Honestly, this is a warning to anyone wanting to read this story. I was so engrossed in it, I think I've gone a little insane for a while, like actually slightly psychotic.
Granted, I've been under huge pressure from other things at the same time, but this story.. I could never have imagined the impact.
I'm not used to having feelings for guys, being bi and never really explored this side of myself outside some alcohol fueled nights. Now I've explored this side of myself through this story, and I'm left having lost touch with reality a bit. What have you done to me? Just to put things into context I'm 34, and honestly never expected to be this affected by a story.
Totally baffled, and obviously a huge hats off the the creators, but fair warning - it really is true when people say that this story isn't for the faint of heart.
Happened to me too! I was trying to imagine what Sams voice sounds like in Chase's head, and now I hear him telling me things!!!!
I'm just two years younger then you, I thought I could handle whatever this vn had in it, and the horror isn't too bad it's those ending that keep me up a night!
Yeah, anyone new who wants to try it, take the warning seriously please!
It's not even funny anymore! It's these characters, man. You come to care about them so much, and then it all ends in tears. And for me, it's also the intense yearning to get to know them IRL, which is obviously impossible, creating some sort of mini disassociative psychosis. Holy shit man - and from a f...... VN. No doubt I am a very sensitive person, which I guess you'd have to be, to get hit so hard by this.
Even now, I want to go back and read more, but I have to stop. I'm starting a new job in less than two weeks, and I feel like I damn near had some sort of breakdown. THAT'S how much this story affects you. Or at least me.. I've actually become fearful of reading other stories now. HAH! It's patheticly, morbidly funny, when it isn't happening to YOU!
Oh, is Sam the voice that speaks to Chase? I guess I missed something, but it's up for interpretation if it's some sort of demonic version of the characters themselves, which is part of their personality, or if it's something else entirely. Spooky. Are you seriously hearing a voice in your head? If that's the case, then that's really scary. If it continues, please talk to someone about it, no matter how silly it may feel.
Ok I didn't really do Flynns route, tried, but I thought he was too much of an asshole. I've only done TJ's, and Leo's route. If I ever feel like having another mental break, I'll come back and check it out.
Echo just stands out! I've never had such an emotional experience with any kind of novel, game or movie! It's one of very few thangs to have made me cry! But the "good" ending with Leo, that really bothers me!
(spoiler warning!)
Even if I had an ex boyfriend who was going crazy I would not have left him alone during some crazy event! If I saw Leo not getting on board the train, I would have jumped back off! When I imagined myself in the story, I just couldn't have left him there! Kudzu and the others would have been safely away Leo would be all alone with who knows what kind of evil entity and towns people gone insane! Even if I was having some serious disagreement and relationship brake up problems with him, I could never have left him there! I'd have faced whatever evil was in the town rather then leave a friend behind alone! Especially if he was having some kind of mental trauma! I'm actually planning a fanfic with a third or even fourth option at the end of Leos, route!
I dunno, I think it's thematically more appropriate leaving him there. It was his choice to stay behind, and he's the one with the gun. And coming back would have gone against the choice of telling him that it is over. It also doesn't fit with the earlier decision about the positive of being with Leo vs the negative of being in Echo.
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it's just my own nature to not want to leave a friend behind in danger. Being angary with them and braking up with them is one thing, leaving them in mental distress and in danger is another thing to me! I especially wouldn't want to lose a friend I'd known for my whole life, in real life I have! Just a bit passionate about this since I can relate to it very well. Also in the story I'm kinda not impressed with Kudzu....
But to be fair, Kud was a side character and we didn't get to spend much time with him. I'm liking him so far, I just wish/hope he'll be in the side stories or prequels or in the other paths.
I guess Kudzu just came off as a little forced to me. He is an interesting character, I just would have tried to mend an old friendship and help an old friend first.
I did TJ's route, and I don't know if I can do another.
Of the VN's I've been reading/playing over the past week, this was the one that felt the most real. Some of the others really touched me as well, but this one.. Boy. Is it just me, or does it feel like betrayal to go through the story again, with another character?
I have a lot of love for this, even if it was emotionally difficult.
EDIT: I went through the Leo timeline. Why does this story hit me so hard??
Is it the medium, or the story, or both? Holy shit.
I want to know what happened in the other timelines, but I can't take any more.
I think Leo's route is the most sad! Poor guy just wanted his love back, and messed it up then never got a chance to make things right! Plus I might have found a couple plot holes in his route!
Spoiler!
The whole train escape doesn't actually make sense. Why can the train leave the town and cars can't? Why would they believe a druggy and try such a dangerous stunt as jumping onto a moving train, even slow moving!?
Also they seem able to snap their friends out of the hysteria by talking to them and touching them, but nobody tried to comfort or reason with Leo! At least not a serious try. Chase although understandably having mental and emotional stress, didn't even try to tell Leo he was possibly having hallucinations even though it shouldn't be that hard to guess what was happening to him! Yeah Leo was being unstable and dangerous, but surly his life long friends could have taken a minuet to try and help him!
Yeah, leaving Leo behind was gut wrenchingly awful, and it broke my heart. I really appreciate how realistic the break was, and the conversation that happens two years later - it felt real, not like something out of a Hollywood movie.
Well, the train was sent through echo, and unrelated to the crisis. 'It' wasn't trying to escape echo, but just passing through, therefore it was able to do so. At least, this is how I perceived it, and I accepted it without too much effort.
Why didn't they attempt to snap Leo out of it, tell him to his face that he was hallucinating? Well, I think they reacted in a realistic way considering everything that was going on, and how traumatized they were. I was feeling a similar desperation like you - Why the hell can't chase or Kudzo just tell Leo he's going crazy? But you know, they all were. I think we'd be surprised with our own inabilities if we were in the situation they were in. We all act differently, but we don't know how we will act. I've been through things myself, where I've gone into shock, and I can attest to this.
I was sort of assuming they talked to Leo though, when Chase was in the trailer with Kudzo and Jenna.
I didn't think of the train just passing through so not being affected like that. Still seems kinda odd to me though, and not something I would do unless I had been chased towards the train! Honestly I would just hide and leave the town after!
