Back in the days of my youth, I would spend a lot of days on sites like Miniclip, Nitrome, or OneMoreLevel. It was on those sites that I first encountered the pixel art style in gaming. Before that point, I had only come across them in arcades and other such establishments. And yet, I was hooked. I spent countless days fettering my summer afternoons in devotion to these pixel arcade games.
Needless to say, when I first encountered Chasm at PAX East this year, all the memories of my youth came flooding back to me. I was immediately in love with the handcrafted pixel art that I saw on display before me. As such, Chasm was another game that I gave a writer’s choice award to, almost as soon as I had concluded my time with it. There was almost nothing about this game that I did not enjoy. And there are several important aspects that are worth checking out.
Labeled as an action-adventure game, Chasm takes place in the kingdom of Guildean. Playing as a new recruit eager to show his worth I hopped into the game in the royal castle. From there I was sent to check out the disappearances in a small mining town on the kingdom’s border.
And immediately, from the first dungeon, I knew that this could be a game I would spend hours exploring. Even on the first level there were winding forks and hidden passages. But what was even more impressive is how meticulously each room was crafted. From what I played, there was no room identical to another each was made to be unique. Additionally, some rooms require you to possess a certain skill in order to access them. Meaning that there will be continual areas to explore as the game progresses. Not only will there be more levels, there will be more rooms to explore the more skill are unlocked.
As far as the controls go, nothing stands out as challenging. Mostly, the controls model after retro gameplay from the era of arcades. Which in itself is pretty standard and simple to pick up. However, it does take practice to get through some of the rooms, especially if you are unfamiliar with dungeon crawlers. Speaking of which, there are six areas to explore, each massive, and procedural assembled from handcrafted rooms. Along with these six areas, there is also a multitude of bosses and beasties for the player to encounter and defeat. The player itself is also customizable. With the options of unlocking different armor, weapons, and spells hidden in the catacombs of the game along with item shops.
The main draw of this game, however, is most assuredly the pixel art style. For those looking for a blast of retro nostalgia, this game is sure to come through. It is often arduous to pixelate a game while still having it look good. The color palate of Chasm comes through masterfully to add a surprising layer of definition, which gives it a very vibrant feel. In no shape does Chasm feel undefined, rather it feels like a masterwork of impressionism that comes across sharp and healthy.
To experience this game for yourself, or to find out more information, be sure to check out their official website here.
