Que jogo absurdamente daora
Extrai referência de vários jrpgs clássicos, como também de outras fontes, e usa elas como base para formar um worldbuilding rico e criar personagens bem desenvolvidos
Todo momento esse jogo te joga reviravolta atrás de reviravolta e você só fica cada vez mais curioso em continuar
A gameplay é bem feita, o jogo te oferece desafios na dose certa e te entrega as ferramentas necessárias para superá-las
Infelizmente o combate com mecha não foi tão polido

Chained Echoes has so much to like while also managing to feel unpolished in many other ways. It's genuinely impressive how much one person has created here, with a strong art direction, a solid story, and some great music as well. The battle system is the area that I take the most issue with. The ovedrive / overheat system is cool in theory, but ends up resulting in more micromanagement than necessary, often getting in the way of strategies by requiring random moves to reduce the heat bar. The Sky Armor battles feel even worse, given there are fewer ways to manage the heat bar. On top of this, too many bosses have the ability to act multiple times per turn, creating some scenarios that feel truly unfair. Despite these quirks, I did enjoy Chained Echoes a good bit, but it wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been.

Chained Echoes is not perfect, it's not the most artistic game I've ever played and it definitively has its flaws, but it was an extremely fun experience. I went into the game not expecting much but I was really surprised by what the game gave me.

Let me start with the worst parts: yes, this game's story is a mix of maybe too many things, you don't always understand where the creator wanted to go and many things feel rushed if not unexplained. Despite that, I think the game has a likeable cast, an extremely solid intro of over ten hours and the story manages to be good enough to be enjoyed and have its touching and memorable moments.

That aside, what this game does is something I don't often see in a JRPG. The gameplay is extremely FUN. From the combat to the exploration, this game really nails it and in a lot of ways it reminded me of why I loved CrossCode. You have to go from point A to B but the level is so big and full of stuff that you might spend hours just looking up for every small chest instead of doing the main quests.

As for the combat, I never got bored of the combat system and every trash fight was enjoyable even if not providing a challenge because the game has so many fun skills to use or combos to create between different abilities that I really enjoyed just mindlessly wrecking a horde of trashmobs, instead of trying to save my MP while spamming physical attacks.

And perhaps the strongest point of the game is the sidequests. The game has very humorous and lively quests that are unlocked as you progress or that you discover by exploring. They're all fun and there is a LOT of optional areas to explore. Hell, at some point the map really opens up and you get an overwhelming amount of things you can do at once, I thought it was a blast.

Chained Echoes is a really good game. It knows how to be fun and I could feel the author's spirit. I don't care that it's flawed, I think it's fine the way it is because ultimately the author wanted to do an homage to his childhood games and I think he managed to do so.

I disliked the art style of this game quite a bit - it felt like an RPG-Maker sprite system. Everything else about this game was phenomenal though. I loved that every encounter felt like a boss fight, the plot-tethered leveling system made every character viable, the story was good (not great), both styles of combat system were incredibly interesting - the best turn-based combat I've maybe ever played, and you could make a base by completing quests and spending resources (my favorite). If this game and Sea of Stars could DBZ-style fusion dance, you'd have the perfect RPG

“JRPG” is a contentious term, steeped in casual early aughts racism and pedestal placing weaboos alike. There’s been so much derision, praise, and everything in between focused on such a specific output of a specific country that it’s pretty difficult to discuss one of my favorite genres online, that being RPGs, J or otherwise. So let’s lay some ground rules to allow us to talk about Chained Echoes, a great little game riffing heavily on JRPG tropes, like adults.

First of all, yes I think Japanese RPG, JRPG, is a legitimate subgenre. There’s just no other term that so quickly and easily communicates the types of RPGs I specifically enjoy. In short, I consider the term to describe story driven linear narratives with mechanical experimentation and progression. Obviously I have nothing against the Fallouts and Mass Effects of the world, and I’m sure the Baldur’s Gate titles deserve every bit of their accolades, but just saying “RPG” in 2024 could be describing anything from the new God of War to the latest live service game battle pass. To just drop the subgenre classification from our common language would be like trying to drop terms like B-Movie, Slasher, Found Footage, etc. from the Horror movie lexicon.

Second, I acknowledge that it’s not good that the subgenre is by nature associated with a specific country, Japan, obviously. I think Japanese devs can make RPGs that aren’t JRPGs, and I think Germans can make RPGs that are JRPGs, but until there’s a better term to describe the kinds of games JRPGs are we’re just kind of stuck with the term.

