so, i loved this, but there is one thing chase said that is stuck in my troath ".....predators...." otters are predators, and for me makes absolutly no sense for him to say that specifically. even though this is just a prequel to a horror visual novel, it's something that sounded very wierd in it, and i know you are not going to change that now, and i'm not saying to do that, however i hope this comment helps not to make a that "mistake" in future projects. keep up good work
look, im going to explain something, i said "mistake", as it is'nt correct but tolerable because it's just a freakin story, it's an information i gave hoping to help, but have noticed alot of deslikes or what ever you call it here, and feel like people are seeing my comment in a negative way, it's just a fact i gave that for anyone that studies biology and etc is questionable. however i do admit to the mistake that i dont know wich species of otter he is, sea otters are not so prone to violance, and have sharks and killer whales as predators, and north american river otter is said to have some predators, but there is alot of otters, and i know that some species can fight of jaguars for example, and im not talking about the giant river otter, im talking about smaller species
I mean, other animals eat Otters. he could just be commenting on how scary predators can look as well. After all otters are seen as cute in Echo, not scary predators.
I find wolves cute and cool as well as otter, and btw, wich otter species are you talking about getting eaten by other predators?? because i have seen otters kicking jaguars buts, and bullying other animals
Just a hunch, but is this game based on the town of Echo, Utah? It was founded in the 1800s and today is very, very small, so based on some of the lore I've read on these itch.io pages, it seems like it would fit, and there's a town not too far from it called Payson, so to me, it just kinda makes sense. Plus, with the Mormon references, I immediately think Utah lol. Then again, I'm not really super far into the game just yet.
Yes I do believe it is based on Echo in Utah. There is Coalville and the Echo Reservoir right next to it as well as the locations general look/feel and various aspects of the town.
Not to mention the Wikipedia page on Echo does mention the VN and how it is 'loosely based on Echo and the surrounding area'.
Just remember it is a fictional town so doesn't necessarily have to be based on real location, even if we would like it to be ;)
Just finished and as usual great VN. Want to make sure i have not missed something thou, do we ever find out what was happening in the Van and why Leo was recording at the party? Or is that still to come?
Yeah Leo was having sex with Micha (the bat dude) and filmed the whole thing with a camera that Micha stole from the school the grossest part is both are obviously underaged and Micha is a full 3 years younger than Leo and I'm 90% sure wasn't even a teenager yet when it happened
Leo also wanted to film more stuff with Chase but never did
Echo: Route 65 is a great little prequel to the main game, Echo. It sets up part of the story nicely and offers a bit of secrets that 1) lure you into the main game and 2) provide a bit of insight into Echo's secrets itself. I'm definitely glad that I played it before Echo!
Hey i'm playing this for the first time and Jenna's sprite is her one from Echo? And all my saves from the original Echo also show up? The saves aren't a big deal but is that supposed to be her sprite?
Yeah that's the correct sprite. I'm pretty sure it was initially developed for Route 65 actually but was then also used as her sprite in the main game since her old sprite didn't match with the current art style.
wonderful story as always, i love all the little hints and reveals about the characters that we constantly are given. it really is such fantastic writing
Its nothing to worry about its just because its not a regular program. So your computer has no way of knowing what it is. But it does not have malware or anything. I already played the game it safe.
Really short but nice prequel. TJ is such a cute snowflake. And playing this right after finishing Leo's route in Echo is cute but kinda sad too.
Just like a comment below said, i wish Chase could have fixed Leo's manipulative attitude, but yeah, that breakup was neccesary, and the damage for both was already done.
Here's hoping that in Arches we can see them both talking happily and cracking jokes in Payton while they share a meal, like really good friends (like, to show they both moved on already) :3
Such a sweet little prequel, even knowing what happens in the main game, and the heavy implications it leaves here. It actually cheered me up and warmed my heart a little after finishing the main.
Is this written by the same folks who did the main game? Cuz... there's a lot of distractingly obvious british-isms that don't fit the setting, and there weren't any of those in Echo
Yep, though I wrote it right after writing a shit ton of college essays for my senior year and while I was doing a lot of WoW RP, so the dialogue kind of reflected that. No worries, though, a revised version of R65 is coming soon. - McSkinny
This is not what I am saying, but Echo itself is real town and that guy might ask if (for example) the murder in the mines was real as well (in this town).
