I first heard of Echo Project from Studio Klondike/Orange Juice Dog's Astatos Kickstarter last year, and I have to say, I'm absolutely smitten with Echo (as well as Adastra and the Smoke Room).
I have to say, this, in all seriousness, has to be one of, if not, the best-written works I have ever read, and I'm not just talking about visual novels. All the characters are so genuine and flawed. I am astonished at how much work has gone into the writing. It has disturbed me, saddened me, and at several points, made me laugh out aloud as well. Absolutely remarkable.
As a gay furry who's a big fan of horror, Echo is everything I've ever wanted in an experience (well, except for a 'Golden Ending,' where everyone is happy and everything is resolved, but I know that's not what Echo is about).
If I was a richer man, I would definitely be pledging as much as I could for more and more works from Echo Project, but for now, I've been trying to tell as many people about these as I can.
...
And I kinda wanna watch Luche Lobo, too, if he's shirtless the whole time...
this story is so beautiful, tragic, heart-breaking. It brings tears to my eyes... there's certain beauty to such dysphoria, misery, melancholy, sorrow and the horror of despair.
what happens in echo... stays in echo... along with your heart that just broke there...
Hey~ This is the same guy from before and earlier I tried to download the game in my laptop but just like my phone's problem there have been some error and system said it's 'forbidden'. What does it mean?
I had no problems installing it in my Samsung tablet with Android 9. If the battery of my Alcatel phone with 6" screen and Android 7, didn't die. I could try in it.
A problem I had with others novels like Major/Minor and Lovers of Aether. Is that I never be able to do them work in none of my devices with Android 4. Only worked in my old Samsund tablet with Android 5.
Maybe I could try installing in my old Acer tablet with Android 4 too. I don't touch it in years. Since I only tried install stuff in my phones.
Excuse me but I need some help here...I'm new to this vn genre game and 2 months ago I'd downloaded it in my phone and I've finished the Flynn's route and I thought that was the 'end' of the game so I deleted it(and like I said I'm new)but when I tried to download the game again, I got some problems like it only download halfway through and then the system said that the download failed. I tried again multiple times but I still can't download it and it's stressed me out. Please help with this problem. Thank you Q~Q.
This game is incredible, incredible story and characters, extremely well made dialogues, I already finished Leo's route and now I'm starting the others, the story is so vivid that I was afraid of the characters meeting the creature, this game has so much potential. And for those of you who haven't yet donated, please donate, it really helps the developers.
Hello there, really a nice work. And recently I happened to read a book called"waterways" , written by kyell gold, at the same time playing this game. I'm wondering is there some connections between them. Cause I think their MCs are super similar.Otter and wolf (still think it as a red fox) in the game, while otter and red fox(yep) in the novel. And I think they have so much same characters. It made me so happy to both play and read😘
Played Leo's route and I was very angry and genuinely upset that I had to go on a walk, but now that I've cooled down, I appreciate the good ending because that's what both Chase and Leo deserve. They were in a toxic relationship, even from the start of it, and thus I think Leo deserves to be his own person rather than someone who obsesses over one guy. Chase fueled the fire so it wasn't helping anyone. While one can argue that they could've fixed it and grow as a couple, in which I will have to agree, that's just not the theme of the story. Maybe in another timeline? Hopefully? Please? If not I'm thankful this game exists. Thank you Echo Project and everyone who helped bring this game together!
I just played Flynn's route and the ending confused me so much. What the heck happened to Flynn? How did he become that... thing? I feels terrible and horrified at his ending. Sure he's a jerk but i don't think anyone deserve that fate and it only confused me further if it was just some hallucination...? Some kind of space and time loop that send "him" perhaps back to where TJ saw "him" and then that closet and worse is that possesion/madness thing at the end... I think i need a little time before i play the game again...
I found they added a Clarification text in Flynn Ending. In the version 0.43. But I have no idea where it is in the Android version. I don't even can load stuff from Help button in the Android 9.
This VN is really great, the one that really make me wanted to cry so hard ;-;
[Below from here contains spoiler, read ir at your own risk]
It's really sad tho to see that most of the ending is bad (i just played TJ's route, Leo's route, and now on the way Flynn's route).
I think i have some of unanswered question. Like, is it really Sydney that wrote the whole Treasure Hunting thing? Yeah it's almost impossible, and i really think that someone made it. Also i think this only happened in TJ's route (or did it happened again in another route?). And in TJ's route, Carl was found with the paper of treasure hunting. In Leo's route, Carl wasn't found with the paper, that means they was never found the real killer? (In TJ's route, it was said that TJ killed Sydney). I need to play all the route to figure it out
Also, the game really freakin' me out because the first route i selected was a bad end. In the TJ's route, Chase is obsessed. In the Leo's route, Leo is obsessed.
Is there really no true end? Only Leo's route when Chase ended with Kudzu has a screen said "The End" is it supposed to be true ending? (or atleast that is the event that most supposedly to be happened?)
Yeah after Flynn's route, i'm going to check Jenna's and Carl's. Hope to get the answer to my unanswered question.