With all that out of the way, yes Chained Echoes is a JRPG. Cool, first question answered, now onto the more salient (and fun) one. Is it good?

By the standards of the subgenre, I’d say Chained Echoes is quite good, delivering on just about all the aspects I look for in a good JRPG with a few modest missteps here and there, but what I think makes it a special game worth playing is the ways it reinterprets and remixes genre conventions without any malice or notions that it is somehow “fixing” the genre, something Western games constantly do. CE is a remarkably well done first attempt by the mostly solo dev, Matthias Linda, and it falters in ways that are unsurprising for someone’s first major work, but its creator’s earnestness and passion constantly shine through and make for a really wonderful experience.

Let’s talk aesthetics first, because it’s easily the most striking aspect of CE, it’s gorgeous pixel art and it’s pretty good OST. Just about every character, environment, enemy, mecha, and what have you are rendered with just sublime art and animation. Big story beats are also accompanied by setpiece artwork that occasionally left my jaw on the floor, ambitious doesn’t even begin to cut it. Battle animations are suitably punchy, accompanied by gratifying sfx, which also litters exploration activity and pushes a few more mental buttons during those portions.

The music of Chained Echoes is a little too orchestral for my tastes, though I acknowledge the talent and skill behind all these tracks. There’s still a good number of catchy tracks with unique instrumentation that give a lot of character to scenes and settings. There weren’t really any tracks that I immediately clocked as a banger, but the BGM is always solid and occasionally had me humming along even after a given session.

Now let’s talk mechanics. CE is a turn-based RPG that centers its combat around an Overdrive bar, with every battle starting in a yellow section before your characters start ramping up and enter the green zone, which grants defensive benefits and halves the cost of skills. Eventually you’ll be put in danger of entering a red zone, which obviously reverses the benefits of the green zone. It’s a nice system that tends to keep the player from defaulting back to an optimal strategy, as repeating the same set of actions in one case can easily tip the bar into the red. It also encourages swapping characters mid battle, since it’s a free action that reduces the bar and grants strategic flexibility. It’s a simple enough concept that adds a lot to the combat through reigned in randomness and consequences that grant weight to otherwise rote combat approaches.

A mechanic that works a little less for me is the leveling system, which gates level ups behind items called Grimoire Shards rather than experience points. Usually you get these items from bosses, but there are a few fun tricksy ways to pursue specific side objectives and amass early levels, tasks I would describe as less “grindy” than your average JRPG level grind, but still not quite exciting. Where this system goes a bit amiss is in its stat handling, where a level up is usually used for a new skill, active or passive, and sometimes a single specific stat, occasionally the game has to just surprise you with random stat ups at (I think) pre-determined intervals to keep levels feeling meaningful. The arbitrary nature of these “bonus” stats always made me feel like I was just grabbing skills I didn’t necessarily care for just to hit that goal and get the free permanent stats.

Rounding this all out there’s something of a materia/equipment upgrading system, which is probably the weakest aspect of the game to me. Players can check glowing red crystals strewn about dungeons and environments to get randomly generated crystals that do everything from increase stats, to granting a chance for additional drops. This is a fine idea, but the implementation is clunky and has a knock effect of generally ruining loot drops. I would frequently spend a few minutes upgrading a new weapon and kitting it out with carefully chosen crystals to suit a given character, but these changes can only be made at anvils, specific fixtures that are rarely close by in hostile environments, resulting in the excitement of finding new gear being spoiled when I compare it to the current piece, only to find it either objectively worse or granting 1-2 measly extra points in the relevant stat. Removing and adding crystals is also just clunky, you can only add one crystal at a time but have to remove all crystals at once, and there’s no good way to just transfer a setup or compare things. This is further exacerbated by the fact that there are TWELVE weapon types, with virtually no crossover between characters. Managing these items starts to quickly feel like busywork, and eventually I would just rework my combat approaches so I didn’t have to mess with this system.

Finally, there’s actually an entirely separate combat style, giant robots! The Sky Armor battles revolve around a totally separate set of stats and (much more easily managed) gear. There’s even a good variety of different models and color palettes, with lovely sprite art, though in general they’re management is a much more simple affair. Still, there’s a nice dovetail between movement and exploration benefits granted by Sky Armors, and the way dungeons cleverly grant and revoke their use keeps the late game fresh, even if you’ve already more or less “solved” all potential combat encounters with them.

