The plot involves Jess and Kim who, despite surviving Glory Island’s trials, are drawn into the depths of a “merging” between the real world and The Gloom. You’ll work with the Anton Family and try to avoid their fate while crafting new weapons and upgrading abilities. The goal is to destroy The Gloom’s heart, which requires braving many battles and gathering ingredients.

Interestingly, the DLC touts replay value and “experimentation”, which could indicate a more sandbox-like structure. Stay tuned for more details when it launches next week. Of course, if you already own the base game (check out our review here), then The Gloom Below is free.

The Chant starts out with you running from a group of people as you try to make a last-ditch escape from a ritual that’s being held against the backdrop of a tropical island. After that short gameplay section, the story cuts to the past where we learn that our character Jess is suffering from severe mental health issues as she tries to cope with the death of a loved one. Her friend Kim asks her to join an island retreat where they meditate and do all sorts of activities to attain peace, which brings us to a faraway island where the game is primarily set.

"a weak plot, poor production values, and gameplay shortcomings envelope this game’s many strengths, and The Chant ends up being a decent experience that falls really short of its potential."

As soon as you get there, things start to go wrong, and soon Jess finds herself trapped in a battle against a cosmic force that seems to have some deep connections with the history of the island and the family of the retreat’s founder. The story itself starts out promising, and each character has an empathetic past which makes them relatable. But then everything from character arcs to plot revelations happens so quickly that it soon becomes jarring with plenty of contrivances.

For instance, how could someone so mentally weak as Jess would instantly transform into a brutal monster killer in moments unnoticed, or why would she risk her life in the first place to save people who were clearly involved with a shadowy organization instead of just escaping from the island for good? These are questions that were running at the top of my head, but the story pays little heed to these concerns as it chugs along at a rapid pace.

The game also has an element of choice, with Jess being able to choose from dialogue options during points of the story. But during my experience, they had little impact on the actual outcome except for different responses from conversations – which makes it feel like an inconsequential system that doesn’t serve any real purpose. The story itself touches on sensitive topics like trauma, psychosis, panic attacks – but due to the aforementioned reasons, it seldom does justice to those topics – and instead, the story devolves into a generic tale where the protagonist must rise to the cause and banish evil to save the day. It’s fine enough for the most part, but it could have been so much better.

"The story itself touches on sensitive topics like trauma, psychosis, and panic attacks – but it seldom does justice to those topics – and instead, the story devolves into a generic tale where the protagonist must rise to the cause and banish evil to save the day. "

The Chant does some interesting things with its gameplay, and it mixes traditional survival horror elements with action mechanics for a unique experience. Jess has 3 core stats – spirit, body, and mind. The mind governs your sanity, and if that depletes beyond a certain extent – Jess will start to have panic attacks. The spirit meter is used for special attacks, and the body stat is basically your health. You can trade spirit points for mind energy at any time by meditating, and it’s essential to keep tabs on these meters to ensure survival at all times.

You will need to craft weapons by collecting herbs and twines from the environment, which can be used to beat down enemies through a combination of light and heavy attacks. Jess can craft and store different weapons, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, the fire stick will unleash fire damage on opponents while the witch stick will help in gaining spirit energy with every strike. Different species of enemies are weak to different types of weapons, so it becomes essential to mix and match things depending on the situation.

As you progress through the story, you also gain spirit abilities such as the ability to slow down time, repel your opponents through a shock blast, or grow damaging spikes out of the ground. Additionally, you can also lay down traps and use throwables on your enemies to get bonus damage on attacks. Between all this and the ability to dodge attacks and counter mind attacks with the quick press of a button, The Chant has some impressive options when it comes to the gameplay department.

"As you progress through the story, you also gain spirit abilities such as the ability to slow down time, repel your opponents through a shock blast, or grow damaging spikes out of the ground."

But a core issue with the combat is that it feels really clunky, and that’s primarily because of two things. Firstly, the animations are really janky, and that leads to many issues ranging from inaccurate hitboxes to slow movements to even getting stuck between groups of enemies. The second issue is that the enemies don’t really react to your attacks as they soak up tons of damage with little reaction, which can make for boring fights that seem to drag on forever.

The level design itself is decent, and you get to explore different places ranging from forest trails to mines to lighthouses. Each of these places has multiple side-paths that you can explore, which reward you with precious resources and additional notes, the former of which can be used to gain skills and increase stats through a skill tree. These upgrades don’t offer much in the name of gameplay alterations apart from stat boosts, so it could have used some variety in that sense.

