Chained Echoes – Review
Since SNES throwback games have become so prevalent, the novelty of them has gradually worn off to the point where newer ventures embracing the idea have been disregarded. Chained Echoes, a game created by Matthias Linda and published by Deck13, is one such example of a title that captures this idea. Although this 16-bit style RPG wears its influences on its sleeve, it nevertheless manages to be among the best products the genre has seen in recent years.
The setting of Chained Echoes is the continent of Valandis, a country with a 3,000-year history steeped in magical study. Sadly, for nearly 156 years, the three kingdoms of the continent—Taryn, Escanya, and Garvos—fought one another for supremacy.
Though the nations signed a peace pact out of fear after a devastating explosion in the east that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people because no one claimed blame for the disaster. One year after the truce was signed, in 807, a number of people from very different backgrounds eventually come together to prevent a possible restart of the war due to a conspiracy.
Players will switch between the perspectives of the main characters early on in the game, learning about their motivations, backgrounds, and personality qualities before their eventual and dramatic reunion. Every member of the group receives much attention, from the Taryn princess Lenne and her devoted bodyguard Robb to the thief and con artist Sienna. This is greatly aided by the expert and painstaking worldbuilding.
In fact, the first aspect of the experience that the majority of players will probably notice is how quickly the lore is presented in this game. Key personalities within specific locations and organisations are described with historical events and the world’s various races. But this book is most definitely not for you if that writing style isn’t your thing.
Because the worldbuilding is perhaps more complex than the characters, which are given significant attention and room to grow, and because doing so helps better convey the cast’s locations within the continent as well as the gravity of their beliefs and actions. Despite this, Chained Echoes is in no way tedious despite its complex plot. Actually, the dialogue in this game really shines, with a hilarious sense of comedy based on subverting tropes and direct statements.
There is also some crude language used, but not only for show. Depending on the sort of figure available, it is firmly embedded in settings where their usages make sense. Furthermore, this language supports the meticulous portrayal of realism around the globe. There is no unnecessary shock value intended to cause quick reflexes because a well-honed equilibrium is reached.
With regard to the party members particularly, each can be considered a protagonist, but some are more fully developed than others. Glenn, however, stands out as the most important because of his persistent presence and the apparent greater attention paid to his situation compared to the others. For some reason, Glenn periodically hears a voice that is unknown to him occasionally warn him of impending problems he should avoid, suggesting that whoever or whatever it is knows more about the world and Glenn’s surrounds than the man himself.
My favourite character is Sienna because, although having less developed interactions and characteristics than a few other characters, she offers a fundamentally different perspective from the rest of the cast. She only contributes rich, enjoyable drama.
Though apparently first intrusive, Chained Echoes successfully implements a succession of adaptable yet approachable features in its gameplay. You see, unlike other RPGs, characters don’t typically level up here. Instead, after taking down bosses and finishing notable missions, everyone is given materials called Grimoire Shards that can be utilised in the main menu to learn different kinds of talents. Additionally, the talents are separated under the three broadly defined categories of Action, Passive, and Stats. The Action talents are typically the ones I advise putting first because they can be quite helpful in addressing particular occurrences.
The Passive and Stat variations, on the other hand, are beneficial in the long run, thus it is recommended to pursue them after mastering all of the Action abilities that are offered. Until a required number is reached, some skills are locked. Additionally, in specific forging places, equipment, most notably weapons and armour, can be upgraded with materials for improved stats.
Additionally, gems that can be combined to create stronger iterations and then inserted into equipment to provide benefits, such as increasing a damage output umbrella, are imparted by crystals that are located all throughout the planet. Since these materials rarely require substantial grinding, with the exception of later items, it is possible to feel progress without being solely focused on the characters’ actions.
However, I suppose strictly speaking Skill Points are another shared resource that needs to be worked for. These are obtained by winning battles and are used to enhance previously gained skills in any of the three general varieties listed before. It is feasible to grind for SP because typical mob fights frequently respawn, but the game’s architecture doesn’t really encourage that.
While the quantity of Skill Points required to upgrade a skill diminishes the longer it has been active or utilised, you’d need to exercise an unreasonable amount of patience for any noticeable gains. The amount of SP obtained from grinding battles is typically modest. Theoretically, you could repeatedly use fighting talents to master them, but it is not necessary. Overall, Chained Echoes tells its users to keep naturally growing at a steady pace without saying so overtly.
Not because it saves time, but because I actually appreciate this development decision. It’s because each enemy encounter challenges players at levels that need mastery of the several current mechanics thanks to this condensed character progression that works in combination with the combat design. To explain, your typical RPG isn’t typically balanced to make every player’s preferred playstyle possible for beating the game, especially those with a wide range of possibilities like a Job system.