Yeah, I understand that. I guess it's just my own experience losing childhood friends that would make me want to do anything I could to help then rather then leave them! Also I watched another friend having to brake to brake off a relationship for way worse then anything Leo did! I guess if I had a friend like leo who was under some kind of mental influence I'd rather stay with trying to help them rather then take risk like train jumping! And that goes back to the "why listen to what a druggy says" thats something I wouldn't do ether. That reminds me, years ago not to far from where I live some guy really did get mangled trying to get on a moving train, and it was moving pretty slow too!
You remember how they tried to drive out of echo in the van, right? (In the Leo timeline)
I too made the decision to break off with Leo, because he's become psychotic. I had a feeling it might take away his hope and purpose, but I just did not want to lie to him. It was his decision to stay behind, after all, and the relationship had already died at that point, and taken a backseat to pure survival. It was heartbreaking! But as such, a good example of the writing that nearly broke my mind, although along with other things I was experiencing as well, at the time.
Yeah, it does make sense the way it ends. But it's just so sad after seeing how they got together in route 65! Also very sad when Chase visits Leo two years later, he just seems totally broken! Like he's only living and has no hopes or anything to look foreword too! He says he's getting better, but he doesn't enjoy his life and seems he would just end up some old hermit all alone!
No the guy did not survive! A good reason I'd never have tried getting on that train in Echo!
I didn't think the game was going to be that emotionally intense when I saw the warning, but I still cried a the end of TJ's route, poor guy... (first route I finish, as well). Please take that comment as a second warning.
This game is amazing though, like really, really good, it's going into my favorites.
Currently midnight when writing this, so I better be going to bed, but let me ask first: should I do the other routes before playing the 2 other Echo games? I really need to know, I want to play absolutely everything.
LEGIT HAVE STARTED HAVING DREAMS ABOUT CHARACTERS FROM THIS GAME. VIVID TOO. PLAY AT OWN RISK.
When you realize the town was based off of Ebay. AKA Echo Bay, Nevada - a ghost town right off the coast of Lake Mead. Gonna visit it when The Virus cools down, and explore the old motel too.
In conclusion, the town exists in real life and has a weird history too...
All in all 10/10 IGN would recommend, wack but amazing.
Came back to say that only the town name is the same, the history and stories are all created by the Echo Project. I was not trying to discredit the creator because they make beautiful games. Anyways thats it. Thank you Echo Project for existing!
I LOVE the story honestly and I find it terrifying that I can (somehow) relate to Chase in some ways, especially when I took Leo's route. Leo reminded me of a friend of mine back in the days that gave me hints of liking me, and I just ignored it. And I left the school we enrolled in because of a bad incident that made me learn my lesson. That's one I can find similar but anyway, it doesn't matter, isn't it?
Right after playing the game, I literally stared into space for five minutes trying to process everything. Even if it has no good ending, knowing both of them are literally bad endings in some ways, I find the story very interesting. And it lived up to its horror theme which I loved the most. For me, horror is meant to be tragic (apologies for being dark... fufufu).
Kudos to Echo Project and for their magnificent work! Keep up making people inspire!
You know, I saw the bit at the top about "Echo" not being for the faint of heart and thought "oh hey, it's just a VN, it can't be that bad"... oh boy how wrong I was.
To clarify, when I say that, I don't mean the VN is bad; on the contrary in fact. I fucking LOVE the writing here. I simply mean that this VN is very taxing. It seems crazy to me even typing that out but I am honestly so drained from the experience I have so much to say and yet it's just so difficult to articulate without just delving into plot points (which I will do shortly I just wanted to go spoiler free for a second and give general thoughts on the VN to where I've played).
SPOILER WARNING BELOW READ WITH CAUTION!
Ahhh, where do I begin. Honestly I feel almost bad writing this now having only finished one of the routes (currently halfway through another) but I severely doubt my views on the game will change over the routes. The first route I played was TJ's. I think he's definitely one of the more genuine characters with a very interesting conflict which is probably why I gravitated towards him first. As I said previously, my experience of the game is incomplete so forgive me if I simplify stuff to what I understand as of now.
The presence in Echo, I don't know what to call it. From what I could tell, there is some supernatural entity with the ability to make people hallucinate and give them delusions, which cause them to do bad things and sometimes go insane. It's equal parts devastating and horrifying to see this entity warp the MC as he's interacting with TJ. Chase's kiss in the woods took a lot out of me.
The death of Flynn in that route shook me to my core; I found myself actually crying as it happened. It occurred to me then that only two VNs have elicited that kind of reaction from me, this one, and, wouldn't you know it, Adastra. Damn you EchoProject! Of course, the tears came in very different circumstances but still it was such an incredibly tragic moment.
To left turn a bit, after finishing the TJ route, I've moved on to Leo. Oh boy, he's insane. I've not yet completed the route but I found my heart drop when you find that he's been intentionally isolating you from the group. I almost wished it wasn't true. I already feel sorry for Clint; I know something bad has clearly happened. Despite everything, I feel he's probably not that bad of a guy from what I can tell. I read a comment below saying something like "Leo is a psychopath" so I can't wait to get to that part. Just clarifying, I wasn't reading for spoilers, I just happened to glance at the wrong comment. Still an incredible experience, albeit an emotionally exhausting one. This VN keeps you on your toes, despite not actually having too much intractability (not necessarily a complaint, I don't mind not having to worry about whether I've made the wrong choice constantly).
Bruh I was playing, got scared Shitless in the Jenna route. Big brain me goes "Yo I'll just finish it so it doesn't haunt me tonight and I get a resolution" and then I get hit with that "To be continue....." Ima go curl up into a bawl and forget everything now.
And they don't, actually. Adastra is another visual novel from the echo project which is not horror themed and I enjoyed it as much as the other ones. It does have drama and crude moments as well though, kinda their signature in my opinion and I don't think these vns would be half as good without those elements. Just my humble opinion :p
I just got done binging through the TJ and Flynn routes for hours on end and I must say that I am emotionally drained. Echo is without a doubt the most emotionally invested I’ve ever been into a single piece of media in my entire life. Sure I know that sounds pretty rich coming from a 19 year old.
I still gotta say that Echo does such a good job at sucking you into the world and it’s characters. Despite it being a rather average visual novel visually with some expressive still work and some CG work here and there, it is absolutely carried by the story and the framing of every scene. You can tell that who ever sequenced the music/sound and scenes paid a lot of attention to what type of emotions they were trying to get across to the reader.