Echo is a real town in Utah, with the lake and motel and yadda yadda, also only has like 50-100 people. Apparently Howley went to the town and got inspiration for the game. Aslo some of the BG photos for Echo are from the actual place. Pretty sure anyway.
This is a very good prequel! I played it after the smoke room and before echo. I wanted to do them in order. Too bad Tj is under that blanket the whole time though, I bet he would be very cute as a young guy, he sure acted cutely!
'cause of the timelapse I think (sorry my bad english but I hope u understand, I mean the years they stand from each other, Chase in the college, Leo in echo and stuff)
So is it recomended to play this if you have already played the main game? I'll be honest, I feel kinda hesitant because the character design looks so different from Echo...
I would get caught up with the main game (finish / catch up with the dev's on all the routes). Narratively this game will make a bigger impact on you if you do.
Thank you for making this, it really made me appreciate the main story and even made me satisfied on the Leo endings, in which I experienced harsh anguish for, for the original. This series means a lot to me now, and thus I can't show my appreciation enough. I'm very excited to see where this series goes next!
my only complaints why is there no good endings, like okay this was the order i play threw the game Jasmin, TJ, Leo into carl, Carl, and Flinn, and like Jasmin freaked me out like their was no tomorrow, then TJs was like a death threat from anonymous over here, then like bad dragons but good, into deleting history? like what
why Leo's ending is like this both endings are bad 😭😭😭😢😭😭😭😭 Please make a third ending.
Like , a third choice when you say that you love him and I will never leave you no matter what, and you tell him you are here to help , then you tell your friends to go without you and bring help.
Then you stay with leo until the next day when the help comes. Then you live with him and help him with his problems , and he helps you through your breakdowns. And stay together and live a happy ever after life
Please consider this I'm sure a lot of your fans would like it
Just as a heads-up, this will be slightly spoilery.
Asking for this is blatantly ignoring the entire theme of his route. It's about letting the past go. Hence the recurring theme of the anchor as an ominous figure. Both endings indeed leave heavy feelings, but that's the point. If you want an ending where Leo and Chase get back together, you get a train wreck. No matter how cute they can be together, at the end of the day, their relationship is not a healthy one, and because of the nature of the issues, it would be almost impossible for them to work through them while being together.
The whole story is just a shocking reality check. A reminder that nostalgia isn't real. Nostalgia is a fucking liar, that makes us cling to a past that never really existed. Endlessly chasing a feeling that we can never recapture.
It's easy to hold on to the idea that things will go back to the way they were. But you can't. It's hard, and it's painful, but you have to admit that that thing you had is gone and it's never coming back. When you break up with him it is excruciating to see Leo and Chase so utterly destroyed by the acknowledgement that it's over but it finally allows them both to move on with their lives instead of clinging desperately to a dream that was never going to happen.
And the epilogue shows that they are finally healing. Yeah, Leo cried himself to sleep every night for almost two years. And Chase is still suffering from sever PTSD from what happened in Echo. And that pain will likely never leave them. But at least they're looking forward now, to what could be. Instead of backward, trying to recapture what was.
Even though every part of me wanted to see hem happy together, I recognise that it just won't work. Even though they both still love each other, they both have issues that they simply cannot push past if they don't let that part of themselves go.
I think that Leo could be a great boyfriend. Just not for Chase. And I think Chase could be a great boyfriend. Just not for Leo. Not anymore.
I hate to admit it, but that last part was utterly beautiful in a bittersweet, melancholic sort of way.
"[I]f they don't let [...] go," is the condition for an irrepairable relationship. If they did let go, there could be hope.
An adage: old chapters close and new ones open. I agree, Chase and Leo could never return to the good old days; the past stays in the past, but by no means is nostalgia "fake". They did have a history, and they could create a future together if they remember said good old days AND commit to changes that improves their relationship. Open communication and willingness to be vulnerable are keys to their closed doors.
I'll admit I was kinda going through some shit when I wrote my initial comment. So I will clarify by saying that nostalgia is real, and can absolutely be a good thing (in fact it is psychologically necessary) but it can also sometimes lead to an unhealthy romanticization of the past. I do think that Chase and Leo could still have a future together, but it would take a great deal of work on both their parts, especially after the events of Leo's arc. I believe that the healthiest option is for them to admit that though they still love each other a relationship is simply not in the cards.
I won't say it's impossible. The romantic in me still believes in the power of what they had but I think that the ultimate moral of this story is "you gotta know when to fold 'em". That as painful as it might be, sometimes (not all the time, but sometimes) the best thing you can do is let go, move on, and try something new.
