Come morning: I study the blade.. to become one with steel is the goal
By day: I tend to my cactus, a gift from my wife. First I water, then I encourage growth by chants.
Afternoon approaches: if I’m not feeling up to levitating bear plushies.. I take a nap, I need the stamina to study the blade
Night falls: I confide in Sakura as we sit by the balcony lit by the moonlight
…It’s peak

“Surrounded by walls, all I knew was the sky above me and the mud beneath my feet.”

Chained echoes is an ambitious indie jrpg inspired by some of the stable classics of the snes and psx era. Stated by Matthias Lind(the only sole developer for the game for the most part) the main influences being Xenogears, Suikoden II, Terranigma, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy VI. A setting that mixes fantasy with steampunk and sci-fi; envision; Mechs meet magic. All of this sounded fantastic to me leading up to release that I was almost worried it was too good to be true, despite everything I seen about the game disputing otherwise. Well after spending 60 hours to reach full completion of the game I can ecstatically confirm it is indeed as magical as it sounds.

The gameplay chained echoes has to offer is unique in a lot of ways; the game is simply brimming with all types of mechanics that tie into exploration, tactical depth, party formation, and even the way you purchase and sell. Focusing first on the character customization chained echoes ditches the traditional level system and replaces it with skill upgrading and class oriented investments. Each character is given a unique role in which they fill in an unnamed set class that determine the action skills and passive skills they can obtain throughout the game. Rather than gaining EXP from a battle you instead gain SP and for boss fights you additionally gain a grimore shard. Skills slowly gain SP from using them in battle but you eventually rack up stored points so you can speed up the process for some of the skills you don’t use as much. Grimoire shards are used to unlock more skills as well as leveling up your stats. Additionally to the skills only each character can learn, you can find class emblems which not only give a nice stat boost, but also allow anyone who has it equipped to eventually learn that skill when the moves are maxed. Due to this thought out well polished system there is really no grinding at all as you can explore semi freely at the start and as act 2 opens you can go wherever you want granted you have the ability and skill to do so. Battles are split between two types: on foot and sky armors. On foot you’re presented with a meter called the overdrive system. It is color coded between orange(regular reciprocated damage on both ends), green(taken less damage and deal more), and red (receives more damage and deal less). Every action by the player, and by the enemies, influences the bar. A skill type pop up when reaching green will show up that will allow you to lower the bar as well as expending your special move that charges after actions also lowers it. On foot you’re able to command a set of 4 characters while also having the ability to swap those in the back. This allows many different combinations since you can easily access 8 characters within a battle. Sky armor combat is a little different but I won’t be speaking on that and I’ll leave it as a surprise. HP and SP are automatically refreshed after every seamless overworld encounter which encourages the constant use of expending skills. The default difficulty for the game is honestly pretty perfect for the most part in my opinion. Throughout the entire game I found myself trying to strategize and use any tactical means necessary especially in boss fights. If you find the game too challenging or easy there is a custom difficulty option available from the start that can raise or lower certain things like the overdrive bar. The exploration between each area throughout the world map is fantastic since there’s a decent amount to do. Each area consistent of loose orbs that are categorized as loot. Pickups which are used only for selling which will net you some things such as materials for upgrading gear and gear itself. Additionally there’s buried treasure, and hidden areas as well. There’s a lot more to exploring and other mechanics than this such as unique monsters that appear under conditions but I’ll leave the rest as something the player themselves can experience.

The backtracking tunes attached to this adventure are really something special. You can clearly hear the direction they were envisioning from the description prior to the games release and they really nailed it. Marianukroh was able to capture that magical nostalgia those legendary osts that the golden era of jrpgs had we all hold dear. While the game itself doesn’t have a huge variation of battle tracks there’s tons of area themes and event tracks. Quality over quantity was definitely the goal and man is it quality. It’s hard to pick my favorite since I genuinely enjoyed every single track this game presented. To list some; the Flower Fields of Perpetua is definitely one up there, as well as one of the more serious toned boss themes “Death Approaches”, and I cannot leave out the extremely suspensive “Down the Corridor of Rustling Swords” that is played between some transitions. I highly recommend if you’re unsure about the game you at least check out some of the music, it’s glorious.

Chained echoes is at glance a product made by a lad who just loves jrpgs with no shame wearing their influence on their sleeve. There’s countless Easter eggs, references, and callbacks throughout this 30-40 hour jrpg. Some might say the more classics listed above you’ve played, the greater your experience it’ll be, and I’d have to agree. Your journey takes place on the continent of Valandis, a land that has suffered from war spanning over around a century. Peace finally seems like a realistic outcome when something happens to completely shatter even the hope of the idea. Magic is pretty much a product of the past, with only a select few being able to use such sorcery. The main focus is on three kingdoms engaging in a gruesome conflict that holds no punches and sparing no respect for your emotions. The story is split between 4 arcs, the first being the longest narrative wise but things open up at the second where there’s loads of content that’ll have you busy. The writing for the game itself has a really nice contrast of being humorous and unexpectedly dark. Between enemy designs, witty dialogue & puns, as well as just some random event within a sidequest or title there will be some chuckles and feel good laughs. On the other side of the coin you have some pretty gruesome scenes that took a turn further than I thought they would. The game is rated M for a reason and I really wasn’t expecting it to push it to the point where the rating itself was definitely warranted.