I especially was impressed with how the game handled the horror elements. When I was searching for “gay furry visual novels” to play and saw Echo I really thought that the horror aspects would just take a back seat to a dating sim story. However, the opposite is true with the dating sim aspects coming on hard at first only for things to get progressively more miserable as the story carries on.
I love how scenes will change so dramatically without warning when going into a dream sequence or back into reality. I recall during the TJ route when Chase is playing never have I ever with TJ and Carl, out of nowhere being confronted with three choices to brutalize Sydney with that droning horror music seeping in while still having the regular cheerful music playing in the background. When you pick your poison the scene just reverts back to normal as if nothing had just happened. It made me question my sanity and also made me laugh by just how jarring it was.
There’s so many moments in this game that I just want to gush about how the implementation of horror and framing pair so well together to create a cacophony of psychological instability. It was entertaining through and through and I don’t regret spending hours partaking in the two stories. I plan to finish the rest, but the TJ and Flynn routes were the ones that called out to me the most.
If you haven’t played this game yet, definitely give it a download. I’ve played a few gay furry games such as Tennis Ace, Four Letter Word, Nekojishi, Blackgate, Amorous, Dawn Chorus, Far beyond the World, and Beyond the Harbor but I must say that this game takes the cake for me. I never thought I’d get so invested in a game and it’s characters from something on itchio, but damn look at me now typing a long winded “review” on my phone.
Sorry if my points aren’t too coherent I just got done playing and it’s 4 in the morning lol I just really felt the urge to give this game a bump and what better way to leave a review after a fresh play through. If you got to the end of the wall of text many blessings to you ;)
I also finished TJ's route a few days ago, and just finished Flynn's today (also being 4am when I did so haha). And I must say, the story pulled me in so much that I did stay up this late to read it. I noticed that at the end of Flynn's route it said to be continued, so I can't wait for it to do so!
But guys, imagine if you had an ability to enter in any games depends on their character appearance (beast-man, etc.) Means, as any appearance you want. What will you do "IF" you have this ability?
If you ask me. I will enter on "Echo" to have fun, relax, be friends with the main characters, solved the mystery there (that I/you know what will happen, and you can stop and change it). As an Wolf.
To Echoproject, or is it just Echo? I don't know, anyway.
I'm new here, and first of I just want to say that Adastra, made me see a new light of things, a lot of things. Playing it was just a roller-coaster of emotion and I kid you not, sometimes I instantly turn my phone off because I instantly get assaulted with emotions, both the good and the bad. One night, I was binging till 3am and decided to stop for a bit and rest, but I couldn't, I stayed awake as my mind was just being blendered with these emotions over and over again until I realised that the sun was rising, it instantly reminded me of the title screen, and I both laughed and cried. Adastra reflected a lot of things in life, like strife and happiness, pain and healing, and the known dread of furthest reaches of existence, like the Parents,and the Other, that bit was nightmare fuel to me.
Seeing as how the relationship unfolds with everything around you, the character, learning some morals and a bit of wisdom to be honest, and the most memorable moments for me is with Amicus. I have never experienced what it's like in a relationship, single since birth basically but I don't mind it, although with the carnal urges and also the confused selection of which sex to choose (I'm Bi) but playing Adastra, made me realize something that I already knew, basically I just vibe checked myself like heck, and I realize, I'm just so lonely. Adastra gave me a bit of hope that anywhere and some day, there will be that someone that you just want to do everything with, a moment which I hope will happen (Parent forbid, lol). Speaking of Parents, them able to see the future kinda reflected me a bit, when I'm making big decisions I always try to imagine every possible outcome and pick the most favourable, but Adastra, as I said, major vibe check, reminded me that life is just weird, and that seeing of what's already to happen is boring, like watching that one movie all over and over again, because knowing of what's to come next in life, is like your life has already ended as color that is worth painting on the canvas is just, gone.
To summarise all this, Echoproject or Echo, I thank you for this game, Adastra, and I hope that you will read this and get as much as the love I have felt for it. As I go to sleep in emotional content, excited to continue the story tomorrow. Thank you😘🤗
Also having just finished reading Adastra, being bi, and feeling everything you just said, I want to say thank you also. I could not have been able to word my feelings as you just have.
Just started reading Echo today, hoping for that same amazing storytelling!
after reading several comments saying things like, "the game destroyed me", "it was painful to play", "it destroyed my heart", "traumatized me," "I cried with fear", I am really worried about what will come of this game, a part of me says to stay away of this game but my curiosity spoke louder so I'm downloading the game, I hope I don't regret it
This novel is making me feel things. I’m not sure if that’s good or not but i am sure the writing is great. I just don’t know if i have the strength to return for more.
Incredibly good (and by good I mean it broke my heart and I can't listen to the title screen music without feeling like shit anymore). Can't wait for Jenna's route to be finished and the epilogue game.
Oh my god, I just finished the TJ route and holy fucking shit... I was going to go back and go Carl and Leo's routes but not anymore. That's not to say it's bad of course, it's fucking astonishing, but I think I am legit having an existential crisis. I played The Smoke Room first, and sure it was a little creepy every now and then but I don't think I will ever recover from this one.
Yeah I went looking in the .rpy files, and the TJ route actually seems to be one of the best ones because like the least amount of people die? Idk I may go back and try the Carl route but def not the Leo route after what I saw.
Ugh... I can still feel my Heart shattering it's like a knife that has been stabbed inside me I-I just can't! I think I got attached to Leo that until the the end I know it's the only way to get a happy ending is that you have to end you're relationship with him and after I did I can't help but to cry I can't help but to feel upset it's been a week since I finished this and everytime I hear or read the word "Chula" I can't help but to cry I really sad I can't I just can't be happy I been really sad the entire I haven't really been eating a lot since the I finished the game and I know this may sound absurd and weird but VN can really affect my emotions and how I feel I've been heart broken a lot of times with VNs like one of you're VNs called Adastra the ending was sad I cried when I was dying in the arms of my wolf so I just came here because I want to express my emotions and I'm also thankful that you created VNs and I think I'm fine it's been week it's been a very sad week for me I just don't like to my emotions well I'm done here thanks for listening...
