Chasm

 Switch
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24

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  1. Lapinas
    Oct 21, 2019
    7
    I picked the game up on sale without prior knowledge of it, only knowing that it's a metroidvania game, which was good enough cause of me to take a look at it.

    Chasm is a pixel-graphics metroidvania game (a 2d game with a mixture of combat, platforming, character customization and light RPG mechanics), where you're a knight who is sent to investigate a town attacked by a monster. Upon    I picked the game up on sale without prior knowledge of it, only knowing that it's a metroidvania game, which was good enough cause of me to take a look at it.

    Chasm is a pixel-graphics metroidvania game (a 2d game with a mixture of combat, platforming, character customization and light RPG mechanics), where you're a knight who is sent to investigate a town attacked by a monster. Upon arrival you realize that everyone except one person are gone and it's up to you to save them and figure out what's going on.

    As far as mechanics go, it's not too wild. You have your jump, backwards slide, as well as a melee weapon and a spell to combat enemies, who range from rats to undead soldiers to demons. Non-boss enemies have at most two patterns associated with them so they're not overbearing to fight over and over. I say the combat is not wild because while the inputs are responsive, there's not too much original going on. You have your swords, clubs, whips, daggers for your main hand and Metroidvania staples for spells - daggers, arcing axes, boomerangs. All these tools have varying applications so choosing your weapons and spells for the occasion is an important part of gameplay (or just use a sword and throwing knives the whole game, that works too). As you progress through the game, you gain abilities associated with traversing the enviroment - double jump, walljump, gliding and so on - these let you navigate the map in new ways and allow you to access locations you previously had to skip (sometimes mandatory, sometimes optional). The progression of the game is solid, with more complex and tougher enemies along with your ever increasing arsenal of mobility skills and weaponry.

    The core gimmick that attempts to separate this game from the pack is RNG mechanics (bear with me). On world creation, the world's layout is randomized - NPC locations, save points, all of it. Chests contain random loot. Loot sometimes comes out as upgraded rather than base form (indicated by a blue or orange outline on the weapon). Unfortunately, these gimmicks are easily the worst part of the game. While the world is not the same on each individual run, the rooms themselves are not very interesting, as you'll grow tired for mostly recycled jumping puzzles (jump when the bad stuff dissapears, or time jumps to land on moving platforms), with most changes being scenery. Everything being so similar leads to getting lost while backtracking once you need to get back to a particular place to use an item or ability you got. Getting an orange item, dying, then going back for the item and getting an unupgraded version is rage-inducing.

    While the starting few sections are great, the game grows more frustrating and tedious, since you often have to backtrack to previous locations without clear hints to do so, as well as save points becoming more and more scarce, enemies filling up greater amounts of corridors, which incentivizes running past enemies since fighting them can end up costing you too much health and mana.

    Overall, it's a fairly good addition to the Metroidvania roster, and I recommend it to those who like the genre and are interested in a slightly different take. It's especially good for those looking for a challenge, with the additions of arcade mode (essentially a speedrun mode for points) and mortal mode (permadeath). It is, however, disappointing and leaves a lot of unfulfilled potential on the table.    … Expand
  2. SebboBastian
    Dec 24, 2018
    7
    A nice little pixel adventure with clean classic retro combat and boss fights. The backtracking can be a bit messy somethimes but overall a good game.
  3. Doomtroid
    Aug 2, 2019
    7
    Despite fun and challenging combat, gorgeous visuals, and countless customization options, Chasm will start to wear on you with its repetitive nature, as the randomly generated map system will only end up having you walk through too many long boring corridors to count
  4. Xavikun
    Jul 17, 2021
    7
    Un buen metroidvania, que aunque no aporta nada nuevo al genero si te gusta este tipo de juego es bastante entretenido.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Feb 26, 2019
    80
    The latest in an ever-burgeoning line of Metroidvania games being released on the Switch, and a rather good one at that! [Issue #37 – January/February 2019, p. 20]
  2. Nintendo Insider
    Nov 27, 2018
    60
    Chasm doesn’t quite have its own identity, as it borrows so much from other games and while it does them decently, it’s not best in class. The randomly generated level layout, which is the games one unique feature, actually ends up being its biggest weakness. Maybe I am being a little too unkind, as I did have fun playing, but I just feel like it could have been so much more and that’s what bothers me the most. It’s a decent enough tribute to those games of yesteryear, but that’s its problem, as it ends up being yet another Metroidvania title.
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  3. Nintenderos
    Oct 16, 2018
    78
    Bit Kid has made the game stand out in a world full of titles of the same genre. Chasm arrives on Switch in an elegant, beautiful and addictive way.
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