The puzzles themselves rarely provide a challenge, and most of these involve fetching different items from multiple rooms and combining them into a key item that’s needed to progress to the next room. The visual presentation is also pretty underwhelming, especially when it comes to character models which lack the detail and expression that’s needed to deliver dialogues that are surprisingly well delivered by the entire cast. The environments themselves lack any sense of dread, and they feel kind of lifeless with less-than-stellar textures and excessive use of dark spaces to unease a player. There is a visible lack of polish when it comes to the presentation, and that really sticks out in a horror game like this one.

"But a core issue with the combat is that it feels really clunky, and that’s primarily because of two things – janky animations and damage sponge enemies."

All in all, it becomes really hard to enjoy The Chant after a while as these issues start to become bigger nuisances in the way of enjoyment. There were times when I was literally wrestling with myself to keep going as the poor visual presentation and clunky gameplay systems kept fiddling with any little enjoyment that I was having during the moments when the game clicked. And that’s a shame because somewhere under the thick veneer of these issues – there lies a game that’s genuinely unique with its mix of horror and action mechanics.

But The Chant tries to do so many things at once, and what happens is that everything gets muddled up in that pursuit – and none of these elements get the love and opportunity to shine as bright as they could. In addition to this, an underdeveloped plot that doesn’t do justice with its heavy themes and otherwise well-written characters alongside an underwhelming visual presentation also contribute to the feeling of the game being a missed opportunity. The Chant is not a bad game by any means, but it could have been so much better had it spent some more time in the oven.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Not only that, but the other survivors also have their sanity affected. It’s up to Jess to protect the survivors and battle back using various weapons, craftable items, and abilities. Some encounters may necessitate running away instead of standing your ground to fight. This is a survival horror game, after all.

The player must also balance their Mind, Body, and Spirit attributes to resist panic and physical damage, along with accessing powerful spiritual abilities. For more gameplay that showcases exploration and combat, head here. You can also learn more about the game in our feature here.

Here are the 15 biggest games to look forward to in November.

The Chant

“Weekend getaway to a spiritual retreat turned to hellish survival against cosmic monstrosities,” isn’t the worst description for Brass Token’s The Chant. After a rift to The Gloom, a dimension of negative energy, opens and various horrors take over a peaceful island, it’s up to Jess to collect weapons like salt and incense, craft items, and harness spiritual energy to fight back. And also run away, because flight is sometimes just better than fighting.

Along with managing her spirit, players must also care for Jess’s physical and mental health – these will influence her survival and abilities throughout the story. Then there are the other survivors, slowly giving in to the negative energy perpetrating the island. Can they be saved? We’ll find out when The Chant launches on November 3rd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

God of War Ragnarok

Over four years since its predecessor debuted, selling millions of copies over a few days, and three years past in-game, the sequel to God of War (2018) is finally upon us. The story sees Odin and Asgard preparing for Ragnarok while Kratos and Atreus avoid the conflict. Of course, it’s not long before they’re involved, battling the likes of Freya, the Valkyrie, the Einherjar, and the mighty Thor himself.

A lot has been said about the experience, with reports extolling its massive size and the development team claiming it’s bigger than they envisioned. Nine realms to explore, new shields and abilities to equip, an expanded combat system, more verticality, larger levels, more enemy variety – the list of improvements goes and goes. On November 9th, the world will finally have a chance to play it on PS4 and PS5.

Sonic Frontiers

If nothing else, you have to admire the guts of Sega releasing Sonic Frontiers just one day before God of War Ragnarok. Nevertheless, those looking for a brand-new 3D platformer to dive into should find promise in Sonic’s latest adventure. After his friends disappear during a hunt for the Chaos Emeralds and he delves into Cyber Space, Sonic finds himself on the Starfall Isles. This archipelago of five different islands is filled with mysterious mechanical beings, and a new enemy named Sage also emerges.

Sonic Frontiers goes for an open-world-esque approach for its exploration, with the different islands presenting various platforming challenges, puzzles, and Guardians to fight. Upon accessing a portal, he can venture into Cyber Space with levels inspired by older titles. Sonic Frontiers launches on November 8th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch, and is undoubtedly the biggest Sonic title yet.

Football Manager 2023

Another year, another promising new Football Manager title from Sports Interactive. Football Manager 2023 marks the series’ return to PlayStation but also features improvements to its scouting, squad planning, AI managers, and more. The UEFA Europa League, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa Conference League are all fully licensed, and new features like Supporter Confidence and Dynamic Manager Timeline promise to bring you closer to the sport than ever.