Overall really great VN, i really thought that there were good ending, but maybe not
The treasure hunt was written by TJ. Chase and him feel guilty because they killed Sydney. The treasure hunt was a way for TJ to escape from his demon and a way to trap Chase in revealing that he is the one who killed Sydney.
I am confuse did TJ do this on purpose or was it a accident since. i don't know if they ever said it or not long time i played it. Then what really grind my gear is yeah what the heck is going on in Echo i mean in TSR we are getting why the hysteria started but not what the think is(so i hope the will be answere in cliff route).
Since is earn for closure i mean all bad ending i know it is a horro game but i would love to figure out what it is and how to counter it is this to much to ask.
Also i am sad for Sydney in Flynn route we get to know him and i am sad that he had to die.
Overall great game, amazing structer and pacing. It really prevents reading from being a chore unlike most projects of this style. leos route seams a bit forced though. The character interactions go from normal to out of character to contradicting previous interactions. I hope some story fixes are inorder to make it more cohesive.
Gonna keep it short (hopefully), one of my favorite part of the VN is the accuracy of the environment, yes echo is fictional but I have a vague idea of where it would be, as a local to the actual Pueblo I can vouch for the validity of the heat, the aridness, and how the characters react. Great VN keep the updates coming, I have a request, a selfish one at that, but maybe sometime in the distant future have an echo without the supernatual stuff, yeah? 10/10 either way
As someone who doesn't play VN's, I couldn't have predicted at all just how thoroughly this game gripped me and how invested I would become in these characters and their stories. Coming fresh from their other game Adastra; I found my expectations subverted at every turn, the layered narrative giving every route value and providing context and another piece of the puzzle to an overarching story, a far cry from the relatively straightforward and comfortable (by comparison) plot of Adastra.
I must stress that comfort isn't the kind of feeling you'll find with this story. Echo absolutely leans more on the psychological horror aspects rather than romance, I expected as much from what little I'd read about it, I didn't expect however how genuinely uncomfortable it would make me. Playing at night, alone and in the dark obviously helped greatly with immersion, but it's a testament to the writing how deeply it affected me with words and tension building alone when compared to most modern horror games. It wasn't as much in the way of expecting say, a monster to pop out for under my bed, but an overbearing sense of anxiety and uneasiness, that would often climax with distress, anger, and of course; sadness.
Speaking of, one route's ending hit me in a way few other fictional works have, leaving me so distraught I felt legitimately sick and had trouble sleeping that night. The other character routes aren't emotional cakewalks by any means, but those who have played the game likely know which one I'm referring to, with the information revealed therein recontextualising much of the story and greatly shifting your perspective on certain characters. I think it's a major achievement that depending on when you go through this route the kind of narrative you'll be getting can change significantly, though I personally see it as ideally being run through after a couple of the other ones.
Regarding other elements, from my limited exposure to VN's I think it is about what you can expect in regard to visuals, the character art is good and distinctive and the full illustrations, while sparse, are beautiful and accentuate important scenes. The music is also quite good and helps with building the atmosphere, I was actually surprised by the number of tracks in the game.
As far as criticisms go, apart from some minor typos sprinkled throughout the routes, I found certain parts of one route to be quite dragging and repetitive, and for one of the decisions that could lock you into a bad end to be essentially an arbitrary coin toss kinda sucked. The same route narratively is also probably the weakest, as it deals with a background plot to the town that while interesting, is much less emotionally involved for the characters than the other routes. There is good character development in this one though. The next problem I have I admit is quite subjective and some may even see it as a strength, but I personally found the lack of closure in most of the routes to be quite disheartening. I thankfully finished the game (at least until Jenna's route finishes development) on the one route I found provided a real satisfactory conclusion, though maybe I was just desperate for a happy ending and what I got was as close to that as I could get. I do hope the devs consider creating a final route after they complete Jenna's, perhaps unlocked after you finish each route, if not for closure, but just so I can spend more time with these characters I've become ever so invested in.
Echo was an absolutely fantastic experience and I would totally recommend it, I'm very excited to check out this team's other work, and whatever they'll be creating down the line, they've definitely made my quarantine a little less dismal!
Play only if you like to have your expectations failed in worst ways possible. I'll explain what's wrong.
First of, the game starts as your typical romance game where you pick the character you like and start dating them. You will of course get attached to the character and want a happy ending with them. You probably assume that good choices on your end means good ending for you too right? Nope.
Now to the problems..
The game at some point stops the romance because the developers felt like it, and transform the game into a mainly horror game. This means crappy and cheap writing, everything being black (dark) to not have to use any money on backgrounds etc. All the supposed scary monsters are off screen in the dark.
At a certain time they decided it was a good time to make you hate the character you picked. They of course completely fail at this. Probably because they projected their own feelings too much into the game and fail to realize that lying about 1 thing doesn't completely break all relationships.
Then to make it worse, they force a new relationship on your character, with a Mary Sue character. Now if you're wondering what's a perfect character doing in a dark and gritty game where everyone is a hatable bastard.. It's a patreon supporter character!
