I do think that the 0.42 update was able to drop a few bombshells while maintaining the whole mystery aspect to it. It was, for the most part, able to put things into a new perspective so we have additional answers surrounding some of the more supernatural elements of the story, while simultaneously not answering every question, and putting even more puzzles forwards for us to delve into in the future. In a way, this is good, as we can be certain that future updates aren't just going to tell us what we already know, but actually provide us with more revelations that will serve to tie up any loose ends, which definitely manages to create excitement for the future updates of Echo. Unfortunately, this route's conclusion is quite flawed imo. That’s fine though, as no ending can ever be truly perfect, especially with a story that has many layers like Echo. However, the worst part, at least for me, is that one of the ending’s biggest issues could have been avoided if a certain technical aspect of the VN was omitted.
The ending would have been better (in my opinion) if it DID NOT end with the choices at the final screen, which imply there exists more beyond the initial ending for this route, when this doesn't seem to be the case at all. If this is actually true, and there isn’t any additional ending here, then the final two choices should have been completely cut, as they carry no weight, and just serve as means to confuse the player, who then feels inclined to see if there is some secret by choosing to “wait a while”, which, in my experience, does nothing. I do think that this has had a detrimental impact on the ending for this route, because while it isn't perfect (there are still many unanswered questions, but I imagine these will be addressed later down the line in another route, and as said previously, this helps to keep it mysterious until then), these two choices suggest that there is more to this route when there is apparently not, which unfortunately, deflates the experience and makes it quite anticlimactic, as the player is unable to fully process the ending, as their mind is immediately driven to these choices, which makes them wonder if there is more beyond what they have just witnessed as the conclusion, only to realise that there isn’t.
Now, this visual novel does take a unique approach to player agency, in that the choice system is occasionally used to reflect the character's mental state and the slippage of their sanity, which can have some dramatic impact when the player is greeted with choices that are railroaded to an outcome that seems to go against their character - e.g. the "Condemn..." choices where there is only one option, despite being presented with multiple, and all of which show a dark side to the character - which do quite well to emphasise the whole possession/hysteria themes within the story. However, there does come a point where an approach can interfere with the experience, which will ultimately undersell what has been crafted - in this case, it is the inclusion of the meaningless choices at the very end. I do think that this has undersold the conclusion to Flynn's route, as it does naught but create an initial, and unnecessary confusion, whereby the player’s focus is drawn to the idea that this route hasn’t yet ended, and that there is more to be seen, which upon learning to not be the case, prevents the player from being able to fully process the impact of the actual ending, as they are left wondering what purpose the choices they are presented with are supposed to serve, which does sour the experience slightly as it is pretty underwhelming when nothing seems to happen, and the player is left wondering why that is the case.
Ok I just realised that this is a pretty long winded response, but this is my interpretation as to why the ending to Flynn’s route was a bit more confusing than I felt it should have been. I hope this all makes sense lmao.
Regardless,
the devs are clearly very
passionate
as a lot of love has gone into this project, and it is really good to
see a VN that is not stuck in a limbo, and is regularly
being
updated to the point where some conclusions for various arcs are finally
appearing! I do look forward to seeing how everything finally pans out! :) Until then, it's just the waiting game.