This is the first time i come to this homepage games, the first thing i see is 18+ content warning, second the massage "CW: Echo can be an emotionally intense experience and may not be for everyone. Please put your mental well-being first and take this into consideration before downloading!", and third is the comment section that everyone says that this game is absolute TERRIFYING, and now i don't even want to click the download button cause i scared to play, is this even more TERRIFYING than Bird Box? im curios
Its SUCH a good game but it DOES touch on some super intense (potentially triggering) content and supernatural-esque horror hence the warnings. If that's cool with you then I HIGHLY recommend it.
Playthrough wise, my recommendation is to not play TJ's or Flynn's routes first since those are the most lore heavy and its more fun to wonder what's going on. Honestly even though it was an emotionally heavy experience the Echo team did SUCH a good job with this. Honestly my favorite VN on itch. ^u^
All the smoke room references in echo have me HOOKED on that title as it's being developed.
(P.s. Leo's route made me so emotional I literally went into the script files to try and see if there was another ending but I'm still pretty satisfied with the 'good ending' TuT)
TLDR; play it if you feel comfortable enough to handle it
Well im actually kinda fine with gore or horror stuff, what i scared it's the atmosphere, and also you say theres the "good ending" right, well then i might wanna download it as long theres good ending
But don't forget, there isn't really romance. It's like 90% horror and 10% romance. If you're looking for more of these VN's visit my profile. You won't regret it!
Did you dislike my comments for no reason? Project Aego has one of the best intros to a VN that I've seen and is set in a dark, cruel scenario. It's about two brothers with superpoweres who's father was in some shady business. One of them wants to find out what happend, the other one decides to do research as detective. https://twitter.com/projectaego?lang=de
I wish I had read your recommendations before playing it lol, I have done TJ's route in my second time playing now I just can't play anymore with everything I know... :P
Maybe spoilers i dunno. Just don't even read this comment, I'm emotionally broken and destructed and I just have to somehow blow off steam.
Bruh I just.. Alright, this is my FIRST. NOVEL. EVER. And, what the f actually. Just cus of this game I found out that I really like this kind of furries but thats another topic.. What I want to talk about is why the hell was Leo's route such a rollercoaster of f'up emotions. I know, I know, he has to forget about Chase to find his own happines BUT WHY. I felt immediately in love with this couple. I had dreams about them being together even when Chase was acting like a dkhead. I thought I'll be playing a cute lovestory game, not this. The wanna-be-"happy"-end destroyed me in pieces. I just.. Omfg I feel so exhausted without a will to live anymore wtf. I feel literally empty. After this I just wished for a good ending. Ik I might seem sensitive af, which is true, and that's why it hit me hard. Not even talking that I kinda can relate to Leo. But.. IDK IM SO CONFUSED WHAT I AM EVEN TALKING ABOUT I JUST WANT TO SIT IN THE CORNER AND CRY MY HEART OUT. I'm definitely not playing Route 65 or anything else, cus I was so dumb to read the spoilers which are not good for Leo as well. I mean, why does the devs hate their relationship.. I'm empty and I want to disappear rn. Can't stop crying and this will stuck in me head for so fucking long. FUCKIN VIDEOGAMES. IM SO SORRY.
There there *hugs. I was feeling exactly the same. I couldn't eat or sleep. I have to tell you that it's gonna be okay. I just played Leo's route and I never want to play this game again lmao... Of course I will tho, but not soon, it's gonna take me months to risk my mental health again. I absolutely love this game but y'know, enough of suffering for now. (sorry any mistakes, english it's not my first language.
This is by far the most underrated comment I have ever read on an itch.io game page. I absolutely adore the intricacies proposed by this ingenious question-poser, the in-depth conspiracy that seems to unfold with each and every word they produce is something I just cannot shake off as sheer skill, it is far too godly to be taken as such pestilence. Should I ever find reason to refer to you in one of my numerous essays, I will sir. I will.
I'm not sure if I understand this correctly, but I have an idea: I can understand playing a game only for the 18+ scenes, although, I think you may find that the plot can be much more rewarding because of the time spent on it.
Context: It can take writers up to days to perfect a story, and it can really show if you pay attention to what they write.
I'm not your mom though, so I can't really force you to.
does anyone know how to keep save files when getting the latest build? or is it necessary to just replace the previous build with the current one then skip all the parts of story you've already done?
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Honestly, this is a warning to anyone wanting to read this story. I was so engrossed in it, I think I've gone a little insane for a while, like actually slightly psychotic.
Granted, I've been under huge pressure from other things at the same time, but this story.. I could never have imagined the impact.
I'm not used to having feelings for guys, being bi and never really explored this side of myself outside some alcohol fueled nights. Now I've explored this side of myself through this story, and I'm left having lost touch with reality a bit. What have you done to me? Just to put things into context I'm 34, and honestly never expected to be this affected by a story.
Totally baffled, and obviously a huge hats off the the creators, but fair warning - it really is true when people say that this story isn't for the faint of heart.
Ikr? One of the bests VN's I ever played, if it's not the best.
(sorry my bad english I'm brazilian)
Happened to me too! I was trying to imagine what Sams voice sounds like in Chase's head, and now I hear him telling me things!!!!
I'm just two years younger then you, I thought I could handle whatever this vn had in it, and the horror isn't too bad it's those ending that keep me up a night!
Yeah, anyone new who wants to try it, take the warning seriously please!
It's not even funny anymore! It's these characters, man. You come to care about them so much, and then it all ends in tears. And for me, it's also the intense yearning to get to know them IRL, which is obviously impossible, creating some sort of mini disassociative psychosis. Holy shit man - and from a f...... VN. No doubt I am a very sensitive person, which I guess you'd have to be, to get hit so hard by this.
Even now, I want to go back and read more, but I have to stop. I'm starting a new job in less than two weeks, and I feel like I damn near had some sort of breakdown. THAT'S how much this story affects you. Or at least me.. I've actually become fearful of reading other stories now. HAH! It's patheticly, morbidly funny, when it isn't happening to YOU!
Oh, is Sam the voice that speaks to Chase? I guess I missed something, but it's up for interpretation if it's some sort of demonic version of the characters themselves, which is part of their personality, or if it's something else entirely. Spooky. Are you seriously hearing a voice in your head? If that's the case, then that's really scary. If it continues, please talk to someone about it, no matter how silly it may feel.
Yeah, it really is well written. Maybe too well?
I think in Tj's or Flynn's rout (I forgot) it is heavily implied that the voice is Sam as it mentions things only he would know!