Between combat encounters there’s quite a lot of exploration to be done, with huge field maps littered with items and enemies and even the occasional unique enemy. Though much of the game is steeped in Final Fantasy influences, the exploration springs from somewhere I wasn’t expecting, the Xenoblade series. In those games you’re also given expansive field maps with plenty of hidden paths and corners, picking up weird sounding collectibles to sell and trade. CE also adapts the full heal after every battle approach, allowing for victory by razor thin margins as long as at least one party member is standing at the end of a battle. Pushing against the soft limits of encounter stats and slowly expanding what enemies I can conquer and areas I can explore is a huge highlight of Xeno games to me and that satisfaction is present in CE, though lighter than I would prefer. Granted, this full heal approach removes a lot of resource management from the equation, but I think the tradeoff was calculated to accommodate a quicker pace.

Speaking of pacing, we arrive now at one of the more important elements of any JRPG worth its salt, the plot and its characters. In my opinion, Chained Echoes does a great job of wearing its influences proudly without either cribbing too closely or flaunting convention for the sake of it. There’s a good sense that the writer has played (and likely enjoyed) many JRPGs, but has ideas and concepts for their own story. CE takes place on the continent of Valandis, a landmass split among three kingdoms that has been consumed by war for generations with no real tipping point until the opening of the game sees the birth of a kind of magical weapon of mass destruction. What follows is a fairly twisty tale of a fairly typical ragtag band of heroes coming together to face and defeat the injustices of the world, some older than the world itself and some newly arisen as the plot unfolds.

I’m going to start talking about specific plot and character details now, so if you’d like to go into the story COMPLETELY blind, you can stop reading here.

Throughout Chained Echoes there are plenty of little plot elements that veteran JRPG players will instantly recognize. You’ve got your princess in disguise and on the run, a citywide festival with all manner of silly games and opportunities for mischief, masked inquisitors clad in full body armor, and so on. I haven’t played every single Final Fantasy, but it’s easy to spot influences from FF4, 7, 8, 9, and 12 throughout the plot. Thankfully none of these details seem lifted without purpose or creativity, making them all feel more like knowing homage than crass theft.

The most important plot point is hinted at early on but slowly unraveled over the course of the game, CE’s send up of FF7’s Lifestream, the Maelstrom, where every person in the world has an Echo that, upon death, either disperses back into the Maelstrom or is born again in a new body. I’m sure you see where this is going. Though this concept doesn’t really lead to or resolve any direct conflicts, it’s a huge source of melodrama for the ostensible protagonists, Glenn and Lenne. Personally, I found CE’s interpretation of reincarnation and rebirth to be a bit trite, pedantic even, as it painstakingly drags out a central message of people being defined by more than just their memories or their legacy, but their actions. It’s a nice message and there are some interesting gameplay flourishes deployed in its delivery, but the way it really only serves to drill into a single character while leaving the rest of the party out to dry for an extended period soured me on it somewhat. After all, the game’s title is drawn from this notion that a person can be “chained” by their cycles of rebirth, but characters undergoing a reincarnation are treated with kid gloves, warned that even knowing too much about past lives can give them (no joke) brain damage. So the traumatic episodes that ensue when they’re reminded that a past life, functionally a different person, did bad things, rings incredibly hollow to me.

There are bigger forces at play than character trauma of course, with hidden gods and alternate dimensions and doomsday balls of fire, so thankfully the main plot does escalate to more cathartic and impactful heights, but I found it doing so in spite of its cast more than because of it. Chained Echoes has a few instantly recognizable character archetypes making up its surprisingly large party members. The aforementioned Glenn and Lenne are pretty standard protagonists, starry eyed and hopeful, uncompromising in manners of truth and justice, and so on and so forth. Victor is the staple “old man” party member, though here ACTUALLY an old man, being from a race of beings that can live for multiple centuries. He reminds me of Trails in the Sky’s Olivier, a playful bard with secrets aplenty, but with far less charisma. Robb accompanies and protects the princess-on-the-run Lenne, but if Victor lacks charisma Robb is an absolute charisma vacuum. There’s the lizard person Ba’Thraz who uses collective pronouns (ex: “we” instead of “I”) and can magically control metal, but who’s personality comes to be more fleshed out by their relationship to Victor and another character suffering from the same mysterious curse that they are. The core cast as I see it ends with Sienna, my personal favorite both in plot and mechanics, she’s a capable rogue and a woman of action who can just deal outrageous amounts of damage in combat.

What’s truly outrageous is that Chained Echoes has 12 recruitable party members, most of which are added in the back half of the game, and some of which are entirely optional. Unfortunately I didn’t find many of these other characters satisfying mechanically or interesting narratively, they’re given so little room to breathe and there aren’t many incidental scenes to build much of a report with other characters. The closest one rises to main cast status is the required character Amalia, a healer with some decent utility who is best defined by two traits: they have a dog, and they are a tsundere. One of the few prolonged “fun” scenes unrelated to the politics of the plot is driven by her and it’s certainly welcome in the midst of the relentless apocalyptic melodrama you get from the main quest.

