1/5 - Bad game; didn't get me off
~ 7-8 hours long (with 5 routes)
Gameplay consists of making choices. Choices are rare (you can frequently read for 20+ minutes without getting a choice) and they don't matter. The only one choice that impacts the game is in chapter 3 (around 1 hour in) you choose which character's route you want to play. That's it, your other choices are as inconsequential as choosing what you'll eat for lunch. Sometimes you don't even get a choice of skipping the scene. In other words, it's more or less a kinetic novel, not a game.
Porn - although the porn is there, and although the scenes are long and well-written, they are rare and without art (text only). There were only 3 scenes in my playthrough (Flynn route). The focus of the game is not on romance or sex, it is on the story.
Which leads into the main problems I have with the game. Without spoiling anything, the best way I can describe the story is like if David Lynch made a VN. For those who don't know Lynch - he is an artsy movie director (Lost Highway, Inland Empire) who likes to use so many "dream within a dream within a dream" sequences that the average viewer loses track of what's going on and stops caring.
My experience with Echo was very similar to watching one of his movies - I was drawn in by the mystery, by the characters, by the excellent writing..., but by the end I was shaking my head wondering why I wasted my time. I don't understand what happened, I don't understand what the ending means, and I don't understand what the message was. If you're not an abstract art fan, you'll likely have the same impression.
+ Good use of special effects. Some portions of the game were a bit scary (the parts that I could make sense of, at least)
- Characters rarely change clothes
- Too much small talk. Half an hour could easily have been cut to improve pacing
- Continuity mistakes - In chapter 7 I was talking with Leo when Dudebro says he has to go soon can we please have a quick talk. I was given a choice. When I chose to talk with Dudebro, Leo gets a call and suddenly has to leave, but when I chose to talk with Leo he doesn't get any call. That's not to imply that this choice affects the game, I just thought it was worth pointing out - it makes me wonder how much the story events and character personalities change if you read a different route.
EDIT: A clarification on the choices - 2 of the 5 routes your choices don't matter, but in the other 3 you do get to make another choice at the end between 2 different endings. The point still stands though, even 2 choices in 8 hours of playtime isn't much of a game.
~ 7-8 hours long (with 5 routes)
Gameplay consists of making choices. Choices are rare (you can frequently read for 20+ minutes without getting a choice) and they don't matter. The only one choice that impacts the game is in chapter 3 (around 1 hour in) you choose which character's route you want to play. That's it, your other choices are as inconsequential as choosing what you'll eat for lunch. Sometimes you don't even get a choice of skipping the scene. In other words, it's more or less a kinetic novel, not a game.
Porn - although the porn is there, and although the scenes are long and well-written, they are rare and without art (text only). There were only 3 scenes in my playthrough (Flynn route). The focus of the game is not on romance or sex, it is on the story.
Which leads into the main problems I have with the game. Without spoiling anything, the best way I can describe the story is like if David Lynch made a VN. For those who don't know Lynch - he is an artsy movie director (Lost Highway, Inland Empire) who likes to use so many "dream within a dream within a dream" sequences that the average viewer loses track of what's going on and stops caring.
My experience with Echo was very similar to watching one of his movies - I was drawn in by the mystery, by the characters, by the excellent writing..., but by the end I was shaking my head wondering why I wasted my time. I don't understand what happened, I don't understand what the ending means, and I don't understand what the message was. If you're not an abstract art fan, you'll likely have the same impression.
+ Good use of special effects. Some portions of the game were a bit scary (the parts that I could make sense of, at least)
- Characters rarely change clothes
- Too much small talk. Half an hour could easily have been cut to improve pacing
- Continuity mistakes - In chapter 7 I was talking with Leo when Dudebro says he has to go soon can we please have a quick talk. I was given a choice. When I chose to talk with Dudebro, Leo gets a call and suddenly has to leave, but when I chose to talk with Leo he doesn't get any call. That's not to imply that this choice affects the game, I just thought it was worth pointing out - it makes me wonder how much the story events and character personalities change if you read a different route.
EDIT: A clarification on the choices - 2 of the 5 routes your choices don't matter, but in the other 3 you do get to make another choice at the end between 2 different endings. The point still stands though, even 2 choices in 8 hours of playtime isn't much of a game.