Football Manager 2023 is out on November 8th for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, and Apple Arcade, along with launching day one on Game Pass.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Bloody Ties

Techland has been updating Dying Light 2 Stay Human regularly since launch, and on November 10th, its first paid DLC Bloody Ties will release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. Aiden enters a tournament to take on various challenging foes in Carnage Hall for fame and rewards. Things aren’t what they seem, though (surprise, surprise), and you’ll soon be investigating the tournament’s true purpose. In addition to a new story, Bloody Ties also provides new gear, a new weapon in the Shield Glove, and arena missions called Spectacles. You can also fight new mutated foes in Arena Challenges to truly test your limits.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Yes, it’s another Pokemon game on the Nintendo Switch for the fourth year in a row. Nevertheless, Pokemon Scarlet and Violent look genuinely interesting. Instead of a regional approach like Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Paldea is a seamless open world. As a student of Naranja or Uva Academy, the player participates in a treasure hunt with the freedom to go just about anywhere. All the tropes of a Pokemon title are here – an enthusiastic rival Nemona; Professors Sada and Turo; and even new Legendary Pokemon like Koraidon and Miraidon that serve as mounts when exploring the region.

In terms of story, players can choose from three different routes – Path of Legends to locate the Herba Mystica while fighting Titan Pokemon; Victory Road to challenge eight Gym Leaders and eventually the Pokemon League Champion; and Starfall Street, where they must battle against Team Star. With several new Pokemon, new moves and items, and Terastallization providing new properties for each Pokemon, Scarlet and Violet could be the best 3D titles in the series yet. They’re out on November 18th for Nintendo Switch.

Evil West

Third-person shooter meets stylish beat ’em up combat in the Weird Wild West with Flying Wild Hog’s Evil West. As Jesse Rentier, players must battle vampires in the American frontier. This is done in several violent ways, from firearms to a gauntlet that can electrocute enemies. Throughout the campaign (which supports co-op), you’ll discover new weapons, unlock new perks and upgrades, and ultimately save the country. Evil West is out on November 22nd for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC.

WRC Generations

Originally slated to launch last month, KT Racing’s WRC Generations was delayed and now launches on November 3rd for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC. Career Mode, multiplayer, Quickplay and other modes return along with Split Screen for local play. Leagues Mode is new and involves players completing different events every week and receiving a ranking.

In addition to new Hybrid Cars, major revamps have been made to the progression and Team Creation while cross-platform play has also been implemented. As the developer’s last game under the license (for now), WRC Generations could see it going out on a high note.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me

A documentary crew is invited to a recreation of serial H.H. Holmes’ infamous “Murder Castle” by a mysterious recluse – what could go wrong? Not every scary situation in The Dark Pictures Anthology is as avoidable as this, but I digress since The Devil in Me is going for something different with its killing rooms. You’ll still have to make decisions that can influence whether the central cast lives or dies.

But this time, there are more movement options like running, climbing, and jumping, an inventory for managing items, puzzles that require tools, and more. This is in addition to online mode and five-player local co-op. As the season finale, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me should end things with a venerable bang when it launches on November 18th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (PC)

Warhammer: Vermintide developer Fatshark’s latest title leans more into the sci-fi Warhammer 40K universe, eschewing hack and slash for more first-person shooting (but still having some hacking and slashing). It’s set in the Hive City of Tertium on Atoma Prime, which has seen an influx of Chaos forces. As a “reject,” one must undertake missions across various maps, working their way up to better weapons and gear while opting for tougher difficulties.

Four classes – Psyker, Zealot, Ogryn, and Veteran – are available, each with different subclasses to specialize in different play styles (like the Skullbreaker Ogryn being more melee-focused). It will sound pretty familiar to Vermintide fans, which isn’t the worst considering how much fun co-op was in that series. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is out on November 30th for PC, with the Xbox Series X/S version launching “shortly after.”

The Entropy Centre

Amid all the action-packed titles releasing this month, it’s nice to have something more laid-back and cerebral. Stubby Games’ The Entropy Centre takes place after an extinction event seemingly wipes out mankind and as perhaps the last one alive, you venture to the heart of the Entropy Centre, which orbits the Earth in a space station, for answers.

The first-person puzzle-solving and time manipulation will look familiar, but Stubby Games puts an interesting spin on this by having you find the solution and then rewind time to solve the puzzle in reverse. The Entropy Centre is out on November 3rd for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC.

Gungrave G.O.R.E.

