Chained Echoes Review

Chained Echoes is a wonderfully created throwback story-driven JRPG, in the shape of the classic 16-bit SNES era styling, a sort of love letter if you will.

Published by studio Deck 13, Chained Echoes takes you on an adventure as group of heroes, traverse the huge Valandis Continent, in the hope of bringing an end to conflict between its three kingdoms. They will pass through a wide variety of unique environments on their voyage, from wind-baked plateaus and exotic archipelagos to buried towns and abandoned dungeons.

Get ready to wield your sword, channel your inner magic or board your Mech, to bring about a long-lasting piece to the region. Chained Echoes 16-bit influence is clear from the 16-bit pixel art style, right the way through to the combat and RPG fantasy role playing, dragons roam the lands, as do piloted mechanical suits. If you love the styling and are looking for a throwback to a lost era, then Chained Echoes is worth your time. In fact it will bring warm, fuzzy, excitement, that you will find hard to put down, as you follow a group of adventurers, traveling across a region teeming with endearing people, amazing scenery, and dangerous enemies.

Can you restore peace to a continent where conflict has been raging for many years and treachery abounds?

Chained Echoes Key Elements

A classic 2D RPG with Swords, Magic and Mechs – Take up your sword Channel your magic, take advantage of your Mech, as you travel through a War Ridden Lands.

Fast Paced & Turn Based Battles – No Random encounters, that certainly don’t contradict here. The battles involved in Chained Echoes take place directly where you engaged the enemy, and if you give your character an order, they execute immediately. Now waiting, whatsoever!

Which Path Will You Walk? – Valandis has been at war for many centuries as a result of manipulative tyrants. Can you return control of history to human beings? Your decisions will affect Valandis’s future and that of its people.

Stand Tall and Shake the Heavens – On occasion, your adversaries will fly away. What else can you do but board your mechs and use your laser beam to destroy them? You have the freedom to alternate between fighting on foot and using your mechs.

There is a Cave Behind the Waterfall – Naturally, there is. plus, a lot more! The lands of CHAINED ECHOES are numerous and intricately connected. You have the option of exploring on foot, at top speed in your mech, or by launching your very own airship.

Back to the Roots! – Chained Echoes can fulfil the desires of any RPG enthusiast. A complex system of stats, loot, sidequests, large towns, hazardous dungeons, and several minigames because this is a classic JRPG style game.

After seven years of development, solo developer Matthias Linda’s magnum opus Chained Echoes is a traditional, all-encompassing JRPG inspired by the classics of the SNES and PSX era. It’s clear it’s a passion project, demonstrating stunning pixel art madness, and gripping combat situations that perfect blend fantasy with science fiction.

Chained Echoes has almost 40 hours of material and is jam-packed with magic, mechs, swords, monster encounters, turn-based gameplay, and a complex plot. The overdrive-combat mechanism in the game keeps battles moving quickly while still providing a tonne of tactical nuance. Adjust your party’s skill set in inventive ways to swiftly dispatch even the most formidable adversaries!

Get ready for both sword duels and mech battles in Chained Echoes, where modern steampunk meets mediaeval fantasy! There is a fantastic, expertly created world that is waiting for you to explore, one that is home to numerous human and humanoid nations as well as otherworldly animals, all of which have their own unique mythology and cultures. The diverse habitats of Valandis in the wild are a true haven for explorers, each with its own special difficulties, ominous bosses, and intriguing mysteries!

So, after highlighting all of Chained Echoes features and selling the game to you, here’s my full thoughts on the game.

JRPG-inspired games that are reminiscent of the SNES era are fairly common these days. Chained Echoes stands out in a genre where it’s simple to get lost in the noise. The wide cast of characters seems distinct, the story is interesting, and the battle system feels both original and familiar at the same time. The 16-bit art feels appropriate for the game’s style. It is made up of several intricate components that work together perfectly.

Chained Echoes draws strength from its forerunners’ achievements. It is not at all hesitant to reference the video games from the era it is imitating. It builds on such components rather than stealing them exactly to develop its own style. Chained Echoes strikes a lovely mix between paying homage to its sources of inspiration and including unique elements to make it stand out. Outstanding visuals and music complete the picture.

Setting & Story

The setting of Chained Echoes is the continent of Valandis, a country with a 3,000-year history steeped in magical study. Sadly, for nearly 156 years, the three kingdoms of the continent—Taryn, Escanya, and Garvos—fought one another for supremacy.

Though the nations signed a peace pact out of fear after a devastating explosion in the east that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people because no one claimed blame for the disaster. Now, in 807, one year after the treaty’s signing, a number of people from many different backgrounds come together to prevent the war’s possible restart due to a plot.

