Chained Echoes
Last updated: 2025-03-21
- Visually stunning with captivating music.
- Strategic combat system with innovative mechanics.
- Nostalgic feel evokes classic JRPG experiences.
- Combat mechanics are poorly implemented.
- Difficulty is inconsistent and unbalanced.
- Story and characters are uninspired.
- Reviews
(sample size) - 1114
- Helpful reviews
- 83%
- Unhelpful reviews
- 15%
- Protest reviews
- 1%
- 81%Helpful reviews with positive sentiment
- 19%Helpful reviews with negative sentiment
- Positive points
- 2623
- Negative points
- 1577
- Gameplay points
- 575
- Perf. points
- 42
- Rec. points
- 760
- Misc points
- 153
| Point | Description | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Stunning graphics and music | The game features outstanding graphics and music, with a beautiful pixel art style, fluid animations, and a varied soundtrack that enhances the emotional weight of the story and the excitement of combat. Many reviewers highlight the retro aesthetic and nostalgic feel, while also praising the high level of polish and optimization. | 80% |
| Strategic and innovative combat system | The combat system is a highlight, featuring strategic turn-based battles with innovative mechanics like the Overdrive system. This system adds depth by requiring players to manage a gauge for optimal damage and defense, preventing move spam and encouraging diverse skill usage. Battles are challenging but fair, with no random encounters and full HP/TP restoration after each fight. | 78% |
| Nostalgic, classic JRPG feel | The game successfully captures the essence of classic JRPGs from the SNES and PS1 era, evoking a strong sense of nostalgia. It pays homage to games like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Xenogears while maintaining its own unique identity. The game blends traditional JRPG elements with modern design sensibilities, offering a refined and accessible experience. | 45% |
| Well-developed and customizable characters | The game features complex and well-developed characters with defined personalities and emotional moments. The character designs are charming and memorable, contributing to the overall aesthetic appeal. There is a lot of variation in building characters, with a large range of moves, passives, and stat upgrades. | 15% |
| Party and equipment customization | The ability to swap out party members during combat is a great feature, allowing for strategic depth and diverse character combinations. The equipment system allows for extensive character customization, enabling diverse builds like healing tanks or debuffing mages. The use of crystals for weapon and armor upgrades to build combos is enjoyable. | 9% |
| Unique Sky Armor exploration | The Sky Armor mechanic provides a unique exploration experience, allowing players to fly freely and access previously inaccessible locations. This feature adds a new dimension to area traversal and combat, changing the overdrive movement. The use of sky armors made sense in the context of the story. | 7% |
| Engaging reward board system | The game features a reward board that allows unlocking additional rewards upon completing certain challenges. The reward board is very rewarding and pushes the challenge further for full completion. The mission board guides exploration, making it easy to feel progression. | 6% |