ECHORIA: Ancient Echoes

I did a stream for this game, here are my thoughts with my current hours of playtime (8.5 hrs). The game is layed out fairly well, the graphics hold up to the SNES/PS1 standards, and overall the playability is good. The soundtrack is catchy, and at some points appropriately cheesy (based on cutscenes). The story feels a touch rushed at the start, but seems to pace itself better as time goes along. The dev did a good job with equipment, not providing too much too quickly but giving you options to choose from. The skill/spell system reminded me of a combo of Legend of Dragoon additions and Super Mario RPG timed attacks. Some of the puzzles can be a little weird to figure out, but there's enough clues that are eventually given to you to help out. Also, it is pretty easy to fullscreen and use VSynch to stabilize the game (which if you don't VSynch it, it can act a bit weird and lag uncontrollably). Automatic dash is a bonus. A couple of drawbacks: the way battles work, with the constant zoom-in, zoom-out could give certain people motion sickness or other issues with the constant screen shaking in battles. There are cutscenes where this happens as well, but it isn't quite so jarring. While there is controller support, there's not a way to map it so it takes a little figuring out which button to press, especially when doing the combo attacks. The lack of keymapping makes using the keyboard slightly awkward at times. Also the text formatting in places is really off and text overlaps and looks ugly (you can see it on the intro screens when you start a new game) -- I think this has to do with there being a font change during development and the new font wasn't respaced appropriately. As far as value goes... I compare it to other indie-RPG games I've streamed in the past and feel that at $9.99 it is on the high end of those titles. That being said, it is not unreasonable as there has been enough content so far (for me) that I think when one is done with a playthrough they will feel satisfied they got bang for their buck. I recommend it, because it does feel like a good game and the few off things are outweighed by what the game brings to the table. My playthrough of the first couple of hours is available on Youtube as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH844588Iw0

This is a very enjoyable RPG with great graphics, interesting characters, a fun battle system, and a very intriguing story. I also appreciate the ability to modify battle difficulty through the options menu and many quality of life touches such as some tip pop ups on maps. Also the custom sprite animations and the thoughtful music adds so much to the immersion. The camera work also in maps and battles is easy on the eye and adds so much life to the world. I am having a lot of fun playing this game!

The strengh of this game is gameplay and combat, which many other rpgs and games are lacking. Pick this game if you like theorycrafting: creating character and party builds. There are many gear-items in the game, and almost all are interesting. It reminds me a bit of Golden Sun. good: + challenging difficulty possible + stealing gear-items from bosses + secret gear-items + combat mechanic + funny characters + original story elements bad: - linear world - too few puzzles - standard overall story - bugs

Decent game.