Players will switch between the perspectives of the main characters early on in the game, learning about their motivations, backgrounds, and personality qualities before their eventual and dramatic reunion. Every member of the group receives much attention, from the Taryn princess Lenne and her devoted bodyguard Robb to the thief and con artist Sienna. This is greatly aided by the expert and painstaking worldbuilding.

In fact, the first aspect of the experience that the majority of players will probably notice is how quickly the lore is presented in this game. Key personalities within specific locations and organisations are described with historical events and the world’s various races. The text can be heavy for some, and the style of writing difficult to keep you immersed for some.

The worldbuilding is perhaps more complex than the character focus and development but doing so helps to better depict the cast’s locations within the continent as well as the gravity of their beliefs and actions. Despite this, Chained Echoes is in no way tedious despite its complex plot. Actually, the dialogue in this game really shines, with a hilarious sense of comedy based on subverting tropes and direct statements.

GamePlay

Despite being initially intrusive, Chained Echoes successfully implements a number of adaptable yet user-friendly mechanisms. You see, unlike other RPGs, characters don’t typically level up here. Instead, after taking down bosses and finishing notable missions, everyone is given materials called Grimoire Shards that can be utilised in the main menu to learn different kinds of talents. Additionally, the talents are separated under the three broadly defined categories of Action, Passive, and Stats. The Action talents are typically the ones I advise putting first because they can be quite helpful in addressing particular occurrences.

The Passive and Stat variations, on the other hand, are beneficial in the long run, thus it is recommended to pursue them after mastering all of the Action abilities that are offered. Until a required number is reached, some skills are locked. Additionally, in specific forging places, equipment, most notably weapons and armour, can be upgraded with materials for improved stats.

Additionally, gems that can be combined to create stronger iterations and then inserted into equipment to provide benefits, such as increasing a damage output umbrella, are imparted by crystals that are located all throughout the planet. Since these materials rarely require substantial grinding, with the exception of later items, it is possible to feel progress without being solely focused on the characters’ actions.

However, I suppose strictly speaking Skill Points are another shared resource that needs to be worked for. These are obtained by winning battles and are used to enhance previously gained skills in any of the three general varieties listed before. It is feasible to grind for SP because typical mob fights frequently respawn, but the game’s architecture doesn’t really encourage that.

While the quantity of Skill Points required to upgrade a skill diminishes the longer it has been active or utilised, you’d need to exercise an unreasonable amount of patience for any noticeable gains. The amount of SP obtained from grinding battles is typically modest. Theoretically, you could repeatedly use fighting talents to master them, but it is not necessary. Overall, Chained Echoes tells its users to keep naturally growing at a steady pace without saying so overtly.

Turn Based Mechanics

Chained Echoes’ fighting mostly adheres to a tried-and-true model. Each character has a normal attack, multiple TP-consuming skills of various types, objects to utilise, and the choice to adopt a defensive stance in turn-based battles. Each character has a unique Ultra Move they can employ, and characters can be changed out throughout matches.

The Overdrive function in Chained Echoes’ fighting is what makes it unique. With a yellow neutral section on the left, a green Overdrive section in the centre, and a red Overheat section on the right, the Overdrive meter has three sections. As characters and foes take turns, the Overdrive meter, which begins in the neutral area on the left, travels to the right. When it finally enters Overdrive, skills’ TP costs are halved, damage suffered is reduced, and damage dealt is increased. However, TP costs and damage dealt return to normal and your component will sustain additional damage if the meter enters the Overheat zone.

The meter does not, of course, constantly travel to the right. The meter will show a symbol that corresponds to one of the six skill categories while in Overdrive and Overheat. The meter shifts back to the left after performing a skill of the kind that is displayed. The meter also shifts to the left while changing characters, defending, and applying Ultra Moves.

In order to keep things fresh and provide a tonne of varied strategy possibilities, everything moves swiftly, there are many distinct skill types to use, and each character has their own unique battle style and speciality. Although I wasn’t very like of the Overdrive feature at first, it became fairly simple to use once I was able to master it. It is a clever approach to add another aspect of strategy to combat, especially boss bouts, because it offers enough of an advantage to worth keeping track of without coming off as unduly intrusive.

Worth Mentioning

The soundtrack of this game is one more aspect that deserves a mention. It is incredibly well-composed. Aside from the serene town and field themes, various battle tracks make your heart race. In overall, the sound design is exquisite; audiophiles will undoubtedly be satisfied.

Verdict

Chained Echoes is a complex JRPG that will please lovers of the genre while also being accessible to newcomers. The Overdrive balancing-centered combat system is engaging and rather quick considering the genre. The world offers a lot of mysteries and intricacies with its eclectic combination of influences and vintage presentation. I would have preferred fewer battles with more repercussions and perhaps more challenging situations. But Chained Echoes, which was built with a lot of passion and can keep players interested over its 40 hour-long plot, is an excellent option for anyone looking for a strong party-driven role-playing experience.