To put it clearly, Chained Echoes is the total opposite. Every character has obvious specialties that make their responsibilities crystal clear, despite the choices and customisation linked to skill development and equipment. Class Emblems, special equippable goods that significantly improve stats, and spectacular talents that can equip the appropriate characters with amplified or dual responsibilities based on player option are the choices with the longest-lasting gameplay ripple effects.
Thankfully, these Class Emblem abilities are not just attached to the actual artefacts because characters can eventually become proficient in them and use them without the Emblem. Even yet, the best implementation of player choice can be seen as extra side roads on a straight path, heightening the intended challenge rather than tying a player to a path that permanently modifies battle pathways.
Speaking of the challenge, it’s odd that everyone’s health and magic are automatically fully restored after every battle, suggesting that players should give it their all as often as they can. This also enables a wide variety of continuous offensive strategies that can be used more frequently than in other RPGs where resource management during the transition between battles is a constant consideration. Standard mob encounters are therefore always thoughtful because they are all created with those replenishments in mind. In the end, these elements help to further personalise Chained Echoes’ identity.
Let’s finally get to the actual workings of the fighting system. The basic features of the genre are present, including turn-based combat, but there are a few noteworthy differences. The Overdrive bar, which is separated into three distinct yellow, green, and red parts, comes first and is arguably the most important. The arrow on the Overdrive UI slowly travels to the right when the playable cast engages in combat. To stay in the green during each combat is the key objective because doing so improves stats while doing so reduces abilities.
It’s an easy-to-parse structure that inhibits repetitive spamming of the same skills and creates space for defensive actions. Additionally, some skills will sporadically be highlighted in yellow; employing them will result in a decline in your Overdrive bar position. However, they aren’t always contextually appropriate, thus employing them carelessly while in the red can be detrimental rather than helpful. In the mix are status afflictions and elemental affinities, which are frequently highly influential deciding factors.
The plethora of systems there could be frightening, but their simplicity makes up for that, creating a wonderfully integrated battle system. Add buffs and debuffs to the mix. My only major complaint about the combat is how obtrusive the tutorial pages are in the first few hours, which are thrown in your face without being neatly woven into encounters. This would have made the mechanics simpler to understand, but overall, it’s a small flaw that shouldn’t have any negative effects on the gameplay. There is, however, one criticism I have of this topic that I’ll address later.
When it comes to presentation, Chained Echoes is breathtakingly beautiful. Thanks to the gorgeous surroundings, the pixel-art style is naturally nostalgic but also current and captivating, with the dark and foreboding sections being grotesquely alluring. Similar in quality, the character models serve as the pillars of this soiled, war-torn globe.
Although fantastic, I didn’t think the character portraits blended well with the surroundings. You’ll get acclimated to their designs, but I didn’t find them to be as compelling as the game as a whole. Glenn’s image in particular jumped out as being startlingly different from how his pixel painting portrays him, although that’s not really a problem.
Sadly, Chained Echoes lacks a library or resource option in the stop screen that might house tutorials or in-game lore. Although the former isn’t strictly required for understanding some features, the game typically includes wordy tutorials that some players may skip in the beginning.
Furthermore, the absence of combined lore text is perhaps my biggest complaint about this game because there are a lot of intricately addressed topics that merit repeat readings after initial discoveries. The only way to get around this problem, in my opinion, is to screenshot every original worldbuilding element and instructional text, but that shouldn’t be necessary.
Additionally, sidequests are used and function as you would anticipate. However, there was a system that, at least visually, reminded me of the licencing boards in Final Fantasy XII. It was a menu that was easily accessible via the usual UI and contained an achievement system. Rewards are given for completing the tasks listed here, and additional rewards are given if lengthy lines of the achievement tiles shown are completed.
These inadvertent advantages create a progressive picture of development that openly shows the player’s overall advancement while simultaneously providing useful tools. Thankfully, rapid transit prevents the annoyance that would have resulted from doing some of these activities.
Except for one comparatively minor incident, my experience was free of bugs and the like. After a screen change, I found myself partially trapped inside a wall in the game’s opening section. However, I was able to escape this strange situation by walking for around 30 seconds, proving that it wasn’t a softlock or something like. Since this is the only bug I encountered, I can easily imagine a patch being released to fix the issue, thus you shouldn’t be concerned about this particular area of disagreement.
The soundtrack of this game is one more aspect that deserves mention. It is incredibly well-composed. Aside from the serene town and field themes, various battle tracks make your heart race. In overall, the sound design is exquisite; audiophiles will undoubtedly be satisfied. To avoid a protracted ramble, I’ll conclude by saying that there are still other aspects of the game I haven’t covered, such the straightforward but entertaining mech combat. These are worth anticipating.
Aside from a few small issues, Chained Echoes is a tremendously ambitious and outstanding turn-based RPG that succeeds on all counts. This is an absolute must-play for any fan of the genre and one that I honestly hope no one misses because of its fantastic and consistently thought-provoking battle system with well-implemented challenge, strong written cast, and worldbuilding of the highest calibre.
