Chained Echoes
Take up your sword, channel your magic or board your Mech. Chained Echoes is a 16-bit style RPG set in a fantasy world where dragons are as common as piloted mechanical suits.
Chained Echoes is a rpg, pixel graphics and turn-based game
developed by Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda)
and published by Deck13 and WhisperGames.
Released on December 08th 2022 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux
in 6 languages: English, French, German, Korean, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.
It has received 6,501 reviews of which 5,878 were positive and 623 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.8 out of 10. π
The game is currently priced at 24.99β¬ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Chained Echoes into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Chained Echoes through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7 or newer
- Processor: Dual Core Processor
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon R9 200 or equal
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 900 MB available space
MacOS
- OS: MacOS 10.15 Catalina
- Processor: Dual Core Processor
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon R9 200 or equal
- Storage: 900 MB available space
Linux
- OS: SteamOS
- Processor: Dual Core Processor
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: Radeon R9 200 or equal
- Storage: 900 MB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
This game to me was simply amazing, an incredible experience that took me for a ride and never let go. Everything is really ironed out, the story, the details, the gameplay, the interesting and engaging combat system, the skill works, the balance with the multiple modes. It's really something worthy of praise A fantastic job in and out, and the twists just keep coming keeping you on your toes throughout the story Astonishing experience through and through Super recommended game! Dont miss out
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Good game but not without faults. Chained Echoes shines in its character development, main battle system, music, and world building. Unlike a lot of players, I liked the crystal system and used it to heavily customize my characters. It's also chock full of references to its spiritual predecessors. Its biggest fault, in my opinion, is that the plot and storytelling went in a lot of different directions, and came off as though it was trying to do too much. Its second biggest fault is that the mech battle system lacks the finesse that the main battle system has, which I honestly think is a symptom of the main issue of trying to do everything. That said, if you're looking for a good RPG, give it a try. I think what Matthias was able to accomplish with minimal help is very impressive.
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Preface The best way I can summarize this game is to say that it is long... which turned out to be almost equally good and bad because the game had good offerings but didn't always put its best foot forward. Plot In general, there is so much going on. While things regarding the main plot do get eventually explained, it gets gummed up by the many sidequests. There is also so many different characters which do make the world building more colorful but kind of diffuse the focus, and this sometimes leads to not knowing what you should be remembering or taking note of which might be vital later. The main plot at it's core, however, does have a pretty cool concept generally speaking although some ideas such as the harbinger are not very fleshed out or get breezed over finally finding Reina . Complex relationships get established which is good for tension but they are not tactfully resolved such as the odd choice of Frederick unaliving himself with a very flimsy reason that went against the entire way they built his character . Another odd/awkward interaction throughout the game was Kylian and how he treated everyone like shit but then Glenn gave up his life for him in the end which made no sense seeing as how Gwayne said his aura doesn't match so he wouldn't be able to weild the special power... or whatever, but then he just does because I guess we forgot about that point 2 minutes ago. A side note about side quests, why are they detracting? While they attempt to work on character building, the dialogue ends up getting in the way, being too verbose and trying to tie a moral bow on every action as if it's a present, forgiving characters for their weakness and such. While the message is good, these fetch quests are often all about topics such as: -unholy backtracking -find a ton of npcs to talk to and you have to check every path and room or you can't progress In addition, the rewards are usually not that good. Dialogue As I said in my side note about quests, the dialogue always has this charge to it towards proving that every character is righteous and worthy of redemption, which kind of explains the whole Kylian thing? . I guess games and fantasy stories are meant to have happy endings but... well while the writing certainly is not offensive, it's just not well-crafted. The way things are explained and set up leaves so much to be desired. Other reviewers were critical on this point saying "they should have hired a writer to edit and fix it all" but I think that is also symptomatic of the way the plot is structured. You can't simply alter the writing without altering some of the plot decisions. Sure some parts are cringy and I personally did not like the ending (didn't hate it either) but when you construct a world which is of this magnitude you have to eventually start cutting off ends. When designing a game it's always difficult to manage the scope and scale, especially when you are very passionate about the content, wanting to squeeze every last drop and give as much as you can. That being said, I'm not apologizing on behalf of the game for anything but saying that I can