For me the most notable divergence Chained Echoes makes from the JRPG formula is its overall plotting structure, which could trace back to its German origins, which eschews typical episodic arcs in favor of a growing number of concurrent plot threads. There are of course setpieces with build up, raising stakes, and climaxes, but the events within blend together more than they punctuate a given plotline. Perhaps a better way to put it is that I would walk away from the events following a big boss fight in CE thinking “well I know that now” whereas in most JRPGs I would be thinking “now that’s been dealt with”. Though these thankfully never get too overwhelming, it would have been nice to have small character summaries or plot notes in the journal section.

From a zoomed out perspective the plot structure sorta resembles FF4, if you squint, there’s a virtually on-rails section introducing everything, and a slowly widening set of open world options that culminate in doomsday threat. But Chained Echoes widens up quite early on, and its plot is mostly concerned with battles against a certain corrupt king while slowly unraveling the cosmic mysteries underpinning the workings of the Maelstrom. To be clear, I quite liked this progression, and I was engaged in the story to the very end, but there is a noticeable lack of big memorable moments since things happen at steady clip rather than over a set of contained arcs.

Ultimately, I don’t think Chained Echoes is as good as (and yes, this is unfair), say, Chrono Trigger, but I think it’s incredibly impressive that I can entertain that conversation. More importantly, I get the feeling Chained Echoes doesn’t WANT to be better than Chrono Trigger, or any JRPG that is so clearly reveres. Developer Matthias Linda clearly set out to make THEIR idea of a great JRPG, and their passion and creativity shines through in so much of the result. If this is the kind of game they can make on their first outing then I eagerly await what they have in store next, either direct sequel or something totally different, but regardless the fact that CE can come out and do so well underscores the kind of amazing era of gaming we find ourselves in, one that stands on the shoulders of the titanic titles that laid so solid a foundation for the Japanese RPG.

Chained Echoes is exactly what you expect it to be. A retro indie game, trying its own take on classic JRPGs from back in the day. In my opinion, it actually succeeds in it, but it just doesn't reach greatness, like the games that inspired it.

The thing that you'll immediately notice when starting Chained Echoes is its charm. It oozes style and nostalgia with its beautiful graphics and solid environmental design. It's definitely a treat, if you like games like this. Characters and their animations are cool to watch, the monsters are quite creative, bosses look threatening, the world looks beautiful, dungeons are cool and the overworld map is just perfect.

In this beautiful world, I loved how fast and freely you and your armor can move, how quick you can explore the fairly linear areas and just how well each event is paced. You pick up things pretty easy and they never overwhelm or stay long enough to bore you. I also liked the focus on the main quest and how they handled the few sidequests you can find. More open world games and RPGs should take notes from this design.

On top of that, you have a very fun and engaging combat. It's quick, clean of grinding, the overdrive system keeps you on your toes and the freedom to swap characters and improvise during battles, creating your own strategy, was very neat. You can see how well the combat works during boss fights. They're not only epic, but require some thinking in order to win, while maintaining everything fast and fun.

It comes at a cost though. Chained Echoes is a very easy game, with very few good challenges. It manages to wipe the need of grinding, maintaining the flow with easy encounters. I actually don't mind it too much, but I know some people will not enjoy it. Also, while dungeons are cool to explore, some of the gimmicks are a hit or miss. They're good, for the most part, but some of them, like the final one, can get really annoying.

My biggest gripe with the game is something that I actually enjoyed. The story. It is good, but it's not great. It's engaging, but also sort of forgettable. The writing is mostly at fault here, along with how I just couldn't develop a good bond with almost any character or villain. It's all thrown at you. Motivations are shallow, with its issues being resolved with ease, sometimes. And that's a shame, because it actually reaches epic proportions at times, but it never really breaks the bubble of just being a decent story. Good, yes, but I wish it were much much better.

Soundtrack disappointed me as well. There are some really good songs in the game, but not a lot them. It's mostly repetitive, failing to immerse you in parts of the story. One other thing that kept distracting me, this time in regards to gameplay, was character progression. This type of leveling up system just did not work for me, as I felt I wasn't getting stronger or improving at all, just learning new things, often not as useful as who I was in the beginning. Leveling weapons and armor suffer from the same problem, since using crystal, upgrading them and then having to do it again and again once you get a different item just didn't cut it for me.

But, at heart, Chained Echoes is a good game! One that mostly succeeds in doing what it sets out to do. It did manage to scratch the itch for a good "classic" JRPG, even if just a little.

So if you really want to play FF6, but not replay FF6, now we have a solution for you now!

It prides on modernising the RPG genre by subtracting the usual tedium on grinding and massive item usage but requires proper understanding character roles, synergy, momentum and equipment load outs in its punishing but fair turn based combat for success. Brilliant, multifaceted narrative that kept me guessing with its twists and turns with each new addition that is built on a world filled with the seemingly endless cycle of destruction, bloodshed and personal trauma. An overlooked but genuine diamond in the rough.

This was pretty disappointing. Sure the game is impressive for being done by a simple person but that doesn't really help when it is not that enjoyable to play. At its core Chained Echoes is a beautiful and great sounding turn based JRPG with an intriguing world. But there are so many unnecessary subsystems tacked on in terms of party composition and battle it devolves into tedium quickly. The overdrive system would be a fun boss gimmick but as a constant companion it makes random battles a slog. Crystals and equipment upgrades are not really interesting and just serve to bloat the inventary and introduce way too much menuing. Sienna is cool, the rest of the cast pretty bland and the plot felt held back by a stiff script. Overall the game could have used some editing in multiple places to make it shine since there is some great potential hidden within. I'll at least keep an eye out for the developer's next project.

To consider Chained Echoes as a "hidden gem" would be an understatement and does not do this game enough justice to show how much this title was under appreciated. After finally getting around to 100% this game even though I beaten this last year. I still consider Chained Echoes should've been contender for "JRPG" of 2022. It's just a shame it dropped at the near end of 2022, so it was under a lot of peoples radar. Many who have played it though, those people would agree that Chain Echoes beautifully pays homage to JRPG genre, where influences/easter eggs in a measured way, never allowed them to overshadow the game. Although in my opinion, this game felt like an anniversary to every great JRPG title over the decades and condense every idea that made those series great, into one game.

From the town building system that similar to that of Suikoden. To the names of characters, combat system and star level up system that shares resemblance to Chrono Trigger and Wild Arms. The game also uses some inspiration from Final Fantasy 6 & 12 for it's NPC designs, location designs and the reward system (reward board). Hell, even one of the post-game secret bosses (that's a Kickstarter reward design btw) shares inspiration of Seymour from Final Fantasy X, although it's probably paying homage to Chel from Okage: Shadow King.

As a die hard Xenoblade and (more importantly to my life growing up) Xenogears fan, I can not forget to mentioned how much I absolutely love the OST that give me a sense of reminiscence, especially when you enter in Rohlan Fields for the first time, heavily reminiscent of Xenoblade's plains in design and music. The Flower Fields of Perpetua seem to be strongly inspired of Satorl Marsh (one of my favorite locations) from Xenoblade as well. Let's not forget when you're roaming around the vibrant/uniquely different locations, Chain Echo also has pick-collectables, although unlike for Xenoblade series. These pick-ups are not necessarily important towards level/gear progression, but they do unlock "special deals" from merchants that will sell you bundles that can be a variety of things, like material, items and weapons that can help alleviate the burden on your wallet when buying gear or upgrading said gear. So there's less incentive to actually grind but more encouragement to explore because of it. Which this game does an exceptionally good job "trimming the fat" by not having you to grind at all or as much. Unique Monsters are also present in this game too, some of which require a bit of RNG to spawn, but overall. Most of them spawn under certain condition that are never a hassle to get them to spawn, which is a huge plus.

What really caught my attention however, is how insanely similar the main characters/story points are from Xenogear. Right off the bat, the game starts off with the annihilation to a city and death of many people that feels similar to the destruction of lahan scene at the very start of Xenogear. That has Glenn (one of the main characters) over the course of the story, overcome the trauma and repercussion over his action that was out of his control and learn acceptance from it. Even to go far as to contemplate suicide. Despite the high-spirited/vibrant sprite-art aesthetic, this game does not shy away from darker tones that doesn't try to use edgy tones just for the sake of going "look at how dark this is, ain't it gritty?!!" but to have a realistic tone to the story. If you're a huge Xenogear fan, as you progress towards act 3 & 4, you'll really see how similar the plot points are to that game. You might even spot which one of the main character shares some resemblance to Elly as well.

Even back 2022, playing this was such a breath of fresh air. A combination of both traditional JRPG and modern quality of life implementation that made it such a joy to play through to the end. For example. You can retry battles right away without going back to a save point, run away from battles instantly and without fail and you can retain your super meter so you can easily farm limit breaks or whatever if you're having a tough time with a fight. Starting with a full super meter in every boss encounter so you don't need to run around for 10 minutes getting monsters to beat you in the face to build it up.
Aliment afflicting is so damn good and does what I wished most games does with status effects. By removing RNG. Each time you inflict an ailment, they gain a resistance to that ailment. Resistance (in this instance or from equipment, items, etc.) means that you avoid that many instances of the ailment. So, the first time you inflict Blind, you need to do it twice to inflict it again. Then three times. Then four and so on.
Since ailment effects are also predictable (Blind status means if an enmy does a doing physical attacks, they WILL always miss) means you can completely plan your actions. It also means you can hold your guaranteed blind/silence/inact attacks until you KNOW you need to avoid something. It's completely predictable and you can use it to your advantage.

During the game's development, the one thing that really had me overly excited to point of considering Chained Echoes a spiritual successor to Xenogears, was the Mecha battle system but it does indeed do some things that differentiate it from Xenogear's gears/fuel system, and that's "gear switching". A system that plays together with Chained Echoes overdrive system. Once you're in a mech, you have options to switch between three modes. Gear 1 lets use skills that consume less "MP" and reduces your overdrive meter, but Gear 2 consumes more "MP" but does more damage, as a result though, it increases your overdrive meter. While switching to Gear 0, disables you from using skills at all but it replenishes your "MP", not only that but doing this reduces the amount of damage you take greatly if you decide to defend. So you have a complex system of planning out when to go "all out" but also finding the right time to conserve "MP" and defend against team wipe moves while playing a constant tug-of-war with the overdrive meter that determines how much damage/heals you can dish out. Some people may hate this system or some will love it, but I absolutely love that more thought was put into the mecha combat than it just being attack/defend. It's a nice change of pace from the hectic and at times, nerve racking ground combat.

On that note, ground combat uses a sort of FFX-esque/Octopath Traveler CotC switching system where you can switch between front and reserve party members during battle. With characters and their abilities all feeling fairly unique, they all serve a defined roles which incentivizes team work and synergy around the implementation of the Overdrive system (located at the top corner of the screen during combat) that works like a thermometer for abilities, warning players when they overdo specific actions you'll not only deal less damage/heals but you could suffer even more damage as a result. The goal of Overdrive is to balance turn-based combat and encourage players to diversify their attacks by not brainlessly spamming OP skills. It's a really creative and a engaging system. Added by the fact that you regain full life after every battle, the gameplay is balanced around. So it removes the incentive of having to save money for HP/MP items outside of battles like most JRPG. So it always keeps back-to-back combat engaging at all times. By far one of the most creative JRPG combat system of recent years.

Love it or hate the game (for it's ending), Chained Echoes was clearly made by someone who truly loves and understood the genre. I'm grateful that I backed this game years back and got to play something like this in my lifetime, if you're a hardcore fan of the genre (or Xenogears), absolutely give this game a try. It's quite the experience.

Behold the second coming of Chrono. Blah blah love letter blah blah golden era jrpg blah blah. Jokes aside, while the game is clear about its inspirations, it does stand on it's own without resorting to nostalgia. It masterfully ticks all the box of what makes a great rpg. The story is really well-paced and starts strong. The characters are interesting and have their own arc inside the story. There are interactions between the party members that adds to the flavour of the game. The battle system allows for challenging encounters that actually needs strategy (buffs and debuffs really makes the difference). The graphics and sounds are also amazing. Overall, this is a incredible experience and a must-play to every rpg fan.

Chained Echos:

Ich habe mich aufgrund der Lobpreisungen über Chained Echos endlich wieder über ein RPG gefreut.

Keine Ahnung, wo dieses Lob herkommt.
Es macht viele Dinge anders, aber so vieles so falsch.

Kommen wir zu den guten Dingen:
-Kein stummer Hauptcharakter!
-Man läuft wirklich flott.
-Kämpfe kann man vorspulen (wenn auch nicht schnell genug.. aber immerhin)
-Der Soundtrack ist nicht schlecht.
-Das Questboard ist innovativ.
-8 Leute gleichzeitig im Kampf, ohne Nachteil einwechelbar.

Und großer Gott, jetzt kommen wir zu den Negativpunkten:
-Man bleib ständig überall hängen.. das Spiel sieht aus, als wäre es dem RPG-Maker entsprungen und dennoch hakt und eckt man überall an.
-Man wird fürs Kämpfen nicht belohnt. Wenn man den Gegner nicht gerade für eine Quest braucht bringen die Gegner nur SP.
Meine Skills waren aber bereits nach wenigen Stunden voll aufgelevelt... wieso dann noch kämpfen?
Und noch schlimmer: Man wird nach jedem Kampf voll geheilt. Bedeutet: Ist der Kampf nicht auf Messersschneide, ist der Kampf egal. Warum soll ich auf den Bildschirm schauen, anstatt 20x normal anzugreifen, wenn ich weiß, dass ich den Gegner eh schaffe? Das klingt auf dem Papier nett, aber nimm jede Relevanz.
-Waffen upgraden NERVT. Es dauer so lange, dann muss man die Edelsteine einzeln herausnehmen, in die neue Waffe einsetzen (wenn man sie transferieren kann, wurde es sehr gut versteckt) und dann muss man das neue Zeug ausrüsten... Ein Spiel, bei dem man sich NICHT auf bessere Ausrüstung freut.. das hatte ich noch nie.
-Die Dialoge sind richtig schwach. Es wird grundsätzlich nur über Storygetriebene Sachen gesprochen und das auch nur in sehr wenigen Worten. Über die Charaktere erfährt man nichts, nebensächliche nette Dialoge gibt es nicht. 2 Charaktere sind eingesperrt: Zeit für ein 4 Augengespräch? nein.. nach 2 Zeilen ist es wieder vorbei. .. wenn man keine Texte schreiben will.. wieso macht man ein RPG? .. wieso? mach ein Call of Duty, da interessiert es keinen.
-Es ist voll mit Klischees. Endbosse, die nur alle töten wollen, weil sie eine bessere Welt wollen, Leute die einen verraten, aber schon 100 bessere Momente dafür hatten, was absolut keinen Sinn macht.
-Mapabschnitte sind ständig willkürlich blockiert, damit man erst später hinkommt.. (das ist der falsche Weg.. warum? ich bin ne Stunde auf der Map rumgeflogen, aber den Weg darf ich jetzt nicht gehen?)
-Die Story ist nicht schön erzählt. Ständig Vorshadowing auf den nächsten Verrat eines Mitspielers, ständig sieht man die sinnbefreite Planung der Gegenspieler, während die Protagonisten im Dunkeln tappen und damit mehr Spannung erleben als der Spieler.
In einer Massenschlacht werden eigene Einheiten nur deswegen geopfert, weil man zu viel Game of Thrones geschaut hat.
- Wann immer die Gruppe getrennt wird und dann wieder zusammenfindet.. was unnötig oft passiert, ist die Gruppenzusammenstellung durchgewürfelt und man muss sie wieder händisch anpassen..

Wieso wird so ein Spiel so hoch gehypet? Plappert man den ersten Testern stumpf nach oder hat man selbst erst 3 Videospiele gespielt?
Jeder Suikodenteil ist besser als Chanied Echos.

Chained Echoes, 2022's biggest surprise for me. This was my "first" JRPG ever, at the time I had only played 20-30 minutes of Chrono Trigger and FFVI in the past, got bored and never touched them again... And I'm not sure if Pokémon or Fire Emblem count as JRPGs (Maybe Fire Emblem does, but it's not traditional like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy). I found out about it while checking what games were joining game pass. It looked nice, it was very well regarded, and I was looking for an excuse to play a JRPG. And what a journey it was.

The story is great, with some "WTF" moments, unexpected twists and, without spoilers, a bittersweet ending that leaves an opening for more. And hopefully there is more, since the worldbuilding is very well done, and present enough to leave you curious to what's happening in other regions of Eldrea. The whole setting is actually very interesting, it being a mix of fantasy with advanced steampunk technology (Varying from flying ships, staples to such genre, to literal Iron Man-esque armors, bordering full blown mechas). All the characters are interesting, and while some aren't likable at first, you'll get to know them enough to understand (And change) them.

For a game to get me hooked into it, it needs good gameplay. My previous experiences with JRPGs were poor, so I didn't have high expectations when it came to enjoyment, but I was willing to try anyway for reasons already mentioned. And luckily, the battle system is great, with many different mechanics, some familiar to JRPG fans such as status effects and attack orders, and some new such as the overdrive bar, aggro system and sky armor. And while it is rich in content to learn, it's not at all overwhelming and hard to understand, making my experience as a beginner much better. Also, get ready because it's gets a lot harder later on, there's a big difficulty spike on the second half of the game.