I heard it for just one day yesterday, nothing today so I think I'm good.
Ok I didn't really do Flynns route, tried, but I thought he was too much of an asshole. I've only done TJ's, and Leo's route. If I ever feel like having another mental break, I'll come back and check it out.
I think the whole point of Flynn's route is to cause people mental breakdowns! The most horrific ending out of all of them....
Echo just stands out! I've never had such an emotional experience with any kind of novel, game or movie! It's one of very few thangs to have made me cry! But the "good" ending with Leo, that really bothers me!
(spoiler warning!)
Even if I had an ex boyfriend who was going crazy I would not have left him alone during some crazy event! If I saw Leo not getting on board the train, I would have jumped back off! When I imagined myself in the story, I just couldn't have left him there! Kudzu and the others would have been safely away Leo would be all alone with who knows what kind of evil entity and towns people gone insane! Even if I was having some serious disagreement and relationship brake up problems with him, I could never have left him there! I'd have faced whatever evil was in the town rather then leave a friend behind alone! Especially if he was having some kind of mental trauma! I'm actually planning a fanfic with a third or even fourth option at the end of Leos, route!
I dunno, I think it's thematically more appropriate leaving him there. It was his choice to stay behind, and he's the one with the gun. And coming back would have gone against the choice of telling him that it is over. It also doesn't fit with the earlier decision about the positive of being with Leo vs the negative of being in Echo.
Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it's just my own nature to not want to leave a friend behind in danger. Being angary with them and braking up with them is one thing, leaving them in mental distress and in danger is another thing to me! I especially wouldn't want to lose a friend I'd known for my whole life, in real life I have! Just a bit passionate about this since I can relate to it very well. Also in the story I'm kinda not impressed with Kudzu....
But to be fair, Kud was a side character and we didn't get to spend much time with him. I'm liking him so far, I just wish/hope he'll be in the side stories or prequels or in the other paths.
I guess Kudzu just came off as a little forced to me. He is an interesting character, I just would have tried to mend an old friendship and help an old friend first.
This is such an amazing game there aren't enough words aloud to describe how great this is an every horror furry fan needs to play this!!
This story... It grabs you.
I did TJ's route, and I don't know if I can do another.
Of the VN's I've been reading/playing over the past week, this was the one that felt the most real. Some of the others really touched me as well, but this one.. Boy. Is it just me, or does it feel like betrayal to go through the story again, with another character?
I have a lot of love for this, even if it was emotionally difficult.
EDIT: I went through the Leo timeline.
Why does this story hit me so hard??
Is it the medium, or the story, or both? Holy shit.
I want to know what happened in the other timelines, but I can't take any more.
I think Leo's route is the most sad! Poor guy just wanted his love back, and messed it up then never got a chance to make things right! Plus I might have found a couple plot holes in his route!
Spoiler!
The whole train escape doesn't actually make sense. Why can the train leave the town and cars can't? Why would they believe a druggy and try such a dangerous stunt as jumping onto a moving train, even slow moving!?
Also they seem able to snap their friends out of the hysteria by talking to them and touching them, but nobody tried to comfort or reason with Leo! At least not a serious try. Chase although understandably having mental and emotional stress, didn't even try to tell Leo he was possibly having hallucinations even though it shouldn't be that hard to guess what was happening to him! Yeah Leo was being unstable and dangerous, but surly his life long friends could have taken a minuet to try and help him!
Yeah, leaving Leo behind was gut wrenchingly awful, and it broke my heart. I really appreciate how realistic the break was, and the conversation that happens two years later - it felt real, not like something out of a Hollywood movie.
Well, the train was sent through echo, and unrelated to the crisis. 'It' wasn't trying to escape echo, but just passing through, therefore it was able to do so. At least, this is how I perceived it, and I accepted it without too much effort.
Why didn't they attempt to snap Leo out of it, tell him to his face that he was hallucinating?
Well, I think they reacted in a realistic way considering everything that was going on, and how traumatized they were. I was feeling a similar desperation like you - Why the hell can't chase or Kudzo just tell Leo he's going crazy?
But you know, they all were. I think we'd be surprised with our own inabilities if we were in the situation they were in. We all act differently, but we don't know how we will act. I've been through things myself, where I've gone into shock, and I can attest to this.
I was sort of assuming they talked to Leo though, when Chase was in the trailer with Kudzo and Jenna.
I didn't think of the train just passing through so not being affected like that. Still seems kinda odd to me though, and not something I would do unless I had been chased towards the train! Honestly I would just hide and leave the town after!
Yeah, I understand that. I guess it's just my own experience losing childhood friends that would make me want to do anything I could to help then rather then leave them! Also I watched another friend having to brake to brake off a relationship for way worse then anything Leo did! I guess if I had a friend like leo who was under some kind of mental influence I'd rather stay with trying to help them rather then take risk like train jumping! And that goes back to the "why listen to what a druggy says" thats something I wouldn't do ether. That reminds me, years ago not to far from where I live some guy really did get mangled trying to get on a moving train, and it was moving pretty slow too!
You remember how they tried to drive out of echo in the van, right? (In the Leo timeline)
I too made the decision to break off with Leo, because he's become psychotic. I had a feeling it might take away his hope and purpose, but I just did not want to lie to him. It was his decision to stay behind, after all, and the relationship had already died at that point, and taken a backseat to pure survival. It was heartbreaking! But as such, a good example of the writing that nearly broke my mind, although along with other things I was experiencing as well, at the time.
Oh no.. that's horrible. Did he survive?
Yeah, it does make sense the way it ends. But it's just so sad after seeing how they got together in route 65! Also very sad when Chase visits Leo two years later, he just seems totally broken! Like he's only living and has no hopes or anything to look foreword too! He says he's getting better, but he doesn't enjoy his life and seems he would just end up some old hermit all alone!
No the guy did not survive! A good reason I'd never have tried getting on that train in Echo!
(Spoiler maybe?)
I didn't think the game was going to be that emotionally intense when I saw the warning, but I still cried a the end of TJ's route, poor guy... (first route I finish, as well). Please take that comment as a second warning.
This game is amazing though, like really, really good, it's going into my favorites.
Currently midnight when writing this, so I better be going to bed, but let me ask first: should I do the other routes before playing the 2 other Echo games? I really need to know, I want to play absolutely everything.