I was talking to a friend about Echo and I summarised the relationship like this: "Contrary to popular belief, love is not all you need. You also need trust and communication. Leo is bad at trust, and Chase is bad at communication." And therein I think we can identify a formula for fixing their relationship. And if you want to follow that line of thought then go ahead. I'd like to believe that there is hope, I'd like to believe that love can withstand anything. But ultimately we all take away what we need from a work of fiction, and at the time I personally really needed a story about letting go of the past.
I hope you are well, and I hope I didn't cause too much of a stir with my first comment, I was in a fairly emotionally charged state at the time of writing.
I was myself a bit harsh when I wrote my initial comment. I was rather irritated from seeing the work the author put into doing something original and thoughtful and most comments on the situation being only requests for Leo and Chase to end up together.
What I meant at the end by "almost impossible while they're together" is that they tend to keep each other in chains while they're near each other. They're a bit too taken into nostalgia and honeymooning to take the issues seriously until it becomes overwhelming. They could go to couple's therapy or something, but I don't really see them making that decision until they've reflected on what happened and grown more, and I'd see them only be able to do their personal growth while apart.
I don't think it is actually impossible for them to be together, but the thing that would mostly aggravate me about such an end being present is that it would reinforce the feeling of that ending being the "good ending" and the others being the "bad/normal endings", demeaning their value in the end, as the true goal would be to find a way to have them be together. I am a hopeful romantic at my core, and I was pining for them to be together, until I saw the ending and reflected on what lead to it. I just think such an ending would be a disservice to the overall narrative.
If someone wrote a fanfiction about them working through their issues and maturely growing to become a functional couple, I'd be all for it, but I don't think it's the type of narrative most common for fanfiction unfortunately. I still don't think it would be the best to include it within the game itself.
Says "letting the past go," but Chase chose to return to Echo! Ohhh, the irony! Some of us do not deny the theme of Leo's route. We simply want the two to be happy. I respect realists to be doubtful, but I also appreciate optimists to be hopeful. Also, have you ever heard of couples' counseling?
As a recent reader looking through older comments, it amazes me how badly some readers missed the point of Leo's route, even to this day when Echo itself is close to finishing development.
Granted, this is just a game so I guess people wanna escape reality and keep their hopes up but if it wasn't obvious already, Echo is *NOT* that type of story. If anything, Leo's route was a harsh but needed reality check.
LeoArashi is the "I can change them!" them type... I sincerely hope you're not like this IRL because that's such a scary mentality.
Also a necrocommentor here. I acknowledge the themetic importance of Leo's route, so no arguments there; however, that does not entail our wishful desire for our boys to reunite are any less or insignificant. If anything, heartfelt and human.
Here is my reality: I once knew an emo greaser kid in middle school who despised others, including me, just to look cool and edgey. You know what happened? I changed him. How? By simply being his friend. To this day, we are brothers for life. Scary, right?
I like Arashi's optimism and hopefulness, but it takes two to tango of course. Leo said he wants to change for Chase, GREAT! The challenge is is that Chase might not (depending on the route), great...we can point out literary irony when Chase chose to return to Echo in the very beginning despite moving on and knowing better. Conversely, Leo has forgiven, though not forgotten, their past despite wearing the anchor bracelet symbolizing otherwise.
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I really want to play it but I can't can you please fix the android version please.
Even when the andriod ver was way out of dTe it still worked for me i enjoy this prequel
Be nice to have an update for the Android version :(
S23 Ultra here
The android version does not appear to work on modern phones anymore :(
so, i loved this, but there is one thing chase said that is stuck in my troath ".....predators...." otters are predators, and for me makes absolutly no sense for him to say that specifically. even though this is just a prequel to a horror visual novel, it's something that sounded very wierd in it, and i know you are not going to change that now, and i'm not saying to do that, however i hope this comment helps not to make a that "mistake" in future projects. keep up good work
look, im going to explain something, i said "mistake", as it is'nt correct but tolerable because it's just a freakin story, it's an information i gave hoping to help, but have noticed alot of deslikes or what ever you call it here, and feel like people are seeing my comment in a negative way, it's just a fact i gave that for anyone that studies biology and etc is questionable. however i do admit to the mistake that i dont know wich species of otter he is, sea otters are not so prone to violance, and have sharks and killer whales as predators, and north american river otter is said to have some predators, but there is alot of otters, and i know that some species can fight of jaguars for example, and im not talking about the giant river otter, im talking about smaller species
because otters are predators.
that's what i said
I mean, other animals eat Otters.
he could just be commenting on how scary predators can look as well. After all otters are seen as cute in Echo, not scary predators.
