The Echo Paradox

[h2] PLEASE NOTE: This game appears to have become abandonware. [/h2] [h1] An Interesting Journey through Dimensions [/h1] I picked this up during the sale because it seemed like a different take on the horror genre. Off the bat, let me tell you that this game doesn't go at you with the cheap jump scares that has become the expectation within horror, both in game and film. Instead, it capitalizes off its atmospheric horror and it ends up filling you with this sense of dread, uncertainty, and suspense. The story itself is reminiscent to The Backrooms and the lore behind it. It actually has a Backrooms hidden level included, which adds to the mysterious lore. As you continue to play through the story, the levels become more unique and the story begins to unravel itself. All-in-all, it's a pretty neat story that can be completed in an hour or so of gameplay. Some of the things I liked about the game was the merged horror environments, no overdone jumpscares, and the simplified gameplay and controls. Some of the things I didn't like was its broken save system, lack of real dangers, no real replayability, and that it's become abandonware. Let me explain. [hr][/hr] [h2] What I Liked [/h2] [h3] Merged Horror Environments [/h3] What I think is unique is that the game merges different horror elements into one compact game. In these different "dimensions", you come across extraterrestrials and UFOs on a farm, a bloodthirsty skinwalker in a snowy forest, a witch cult inside a wooden stronghold, and Krampus inside a suburban home on Christmas Eve. That's not to mention the shadowy figures that stalk the facility and Backrooms. I liked the way the game merged these together in a way that made sense and didn't feel overdone. [h3] No Overdone Jumpscares [/h3] There were a few moments where I felt it was supposed to be a "jumpscare", but it didn't come off the way one would expect. Its use of the atmospheric horror is very well utilized. You can run through the game and not worry too much about getting scared out of nowhere - but it fills you with such a sense of dread and uneasiness that you hesitate about moving about the different levels and you're left unsure about turning a corner or entering a room. It's unfortunately undone once you play through the level, but it's nevertheless such an impressive first impression. [h3] Simplified Gameplay and Controls [/h3] You interact, run, and hold up a flashlight. That's it. There's no stamina to worry about, health to keep an eye on, or anything of the sort - and I think it's appropriate to the type of game you're playing. I think the most difficult part of the gameplay was manipulating the Labyrinth board to move a ball through the maze without falling into the holes. Other than that, it's nice to play a game whose controls aren't so convoluted for how simplistic the rest of the game is. [hr][/hr] [h2] What I Didn't Like [/h2] [h3] Broken Save System [/h3] There is a save and load feature to this game, but what I noticed upon using it is that upon loading a game, there will be one or two features broken. For example, I loaded a game I saved right before the first night's sleep after the UFO level, but I wasn't able to interact with the bed to go to sleep. It gave me the option to sleep, but nothing ever happened. I had to reload an earlier autosave to keep moving through. Another example was that I loaded two separate saves when I had a few artifacts in my inventory, but upon loading the save, they were all gone and I had to go through and get them again - despite already having gotten them before I loaded the save. This happened on both the UFO and snowy forest maps. It's a little annoying, but just don't save before you start collecting the artifacts I guess. [h3] Lack of Real Dangers [/h3] The only time (that I personally witnessed) where you could die was when you come across the Skinwalker, both during acquiring one of the artifacts and again when you've acquired them all and placed them on the pedestals. Even in the Backrooms hidden level, the shadowy figures that follow you didn't do anything to me once they caught up. They just stood there. There's a brief jumpscare if you approach one of the extraterrestrials in the UFO level, but it's just the image of a scary monster that dashes across your screen. I think increasing the stakes when coming across these beings would make more sense instead of relegating them to props within the environment that look scary. [h3] No Real Replayability [/h3] Unfortunately, you really only have to play the game once to appreciate it - but beyond that, there's no real reason to keep playing it unless you want to explore more of the lore, the game's assets, or speed running it. I think of other horror games that can be replayed multiple times over - and this one doesn't meet what I would consider replayable once you've gone through it. I mean, once you realize most of the monsters are part of the environment (no real dangers), you can sort of just glide through the game without a consideration for dying. There's something lost there as a result. [h3] Orphaned [/h3] There hasn't been an update to this game since July of 2025 and efforts to reach out to the dev have been in vain. It's a shame because I think this game has some real potential and I also understand that life happens and projects can't be continued, but at the very least inform the community about it. This was a really small venture with 17 active players at its peak in July and around 2000 players who purchased the game. Regrettably, it's hit rock bottom and I fear that Virtuzilla's been discouraged to work on the project further. [hr][/hr] [h2] Loved the UFO level the most - Good Game, I Liked It [/h2] All-in-all, The Echo Paradox (for the value on-sale and at retail) is worth the playthrough for your casual horror gamer. I double-checked the release date and realized it's only a week old so far! Which is a good thing! That means there's so much room to grow in terms of improvement and honestly, I'm excited to see in what new direction this game takes. Maybe there's new dimensions that can be explored, more stories that can be unraveled, and I think with a few tweaks to (at the very least) the interactions with the different entities - this can be one of the most unique gaming experiences on Steam.

A good way to spend an afternoon

Espectacular, los distintos escenarios del juego me han parecido increíbles. Muy recomendable

没字幕看不懂呀

4070ti + 5800х3d = 43 fps

10/10 game. Had goth girl

Good Game! Great use of sounds and atmosphere! Seemed cheesy at first but got a lot better pretty quick. The graphics are good. The story has a few good twists and turns. A fair amount to explore. Kept me REALLY wondering what was around the nest corner. Could stand to be a bit longer and have more interactivity with some of the worlds. I normally could care less about achievements but I have 2 more to go and I plan to achieve them. This would have been so amazing in VR. I mean off the charts. Game ran fantastic.

A nice indie horror that took me 2,5 hours to finish. While the game itself is quite good, you should be aware of a couple of bugs I came accross - like when you save the game and have so far placed some of the artifacts on pedestals, it is possible that some of them will go invisible (which is not game breaking, but can disorient you). There are also a couple of weird things - like the red access card at the very end which doesn't seem to be usable for anything and I seem to have found one key which is never used (if you know how to explain these, please leave a comment). Also in Settings you can set key binding for firing and reloading gun, but there is no gun in the game... Overall it's a good one session indie horror which I recommend to get on sale. Just expect you may run into a bug or two, but hopefully nothing that would make the game unplayable.

Eles capricharam bastante no primeiro capitulo, achei muito bom mesmo, tenso e bem feito, o resto eu achei bem mais ou menos. vou deixar positivo só pelo primeiro capitulo que foi fantástico para mim. Mas os demais é bem fraco e nem da medo. mas no final de tudo, ainda vale jogar!

I just finished it fully with in my stream Just a moment ago an I absolutely love this game, amazing work!