understand the troubles of managing such a large world. The World Here comes one of my biggest complaints: the world is too big. There's too many redundant paths, too many mazelike areas, boring and tedious puzzles Nhysa with those keys was absolutey awful . Overall, it just gives a feeling of great impatience because it feels like you're such a small character but there's so much ground to cover. Many items/weapons/etc. are hidden away in secrets too. So you need to check every path to get everything. The worst is when you're trying to find things in your Sky armor suits, flying around every square inch of the map . Even with maps and fast travel... it doesn't help much. Speaking of the maps, as I recall they don't show the details of the place you are, just only exit points. Also there are certain puzzles the memory puzzles which for me just added nothing to my experience other than to annoy me... The Combat I actually really like the combat, and while I know others are critical of the overdrive system, well at least it tried something new. However, sometimes it really sticks you in battle when you can do nothing to get out of the red and get wiped because you take extra damage. I don't consider this game hard but that's because I went through and meticulously found every bit of loot and did the crystal system crafting thing which is just honesty too much, basically an inferior materia system. And with that, you can in fact battle in the red all day and still win (just not on higher difficulties). The beginning is a bit of a slog as you have pretty low killing power and no good way to power up so every battle seems to take forever. The hits and moves are fun to watch and feel cathartic on impact, with some very minor exceptions. Two things that really bug me about battling though are: 1. You can't run from a battle? (at least I never found a way to do it or bothered to look it up) It's not made obvious in the battle menu. 2. You can't turn off battle animations? or again, maybe there is.. I don't know but it wasn't obvious from what I could find. The Art and Music Let's get this out of the way: The artwork is great. Everything has a lot of detail, and it's really some of the best pixel art you can find in many regards. The ambience was usually well-constructed and detailed but as I said before just too big and too much. You can only emphasize the point of a hallway so much before the player goes "lucky me, another hallway with nothing in it that I have to run through". That said, I have great respect for the artwork here. The music gives me such torn feelings. On one hand, if you go listen to the OST, you'll find many great tracks: the sound quality being very good and with live recorded instruments the whole way (or at least mostly) as the ending credits allude to. By the way, the ending credits music is simply astounding as a piece of music even outside of video game compositions, very beautiful. And yet, with all this talented work comes the biggest flop from music, that they picked like two or three tracks to heavily reuse. I'd rather mute my game than listen to the Hermit Island theme one more time. That and the battle theme. They could have had other themes for battle (besides times of boss battles) and they could have at least done a variation on the Hermit Island theme because every time you do something the game drags you back to that hell on the island to force you to listen to that music again while you mash through the pages of dialogue. Now, objectively speaking, it's a good piece of music but come on man, you can't feed me that the entire game for hundreds of hours then give me really bomb stuff in the credits... that's not fair. Overall Impressions While I might sound like I hate this game, I did have a decent time playing it. I think it could stand to be an overall shorter experience - cut down the map sizes, cut down the dialogue, don't put in time wasting side quests. In the end, this project was overly ambitious. Maybe the designers spent years making this game and know every part of it so well, but normal people will spend .. maybe 90 hours? Especially since the game is so long, getting busy with life and coming back to it and having no idea where in the hell you are or what you need to do next (yes I hear you, the quest log) is disorienting. Also, just some feedback here, please stop doing so many red and white screen flashes, it hurts my eyes.
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I'm really excited to see this developer's next game. Playing the first chapter of Chained Echoes gave me a feeling like i was 1997 and the second disc for Final Fantasy Tactics was spinning up. The combat was crisp and challenging. The story was rote but nevertheless compelling. The progression system was unique and fun -- tying together job selection, combat, and exploration in a way that made it so that nothing in the game felt like a grind. That feeling lasted for about the first 20 hours of the game. After that, with each new mechanical and story layer that was added I felt my experience degrade. I recommend, even highly recommend, this game, because those first twenty hours approach perfection. They nail everything that makes old-school JRPGs feel great and use modern game design techniques to make the stuff that felt terrible about them fun. Unfortunately, the game didn't stop there. By the end, the game was mechanically bloated and the narrative felt like it was falling apart at the seams. It feels like the game needed an editor. If it had been half as long and had never added a mechanic after the first chapter or two, then the game would have been much better. The mechs could have been cut and the mechanics and story would both have been better, That's why I say I am really looking forward to this developer's second game. There is so much that is fantastic on display here. A title from this developer that shows some more restraint and can kill some of its darlings could be truly great.
