The Chant is an upcoming horror-adventure game from first-time game developers, Brass Token. The game is being published by Prime Matter and was partially funded by the Canada Media Fund. In a recent interview with GamesBeat, the CEO of Brass Token, Mike Skupa, talked a bit about The Chant and what inspired him to make this game this way.
In this third-person horror game, a woman named Jess Briar has decided to visit the Prismic Science Spiritual Retreat after dealing with her trauma on her own for long enough. The retreat with an already suspicious name is located on a remote island. Guests of the retreat are overtly friendly, don’t access their phones, and all wear the same spiritual garb. One night, in a geometric structure, the group participates in a ritual that goes terribly wrong. Ancient and even beautiful creatures now haunt the inhabitants of the island, driving them mad. Check out the story trailer for The Chant below.
Most of it came down to the size of the team and their abilities. Initially, Skupa says that the inspiration was as simple as, “what would happen if you had a spiritual awakening, and it turned out to be more of a horrific experience than a positive one.” That feels a bit like a question that has been answered many times before, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one. Horror is all about exploring our fears, so it’s interesting that seeking enlightenment that results in a form of cosmic horror is a familiar theme. Skupa continued with the fact that a remote island, limited tech, and matching outfits helped his team enormously and factored into the choice for this story.
Skupa mentioned wanting to create a wholly original story with original monsters despite the familiar themes. Though the story is cosmic horror, the monsters are not based on Lovecraft’s lore. Instead, Skupa says, “the art team has taken symbols like sacred geometry or mandalas and created creatures out of those shapes.” The goal is to create psychedelic monsters that could be considered beautiful if not awe-inspiring. He wants to create horror without the gritty and disturbing feeling most horror games don’t let up on. The focus would instead be on creating “otherworldly wonder” and mystery punctuated with disturbing horror moments. The monsters do look interesting, even if there are reservations about creating pretty monsters. That can be a winning combination. For example, it reminds us a bit of the movie Annihilation with its beautiful but deadly surroundings.
The actress who plays the protagonist, Siobhan Williams, also weighed in on the interview. She called the game new age horror because it approaches the new age retreat themes with “tongue-in-cheek” humor. Like the matching spiritual pajamas perhaps? Williams also mentions that Jess suffers from panic attacks, and this is another original aspect of the game. Perhaps. It should be mentioned that sanity bars are common in cosmic horror games though. It will be interesting to see how these panic attacks will come into play when the game comes out.
The premise may not be as wholly original or exciting as they think, but for a first game, it does look really good. The story is familiar enough to lure fans in, so hopefully, it is entertaining enough to keep them.
