The journey for the inner piece became a nightmare beyond imagination. Prime Matter and developer Brass Token unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming supernatural thriller, The Chant. This action-horror thriller puts players into the role of a young woman, looking to restore balance to her life, only to conjure a monstrous nightmare beyond imagination that threatens herself and the real world.
Prime Matter unveiled the trailer, which encompasses a general overview of what to expect in the Chant. Players take on the role of Jess, a young woman looking to set things right in her life. What kind of balance she seeks, and the context as to why is unknown. However, she meets up with Kim, a seemingly longtime friend that motivates Jess and instills confidence. Shortly after arriving after the retreat, jess, Kim, and two fellow spirit seekers begin their ritual, which reflects on positive and negative energies. Suddenly, Kim breaks the circle, feeling negative energy take her over, and the group is seemingly summoned into a dark dimension filled with grotesque creatures. Kim becomes overcome by dark emotions and around the group are horrifying manifestations of evil. It is discovered that with Kim breaking the circle, they have unintentionally summoned The Gloom, a dark dimension of prismatic creatures. The only way to survive this alternate reality is to explore, meditate, and resist the evils within. The trailer shows brief glimpses of player-controlled gameplay, showing Jess sending the ground quaking and discharging energy.
The steam page of The Chant describes the game as a “modern psychedelic horror.” Players choose their fights as they explore the island and collect resources. Players can either succumb to panic and flee or stand their ground in the face of great evil. As they fight the monsters, players must maintain a balance to achieve peace and strength, which could have various effects. It isn’t clear if The Chant is a choice-based adventure where the actions of the player affect the ending, but it is clear The Chant is very story-driven and encourages players to engross themselves in a tale of courage and friendship, wrapped into an incomprehensible world where the rules are broken and only darkness remains.
Prime Matter has been on a roll as of late, with a strong showing at PAX East 2022 with The Last Oricru, and the recent release of the sci-fi souls-like Dolmen, which has been receiving strong feedback from players. There is plenty to look forward to, especially as Prime Matter publishes the remake of System Shock from Nightdive Studios, but The Chant looks remarkably interesting and visually too intriguing to pass up. I’m sure there will be those that will make obvious comparisons to Stranger Things or a Carpenter Brut music video, but I am once again reminded that an imitation is a sincere form of flattery. There is a current lack of horror games, especially psychedelic horror, and The Chant looks to make a big impact when it releases later this year.
The Chant is set for launch in October 2022 for Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox
