Echoes of a golden age

It almost feels like bringing something back from the past decades of video game history is considered "retro" now a days and almost always seem derogatory in copying the originals but I never really understood the sentiment. The beauty of video games is that they always build off each other and present new ideas especially when it's a genre that has been found lacking in recent decades. Turn based JRPGs still exist of course but always in the form of more low budget titles from big publishers because they're really cheap to make now with no real passion put behind them other than a few projects here and there. I was always eyeing the scene for the independent scene to make a JRPG reminiscent of the SNES-PSX days and while there are some great turn based JRPGs made by indie developers already, I always felt they lacked the traditional ambitious "adventure" feel that made the games we loved what they are today. Chained Echoes comes as a pleasant surprise for me, a heartfelt and passionate ode to what loved and defined us and recreating the feeling that almost seems lost after a while.


One of the game's greatest strengths and one you'll notice immediately is the pacing of the whole adventure. The game starts off very strong and fast which is something you aren't really used to as JRPGs tend to have pretty slow starts as it is and this alone pulls you in pretty quick. It slows down a little in the middle and the pacing always varies if you decide to do side content in the game but the overall journey I would say is just bordering on excellent. It tries to have that ambitious narrative with a lot of threads and intrigue and for the most part succeeds barring a few things that are left unexplained unless you do the side content. The characters are good here too with interesting backstories that I actually felt for even though I kinda wish there was more content or even a side quest relating to each party member to flesh them out a bit more. One qualm I do have is with the game's writing though as it really really dry here and leaves very little to the imagination. I feel like a game's writing helps you able to imagine the characters talk when there is no external voice and dry writing makes you imagine them doing a very bad performance at least from my perspective. I know some people don't like the flowery writing a la FFT or Tactics Ogre but I always felt like it gave more emotion to what's going on and the ideas and concepts of Chained Echoes are done pretty well without being blatant about it.


I could talk about the battle system in this game for days if I could, I have a few minor annoyances with it but it's overall amazing and really challenging that makes you think about every move. There's a lot going on in a regular battle to keep track of and it almost feels like a tug of war with how one of the main mechanics work with the Overdrive Bar. Think of the Overdrive Bar as a momentum meter and something to keep you in check that rewards diverse play over boring strats as doing so will put you into a zone where you do more damage, take less damage and halves TP cost while being in the overheat zone makes you take a lot more damage and things can go really bad really quickly. Each character has their unique moveset and passives that let you build them however you want to an extent with the addition of class emblems that augment your stats and give you new actions a character would've never learned otherwise. Only having eight skill slots which is your bread and butter throughout the whole game is gonna feel really limiting but this also keeps in mind that you can also swap party members on the fly essentially having eight on the field at any given moment and the game rewards you for doing so too with a small reprieve of "cooling". With this said, there's no overleveling in Chained Echoes and there's little reliance on stat bloat as obtaining the resources for growth are mostly story based so you'll always be at a range of where the game wants you to be. The other form of fighting is fighting in these cool mechs called Sky Armors and I kind of wish they were more realized in how you can customize them. The moves you learn in them are completely up to the two weapons you equip with no way to mix and match which I would have loved considering after deciding the pair of weapons I wanted on each that I didn't bother with the others as much. I only got a little burnt out on the combat when some encounters were unavoidable despite having no random encounters and after I got the skills I already wanted on my characters that every fight almost played out the same barring bosses and every grimoire shard became less and less important but the boss fights do enough that I still have a strong positive impression of the gameplay.


It's not a JRPG without dungeons and a world map as you'll go to a lot of locations as well that are very varied in visual design and in traversal. From the cold vertical mountains to the horizontal archipelago, there's a lot to do and see outside of combat in terms of bolstering your strength. Finding recruits in the world giving you bonuses, side quests that reward you excellent rewards and even new party members, and a reward board that feels like a stamp card that rewards you for completing specific tasks in the world in a chain so to speak and it's also how you'll get most of your class emblems and extra grimoire shards when you need them which gives a much needed reward system to interact with the world a bit more other than the initial first time through. You eventually get the ability to fly over the zones instead of running which lets you explore even more areas so it's always a good idea to return after a while.


I will say the work done for the sprites are pretty good here and really shine with the bosses and enemies later on while being a colorful world just to look at in general. The soundtrack is something I didn't expect to be this good at all, it has some traditional orchestral tracks that feels at home with a game of this genre but it also has some tropical ass strings in my favorite area theme, an eerie and serene theme going through fields of flowers and ash. The battle themes are pretty great with my favorite one being the one where guitars are just shredding as you fight in literal space. Huge props to the composer for this soundtrack. The dude did not have to go this hard and I'm glad he did.


Funny how I always try to keep my reviews shorter but for JRPGs, it feels like word vomit and I can't ever seem to stem it but I love the genre so much and I can easily tell the people that made this game love it as much as I do. It goes without saying that if you're a fan of JRPGs that this is a huge recommendation and I hope it doesn't go overlooked by the popular masses because it doesn't have a Square Enix or Atlus logo on it. Keeping the genre of fighting literal gods alive. Video games are extremely difficult to make and especially solo endeavors but it makes it that much more special when you take years to craft something in hopes of shining bright to the ones that shaped you growing up. Congratulations to Matthias Linda because your title shines just as bright.