Yes, each route have a hint and lore to The Smoke Room/Route 65.
LEGIT HAVE STARTED HAVING DREAMS ABOUT CHARACTERS FROM THIS GAME. VIVID TOO. PLAY AT OWN RISK.
When you realize the town was based off of Ebay. AKA Echo Bay, Nevada - a ghost town right off the coast of Lake Mead. Gonna visit it when The Virus cools down, and explore the old motel too.
In conclusion, the town exists in real life and has a weird history too...
All in all 10/10 IGN would recommend, wack but amazing.
-a non-fury
Came back to say that only the town name is the same, the history and stories are all created by the Echo Project. I was not trying to discredit the creator because they make beautiful games. Anyways thats it. Thank you Echo Project for existing!
Yeah I'm totally shook up by this, not even joking
(SPOILER WARNING... MAYBE?)
I LOVE the story honestly and I find it terrifying that I can (somehow) relate to Chase in some ways, especially when I took Leo's route. Leo reminded me of a friend of mine back in the days that gave me hints of liking me, and I just ignored it. And I left the school we enrolled in because of a bad incident that made me learn my lesson. That's one I can find similar but anyway, it doesn't matter, isn't it?
Right after playing the game, I literally stared into space for five minutes trying to process everything. Even if it has no good ending, knowing both of them are literally bad endings in some ways, I find the story very interesting. And it lived up to its horror theme which I loved the most. For me, horror is meant to be tragic (apologies for being dark... fufufu).
Kudos to Echo Project and for their magnificent work! Keep up making people inspire!
You know, I saw the bit at the top about "Echo" not being for the faint of heart and thought "oh hey, it's just a VN, it can't be that bad"... oh boy how wrong I was.
To clarify, when I say that, I don't mean the VN is bad; on the contrary in fact. I fucking LOVE the writing here. I simply mean that this VN is very taxing. It seems crazy to me even typing that out but I am honestly so drained from the experience I have so much to say and yet it's just so difficult to articulate without just delving into plot points (which I will do shortly I just wanted to go spoiler free for a second and give general thoughts on the VN to where I've played).
SPOILER WARNING BELOW READ WITH CAUTION!
Ahhh, where do I begin. Honestly I feel almost bad writing this now having only finished one of the routes (currently halfway through another) but I severely doubt my views on the game will change over the routes. The first route I played was TJ's. I think he's definitely one of the more genuine characters with a very interesting conflict which is probably why I gravitated towards him first. As I said previously, my experience of the game is incomplete so forgive me if I simplify stuff to what I understand as of now.
The presence in Echo, I don't know what to call it. From what I could tell, there is some supernatural entity with the ability to make people hallucinate and give them delusions, which cause them to do bad things and sometimes go insane. It's equal parts devastating and horrifying to see this entity warp the MC as he's interacting with TJ. Chase's kiss in the woods took a lot out of me.
The death of Flynn in that route shook me to my core; I found myself actually crying as it happened. It occurred to me then that only two VNs have elicited that kind of reaction from me, this one, and, wouldn't you know it, Adastra. Damn you EchoProject! Of course, the tears came in very different circumstances but still it was such an incredibly tragic moment.
To left turn a bit, after finishing the TJ route, I've moved on to Leo. Oh boy, he's insane. I've not yet completed the route but I found my heart drop when you find that he's been intentionally isolating you from the group. I almost wished it wasn't true. I already feel sorry for Clint; I know something bad has clearly happened. Despite everything, I feel he's probably not that bad of a guy from what I can tell. I read a comment below saying something like "Leo is a psychopath" so I can't wait to get to that part. Just clarifying, I wasn't reading for spoilers, I just happened to glance at the wrong comment. Still an incredible experience, albeit an emotionally exhausting one. This VN keeps you on your toes, despite not actually having too much intractability (not necessarily a complaint, I don't mind not having to worry about whether I've made the wrong choice constantly).
Bruh I was playing, got scared Shitless in the Jenna route. Big brain me goes "Yo I'll just finish it so it doesn't haunt me tonight and I get a resolution" and then I get hit with that "To be continue....." Ima go curl up into a bawl and forget everything now.
Oh hey I've been wanting to join the EchoProject discord server but I've been wondering: Do you have to be a Patron to join it?
nope, here's the invite tho https://discord.gg/wYXTCQcZ
Imagine if Echoproject made some kind of rom-com for once. "The body started shaking. Joan reminded him of the harlem shake. It was very amusing."
I'm telling you, if echo project stop abusing their MC and make romantic comedies or something, they'll earn like ten times more.
I really don't think so. These narratives are unique in my opinion.
Indeed, and I don't think they have to stick to horror themes.
And they don't, actually. Adastra is another visual novel from the echo project which is not horror themed and I enjoyed it as much as the other ones. It does have drama and crude moments as well though, kinda their signature in my opinion and I don't think these vns would be half as good without those elements. Just my humble opinion :p
I just got done binging through the TJ and Flynn routes for hours on end and I must say that I am emotionally drained. Echo is without a doubt the most emotionally invested I’ve ever been into a single piece of media in my entire life. Sure I know that sounds pretty rich coming from a 19 year old.
I still gotta say that Echo does such a good job at sucking you into the world and it’s characters. Despite it being a rather average visual novel visually with some expressive still work and some CG work here and there, it is absolutely carried by the story and the framing of every scene. You can tell that who ever sequenced the music/sound and scenes paid a lot of attention to what type of emotions they were trying to get across to the reader.
I especially was impressed with how the game handled the horror elements. When I was searching for “gay furry visual novels” to play and saw Echo I really thought that the horror aspects would just take a back seat to a dating sim story. However, the opposite is true with the dating sim aspects coming on hard at first only for things to get progressively more miserable as the story carries on.
I love how scenes will change so dramatically without warning when going into a dream sequence or back into reality. I recall during the TJ route when Chase is playing never have I ever with TJ and Carl, out of nowhere being confronted with three choices to brutalize Sydney with that droning horror music seeping in while still having the regular cheerful music playing in the background. When you pick your poison the scene just reverts back to normal as if nothing had just happened. It made me question my sanity and also made me laugh by just how jarring it was.
