Chained Echoes takes place in war-torn Valandis and narrates the story of a group of individuals of different backgrounds and skills on a quest to stop the atrocities of war and, in a truly heroic fashion, save the world. Mathias Linda, the sole developer of the game successfully created a love letter for old RPGs.



In Chained Echoes, you play as Glenn, the main protagonist and de facto leader of a group of mercenaries on a mission to destroy a weapon of mass destruction, restore peace and fight your way through tyrants, monsters, religion and tremendous magic powers.

Without spoiling anything, the game’s storytelling is extremely well done, and a lot of effort was put into building a cohesive universe. The lore, deities, places, Matthias Linda really thought of everything. Furthermore, this story is exceptionally well-paced and surprised me at times; expecting a classic scenario, some unexpected plot twist drastically changed the course of the story and this down to the very end.

Furthermore, you will be able to play the game with a cast of 12 characters, each with their reason for joining the band and their backstory influencing the main storyline.

Sadly, dialogues sometimes feel forced and extended for no reason. While it is great to have a variety of playable characters for a turn-based RPG such as this, their late arrival in the game and their limited use make the character development extremely uneven. Quite frankly, I didn’t try most of them in actual fights. I am sure it was also the case for most players.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2930118975



The Mechanics of the game work well together but can sometimes be frustrating.

Beyond the story and the act of “beating” the game, there is much optional content. Including and not limited to a reward board that will push the challenge further for full completion. Chained Echoes has an astonishing amount of content for you to explore, loot, fight etc.

In the middle of the story, you will unlock Sky Armour (Mechs), which allows you to fly, discover, and reach new areas of the map previously blocked off. You will also be able to fight with them; it is super fun but eventually becomes a tad tedious as only the same characters can enter mechs. The fighting strategies are extremely limited to a few that shine and many that aren’t useful.

But the same can be said for combat in general; turn-based and not very innovative until the overdrive system makes its entry. Imagine a bar that buffs you, while you keep it in the green, granting you better defence and less TP (mana) used for skills and pushing it further into the red zone will do the opposite. To raise or lower your overdrive, you need to use specific actions as requested by the game.

I was using the strategy at the right time to facilitate my progression until I completely forgot about this system, ignored it entirely, and wasn’t punished at all (except at 2 specific boss fights).

Similarly, you are fighting on foot, and agility is the most important stat to grow for your characters. Defence doesn’t seem to have an impact, and while there are so many variations of builds you can do, some shine, while most of them are not helpful.

On the bright side, all your characters level up simultaneously, and you can max out all their skills and talent tree by simply playing, not limiting you in any way should you have made less desirable decisions early on.

An interesting mechanic is that each character can be assigned a backup that you can switch out at any time in battle to adjust your strategy. Exciting concept, beneficial at times. On top of that, you also have an Ultra Bar, a super skill that builds up with every attack and is available at every boss fight.

Finally, the difficulty will randomly spike, making you wonder what just happened; thankfully, you get to retry battles should you die, which will happen.

Chained Echoes won’t let you grind levels and overpower the game; you can only acquire new stats or skills each time you kill a boss. Thus, leaving you at the same level as what was first intended by the game. I greatly appreciated that aspect.


Chained Echoes has a pretty big map allowing you to explore every little bit of it, and what a beauty. Pixel games are pretty en vogue and have been for quite a couple of years, but this game doesn't pale compared to some bigger names in the genre. Distinguishing itself with magnificent art, locations, buildings, fauna and flora so rich and diverse with such attention to detail that it all truly comes to life.

The Graphics are fantastic, with great animations that are all just contributing to create a general ambience that is to die for.

The score of the game and its different track were also fantastic and reminiscent of some of the classic RPG I played a long time ago. Very well done.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2925789573

Chained Echoes was a surprise; I wasn't expecting too much and was blown away by the story and general quality of the game. It is an exceptional game to play, even more so considering that only one person made it. This game is a must play.

Game ran great, experienced a few glitches here and there but nothing ground breaking.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2930602120

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