Chained Echoes

This game is amazing. I have been reading the negative comments and they can be summed up into: 1. The game mechanics were somehow too difficult or confusing for them, which I am deeply sorry for you if this was the case; I bet making toast in the morning must be a real struggle for you. 2. Some sections seemed grindy. This one is just lies as the game is balanced enough. The only scenario where I can see this happening is if the person is rushing through the chapters without doing any side activities, which is half the fun in most RPGs. 3. The story is "bad". Look, anyone is entitled to their opinion, but some opinions are just ♥♥♥♥♥. I will not take this critique seriously comming from real life NPCs with burned out attention spans. Do yourself a favor, and pick up this game. I only regrest not finding this game sooner, although its message deeply connects with this time of my life, so it was the perfect timing for me. The story revolves around self forgiving, accepting your flaws, and keep moving forward even if you don't think you deserve it. The characters are deeply human and relatable. Not even the MC is perfect, in fact he's deeply flawed, he's constantly seeking redemption and never fully forgives himself, but he is determined to keep living to the fullest and stay true to himself. Past mistakes don't define us, you can always choose who you want to be and how you wanna live. Unlike generic stories, where the power of friendship and courage solves all problems, or the generic good vs evil, here your own past and guilt are the most powerful enemies, and you can only move forward when you've fully forgiven yourself. And the story is not necessarily uplifting and motivational (this would actually bore me to death) it is engaging and well thought out. As a fan of classic RPG, I can safely this game is not mimicking them, it is a great story on its own right, and if it had came out at the time, it would had defenitely competed with any of the huge names of the genre.

The story is a bit on the convoluted side, but an overall enjoyable experience.

It's a good game, with a very good story and engaging combat. The only downside is, that trash mobs take too long to fight and you only can turn down the difficulty for all enemies. I would love to have different settings for bosses and trashmobs, so I canNormal Bossfights and easy trashmob fights. Please make it happen.

Not recommended

Absolutely wonderful game and story. (I will leave it there, because I don't have time. If I did, I might go on for a good 12 paragraphs.)

In general, this is a great RPG to try.

This game omg! My emotions! You have to play this. You just have to. It's long, but it's truly amazing. [h3]Story[/h3] It's just so good. A good opening, and an amazing ending. So much happens in this story. So much lore in this world. And it's all so interesting. There are moments of laughter that are so funny, there are sad moments that are so sad. It's an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. The game is long because there is character development for all playable characters, which makes you like them all (except maybe Robb because he pissed me off a few times). You will know why they do what they do, why they all grouped together, and why it is so important. I don't want to say anything specific, I don't want to give context. JUST PLAY IT! [h3]Gameplay[/h3] The combat is turn-based, but very dynamic and fast paced. You have different ability types that the game forces you to use to maintain this "bar" inside of a sweet-spot called "Overdrive", which lets you deal more damage, take less damage, use less TP (a metric used to determine how many times you can use an ability), keeps you from spamming the same abilities all the time, and encourages the player to switch out other characters. Other than combat, you get to explore multiple biomes and locations, with limited freedom, but there is lots of variety, and some of the best items are found through exploration. [h3]Graphics[/h3] Really good pixel graphics. If you like pixel, I think you will love this game. [h3]Music[/h3] The OST of this game slaps! [h3]Final thoughts[/h3] I played a good chunk on my Steam Deck and had an amazing experience. No bugs, no crashes. I thought of giving up 20 hours into the game mainly because I don't like turn-based RPGs as much, but I'm so glad I stuck with this because it's amazingly worth it. I wish to see more games made in this world the developer has built, because it feels so fresh and interesting. Actually someone should make a show or a movie, or an anime or something so that more people can experienced what I experience in their preferred format. Give it a try.