There’s so many moments in this game that I just want to gush about how the implementation of horror and framing pair so well together to create a cacophony of psychological instability. It was entertaining through and through and I don’t regret spending hours partaking in the two stories. I plan to finish the rest, but the TJ and Flynn routes were the ones that called out to me the most.
If you haven’t played this game yet, definitely give it a download. I’ve played a few gay furry games such as Tennis Ace, Four Letter Word, Nekojishi, Blackgate, Amorous, Dawn Chorus, Far beyond the World, and Beyond the Harbor but I must say that this game takes the cake for me. I never thought I’d get so invested in a game and it’s characters from something on itchio, but damn look at me now typing a long winded “review” on my phone.
Sorry if my points aren’t too coherent I just got done playing and it’s 4 in the morning lol I just really felt the urge to give this game a bump and what better way to leave a review after a fresh play through. If you got to the end of the wall of text many blessings to you ;)
I also finished TJ's route a few days ago, and just finished Flynn's today (also being 4am when I did so haha). And I must say, the story pulled me in so much that I did stay up this late to read it. I noticed that at the end of Flynn's route it said to be continued, so I can't wait for it to do so!
lol i felt the same when i saw it.
Same here!
But guys, imagine if you had an ability to enter in any games depends on their character appearance (beast-man, etc.) Means, as any appearance you want. What will you do "IF" you have this ability?
If you ask me. I will enter on "Echo" to have fun, relax, be friends with the main characters, solved the mystery there (that I/you know what will happen, and you can stop and change it). As an Wolf.
To Echoproject, or is it just Echo? I don't know, anyway.
I'm new here, and first of I just want to say that Adastra, made me see a new light of things, a lot of things. Playing it was just a roller-coaster of emotion and I kid you not, sometimes I instantly turn my phone off because I instantly get assaulted with emotions, both the good and the bad. One night, I was binging till 3am and decided to stop for a bit and rest, but I couldn't, I stayed awake as my mind was just being blendered with these emotions over and over again until I realised that the sun was rising, it instantly reminded me of the title screen, and I both laughed and cried. Adastra reflected a lot of things in life, like strife and happiness, pain and healing, and the known dread of furthest reaches of existence, like the Parents,and the Other, that bit was nightmare fuel to me.
Seeing as how the relationship unfolds with everything around you, the character, learning some morals and a bit of wisdom to be honest, and the most memorable moments for me is with Amicus. I have never experienced what it's like in a relationship, single since birth basically but I don't mind it, although with the carnal urges and also the confused selection of which sex to choose (I'm Bi) but playing Adastra, made me realize something that I already knew, basically I just vibe checked myself like heck, and I realize, I'm just so lonely. Adastra gave me a bit of hope that anywhere and some day, there will be that someone that you just want to do everything with, a moment which I hope will happen (Parent forbid, lol). Speaking of Parents, them able to see the future kinda reflected me a bit, when I'm making big decisions I always try to imagine every possible outcome and pick the most favourable, but Adastra, as I said, major vibe check, reminded me that life is just weird, and that seeing of what's already to happen is boring, like watching that one movie all over and over again, because knowing of what's to come next in life, is like your life has already ended as color that is worth painting on the canvas is just, gone.
To summarise all this, Echoproject or Echo, I thank you for this game, Adastra, and I hope that you will read this and get as much as the love I have felt for it. As I go to sleep in emotional content, excited to continue the story tomorrow. Thank you😘🤗
Also having just finished reading Adastra, being bi, and feeling everything you just said, I want to say thank you also. I could not have been able to word my feelings as you just have.
Just started reading Echo today, hoping for that same amazing storytelling!
Chase possess by Sam's Ghost
Flynn become that Rake-like monster, also possess by Sam's Ghost as well
Carl possess by James's Ghost
Jenna possess by John's Ghost
(I don't know, if the "POSSESS" is the right word to call it)
Correct me if, I'm wrong..
after reading several comments saying things like, "the game destroyed me", "it was painful to play", "it destroyed my heart", "traumatized me," "I cried with fear", I am really worried about what will come of this game, a part of me says to stay away of this game but my curiosity spoke louder so I'm downloading the game, I hope I don't regret it
Lmao, what do you think?
Did you know?
This recurrent song in the game is Clean Soul by Kevin Macleod
Man.... It's kinda funny to me to see the background of Adastra, and name of Amicus in Echo..😂
Ikr? They even revamped the story to make amicus "Straight"... I think
This novel is making me feel things. I’m not sure if that’s good or not but i am sure the writing is great. I just don’t know if i have the strength to return for more.
Is there only one ending with Leo? Am I missing something or he's just fucking psychopath?
You mean end up with Kudzu right? So it's actually one.. fuck I love Leo but it's way too insane.
Either Kudzu or your life. 😔
So...uh, what are the FINISHED route of Echo? Please tell me!
Every route is finished except Jenna`s route and Flynn`s epilogue
thank you for telling me, my friend
Np
Hey could you guys stop writing this well? Hard to do anything but wanna read more.
Same haha, I stayed up until 4am reading this today, I need to be awake soon haha. (glad I did though, the story is so compelling. It's so good!)
Incredibly good (and by good I mean it broke my heart and I can't listen to the title screen music without feeling like shit anymore). Can't wait for Jenna's route to be finished and the epilogue game.
I took Leo route and tried the bad and good ending.... Im just lost of words.... I don't know anymore....... :(
I definitely had to step back and process it all. The same with Flynn's route. Breaks my heart
this game is just perfect, all the routes are good, it made me cry with fear, i am terrified and traumatized, note 100000000000 ...
I was wondering where I can find the smoke room theme (backstage2) because I am very addicted to this theme and I really wanted to download it
Thanks
Obrigado
⊂ (・ ▽ ・ ⊂)
should be in the game files
Found itYAAAAAIIII
thank you sooooooooo much!!!!
(つ≧▽≦)つ
Oh my god, I just finished the TJ route and holy fucking shit... I was going to go back and go Carl and Leo's routes but not anymore. That's not to say it's bad of course, it's fucking astonishing, but I think I am legit having an existential crisis. I played The Smoke Room first, and sure it was a little creepy every now and then but I don't think I will ever recover from this one.
You can try Carl's route. There's a good ending(possibly the only one) if choosing the options in it correctly.
Yeah I went looking in the .rpy files, and the TJ route actually seems to be one of the best ones because like the least amount of people die? Idk I may go back and try the Carl route but def not the Leo route after what I saw.