There is really so much to offer, especially if the snes and psx era is something you hold special to you. Despite being a major throwback to those times, the game still feels widely ahead of it with its modern integration while still sticking to close that classic formula that blends together into what I’d consider a new classic. Even with obvious blood of its predecessors being out in the open exposed for the player to see, chained echoes manages to set its self apart from the rest and thrive as its own product. Expectations are always high when you see a piece of media that feels like it was really made for you. But the true magic is when the experience you were hoping for not only smashes those expectations, but you find yourself desperately trying to savor every moment you have because you know eventually you’ll have to say goodbye. I was dreading the moment the credits rolled and I’d have to look at the title screen in awe, but when I did I can’t say I wasn’t satisfied. Thank you Matthias Lind and Eddie Marianukroh you’ve truly created something special. One life is more than enough, as long as you live it to the fullest…

Tenchi Sōzō(meaning ‘The Creation of Heaven & Earth’); released in 1995 Japan(later to become Terranigma in Europe) captivates a world everyone should experience. The best way I could describe this game is an rpg hidden within a lesson.
Terranigma presents to you a rich storyline, an ever changing alluring world, and a small handful of characters that are bound to be on your mind. I found out about this game through an article which had an overwhelming amount of positive things to say about it overall. I then began to look more into this game to see if this was an unpopular opinion, and to my surprise anywhere I searched this game I found some type of praise pertaining to it. Out of mostly curiosity and just pure interest about what made people love this game so much I decided to dive into Quintet’s work. This review is going to be very vague because I have to choose my worlds carefully, but I do hope this paints the picture for what to expect.

Ark, a mischievous young man living in Crysta, is awoken from nightmares as his childhood best friend Elle peers over his shoulder. After talking to the locals of your hometown and making amends for causing so much trouble the previous day.. you’re pressured into bursting open a door you were strictly prohibited from touching. A serious of events unfold regarding it and you’re given a straightforward but also vague goal: Resurrect the world.
Unfortunately due to most of the magic this game has to offer I don’t want to go too much into the storyline this game has, that’s something the player should experience themselves as it will make a difference. The narrative direction this game goes with is rather ambitious and definitely impactful. By the end of the game I couldn’t help but reflect on how the world is currently and how so many people could learn something precious from this. “People’s happiness cannot be measured by material possessions.” One of my favorite lines from an NPC within the game. An obvious statement that I’m sure many of us know, but sometimes we forget.

“I worry about how much light from electricity has changed our lives. It may have stolen the warmth like a candle's flame from human souls."

The characters of Terranigma are scattered. What I found very interesting in the approach of this rpg is the way Quintent handled the “main cast” that’s throughout the game. You’re not really particularly focusing on a group of characters, it’s the NPC’s in general scattered around the world that bring this game to life. That being said there is some that reoccur that you do see time to time. Even with the cast being scarce I couldn’t help but care for the world in general this game built. Going to various places on the map discovering areas and learning different things. This game is seriously filled with a diverse amount of culture that I couldn’t help but appreciate.

The gameplay is split between two segments; dungeons that present puzzles to solve while also slaying enemies in the process and discovering/exploring areas around the map while also integrating what feels like a series of side quests. You have 5 attack options when your spear is permitted for use; A standard jab, a series of multiple jabs, a jump attack, a dash attack, and a jump dash attack. Very straightforward and easy in terms of controls but I did find it pretty fun especially when fighting the bosses. You also collect magirocks which you can then trade in with gems(games currency) for magic rings and pins that can damage enemies or give beneficial effects for the player. Unfortunately I didn’t find these all too useful and barely bothered with them aside from using it on the one infamous boss of this game. I did still think it was an interesting system, but imo it just didn’t feel worth bothering with. Puzzles in the dungeon were all surprisingly overall solid & engaging. I used to be a big Zelda fan and the puzzles within the game gave me nostalgia considering how entertaining they can become. The side quest/exploring segments are what you’ll be doing most of the game and thankfully I enjoyed them more than the dungeons! You’re going to be backtracking a decent amount in this game sometimes even going to the same area more than twice. I’m not a big fan of backtracking myself, but the way terranigma does it is incredibly rewarding. When you do have to backtrack most of the time the areas are usually not the same and you’ve given a straightforward purpose for doing so.

Terranigma’s ost is filled with versatility that ranges from dark toned ominous melodies to angelic soothing rhythms that fit the tones perfectly to match the areas they’re played in. My personal favorite is “Elle’s theme” to me it’s the most emotional piece heard throughout the game. It feels gentle but also gives me the vibe of heartbreak.

“The sky is crying, and the water is filthy.”

Overall I can’t say this game was anything less than impactful for me. The only issues I’d really nitpick with is the magic system and the way equipment is handled. They’re both really not a big enough deal to make harm to my overall view of the game but it just felt weak compared to everything else the game had going for it. Some armor and spears have special attributes to them that can either give you some type of bonus or some extra damage/effect to enemies. It sounds cool and a standard jrpg exploit weakness deal but really equipment, no matter what the benefits are, becomes pretty obsolete after you either find something better via exploring or just buying from the next area. Please give terranigma a try, I’m sure it’s something you’ll find interesting and worth your time!