Chained Echoes

Great game. Surprised me how good it was. Enjoyed a lot of the mechanics in the main game, grinding was occasionally necessary, but never felt like a chore the way it does in many RPGs. Story was enjoyable. Ending was a bit like "wait, no wait, what about..." and that's where the DLC comes in, so it doesn't feel incomplete

old school rpg fun but easy more noob friendly not very confusing

good game !

got mixed feelings with this one... In conclusion I would say that if not for the fact that this is mostly a solo dev project and the fact this game is fairly priced I might even consider a negative (most likely would just ignore and not review at all...) disclaimer - mostly played offline on Steam deck so the 17h is a lie So the positives: - A LOT of work and love is done here, as mentioned before my understanding is that this is mostly one dev doing the game (with some help on music pieces and arts) and this is clearly a dev that loved the old school final fantasy feeling. Considering the amount of content, the world built here, the systems, story etc... wow, seriously nothing to sneeze at... - great music, again not hard to find where the inspiration is coming from, but it just works and fits the areas, combat, boss battles. Good stuff - Story for the most part is fine, I actually enjoyed the ending twist, less so the ones throughout the game (felt cheesy at times) Some mild critique: - worldbuilding aspect is lacking, yes I understand it's hard to build a compelling new IP that invests You from the start but I got the impression there is too much going on with not enough focus...at the beginning there is a lot of lore dumps, names thrown around - is that a nation? is that a city? are they good/bad? should I care? Also no intro so You basically ride the wave of names that You try to remember as You play out the first steps of the game. - a good, small example of how the game is trying to play proper beats with no focus - [lite spoilers] - side quest, big bad boss ahead - even gets a small cutscene which feels epic, You get INSIDE the big bad boss...wow...this is good, and then while inside You meet some npcs, fade to black, You get a text prompt - You won and killed big bad... like wtf, that's it? :D - sometimes the game feels it needs to do a list of checkboxes rather than build a world for which You care, protagonist is more than it seems [check], nations fighting for power [check], church is corrupt but kind of good sometimes [check], friend betrayal [check], big bad is not so big bad and has a redemption just before dying [check], gods are fickle mofos [check]. None of the above are bad ideas, I just got an impression it sometimes tries to do too much and I effectively loose interest :) - combat is NOT fun, this is probably the biggest issue I found, game has 2 gimmicks (overdrive and the Sky armors) and none landed with me... Overdrive - especially at the beginning when You don't have too many characters to choose from, and not many skills to build Your chars is just plain annoying... making a move You don't want to make just for the sake of not going into 'overheat' is not fun. The fact alone that there are items in the game that sole purpose is to reduce overdrive for a specific skill type screams - artificial solution for a design that is bad in the 1st place, yes later in the game when You have more options this issue goes away, but before You get to that stage You suffer... Sky armors - should feel epic and refreshing adding additional system/layer to combat, for me felt cumbersome, some monsters You should just fight in SA, some You shouldn't (but sometimes still can making fights trivial), new skills, new equipment, overdrive slightly changed (still feels crap) - combat RNG is bulls*it, big packs with mobs that can aoe will just wipe You in 2 hits, while crowd control is almost non existent so You can't really strategize anything (just come back later or ignore that pack)...did I say combat is not fun :D again the devs seem to acknowledge that since there is zero penalty for running away and a lost fight can just be restarted instantly (again similar like with the overdrive items, feels like a solution for a bad design). To summarize, it's not a bad game, a cheap 6.5 jrpg with a lot of love put into it that certainly can give hours of enjoyment, and although impressive that mostly done by a solo dev it sometimes feels it needed additional people to polish (4 eye-check?) some of the aspects. I hope for more games in this world/IP - it has potential for sure

Cool story and fun game for JRPG fans. Runs well on cheap laptop.

非常好玩

A GREAT game for the Steam Deck. I had a lot of fun picking this up whenever and wherever I was. It's a very well optimized game that'll sip on your battery while playing. No bugs or issues during my playthrough either, so it well earns the "Verified" badge IMHO. Chained Echoes from a gameplay perspective is fun, rewarding, and expansive in both story and world building. It definitely wears classic JRPG mechanics on it's sleaves, with some unique twists to boot as well with aspects like the Overdrive, Sky Armors, and other things providing unique dynamics to combat. The story in this game is also expansive and quite engaging. I will say though that at times, it can be very complex and sometimes downright odd in terms of pacing. Still, I enjoyed it as someone who came from FF Tactics as a kid back in the PS1 days. I was fully engaged trying to remember places and people like back then lol. Oh and I CAN'T forget about the pixel art for this game. For such an expansive semi-open-world game, it gushes with quality pixel art everywhere. There are plenty of places, enemies, skills, cutscenes, and so on in the world that exude straight up art you could put up as screen wallpaper. Great first game for Umami Tiger, and a great example of Kickstarter bringing a vision to production.

Chained Echoes is one of the greatest indie JRPGs of all time. Almost everything this game sets out to do has been accomplished with such finesse to create an experience where all aspects feel meticulously designed in service of creating a fantastic experience. The combat system feels well paced and fluid without sacrificing any of its strategic aspects, and every character has their place with the larger than usual party size available to use in combat. All the while abilities feel impactful and well animated, from your basic attacks to the flashy ultimate abilities. My favorite aspects of Chained Echoes though, is its worldbuilding and presentation. The game does a wonderful job of creating a world that feels vast, storied and lived in. It accomplishes all of this without dragging down the pacing with extraneous details either, allowing a kinetic pace for its storytelling without sacrificing the intrigue surrounding it all. All of this is complimented by its beautifully detailed 2D art reminiscent of games like Chrono Trigger, and a soundtrack that's a treat for the ears. If I had any complaints, it would probably be how much of the character's dialogue is written. While the characters themselves are all likeable while having significant emotional depth that has clear impacts on their actions, some lines can feel clunky and occasionally bring down certain character scenes. Nonetheless, this has less impact on the story than it sounds, which remains very engaging and well put together despite this flaw. Overall, Chained Echoes is absolutely worth the asking price with how it nails nearly every aspect of what makes a good JRPG. This game deserves all the love it gets, and then some.

Игра начиналась как отличный оммаж к классике жанра, но своей длительностью и унылостью всё хорошее впечатление от старта стёрлось. Последние десятки часов просто приходилось домучивать, чтобы не оставлять незакрытый гештальт. Ещё очень расстроил саундтрек - большинство композиций невероятно слабые и быстро надоедают

This game rocks. I just hope and pray that we get a sequel. The story is clearly going somewhere, and I want to see it resolved.