In short, when you pick X, let's hope you're happy with ending up with Y.
And when you get through all the horrors hoping to be embraced happily ever after with your big wolf, game says no and gives you a twinky raccoon or something.
Next would be their communities. Super elitist isolated fan groups that shame anyone that didn't like the sudden turn to horror in the game.
All in all, it's the ONLY ever furry visual novel that I wish I could UN-PLAY. Every other game even though it wasn't that good, was a good time waster at least. But this one managed to make me feel worse after playing to the point of being pissed off about it.
My problem is that it actually started as a romance vn and I got that confirmed by the creator himself. The first few days where the romance starts seem to be made at that time and not reworked to fit the new only horror vn type so everyone who starts playing without knowing it's supposed to be a full on horror vn will be fooled.
Interesting that I got 8 downvotes without anyone giving a concrete example of where i'm wrong.
Another thing, horror doesn't mean no romance. There's password and blackgate out there. And that's what i expected, and I WAS right until they suddenly switched their tune and went full horror.
And no, a game that is supposed to make me feel like shit is a shit game. That's why i'm warning people not to play this game if they don't want to feel like shit and have their expectations of happy romance ruined.
Well, the characters aren't necesarilly dating you. They're dating Chase. A character that has there own opinions and problems, and that the other characters have history with, and an already established opinion of. This seems more like a story that we play no real part in, which, depending on the person, would probably be bad, but there are others (me) who don't mind it too much.
I was bummed about what happened to Leo honestly, but when I think about it, I'm kind of glad it wasn't an option. Realistically, a relationship like that just isn't healthy, and even worse is that it, while unlikely, is possible. A relationship like that being a "happy ending" could possibly be promoting such a relationship. Leo's unwavering obsession of Chase that was apparently happening even before the hysteria was a flaw that was truthfully there, but just hidden till it was exposed in the horror part of the game. Of course, it would have been fantastic for Chase and Leo to get back together after Leo lets go of his obsession and loves Chase less intensely but still just as passionately.
However, a lack of happy endings just seems like a theme of this game. Of course I'm sad about what happens to Leo in the end, what happens to all the characters (except Carl), but not everyone gets a happy ending irl either. It's the realism that's displayed in such a non realistic way that I kind of like about this game.
Oh, also, the romance portion is probably mainly just there to gain investment in a particular character and eventually all of them as you play their routes. I'll be honest, until I played each route, I didn't care about what happened to them, despite everything that they were going through.
In short, I guess, just try not being so attached to the characters. Just play and read the story and try making as much sense of it as you can. It's honestly a lot more fun that way.
Well I'm sorry that you had a bad time with this VN. I think the main character isn't supposed to be an audience surrogate, meaning you're not chase and you shouldn't put yourself in his shoes (which he doesn't wear any), that's why the main character has his own name and you don't get to name him. Chase has his own past, his own characteristics, compare that to the MC in blackgate, he has literally no defining feature that is why you can assume his place/role easily, or compare Chase to the MC in adastra, you do get to name him and, like in many VNs that do the same thing, he has very few to no characteristics, this is because he is meant to be the audience surrogate. Echo isn't like a dating sim, it is a story which you see unfold through chase's perspective. It doesn't just suddenly turn into horror, there is build-up throughout the game. Maybe the same things shouldn't be expected from every single VN, if the author intended to evoke sadness, fear, heartbreak and other emotions as such, I think they achieved it, and it isn't something easy to do at all. There is nothing wrong with what you think and feel, you earned it. Just try to understand what the author is trying to do and maybe go easy on them.
This game totally blindsided me, its amazingly good. The characters are well written, the twists and turns in the plot and development. Experience wise its on par with some of the best books, movies and story driven games I've ever played.
The Leo route also touched a nerve regarding my own ex, so kinda got extra emotional there, but damn....hats of to the creators, gonna check your other games next. :)
This game is so emotionally cruel and that is the reason of why it is so amazing. Seriously, I've never been so depressed that much for some fictional characters, specialy with Leo, I even fell in love with him but it hurted me a lot seeing how Echo literally fucked his mind to the point where his relationship with Chase went to shit.
I think I need some phsycological help or a talk with a friend since I am feeling as shit and also because I have the feeling that the game made me realize something about myself but unfortunately i am in quarantine because of the damn virus. Wish you could make more VNs like this.
So i choose Carl route. Hoped that Chase gonna help him become better and they gonna be like happily together, but then blah blah blah happened: blood, death, fire... Chase ended up alone; end game. Is there a some kind of good ending if so, please tell. Thank!!!
I just clicked on "More info" and found the game was only a few seconds per session. Seeing that this is currently build 45, either there are a LOT of instant ending routes. Or there was a typo lol
No, why? You're breaking my heart with Leo's ending AGAIN it could've just ended like Leo and Chase being happy together, I tried "it's over" option and it breaks my heart seeing him hurted like that
Either one is absolutely ridiculous, it's desperate and I couldn't imagine Leo's mental breakdown after seeing Chase died like that, please make them happy together, I beg you.🙏
Stories are thrilled! I really loved it, thanks for your good work!