I won't spoil you but TJ's route is maybe the saddest of all, it is for me. Tragic is the better word I think.
Ugh... I can still feel my Heart shattering it's like a knife that has been stabbed inside me I-I just can't! I think I got attached to Leo that until the the end I know it's the only way to get a happy ending is that you have to end you're relationship with him and after I did I can't help but to cry I can't help but to feel upset it's been a week since I finished this and everytime I hear or read the word "Chula" I can't help but to cry I really sad I can't I just can't be happy I been really sad the entire I haven't really been eating a lot since the I finished the game and I know this may sound absurd and weird but VN can really affect my emotions and how I feel I've been heart broken a lot of times with VNs like one of you're VNs called Adastra the ending was sad I cried when I was dying in the arms of my wolf so I just came here because I want to express my emotions and I'm also thankful that you created VNs and I think I'm fine it's been week it's been a very sad week for me I just don't like to my emotions well I'm done here thanks for listening...
Have you read some messages on Leo's phone while he was showering? It's pretty important
Uh... No? I'm still not on that part though..
?? I was replying to the author of the parent post
This is the first time i come to this homepage games, the first thing i see is 18+ content warning, second the massage "CW: Echo can be an emotionally intense experience and may not be for everyone. Please put your mental well-being first and take this into consideration before downloading!", and third is the comment section that everyone says that this game is absolute TERRIFYING, and now i don't even want to click the download button cause i scared to play, is this even more TERRIFYING than Bird Box? im curios
Its SUCH a good game but it DOES touch on some super intense (potentially triggering) content and supernatural-esque horror hence the warnings. If that's cool with you then I HIGHLY recommend it.
Playthrough wise, my recommendation is to not play TJ's or Flynn's routes first since those are the most lore heavy and its more fun to wonder what's going on. Honestly even though it was an emotionally heavy experience the Echo team did SUCH a good job with this. Honestly my favorite VN on itch. ^u^
All the smoke room references in echo have me HOOKED on that title as it's being developed.
(P.s. Leo's route made me so emotional I literally went into the script files to try and see if there was another ending but I'm still pretty satisfied with the 'good ending' TuT)
TLDR; play it if you feel comfortable enough to handle it
Well im actually kinda fine with gore or horror stuff, what i scared it's the atmosphere, and also you say theres the "good ending" right, well then i might wanna download it as long theres good ending
But don't forget, there isn't really romance. It's like 90% horror and 10% romance. If you're looking for more of these VN's visit my profile. You won't regret it!
If Project Aego wouldn't have been discontinued, I believe it could have taken Echo's place as best horror furry VN.
Project Aego?, is that another studio games?
Did you dislike my comments for no reason? Project Aego has one of the best intros to a VN that I've seen and is set in a dark, cruel scenario. It's about two brothers with superpoweres who's father was in some shady business. One of them wants to find out what happend, the other one decides to do research as detective. https://twitter.com/projectaego?lang=de
wait, did i?, i don't remember dislike your comments, and also i already see the link you give to me, it is free on patreon?, cause it usually pay
I wish I had read your recommendations before playing it lol, I have done TJ's route in my second time playing now I just can't play anymore with everything I know... :P
guys. maybe Chase didnt't do "you know what" during their childood at the Lake. but i say maybe a big maybe.
Big love from 🇫🇷 to everyone who read this comment
Lmao. I am scared just by looking at the download button.
Man...Echo and Repeat just hits me everywhere. Like omg....im speechless.
Maybe spoilers i dunno. Just don't even read this comment, I'm emotionally broken and destructed and I just have to somehow blow off steam.
Bruh I just.. Alright, this is my FIRST. NOVEL. EVER. And, what the f actually. Just cus of this game I found out that I really like this kind of furries but thats another topic.. What I want to talk about is why the hell was Leo's route such a rollercoaster of f'up emotions. I know, I know, he has to forget about Chase to find his own happines BUT WHY. I felt immediately in love with this couple. I had dreams about them being together even when Chase was acting like a dkhead. I thought I'll be playing a cute lovestory game, not this. The wanna-be-"happy"-end destroyed me in pieces. I just.. Omfg I feel so exhausted without a will to live anymore wtf. I feel literally empty. After this I just wished for a good ending. Ik I might seem sensitive af, which is true, and that's why it hit me hard. Not even talking that I kinda can relate to Leo. But.. IDK IM SO CONFUSED WHAT I AM EVEN TALKING ABOUT I JUST WANT TO SIT IN THE CORNER AND CRY MY HEART OUT. I'm definitely not playing Route 65 or anything else, cus I was so dumb to read the spoilers which are not good for Leo as well. I mean, why does the devs hate their relationship.. I'm empty and I want to disappear rn. Can't stop crying and this will stuck in me head for so fucking long. FUCKIN VIDEOGAMES. IM SO SORRY.
There there *hugs. I was feeling exactly the same. I couldn't eat or sleep. I have to tell you that it's gonna be okay. I just played Leo's route and I never want to play this game again lmao... Of course I will tho, but not soon, it's gonna take me months to risk my mental health again. I absolutely love this game but y'know, enough of suffering for now. (sorry any mistakes, english it's not my first language.
I feel like playing different routes will break me more, cus there will be the lack of Leo :(
Chase's relationship with Leo is hella abusive, u know that?
Hey , this game have sex scene ? :3
This is by far the most underrated comment I have ever read on an itch.io game page. I absolutely adore the intricacies proposed by this ingenious question-poser, the in-depth conspiracy that seems to unfold with each and every word they produce is something I just cannot shake off as sheer skill, it is far too godly to be taken as such pestilence. Should I ever find reason to refer to you in one of my numerous essays, I will sir. I will.
XD
Sorry ahah , play game with +18 content is funny for me because that really not realist xD
I'm not sure if I understand this correctly, but I have an idea: I can understand playing a game only for the 18+ scenes, although, I think you may find that the plot can be much more rewarding because of the time spent on it.
Context: It can take writers up to days to perfect a story, and it can really show if you pay attention to what they write.
I'm not your mom though, so I can't really force you to.
LMAO
does anyone know how to keep save files when getting the latest build? or is it necessary to just replace the previous build with the current one then skip all the parts of story you've already done?
Unfortunately old saves are not usable in newer versions. U just gotta skip.