When Chase decides to write a college report on a case of mass hysteria that occurred in his old home town of Echo, he uses the opportunity to get his group of childhood friends back together for the week. However, a tragedy from their past weighs heavily on their minds, and the desolate desert town finds itself on the brink of disaster once more in this atmospheric slow-burn visual novel.
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leo my beloved
After playing this game. I failed to realize until after playing, how it effected me emotionally. Especially Leo's route. This game is not a horror game. It is more than that. It's about overcoming past trauma and moving on. It's about how someone's death can break apart even the strongest of bonds. That's what really got me. You never see that in VNs anywhere, this visual novel is unique.
The amount of care and thought that went into the storytelling and immersion of this game. Lei is especially a hard topic for me because of my past relationships, it focuses more on moving on and finding closure in an abruptly ended relationship. When Chase abruptly broke up with Leo over how he reacted to a prank about Chase cheating on him, I felt nothing but anger and disappointment in Chase for possibly ruining the best thing in his life.
This outlines that even when you have a strong bond with your partner, one thing is just enough to cause permanent damage. The soundtracks still make me cry. The way they are grafted into the game makes it so you can feel the same emotions that the characters are. It makes you empathetic towards what happened, and instills this longing for closure alongside the main cast. The way they convey the story is grafted in such a way that it tells a deeper story than in just the main game.
All-in-all I really recommend playing this game if you haven't already. This is the most incredible thing I've read thus far and am hoping that this story is expanded on further in the future. But as for right now. Let's just keep it the way it is.... A masterpiece.
The amount of care and thought that went into the storytelling and immersion of this game. Lei is especially a hard topic for me because of my past relationships, it focuses more on moving on and finding closure in an abruptly ended relationship. When Chase abruptly broke up with Leo over how he reacted to a prank about Chase cheating on him, I felt nothing but anger and disappointment in Chase for possibly ruining the best thing in his life.
This outlines that even when you have a strong bond with your partner, one thing is just enough to cause permanent damage. The soundtracks still make me cry. The way they are grafted into the game makes it so you can feel the same emotions that the characters are. It makes you empathetic towards what happened, and instills this longing for closure alongside the main cast. The way they convey the story is grafted in such a way that it tells a deeper story than in just the main game.
All-in-all I really recommend playing this game if you haven't already. This is the most incredible thing I've read thus far and am hoping that this story is expanded on further in the future. But as for right now. Let's just keep it the way it is.... A masterpiece.
This review contains spoilers
I'll rate each route individually. In the order that I played.
Flynn's Route (5/5): You really shouldn't play this first, but this is the most mind melting, dirty descent into madness and I love it to death.
TJ's Route (4/5): I'm not really interested in the scavenger hunt, but the interpersonal stuff and that GOD DAMN ending make this worth playing.
Carl's Route (2/5): Sorry Carl, this is the first route developed and it shows. Really really drags during the whole haunted house sections. And Raven is the worst route exclusive character in the game. Carl's self realization near the end is really good though, so I give it some praise for that.
Leo's Route (5/5): Probably the most heartbreaking route in the game, every character is really well utilized. Also Kudzu is the best route exclusive character in the game, eat shit Raven.
Jenna's Route (5/5): Maybe the best route in the game? I don't know it just really feels like a fulfilling, scary, memorable experience. A fitting route to end this game on.
Flynn's Route (5/5): You really shouldn't play this first, but this is the most mind melting, dirty descent into madness and I love it to death.
TJ's Route (4/5): I'm not really interested in the scavenger hunt, but the interpersonal stuff and that GOD DAMN ending make this worth playing.
Carl's Route (2/5): Sorry Carl, this is the first route developed and it shows. Really really drags during the whole haunted house sections. And Raven is the worst route exclusive character in the game. Carl's self realization near the end is really good though, so I give it some praise for that.
Leo's Route (5/5): Probably the most heartbreaking route in the game, every character is really well utilized. Also Kudzu is the best route exclusive character in the game, eat shit Raven.
Jenna's Route (5/5): Maybe the best route in the game? I don't know it just really feels like a fulfilling, scary, memorable experience. A fitting route to end this game on.
Me: Mom, can I have Higurashi?
Mom: No, we have Higurashi at home.
Higurashi at home:
On a more serious note, this and VA-11-Hall-A might be the only Original English Language Visual Novels I consider to be really good and/or worth experiencing. Reading a furry VN in my college did get me some weird looks from other students though lol, will probably write an actual review in the future but for now, just know it's a cool horror-drama VN.
Mom: No, we have Higurashi at home.
Higurashi at home:
On a more serious note, this and VA-11-Hall-A might be the only Original English Language Visual Novels I consider to be really good and/or worth experiencing. Reading a furry VN in my college did get me some weird looks from other students though lol, will probably write an actual review in the future but for now, just know it's a cool horror-drama VN.
i simply cannot recommend echo as much as i would like to due to its glaring structural flaws. there are many clear moments of brilliance here but it's held together by hours of mindless character interactions that honestly result in nothing meaningful. for a visual novel the writing is often lackluster, and while the moments of actual horror are fairly great, it doesn't make up for the rest of the game. there are only really a few character moments that i can say i actually enjoyed and cared for, otherwise i could really just cut out everything except the "horror". i still don't really get the symbolism either
I don't even know where to begin LMAO, Echo is truly one of a kind, a culmination of passion throughout the years that feels like a genuine dialogue between the writer and the reader. I was immediately drawn to Echo's furries and desert imagery, two of my favorite things, and I left feeling like I just had a spiritual experience.
This visual novel is not without its flaws, as its earliest developed portions suffer heavily from unfocused writing (Carl's route in particular feels strikingly out of place from the rest of the routes), but overall it's an unforgettable story. Pardon the fur, but Echo's characters are some of the most human and sincere I've come across in writing. When I look at Leo, Jenna, and the rest of the gang, I see a little bit of the people around me in them, and sometimes even myself for better or worse.
The emotions felt here are some of the strongest I've come across in writing. I could physically feel the tension whenever arguments arose between the cast, and the horror had me so stressed at times I had to leave my desk. There isn't always a happy ending to be found here, but real life doesn't offer many such a relief. But life isn't about the endings, it's the journeys we take and the people who join along with us. The same could be said about Echo.
I was lucky to have stumbled upon this game through a random comment back in 2018. At the time, I was going through a rough point in my life, and Echo's builds gave me a lot to look forward to and keep my mind off the pain. I could go on and on about this VN, but in the end this is a story that'll stick with me forever. 💕
This visual novel is not without its flaws, as its earliest developed portions suffer heavily from unfocused writing (Carl's route in particular feels strikingly out of place from the rest of the routes), but overall it's an unforgettable story. Pardon the fur, but Echo's characters are some of the most human and sincere I've come across in writing. When I look at Leo, Jenna, and the rest of the gang, I see a little bit of the people around me in them, and sometimes even myself for better or worse.
The emotions felt here are some of the strongest I've come across in writing. I could physically feel the tension whenever arguments arose between the cast, and the horror had me so stressed at times I had to leave my desk. There isn't always a happy ending to be found here, but real life doesn't offer many such a relief. But life isn't about the endings, it's the journeys we take and the people who join along with us. The same could be said about Echo.
I was lucky to have stumbled upon this game through a random comment back in 2018. At the time, I was going through a rough point in my life, and Echo's builds gave me a lot to look forward to and keep my mind off the pain. I could go on and on about this VN, but in the end this is a story that'll stick with me forever. 💕