Announced back in December 2017, Gungrave G.O.R.E. has been a long time coming. It’s out on November 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4, and PC, and launching day one on Game Pass. Set after Gungrave VR, it follows the Gunslinger of Resurrection, who is out for revenge.

Along with third-person shooting, there’s also close-quarters combat and brawling, and various types of enemies like mechs, zombies, and more to take out. Despite the long development cycle, it remains intriguing and worth keeping an eye on.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PC)

If you’ve already played Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered on PC, then Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a no-brainer. Taking place one year later, it sees Miles Morales as Spider-Man, protecting Harlem from the conflict between Roxxon Energy Corporation and the Tinkerer’s Underground. While many of the same environments and gameplay elements remain, Miles has unique abilities like Venom Blast and Camouflage to even the odds.

There are also new gadgets like the Gravity Well, Holo-Drone, and more to further spice up the gameplay. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is out on November 18th for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, and while it’s not as long as the previous game, there’s still a great story, side content, and suits to collect.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn

Tactics Ogre: Reborn is coming to PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC and serves as a remaster of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Even with the upscaled HD visuals and artwork, re-recorded soundtrack and fully-voiced cutscenes, there is so much here to make it feel like a brand-new game.

Random encounters are gone, replaced with Training Battles; skills have been retuned while Finishers now use MP; Buff Cards throughout different battles provide positive and negative effects; new Charms provide different bonuses; and much more. You can even rewind actions within the last ten turns in case of an unfavorable outcome. With its numerous classes and skills, incredible branching story, and various quality-of-life improvements, it may end up a dark horse among some of the bigger releases this year.

Harvestella

The world, governed by four crystals called Seaslight, periodically suffers the effects of the Quietus, which ruins crops and brings death. As the duration of the Quietus increases, you control Ein and must figure out how to stop it.

Along the way, you’ll visit various towns, each with unique crops, materials, and recipes, and interact with many characters (including Aria, who is seemingly from the future), fish, craft and more. Maintaining a farm to fund your mission is one thing – you also need to venture out and fight monsters to make progress with the investigation. Good thing there are 12 different classes, each with unique weapons and abilities to assist in this.

Releasing on November 4th for Nintendo Switch and PC, Harvestella could fill that Rune Factory-sized hole.

Story

The story of The Chant takes place on Glory Island at the Prismic Science Spiritual Retreat. As Jessica Briers, you’re there to relax for the weekend and get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life along with various other characters. “Turn your gloom into glory,” they say. Unfortunately, during a group chanting session, it becomes clear that The Gloom isn’t just a state of dejection, but a “psychedelic dimension” that feeds off of negative energy. It unleashes terrifying creatures and cultists on the cast based on their deepest fears. It’s up to you to unravel the mystery behind The Gloom, find out the retreat’s role in all of this, and ultimately survive various horrors to escape from Glory Island, ideally with your sanity intact.

Cast

Despite not being a big-budget release, The Chant features an extensive range of talent for its main cast. Jessica is played by Siobhan Williams, who some may recognize as the voice of Laura Kearney from Supermassive’s The Quarry. Other actors have extensive experience in television series and movies. Praneet Akilla of Skymed and Nancy Drew fame plays Sonny; Emily Tennant of Dirk Gently fame voices Hannah; Nicole Anthony of Child’s Play fame plays Maya; and Adam Millard voices Tyler. While not the biggest names, there’s still an impressive amount of talent onboard for all the characters.

Presentation

The Chant has been compared in previews to Supermassive’s horror titles in terms of presentation. There are a hefty amount of cutscenes and screen time for each character as you interact with and learn more about them. Of course, the overall tone of horror is also pretty different. Creative director Mike Skupa described it as a mix of 1970s cult horror and New Age spirituality, and it’s clear that there’s some cosmic horror thrown in. Of course, in terms of gameplay, it’s also pretty different from The Dark Pictures Anthology or The Quarry, but Jess’ decisions could still very well influence the fate of everyone else.

Gameplay

At its heart, The Chant is a third-person action-adventure title with a heavy dose of survival horror. You’ll run around the island, exploring different areas and battling against nightmarish creatures. No firearms here – your weapons consist of incense, salt, and whatnot, though some can break with continued usage. Of course, sometimes fleeing is a much better choice than standing your ground, especially if you need to save resources for tough encounters. Another core gameplay mechanic is dealing with the other survivors as they slowly go mad. It’s not confirmed whether the other characters can die based on your actions, but expect to become embroiled in a fair bit of interpersonal drama.

