When it comes to role-playing games (RPGs), my experience has been hit or miss. I’ve played some great ones, I’ve played some really bad games, and I’ve played others that I’ve forgotten. Chasm is definitely closer to the great side of RPGs, particularly because it is a side-scrolling action platformer, one of my favorite game genres.
You are an Outpost recruit on your way to a Guildean Knight. As you prove your worth, you must figure out why townspeople have started to disappear. Throughout your journey, you will find challenging platform elements, increasingly difficult monsters to fight, new equipment that will help you, and a few friends and allies.
The biggest downfall of Chasm is that I was never drawn into the story as much as I had hoped. When you save someone, they talk for quite a while, and I often found myself not really caring. There was also a good deal of humor in the dialogue, though, which made it nice when you finally meet another human during your adventure. Often, I found I was just progressing, because I wanted to beat the game, but not because I really cared about the storyline.
One of the cool aspects of the game is that it gives every player a different experience. While the overall story is the same, each of the six areas are procedurally generated. You can also customize your character with armor, weapons, and spells, in order to create your ideal knight. As you progress, you will also find many areas you need to revisit later, in a metroidvania style.
The graphics are reminiscent of the N64, or even SNES, days but have a modern polish that gives Chasm a special charm when playing it. The same goes for the music and sound effects. In fact, I would listen to the sound track on its own. It’s that good, which makes the first 30 minutes or so more bearable, as it does take a bit to get through the initial wandering around to figure out what is happening.
After getting past the first 30 minutes or so, I really enjoyed my time with Chasm. It allowed me to customize my character and level up, but it wasn’t too overwhelming. The game also has great platforming aspects and boss battles that pull you into the journey but never frustrate. The controls were also easy to learn, which meant I was not struggling to do even basic things; although, I do wish I could swing my sword faster. The biggest negative is that the story did not really draw me in as I had hoped.
If you’re a big action-platforming RPG fan, I highly recommend checking out Chasm on Nintendo Switch. If not, you may want to pass on this one.
I streamed my first play-through of the game on November 3, which is embedded below.
GAME: Chasm
PUBLISHER: Leadman Games
ESRB: T for Teen
MSRP: $19.99
OBTAINED: Review code provided by developers/publishers
Steve is the Senior Editor of NintendoFuse and co-host of the NintendoFuse Podcast. He’s been a Nintendo gamer since age 6 and has been on staff with NintendoFuse since 2008.