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"Do you believe this? We're on a suicide mission, and he's taking a nap!" Introduction This review is based on playing on the Steam deck. Chained Echoes is a classic era-styled JRPG with a strong focus on story, character and world-building, and with its retro-style aesthetic and beautiful soundtrack, it promises to be an epic journey. But does it soar through the sky as free as a bird, or is trapped in a cage of its own devices? π© Positives π₯ Negatives π© A well-thought, written and devised storyline that promises to keep you on the edge of your seat with its many plot twists and ability to invest you in the cast exceptionally quickly. π© Unique gameplay elements that set it aside from the rest in terms of how it mechanically plays and reinterprets the levelling system in more than one way. π© A beautiful retro-styled aesthetic that continued to surprise me the entire way through that was perfectly complimented by a stunning soundtrack. π© Engaging in unique enemy and boss encounters will continuously push you to the limit, pushing you to adapt to each situation as they arise. π₯ RNG seems to play a pretty considerable role in the outcome of some combat scenarios. Skill takes precedence, followed by preparedness, but RNG follows closely and can significantly impact your success. Story The game opens with the hold of a fantastical flying vessel on its way to a battlefield in a distant land. Soldiers and crew wander its hallways, busy with preparations and contemplation for the coming battle that weighs heavily in the crowded halls. It's here, amongst the bustling busyness of the crew, that you meet the main protagonist, Glenn. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3224820055 Glenn, accompanied by his close friend, Kylian, and the rest of the Iron Bull mercenary company, are on their way to a distant city to assist in freeing them from tyranny. But as is always the case, fate has different plans for the heroes, as a grand explosion consumes the city that nobody could have prepared for. Now, with the world feeling the weight of that fateful day, an uncertain peace has fallen across the lands that have faced war for the last several centuries. With the world in such a precarious position, new events begin to unfold that threaten the lives of everyone on Valandis. Do you have what it takes to stand against the tides of chaos? Chained Echoes blew me away with how well-written and paced it was. The story provides a substantial, emotionally fueled experience, filled to the brim with twists and moments of solemn contemplation for the events that transpire. The dialogue enormously assists in the grand scheme, providing much-needed bolstering to the already considerable plot and delivering a great deal of understanding of the main cast and their motivations. Gameplay Analysis Old school, but mechanically rejuvenated. This game isn't your standard, run-of-the-mill RPG. While it aesthetically matches most of the classic SNES era games of its type, it differs greatly in a mechanical sense. Unlike almost every other RPG on the market, there isn't a standard levelling system in place in Chained Echoes. Instead of gaining experience points and using these to level your character progressively across the story, you are awarded skill points for overcoming significant obstacles in your journey, usually in the form of powerful enemies. These skill points can unlock skills in an extensive list of abilities within a tiered list that increase in power the higher the tier. The second significant difference between this game and others is the overdrive system. Overdrive is a bar in the corner of your screen that increases with every skill you use and hit you take and decreases with inaction and defence. Keeping the overdrive in yellow ensures you receive standard damage with no penalty, green lowers your damage taken and increases damage done, and red at the far end of the spectrum increases damage taken and reduces damage done. Improving your prowess through exploration. Weapons and armour in Chained Echoes take a different direction than the usual format. You don't always have to move up to the subsequent variant to see an improvement. You can always opt for upgrading the piece through materials found in the world and then enchanting it with crystals that greatly bolster your attributes. Finding good crystals can be a bit of a grind as you are bound to RNG at this point, and simply finding the crystal you're after might prove difficult until much later in the game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3224820467 But this isn't the only method for improvement, as, at a certain early point in the journey, you will unlock a hideout where you and your crew can begin to set up operations to take the battle to the enemy. By inviting random people you meet to help you, you will unlock passive bonuses that vastly help you in many different ways, such as increased crystal discoveries per node and random items at intervals of game time. And the rest you already know. The rest of the game is relatively standard to the usual RPG foundations and will feel particularly nostalgic to the classic-era RPG fans. Audio and Visual As mentioned above, despite its retro aesthetic, I genuinely believe Chained Echoes is one of the most vibrantly beautiful experiences I've ever had the opportunity to play. The art and atmosphere are captivating aspects of the world and really deliver a true sense of immersion throughout the entire experience. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3224820385 The audio is much the same as the soundtrack and general audio, is an impeccable feat of design, and provides a sensational sense of adaptation and vividness to an already remarkable journey. Deck Performance and Specifications During my rather lengthy experience, I didn't notice any drops in quality at all, and the game feels like it was made all along for the Steam Deck, which ran exceptionally well. A full charge would approximately provide 8-10 hours of gameplay demonstrating the title optimisation. Final Thoughts - Excellent [url=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2529084785]Review chart here. As I sit here in quiet contemplation over the journey I have just undertaken, I feel resounding pride and sadness over the decisions that were made and the fact that it's almost over now. I wonder if the minor flaws the game holds are enough to lower the score in any dramatic sense, and in the very end I believe they don't do enough harm to warrant that course of action. This is a truly wondrous experience that deserves both distinction and praise for the high-quality content it has provided as well as the experience that continues to resonate with me even now. I would recommend this game without hesitation to anyone who is a true fan of storytelling, world and character design. A journey taken is rarely without purpose, so head on over to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43064204/] Hell, Purgatory and Paradise to find your next epic tale. A climb to the summit is a sign of strength, so head on over to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41449676/] Summit Reviews where every review is peak.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 12 December 2024 00:37 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 19 January 2025 14:35 |
| Steam price | 22 January 2025 20:25 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 17:53 |
Online players
106
Developer
Umami Tiger (Matthias Linda)
Publisher
Deck13,
WhisperGames
Release
08 Dec 2022
Platforms