I love this soundtrack. Been playing this on loop. Just gonna open ECHO sometimes to listen to it. Like everything is so fucked up yet this moment of Chase and TJ is so freaking comforting~
The experience was really great.I like Leo,but his ending wasn't as perfect as I thought.I hope he has a happy ending with chase.No matter which ending makes me feel desperate and sad in the end.So I hope they have a happy ending.
I got a little confused about the scene at last when Leo pull Chase down from the train and I really don't get that ending and what happen to Chase, Leo and their friends😥.
But the other ending in which Chase broke up with Leo is really shocked me. My heart does pain a lot thinking myself in the place of Chase and at the ending when they are saying goodbye to each other after all this, literally tears fells down from my eye automatically😭😭😭😭😭😭. I've never cried before playing a game and my heart still hurts and pain when I saw it over and over again😢😢😢. I don't understand why Leo didn't leave Echo and go with Chase, I am sure that they should have live together.
I can't get enough word to sharing and showing my pain and sorrow after playing last two scene. Thank you the creator, it's a really nice story. I hope that soon this game will have good ending where Leo and Chase living together away from ECHO and I will play it and relive my pain😢.
Leo stayed because he was under the influence of the hysteria that was going on. That could be explained by the fact that Leo was sure that Chase was with him in his room when in reality, Chase was taken to the mines by Brian. The "Chase" that Leo was talking to told him that they were gonna be together, that he would stay with him in Echo, but it was all in Leo's mind.
He didn't want chase to leave, so he pulled him off the train. But if you pick "It's over", Leo stays in Echo, heartbroken.
I know, that was my first ending, so I cried a lot after. And it also brings a weird feeling in my chest when I remember it. Like Leo said in Flynn's route when in Chase's old house: "I get this feeling in my chest, like a dread, you know?"
good luck with that man. I started with Leo Route [ended with bad ending first which i knew it was coming from my hunch and left me unsettling for a 10 mins and hit me right after with less"bad/sad" ending made me depressed for weeks. then i went opposited to the most asshole person in the group which is flynn. after that i decided to play Route65 [additional story/prequel] and learned more about chase and leo relationship which made me wanna hug leo more than anything since we shared a lot of similarities 😭.
i have cried from both horror suspense and heartbreak aaand now im forever emotionally attached to these fictional characters :''')))))))
ive also played adastria to the same effect, this studio really seems to have their stuff on lockdown. art, character development, story design, they got it in spades imo. phenomenal job!!
i didnt discover that clicking on the lake in the title screen brought up all the artwork, music, and alternate paths until a month after i first got it lmao, i had so many save files at various moments because i thought i would never see them again😭😭 whoever decided to create that is the real mvp
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Pee your pants
I will.
HOW DARE YOU MAKE ADASTRA SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL AND GAY MY HEART WILL NEVER RECOVER!!
Do the pee scene McSkinny
i don't want the janice piss scene
I first heard of Echo Project from Studio Klondike/Orange Juice Dog's Astatos Kickstarter last year, and I have to say, I'm absolutely smitten with Echo (as well as Adastra and the Smoke Room).
I have to say, this, in all seriousness, has to be one of, if not, the best-written works I have ever read, and I'm not just talking about visual novels. All the characters are so genuine and flawed. I am astonished at how much work has gone into the writing. It has disturbed me, saddened me, and at several points, made me laugh out aloud as well. Absolutely remarkable.
As a gay furry who's a big fan of horror, Echo is everything I've ever wanted in an experience (well, except for a 'Golden Ending,' where everyone is happy and everything is resolved, but I know that's not what Echo is about).
If I was a richer man, I would definitely be pledging as much as I could for more and more works from Echo Project, but for now, I've been trying to tell as many people about these as I can.
...
And I kinda wanna watch Luche Lobo, too, if he's shirtless the whole time...
I be sad and very disturbed too for almost a week after few ends to start to understand it with the other ends.
In fear of back too visit Carl. Lol
this story is so beautiful, tragic, heart-breaking. It brings tears to my eyes... there's certain beauty to such dysphoria, misery, melancholy, sorrow and the horror of despair.
what happens in echo... stays in echo... along with your heart that just broke there...
I havent even read this vn. I have a weird feeling about this..
Same lol, i even got little scared and felt goose bumps to try this game... :(
Hey~ This is the same guy from before and earlier I tried to download the game in my laptop but just like my phone's problem there have been some error and system said it's 'forbidden'. What does it mean?
I had no problems installing it in my Samsung tablet with Android 9. If the battery of my Alcatel phone with 6" screen and Android 7, didn't die. I could try in it.
A problem I had with others novels like Major/Minor and Lovers of Aether. Is that I never be able to do them work in none of my devices with Android 4. Only worked in my old Samsund tablet with Android 5.
Maybe I could try installing in my old Acer tablet with Android 4 too. I don't touch it in years. Since I only tried install stuff in my phones.
