Chained Echoes

Todo bien con el juego. Lo importante es conocer y asimilar las mecánicas

> Chained to (uneven) mediocrity ## Why - Overdrive adds enough to keep combat engaging - No grinding required - The bones of an interesting plot - Some cool enemy designs, and GIANT MECHS ## Why Not - Dialogue ruins the plot with its unbearable clunkiness - Little opportunity for build customisation - Nothing about it wowed me ## Impressions Chained Echoes made a strong first impression and was never really bad (other than the dialogue), but also failed to live up to the game it probably could have been. Its opening has you jumping between the characters who'll make up your party for the remainder of their game, handily establishing their backstories and personalities by having you experience them firsthand. It's a useful approach both narratively and in terms of gameplay, ensuring you'll use them at least once before potentially resigning them to the bench in favour of newer, shinier toys. Even if you go that route you'll always be able to bring them back onto the front-lines whenever it strikes your fancy; experience is global so even if you bench someone the whole game or only find them before the final mission you can still spec them up to your liking and throw them at the final boss. Unfortunately the rest of the game fails to live up to its narratively impressive opening; despite the plot trying its best to be interesting the dialogue is so unbearably unnatural I found myself outright skipping large chunks. I'd definitely believe it's better in the developer's native German but the English localization reminds me of badly written fanfic. The overall plot is pretty solid for a JRPG though, and the character archetypes for interesting party dynamics are there even if they aren't necessarily used. The dialogue clearly wasn't enough to kill the game for me since I finished it; but it was a constant dampener on the experience and a big reason I skipped most side quests/have no interest in the DLC. Moving on to more positive aspects, the combat is definitely solid. You get an overdrive bar which needs to be kept in its green middle section for a variety of useful benefits and out of its red endzone in fear of increased damage taken. Most actions advance your position on the bar, with only randomly selected categories of action decrementing it. This sounds like a recipe for frustration and it certainly can be at times; though the game won't select a category you lack access to it'll frequently decide on annoyingly sub-optimal ones. Mech combat uses a slightly modified version of the system but the core conceit is the same. Your Overdrive can be managed by thoughtful selection of movesets and timing of certain actions, but it kinda goes against the rest of the game's streamlined approach to combat and build-crafting. Grinding won't get you much in this game; only the ability to strengthen skills you already possess. Actual progression comes through Grimoire Shards from defeating predefined story or side quest bosses, which then give you the option of unlocking various active/passive skills and buffs to character's base stats. You can also buy improved weapons with gold, but unless you do this every time you see a new one you won't struggle for money. I didn't need to grind until the final boss gauntlet at which point I simply used some of the accessibility options to make things easier as I was ready for the game to end. And that's kinda my overall impression of the game; I had a good time playing it but didn't feel anything other than relief at it ending. I'll give it a positive review because I definitely don't think it deserves a negative one, but a "thumbs sideways" would be the most accurate rating.

J'envoi une bouteille à la mer. Je me considère comme fan de rpg et notamment de jrpg à l'ancienne. Parmi tous le catalogue vidéoludique présent (j'en ai surement manqué je ne peux pas tout faire ;) )je n'ai jamais autant retrouvé les sensations de jeu que j'avais étant enfant en jouant a mes jrpg préférés !! Voilà c'est dit, bravo les développeurs !!!!!

A tous les fans de JRPG au tour par tour, ce jeu devrait être un incontournable. Créé par un amoureux des JRPG "à l'ancienne", Chained Echoes en reprend tous les codes mais en ne gardant que le meilleur. L'histoire est excellente et pleine de rebondissements, et ce jusqu'à la toute fin. Niveau difficulté, même le niveau "standard" offre un bon challenge. Il existe un niveau plus facile et un autre plus difficile.

It is the best! I am playing it for a second time. the reward board keeps progression constantly fun, battles don't drag and the story is fantasic! I love it. So excited to start the DLC after.

作为单人制作的JRPG，世界观够复杂，人物塑造也够生动且能写出完整且具一致性的角色弧光。因为角色数量很多，难以面面俱到，个别角色的处理显得仓促、生硬或者干脆烂尾。文本写作水平属水准以上，但作者显然不很懂得如何塑造女性角色，尤其Lenne这个角色越写越苍白，没有活人味。游戏内容太多，单人制作捉襟见肘，致使后期质量下滑明显。第三章尤其是教堂部分能看出叙事已经有些兜不住，好在结局还是勉强收回来了；前半部分玩法还很丰富，矿车战、推地雷、爬雪山以及核爆遗迹区都颇具想象力，但是这种丰富想象止步于第三章，此后战斗重复，装备升级节奏明显加快且带来的惊喜越来越少，就连技能都是前中期的比后期的好用。如果制作者懂得节制，将游戏的内容设法缩减到目前的三分之二，体验也许会好很多。