Chained Echoes

Chained Echoes took me two attempts. I don't remember why I abandoned my first run halfway through, but I started over a year later and just saw the ending. The story is complex with many twists - some surprising, others predictable, and here and there it felt a bit far-fetched. Overall, though, it’s strong. The combat system is okay, although I would have preferred fighting with eight people at once instead of actively swapping characters, something you rarely needed to do in the game anyway. If you have four extra characters with you, why not have a battle with everyone? The switch between the Sky Armors and ground combat was executed well. There are some systems that should have been fleshed out more, such as the Reward Board. It’s a good idea in theory, but considering the difficulty level, it wasn't necessary to bother with it at all. I think I was able to buy or build other airships by the end, but I didn't see the point. The base had so much potential regarding choices and consequences, but unfortunately, it was just a minor side feature. Speaking of choices... I missed having them in the game, which is why I would view it more as a turn-based adventure rather than a true RPG. All in all, this probably sounds more negative than it actually was, but the story really made up for the flaws, which is why I remained motivated to keep playing.

This is just a slice of nostalgia. Great story, great team members. It left me wanting more, but also satisfied. quick hit list: Pros: + Great combat. The mechs feel like Xenogears (that's why you looked at it). +Kicking Soundtrack. I put some of the songs on my Spotify rotation. +Diverse party who all have a function. Double ++ for a lizardman berserker caster. Tragic backstory and hella fun to use. +feels like a classic SNES rpg but with modern comforts. By the late game you can get or go anywhere you need/want to. +Kickass boss fights. They'll challenge you just enough. +Lots to do, from sidequests to gear and item farming. +Overall story is great. the writing ranges from great to OK. It keeps you involved. Cons: -The crystal system for weapon and gear upgrades is jank AF. I learned how it should work, but that was far in. You could break the game if you know what you need to do early. It's like FF8 Junction system jank; tricky but easy to break if you know what you're doing. -Great cast of main characters, but some are just better than others in combat. to each their own. -Encounters, even just regular ones, can F you up. It wants you to know the games systems. You need to do regular upgrades to feel safe/strong. This goes back to the crystal system.

I sooo want to like this game: the visual art and sound is gorgeous, the story has potential, and the game gives off very appealing vibes. I'll rarely struggle with the game for 12 hours before I decide I just don't want to continue - usually that moment comes a lot sooner for me. With Chained Echoes, I just can't seem to shake off the myriad immersion breaking frustrations. Here are some: 1. The interface. It's unintuitive in so many little unexpected ways and I just cannot get used to it. I'm a total Steam Input wiz by the way, for me configuring input for a game is a game unto itself and I'll spend a lot of time coming up with an initial scheme for my Steam Deck (deciding first if I want to go for the controller or keyboard style), and then tweaking it many hours into the game. None of that helped me get into the groove with Chained Echoes to the point where I didn't need to think about the button I should press next. 2. Game systems. This is somewhat related to point 1., but adds an additional layer of friction. Abilities aren't well explained, or the types of attacks. They are sometimes coded with words and sometimes with icons (which are still non-sensical to me after 12 hours of trying to wrap my head around them), but never with both words and icons so I still don't know what a little yellow swish icon or a green floating droplet icon mean. The "deals" mechanic or the "task board" mechanic make no sense to me. The Overdrive is interesting in that it has the potential to softly push you into exploring different play styles and all the characters in your party, but again, it bears no connection to the world and feels artificial. The countdown until the next "mode" is activated is completely artificial - I end up just looking for yellowed abilities without understanding why they are now the favoured group. 3. Character and world-building. I said earlier that the "story has potential", but it falls short in many ways. Character portraits, sprites and names are too similar and convey no additional intuitive meaning. For example, all portraits are soft-featured and childlike - Sir Victor should maybe have had a more mature face, but he looks like a kid with a beard. The rest are just like kids with different coloured hair (with the exception of Sienna). Further, there is no way to read character backstories that I could find! If I make a break and want to get back into the game after a few months, I have no way to refresh my memory about what happened earlier. To add insult to injury, the ridiculous enemies which look like fantasy bugs and grilled vegetables and the like, have backstories in the Bestiary - I'll be honest in saying that I never read those. I could go on - it's a death by a thousand cuts with Chained Echoes for me. I would 1000% play a remaster which removed at least some of the little blemishes which pile on and just break the experience enough for me that I cannot muster the will to keep playing. I tried hard and failed, and I'm giving it a thumbs down because of how sad and disappointed that makes me feel - a game shouldn't be doing that.

凡这个苦主做错了啥……

85/100值得一玩的JRPG佳作 +紧凑且有趣的回合制战斗 +独特的像素美术风格 +数量较多的装备和技能构筑 +有不少致敬超时空之轮的地方 -无聊的天铠系统 -任务指引模糊 -收集品多成就党劝退

Game gets disappointingly boring and turns into a slugfest

There is a magic that happens when someone loves an era of gaming so much that they want to commemorate it and pen their own love letter to the feelings they experienced back when they first played these games. Chained Echoes is one such love letter. It doesn't matter what era of gamer you are, the games you played when you were young and free of responsibilities and burdens (or at least had far fewer of them to deal with) will always hold a special place in your heart. The feeling I got from the first day I started playing Chained Echoes, to the feelings I'm experiencing now, having rolled credits and completed all achievements just an hour ago are essentially a tribute to what the creators of this game almost certainly intended: Capturing the nostalgia and feeling of that era without being a copycat of the games that inspired it. It can be hard to create an homage without becoming derivative, but Chained Echoes stands on its own. It may have the styling of games from the 16-bit golden era of RPGs (mostly the Super NES era), but this story, these characters, and the mechanics of this game are modern and original. There is no sense of derivation or duplication of the biggest pillars of the genre (namely, Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger) other than the fact that Chained Echoes has 16-bit pixel graphics. The mechanics of the game feel original. The story is original. The music is modern and orchestrated. The characters are deeper and the writing doesn't rely on any exposition or tropes. There is a gravitas to this epic tale; the stakes are higher, the characters more relatable and believable. It doesn't take itself too seriously, though; the hallmark of excellent writing in games is that you can still experience levity and see bits and pieces of joy even as the world is falling apart around you and the gods themselves are intent on destroying you. Read my full review, including the good, bad, and ugly [url=https://infinitebacklog.net/users/detroitprime/reviews/chained-echoes]on Infinite Backlog[/url].

After completing Chained Echoes and getting all the achievements, I consider this one of the best turn-based RPGs I've ever played. The combat is interesting and stays challenging up until the end, there is plenty to explore and hidden secrets to uncover, and the story is well-written and at times emotionally moving. I'm really impressed with this game, you can tell the developers made it with a lot of heart. The only aspect I would change is the crystal system, because it gets cumbersome when you have dozens of crystals that you want to sort through and manually combine. You can use auto-combine, but it's not the same. I also would've appreciated an endgame crystal merchant to make collection simpler. Thankfully, you don't necessarily need to dive deep into the crystal system, except maybe in the endgame stage. If you like classic Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest type roleplaying games, give this one a chance. I definitely recommend it!

Have been trying so hard to get into it, but I find the combat boring and clunky. Some people might like this, but it's not my speed.