Ps: I really regret that I deleted it because your game was such a masterpiece that I'm gonna cry QwQ.
Excuse me but I need some help here...I'm new to this vn genre game and 2 months ago I'd downloaded it in my phone and I've finished the Flynn's route and I thought that was the 'end' of the game so I deleted it(and like I said I'm new)but when I tried to download the game again, I got some problems like it only download halfway through and then the system said that the download failed. I tried again multiple times but I still can't download it and it's stressed me out. Please help with this problem. Thank you Q~Q.
This game is incredible, incredible story and characters, extremely well made dialogues, I already finished Leo's route and now I'm starting the others, the story is so vivid that I was afraid of the characters meeting the creature, this game has so much potential.
And for those of you who haven't yet donated, please donate, it really helps the developers.
Hello there, really a nice work. And recently I happened to read a book called"waterways" , written by kyell gold, at the same time playing this game. I'm wondering is there some connections between them. Cause I think their MCs are super similar.Otter and wolf (still think it as a red fox) in the game, while otter and red fox(yep) in the novel. And I think they have so much same characters. It made me so happy to both play and read😘
SPOILERS
/
/
Played Leo's route and I was very angry and genuinely upset that I had to go on a walk, but now that I've cooled down, I appreciate the good ending because that's what both Chase and Leo deserve. They were in a toxic relationship, even from the start of it, and thus I think Leo deserves to be his own person rather than someone who obsesses over one guy. Chase fueled the fire so it wasn't helping anyone. While one can argue that they could've fixed it and grow as a couple, in which I will have to agree, that's just not the theme of the story. Maybe in another timeline? Hopefully? Please? If not I'm thankful this game exists. Thank you Echo Project and everyone who helped bring this game together!
i had to calm my heart down after leo's route...
i just had to hold myself together before i completely lost it
I just played Flynn's route and the ending confused me so much. What the heck happened to Flynn? How did he become that... thing? I feels terrible and horrified at his ending. Sure he's a jerk but i don't think anyone deserve that fate and it only confused me further if it was just some hallucination...? Some kind of space and time loop that send "him" perhaps back to where TJ saw "him" and then that closet and worse is that possesion/madness thing at the end... I think i need a little time before i play the game again...
I felt like... what?!? after I saw that end, minutes ago. I felt like try find if have another end... but so weird to think about.
It just freezes the game.
I found they added a Clarification text in Flynn Ending. In the version 0.43. But I have no idea where it is in the Android version. I don't even can load stuff from Help button in the Android 9.
ohh god .... theres no good ending for me in carl's route....
i cried when he said he dont need me.... having nightmares bout him haha kinda silly... i wanna be together with him.. fck
Lol, something like that happened with me in real with a ram friend.
He just told me I was not his friend.
I just feel cracked.
yahh i could feel yah.... its so bad you cant cuddle that ol fluffy ram. uwu
Oh!!! Carl have a nice belly. Chase looks so funny looking at it. The best face I saw from him till now.
yeah i could agree with that and.. that's the best carl scene ever...of course because it's the only cg there but i want to see the kissing scene!!
This VN is really great, the one that really make me wanted to cry so hard ;-;
[Below from here contains spoiler, read ir at your own risk]
It's really sad tho to see that most of the ending is bad (i just played TJ's route, Leo's route, and now on the way Flynn's route).
I think i have some of unanswered question. Like, is it really Sydney that wrote the whole Treasure Hunting thing? Yeah it's almost impossible, and i really think that someone made it. Also i think this only happened in TJ's route (or did it happened again in another route?). And in TJ's route, Carl was found with the paper of treasure hunting. In Leo's route, Carl wasn't found with the paper, that means they was never found the real killer? (In TJ's route, it was said that TJ killed Sydney). I need to play all the route to figure it out
Also, the game really freakin' me out because the first route i selected was a bad end. In the TJ's route, Chase is obsessed. In the Leo's route, Leo is obsessed.
Is there really no true end? Only Leo's route when Chase ended with Kudzu has a screen said "The End" is it supposed to be true ending? (or atleast that is the event that most supposedly to be happened?)
Yeah after Flynn's route, i'm going to check Jenna's and Carl's. Hope to get the answer to my unanswered question.
Overall really great VN, i really thought that there were good ending, but maybe not
Just played TJ to end this morning, my pillow is so wet now.
... I just had a dream with a black (striped/spoted) lizard guy. I think not that I know the difference ...
Just not going to tell what happened in the dream because of ... it is private. 8p
Loving Flynn's route.
... what!?! Lol... should I read The Smoke?
The treasure hunt was written by TJ. Chase and him feel guilty because they killed Sydney. The treasure hunt was a way for TJ to escape from his demon and a way to trap Chase in revealing that he is the one who killed Sydney.
I am confuse did TJ do this on purpose or was it a accident since. i don't know if they ever said it or not long time i played it. Then what really grind my gear is yeah what the heck is going on in Echo i mean in TSR we are getting why the hysteria started but not what the think is(so i hope the will be answere in cliff route).
Since is earn for closure i mean all bad ending i know it is a horro game but i would love to figure out what it is and how to counter it is this to much to ask.
Also i am sad for Sydney in Flynn route we get to know him and i am sad that he had to die.
is there any char. that is datetable?
Yes, but actually no.
welp kinda true
Maybe Leo. But have some stuff in the Flynn route. Just... the end did me so disturbed.
Overall great game, amazing structer and pacing. It really prevents reading from being a chore unlike most projects of this style. leos route seams a bit forced though. The character interactions go from normal to out of character to contradicting previous interactions. I hope some story fixes are inorder to make it more cohesive.
The twin peaks reference on Jenna's route made me really happy lol. God I love this game so much thank y'all so much for doing what you do
*Spoiler alert^
Heyy? Just wondering on leo's route. Is it really the 'Good' ending that chase having to end up with kudz and leaving leo out?...
Hi¡¡¡, what's new in the current update? (0.46)
more stuff to jenna
Gonna keep it short (hopefully), one of my favorite part of the VN is the accuracy of the environment, yes echo is fictional but I have a vague idea of where it would be, as a local to the actual Pueblo I can vouch for the validity of the heat, the aridness, and how the characters react. Great VN keep the updates coming, I have a request, a selfish one at that, but maybe sometime in the distant future have an echo without the supernatual stuff, yeah? 10/10 either way
As someone who doesn't play VN's, I couldn't have predicted at all just how thoroughly this game gripped me and how invested I would become in these characters and their stories. Coming fresh from their other game Adastra; I found my expectations subverted at every turn, the layered narrative giving every route value and providing context and another piece of the puzzle to an overarching story, a far cry from the relatively straightforward and comfortable (by comparison) plot of Adastra.
I must stress that comfort isn't the kind of feeling you'll find with this story. Echo absolutely leans more on the psychological horror aspects rather than romance, I expected as much from what little I'd read about it, I didn't expect however how genuinely uncomfortable it would make me. Playing at night, alone and in the dark obviously helped greatly with immersion, but it's a testament to the writing how deeply it affected me with words and tension building alone when compared to most modern horror games. It wasn't as much in the way of expecting say, a monster to pop out for under my bed, but an overbearing sense of anxiety and uneasiness, that would often climax with distress, anger, and of course; sadness.
Speaking of, one route's ending hit me in a way few other fictional works have, leaving me so distraught I felt legitimately sick and had trouble sleeping that night. The other character routes aren't emotional cakewalks by any means, but those who have played the game likely know which one I'm referring to, with the information revealed therein recontextualising much of the story and greatly shifting your perspective on certain characters. I think it's a major achievement that depending on when you go through this route the kind of narrative you'll be getting can change significantly, though I personally see it as ideally being run through after a couple of the other ones.
Regarding other elements, from my limited exposure to VN's I think it is about what you can expect in regard to visuals, the character art is good and distinctive and the full illustrations, while sparse, are beautiful and accentuate important scenes. The music is also quite good and helps with building the atmosphere, I was actually surprised by the number of tracks in the game.
As far as criticisms go, apart from some minor typos sprinkled throughout the routes, I found certain parts of one route to be quite dragging and repetitive, and for one of the decisions that could lock you into a bad end to be essentially an arbitrary coin toss kinda sucked. The same route narratively is also probably the weakest, as it deals with a background plot to the town that while interesting, is much less emotionally involved for the characters than the other routes. There is good character development in this one though. The next problem I have I admit is quite subjective and some may even see it as a strength, but I personally found the lack of closure in most of the routes to be quite disheartening. I thankfully finished the game (at least until Jenna's route finishes development) on the one route I found provided a real satisfactory conclusion, though maybe I was just desperate for a happy ending and what I got was as close to that as I could get. I do hope the devs consider creating a final route after they complete Jenna's, perhaps unlocked after you finish each route, if not for closure, but just so I can spend more time with these characters I've become ever so invested in.
Echo was an absolutely fantastic experience and I would totally recommend it, I'm very excited to check out this team's other work, and whatever they'll be creating down the line, they've definitely made my quarantine a little less dismal!
I just reached a end of it and I can't stop to cry.
... I just dreamed with a black lizard guy (I think not that I know the difference) ...? after that.
I love this VN so much! Now going through Jenna’s route and I really like where it’s going so far, can’t wait for the next update!
This game will haunt me forever if he doesn't confess in at least one ending.
But I feel that's what you were aiming at weren't you?
Im unable to download the game on my Android device, is there a special app I need?
Welp! Finished two character routes. Thanks for the post traumatic stress disorder! I can never sleep in the dark ever again. ;w;
Lol remi d me of when Iwas kid fear of the dark.
Now, I use to like the dark sometimes but playing it during night after midnight is so tense.
I will need something to sleep.
Hello while reading the story I got, "Image 'bg black' does not accept attributes 'fade'. Does anyone know what this means?
its an issue with a transition and cant be fixed by you - only the devs.
Play only if you like to have your expectations failed in worst ways possible. I'll explain what's wrong.
First of, the game starts as your typical romance game where you pick the character you like and start dating them. You will of course get attached to the character and want a happy ending with them. You probably assume that good choices on your end means good ending for you too right? Nope.
Now to the problems..
The game at some point stops the romance because the developers felt like it, and transform the game into a mainly horror game. This means crappy and cheap writing, everything being black (dark) to not have to use any money on backgrounds etc. All the supposed scary monsters are off screen in the dark.
At a certain time they decided it was a good time to make you hate the character you picked. They of course completely fail at this. Probably because they projected their own feelings too much into the game and fail to realize that lying about 1 thing doesn't completely break all relationships.
Then to make it worse, they force a new relationship on your character, with a Mary Sue character. Now if you're wondering what's a perfect character doing in a dark and gritty game where everyone is a hatable bastard.. It's a patreon supporter character!
In short, when you pick X, let's hope you're happy with ending up with Y.
And when you get through all the horrors hoping to be embraced happily ever after with your big wolf, game says no and gives you a twinky raccoon or something.
Next would be their communities. Super elitist isolated fan groups that shame anyone that didn't like the sudden turn to horror in the game.
All in all, it's the ONLY ever furry visual novel that I wish I could UN-PLAY. Every other game even though it wasn't that good, was a good time waster at least. But this one managed to make me feel worse after playing to the point of being pissed off about it.
My problem is that it actually started as a romance vn and I got that confirmed by the creator himself. The first few days where the romance starts seem to be made at that time and not reworked to fit the new only horror vn type so everyone who starts playing without knowing it's supposed to be a full on horror vn will be fooled.
Interesting that I got 8 downvotes without anyone giving a concrete example of where i'm wrong.
Another thing, horror doesn't mean no romance. There's password and blackgate out there. And that's what i expected, and I WAS right until they suddenly switched their tune and went full horror.
And no, a game that is supposed to make me feel like shit is a shit game. That's why i'm warning people not to play this game if they don't want to feel like shit and have their expectations of happy romance ruined.
Well, the characters aren't necesarilly dating you. They're dating Chase. A character that has there own opinions and problems, and that the other characters have history with, and an already established opinion of. This seems more like a story that we play no real part in, which, depending on the person, would probably be bad, but there are others (me) who don't mind it too much.
I was bummed about what happened to Leo honestly, but when I think about it, I'm kind of glad it wasn't an option. Realistically, a relationship like that just isn't healthy, and even worse is that it, while unlikely, is possible. A relationship like that being a "happy ending" could possibly be promoting such a relationship. Leo's unwavering obsession of Chase that was apparently happening even before the hysteria was a flaw that was truthfully there, but just hidden till it was exposed in the horror part of the game. Of course, it would have been fantastic for Chase and Leo to get back together after Leo lets go of his obsession and loves Chase less intensely but still just as passionately.
However, a lack of happy endings just seems like a theme of this game. Of course I'm sad about what happens to Leo in the end, what happens to all the characters (except Carl), but not everyone gets a happy ending irl either. It's the realism that's displayed in such a non realistic way that I kind of like about this game.
Oh, also, the romance portion is probably mainly just there to gain investment in a particular character and eventually all of them as you play their routes. I'll be honest, until I played each route, I didn't care about what happened to them, despite everything that they were going through.
In short, I guess, just try not being so attached to the characters. Just play and read the story and try making as much sense of it as you can. It's honestly a lot more fun that way.
Well I'm sorry that you had a bad time with this VN. I think the main character isn't supposed to be an audience surrogate, meaning you're not chase and you shouldn't put yourself in his shoes (which he doesn't wear any), that's why the main character has his own name and you don't get to name him. Chase has his own past, his own characteristics, compare that to the MC in blackgate, he has literally no defining feature that is why you can assume his place/role easily, or compare Chase to the MC in adastra, you do get to name him and, like in many VNs that do the same thing, he has very few to no characteristics, this is because he is meant to be the audience surrogate. Echo isn't like a dating sim, it is a story which you see unfold through chase's perspective. It doesn't just suddenly turn into horror, there is build-up throughout the game. Maybe the same things shouldn't be expected from every single VN, if the author intended to evoke sadness, fear, heartbreak and other emotions as such, I think they achieved it, and it isn't something easy to do at all. There is nothing wrong with what you think and feel, you earned it. Just try to understand what the author is trying to do and maybe go easy on them.
Agree to disagree then.
Tags: Bara, Coming Of Age, echo, Furry, Gay, Horror, Psychological Horror, Queer, Romance, Yaoi
Not to mention that start as a typical dating sim vn where you pick your route and start dating them.
Well then I hope, with those tags, you can find something that conforms to your fixed demands of every story you read.
I most feel the same. But I most knew I shouldn't play it when I read the theme. Most after read the text in the TJ end of the prequel.
If you want feel better give Tennis Ace a try, no terror there.
I must play more of it for while to see the other ends here.