This game is an audiovisual treat. The 16-bit art style is gorgeous and colorful, full of details everywhere, but to me, even better than the visuals was the OST. The game's soundtrack is superb, a lot of times I literally stopped what I was doing just to listen to the songs. Every single one of them is fitting to where it plays, there's a lot of variety to them and their themes, and they get into your head easily.

While I don't have any major complaints to make about the game, there are a few nitpicks of mine not allowing me to give this game a 10/10. The crystal system was kinda useless, it didn't do much for me for most of the game and it felt like a gacha roll every time I got new crystals. I also think that there should've been more side quests, and while the ones that were there were almost all great, I still would've liked some more. Another thing, maybe a little more variety in equipment would be better, which if I had to guess unfortunately wasn't a thing because it counted on the crystal system to make weapons and armor feel and act different. Speaking of weapons and armor, maybe next time same weapon types could have different sprites, instead of just being stat upgrades.

My last "two" (I don't know if the last one counts) issues with this game are accessibility issues: To me, it felt like the characters moved really fast. I did get used to it, but it can be a little dizzying at first, maybe making them a tad slower would fix it. And the other problem is localization, with the only languages available being English, German (Dev's native language, makes sense), French and Korean (...Why?). I feel like at least Japanese should've been there too, all things considered, and I would also recommend Spanish and Portuguese (My native language) to be added. I know it's a niche title and the costs may be worse than it's worth, but in cases like this at least allow for community translations.

Overall, I'd recommend this game to pretty much everyone, be them new to JRPGs like me or veterans. A fantastic journey that took me 70-80 hours, so you better get some spare time to play. Too bad it was overshadowed by other games, and released after the awards season.

SCORE: 9/10

Jogo extremamente injustiçado.

Na minha opinião, Chained Echoes da de 10 a 0 em Sea of Stars, e ele acabou não tendo o reconhecimento que merecia.

A história pode não ser a das mais inovadoras, mas ela quebra a espectativa em muitos momentos. Você acha que sabe pra onde ela vai, mas ela acaba embarcando em um rumo totalmente diferente. E é por isso que ela consegue te prender do começo ao fim.

O combate é em turnos, mas o sistema de Overdrive dá um elemento estratégico nas batalhas. Ou seja, não basta executar os comandos, precisa pensar antes de fazer.

Os personagens são muito bem construídos e carismáticos, cada um tendo seus dramas e traumas pessoais.

A pixelart do jogo é linda e os cenário extremamente coloridos. A maioria dos inimigos possuem um design extremamente marcante, principalmente os bosses. A trilha sonora é espetacular.

O jogo não é perfeito, é claro. A dificuldade pode ser extremamente frustrante em alguns momentos. Você vai suar muito em lutas contra alguns bosses da história. E em alguns pontos, o jogo acaba exagerando demais nas homenagens e referências que acaba sendo até parecido demais com as fontes que o inspiraram.

Chained Echoes é fruto de um trabalho de uma pessoa que amava RPGs e usou todas as referências que tinha no desenvolvimento. Tem sim seus problemas, mas eles são pequenos perto das qualidades do jogo, e infelizmente merecia ter sido comentado mais.

O melhor JRPG, que ironicamente, não foi feito por um japonês.

Não sou de escrever reviews, mas neste caso me senti na obrigação, pois apesar de ser um dos melhores jogos que joguei nos últimos anos, não teve o reconhecimento que merece.

Esse jogo é tudo de bom, desde a história que mistura diversos elementos sci-fi com a fantasia (semelhante ao Final Fantasy IX), até os personagens carismáticos e o combate super divertido. Ou seja, dá pra ver que a as pessoas responsáveis pelo projeto fizeram tudo com muito carinho e pensando sempre na satisfação do jogador. Inclusive, consertando diversos problemas frequentes nos JRPG's, pois em Chained Echoes:

➛ Não precisa ficar curando a equipe toda vez após um combate, pois você começa todas as batalhas automaticamente com a vida e a mana cheias, deixando todas as lutas à mercê de suas próprias habilidades e não no uso de items.

➛ Não há qualquer tipo de "𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑚" ou "𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔", pois os personagens evoluem através dos grimórios recebidos das batalhas importantes, e portanto, você não precisa ficar derrotando os inimigos repetidamente.

➛ A dificuldade é justa e balanceada, permitindo que você escape das batalhas com 100% de chance TODA VEZ, para que você sempre consiga reagrupar e tentar novamente.

Portanto, por favor joguem esse jogo incrível e vamos apoiar os desenvolvedores, principalmente Mathias Linda, para que façam cada vez mais projetos nesse estilo!