Interconnected Areas

Glory Island is a big location, and as more areas open up, it’s possible to locate shortcuts and backtrack as necessary. The interconnected nature of the retreat isn’t too surprising, but it should allow for exploring previous locations and finding any missed items or resources. In terms of the different areas, besides the site of the ritual that brought about this entire mess, there are mines and extensive forests to explore along with infected zones. How players go about navigating and clearing these zones remains to be seen.

Crafting and Resource Collection

Interestingly, crafting and resource collection play a part in the gameplay loop, though it’s not explained in detail yet. Crafting herbs is confirmed at the very least, so perhaps it’s like the Resident Evil games where you combine different items for different purposes. Again, time will tell how this feeds into the survival mechanics, but it does seem like resources are limited, and you’ll need to be careful in managing them.

Mind, Body and Spirit

Throughout your journey at the retreat, three meters must be managed at all times – Mind, Body, and Spirit. Mind represents the state of Jess’ mental well-being; Body indicates her overall physical health; and Spirit conveys her spiritual state. While Mind will help keep Jess from losing sanity due to the horrors on display, Body provides damage resistance. Of course, keeping your Spirit high also grants access to supernatural skills, which can turn the tide in battle. Balancing all three of these is important, though you can perform actions like meditation to deplete your Spirit and restore your Mind meter in the process.

Potentially Different Endings

Overall playtime for The Chant is yet to be confirmed, but the story comprises a prologue and seven different chapters. There also seems to be some replay value in terms of the ending that you can achieve. During the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2022, creative director Mike Skupa discussed how balancing the Mind, Body and Spirit stats could affect the ending one receives. This may not necessarily mean multiple endings, but rather minor adjustments to the main ending, based on one’s decisions.

System Requirements

The Chant can be somewhat demanding on PC, depending on the settings. At the very minimum, you’ll need an Intel Core i3-9100F 3.60GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 4300G, 8 GB of RAM, and either a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or Radeon RX 580. Nothing too crazy. However, the recommended settings require a Core i7-9700K at 3.60GHz or an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB of RAM, and a GeForce RTX 2060 Super or AMD Radeon RX 5700 with 8 GB VRAM. In both cases, a solid-state drive is required, along with 35 GB of installation space.

Pre-order Bonuses

As with many other titles, you can get some in-game bonuses by pre-ordering. These include the Spiritual Retreat outfit and the 70ies VFX Filter Mode. Both feed into the whole 1970s vibe the story is going for, with the filter adding that extra bit of cinematic flair.

Tje 4-minute-long trailer shows off The Chant‘s gameplay, including the various interconnected zones on the game’s island setting, and how it affects exploration. The trailer also gives us a look at some of its puzzles, the upgrade system, and how choices determine the outcome of the story.

There is also a good variety of weapons to choose from, but the player will also have to make use of traps and environmental objects in combat. Since resources are limited, players will also have to retreat from battles.

The Chant is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on November 3. It was originally announced back in 2021. For more details, check out the gameplay trailer from August.

ANGER FOOT

There might be plenty of first person shooters coming out in the near future, but we doubt many of them will be as gleefully weird as Free Lives and Devolver Digital’s Anger Foot. There’s a lot of fast-paced running and gunning here, of course, and that’s looking suitably exciting, but Anger Foot’s USP is the fact that kicking enemies is just as central to the gameplay. Combining your movement, fast-paced shooting, and kicking action might come together very well in what’s looking like a very intriguing game.

The Chant is set on a remote horror island retreat where a ritual gone wrong results in interdimensional monstrosities pouring through. Its brief new developer presentation showcases multiple glimpses of combat, while also touching upon things such as upgrades, crafting, resource collection and management, and more. Interestingly, it looks like The Chant will also feature multiple endings. Get more details in the video below.

The Chant launches on November 3 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The Chant’s story revolves around protagonist Jess, who visits a remote island retreat, only to find herself trapped with a murderous cult and all manner of eldritch monstrosities pouring through. In this new behind-the-scenes video, various members of the cast talk about the characters they’re portraying and what role they will play in The Chant’s story as some of its primary players. Check out the full video below.

The Chant is due out on November 3 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more coverage on the game.

Prime Matter and Brass Token have released a new trailer for The Chant that confirms at the end that the game will release in November. Meanwhile, the trailer also offers several glimpses of the game itself, showcasing more of its story – which sees you trapped on an island run by a cult, while having to deal with cosmic, interdimensional demons. It’s looking quite interesting, to say the least. Check out the trailer below.

The Chant will launch on November 3 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.