Hope I do survive sane. Hehej
This game totally blindsided me, its amazingly good. The characters are well written, the twists and turns in the plot and development. Experience wise its on par with some of the best books, movies and story driven games I've ever played.
The Leo route also touched a nerve regarding my own ex, so kinda got extra emotional there, but damn....hats of to the creators, gonna check your other games next. :)
This game is so emotionally cruel and that is the reason of why it is so amazing. Seriously, I've never been so depressed that much for some fictional characters, specialy with Leo, I even fell in love with him but it hurted me a lot seeing how Echo literally fucked his mind to the point where his relationship with Chase went to shit.
I think I need some phsycological help or a talk with a friend since I am feeling as shit and also because I have the feeling that the game made me realize something about myself but unfortunately i am in quarantine because of the damn virus. Wish you could make more VNs like this.
Love for you and the Echo main characters!
So i choose Carl route. Hoped that Chase gonna help him become better and they gonna be like happily together, but then blah blah blah happened: blood, death, fire... Chase ended up alone; end game. Is there a some kind of good ending if so, please tell. Thank!!!
a good ending? in the town of echo? that's a tall order my friend :p
Yeah there is!
If you choose right, of course
You just have to tell him to fight James influence over him, and then other little choose and it's done.
Be careful because its really long (like all paths) and we should be saving all the time in different slots. Well, I think its better that way
Hope it helps :3
I just clicked on "More info" and found the game was only a few seconds per session. Seeing that this is currently build 45, either there are a LOT of instant ending routes. Or there was a typo lol
It has a very interesting story, with a very tragic ending.
literally my expression the whole game
Leo's route
.
.
.
No, why? You're breaking my heart with Leo's ending AGAIN it could've just ended like Leo and Chase being happy together, I tried "it's over" option and it breaks my heart seeing him hurted like that
Either one is absolutely ridiculous, it's desperate and I couldn't imagine Leo's mental breakdown after seeing Chase died like that, please make them happy together, I beg you.🙏
Stories are thrilled! I really loved it, thanks for your good work!
[>] This Lingering Hope (TJ's Route)
I love this soundtrack. Been playing this on loop. Just gonna open ECHO sometimes to listen to it. Like everything is so fucked up yet this moment of Chase and TJ is so freaking comforting~
hi echo
The experience was really great.I like Leo,but his ending wasn't as perfect as I thought.I hope he has a happy ending with chase.No matter which ending makes me feel desperate and sad in the end.So I hope they have a happy ending.
Finally, I wish the author better and better.
Best spring break ever
For real though this game is fucking enthralling, definitely one of the best story-driven games I've ever played
Echo is a really heart melting story.
I got a little confused about the scene at last when Leo pull Chase down from the train and I really don't get that ending and what happen to Chase, Leo and their friends😥.
But the other ending in which Chase broke up with Leo is really shocked me. My heart does pain a lot thinking myself in the place of Chase and at the ending when they are saying goodbye to each other after all this, literally tears fells down from my eye automatically😭😭😭😭😭😭. I've never cried before playing a game and my heart still hurts and pain when I saw it over and over again😢😢😢. I don't understand why Leo didn't leave Echo and go with Chase, I am sure that they should have live together.
I can't get enough word to sharing and showing my pain and sorrow after playing last two scene. Thank you the creator, it's a really nice story. I hope that soon this game will have good ending where Leo and Chase living together away from ECHO and I will play it and relive my pain😢.
Leo stayed because he was under the influence of the hysteria that was going on. That could be explained by the fact that Leo was sure that Chase was with him in his room when in reality, Chase was taken to the mines by Brian. The "Chase" that Leo was talking to told him that they were gonna be together, that he would stay with him in Echo, but it was all in Leo's mind.
He didn't want chase to leave, so he pulled him off the train. But if you pick "It's over", Leo stays in Echo, heartbroken.
I know, that was my first ending, so I cried a lot after. And it also brings a weird feeling in my chest when I remember it. Like Leo said in Flynn's route when in Chase's old house: "I get this feeling in my chest, like a dread, you know?"
Thank you for the support. I've already started Flynn's route.
^_^
good luck with that man. I started with Leo Route [ended with bad ending first which i knew it was coming from my hunch and left me unsettling for a 10 mins and hit me right after with less"bad/sad" ending made me depressed for weeks. then i went opposited to the most asshole person in the group which is flynn. after that i decided to play Route65 [additional story/prequel] and learned more about chase and leo relationship which made me wanna hug leo more than anything since we shared a lot of similarities 😭.
:^) I sure do understand that how u feeled after Leo story.
i have cried from both horror suspense and heartbreak aaand now im forever emotionally attached to these fictional characters :''')))))))
ive also played adastria to the same effect, this studio really seems to have their stuff on lockdown. art, character development, story design, they got it in spades imo. phenomenal job!!
i didnt discover that clicking on the lake in the title screen brought up all the artwork, music, and alternate paths until a month after i first got it lmao, i had so many save files at various moments because i thought i would never see them again😭😭 whoever decided to create that is the real mvp