aggressive. Dodging is very important along with learning the patterns of your enemies. The best idea is to react with dodging and then get a blow in at your enemy. When defeating enemies, you get experience points that you need for leveling up, enemies will also drop items and these are usually better than the items in the shop. The shops only unlock after you have rescued the townspeople that run a shop. After you have defeated enough of said enemy you can look at them in the bestiary. The bestiary gives you information on their stats, when they have dropped an item this will also be noted. You will find yourself farming items from time to time to get stronger. You can also complete side quests that the townsfolk give you to get new rewards.
When exploring you will notice many places that you cannot reach yet, these areas can be accessed later when you have gained a skill. The usual pattern is that after defeating a boss you will quickly find your skill as a reward. You can always use the backslide skill as this is an innate ability. There are six dungeons that you can explore and they all look very different from each other and they all need other skills. The further that you get, the stronger the enemies will become and the better items that you will find. You can find ingots to create new items when you have freed the smith. The weakest ingot is an iron ingot and the strongest is a meteorite ingot, meteorite ingots can be found in the fifth and sixth dungeon.
After clearing the sixth dungeon and beating the game you can start a new game with some new settings, I have completed the mortal run which features permadeath.
You are now also able to select classes for your new runs, the available classes are warrior, thief, and mage and they all have different abilities. It was very fun to complete Chasm with each class at least once, there is also an arcade mode but I have yet to try that!
Sub-weapons are very important in Chasm as they can either save your life or kill an enemy quicker. There are different spells that you can unlock by buying them at the magic shop. After finding the book of incantations you will be able to upgrade your sub-weapons. To upgrade your sub-weapons, you will need to find gems like the topaz or sapphires. With each level up your magic spell will increase its power or utility, upgrading the throwing knife lets you throw multiple knives at once, these knives can be very useful if you gear your character towards an int based build. If you are able to use your sub-weapons and skills to defeat a boss without getting hit you will get great rewards! Some of the bosses can be very hard to defeat without getting hit. The sixth boss does not grant you any reward nor does the bonus boss Gnarlox.
I rate the gameplay of Chasm with an 8.5.
There will be people that do not like that the game works with seed generation, but for me, this is a giant plus. My main problem with Metroid and Castlevania games is that after one playthrough I have a full mental map of the game. This means I know exactly to the dot where everything is including all enemy placements and more. This is why I like games with seed generation, even though I recognize most of the tilesets but they are shuffled into a different pattern.
Sound and graphics
I can see that the developer put a lot of thought into the graphics of Chasm and I would call it art, the game has amazing backgrounds and the enemies are very detailed. Yes, indeed, the game is smaller but it chooses quality over quantity which is a big plus as well.
Chasm has some good soundtracks, I dig the one that plays in town the most! The sound effects are well crafted but there was a small audio glitch that I encountered but nothing too troublesome.
I rate the sound and graphics of Chasm with an 8.0.
I have to admit that hearing the bone worm still growl after he died was very fun and made me chuckle, I bet he felt like he got boned!
What did I think after playing Chasm?
Chasm looked amazing before playing, especially the Castlevania vibes that the game gave me.
I like that the game has a high replay value and adds new interesting modes to play around with after beating the game.
The art in this game is of high quality and I found myself looking at all the details in the background like running waterfalls or even a complete landscape.
The combat is a clear pattern of reacting and dealing some blows, rushing in without knowing enemy patterns might get you killed, there are a lot of different enemies that you can add to your bestiary.
My biggest problem with Chasm is that it was too easy as you can just open the menu and eat some cake but this is a returning thing from Castlevania.
Chasm beat all my expectations and before I knew it I was doing my fourth run and preparing to get into the arcade mode and the daily challenge mode.
I rate Chasm with 8.8 after playing.
This game was a very good but small Metroid/Castlevania game that offers quality above content and keeps it fresh with seed generation. I do think that you need to like seed generation to like this game.
My personal Rating
I loved this game otherwise I would not have done four complete runs, of course, I also got the platinum status on Steam!
My personal rating of Chasm is a 9.0
Pros and Cons
Pros
– The combat feels very fluent and it is important to learn the enemy patterns.
– The story was very good and I liked the ending, if you don’t save a few of the townsfolk they also won’t appear in the ending.
– The graphics in this game are like art, the background contains so much information and details!
– There are many different weapons and armor to create the build that you want to use.
– The skills that you gain in Chasm allow you to backtrack and find new items or people to save.
– The bosses in Chasm reward you for defeating them without getting hit.
– Chasm has good soundtracks and the sound effects are crafted well.
– After beating the game you unlock new modes that increase the replay value of Chasm.
– The townsfolk that you save offer you sidequests for loot or expanding their shop.
– Chasm is a good name for the game, the word Chasm is great for wordplay!
Cons
– There are a few minor audio glitches but they did not bother me.
– Seed generation is not for everyone.
I had a lot of fun when playing Chasm and I cannot wait to continue my adventure by delving back into the deep mines of Karthas.
The final rating of Chasm is …Drumroll…
8.3
Let me know what you think about the game in the comments!
I hope you liked reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