I find wolves cute and cool as well as otter, and btw, wich otter species are you talking about getting eaten by other predators?? because i have seen otters kicking jaguars buts, and bullying other animals
When will you pay the next update for this VN here on itch.io?
good, but i suggest remaking leo's sprite. unless he dyes his fur like chase, he isn't accurate to the main game. looks more like a fox...
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen really dosen't like this .exe
Doesn't even want me to make an exclusion.
Had to go to the .exe properties and unblock the file.
ah, seems like it most definitely is, after reading the wiki, based loosely off of Echo, UT lol
Just a hunch, but is this game based on the town of Echo, Utah? It was founded in the 1800s and today is very, very small, so based on some of the lore I've read on these itch.io pages, it seems like it would fit, and there's a town not too far from it called Payson, so to me, it just kinda makes sense. Plus, with the Mormon references, I immediately think Utah lol. Then again, I'm not really super far into the game just yet.
hmm idk. I was thinking this was in Arizona because the city of "Echo" is near Pueblo.
Yes I do believe it is based on Echo in Utah. There is Coalville and the Echo Reservoir right next to it as well as the locations general look/feel and various aspects of the town.
Not to mention the Wikipedia page on Echo does mention the VN and how it is 'loosely based on Echo and the surrounding area'.
Just remember it is a fictional town so doesn't necessarily have to be based on real location, even if we would like it to be ;)
Just finished and as usual great VN. Want to make sure i have not missed something thou, do we ever find out what was happening in the Van and why Leo was recording at the party? Or is that still to come?
you can find that out in jenna's route!
thats my next route then! thank you
ok i finished all routes and I think im just a bit stupid would you be able to explain, were they like filming sex or something?
Yeah Leo was having sex with Micha (the bat dude) and filmed the whole thing with a camera that Micha stole from the school the grossest part is both are obviously underaged and Micha is a full 3 years younger than Leo and I'm 90% sure wasn't even a teenager yet when it happened
Leo also wanted to film more stuff with Chase but never did
Leo is disgusting
ya because i think Micha was 14 at the time and Leo was 17
Echo: Route 65 is a great little prequel to the main game, Echo. It sets up part of the story nicely and offers a bit of secrets that 1) lure you into the main game and 2) provide a bit of insight into Echo's secrets itself. I'm definitely glad that I played it before Echo!
Hey i'm playing this for the first time and Jenna's sprite is her one from Echo? And all my saves from the original Echo also show up? The saves aren't a big deal but is that supposed to be her sprite?
Yeah that's the correct sprite. I'm pretty sure it was initially developed for Route 65 actually but was then also used as her sprite in the main game since her old sprite didn't match with the current art style.
Yeah, thats the right sprite.
Its even mentioned in Echo that Jenna looks the same as she did when route 65 happened.
The mobile version keep randomly closing out
wonderful story as always, i love all the little hints and reveals about the characters that we constantly are given. it really is such fantastic writing
I'm playing this again after months and months.
Its so nostalgic and reminds me of my adventures with my friend group when I was a teen... Also its just a somber mood overall and yeah.
When I play this game, my antivirus is flogging it up as malware, and saying to delete it. What's this all about?
Its nothing to worry about its just because its not a regular program. So your computer has no way of knowing what it is. But it does not have malware or anything. I already played the game it safe.
I approve of getting ricketyrolled at the end. *chef's kiss
Kinda wish you could skip the parts in a route you have already read in another without having to risk using the skip unseen dialogue option
Wow Finished all echo Route's... Im Super Dissapointed how Short this was! Was looking forward for more! ;w;
*SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS GAME AND ECHO*
Really short but nice prequel. TJ is such a cute snowflake. And playing this right after finishing Leo's route in Echo is cute but kinda sad too.
Just like a comment below said, i wish Chase could have fixed Leo's manipulative attitude, but yeah, that breakup was neccesary, and the damage for both was already done.
Here's hoping that in Arches we can see them both talking happily and cracking jokes in Payton while they share a meal, like really good friends (like, to show they both moved on already) :3
-somewhat spoilery, I guess-
Such a sweet little prequel, even knowing what happens in the main game, and the heavy implications it leaves here. It actually cheered me up and warmed my heart a little after finishing the main.
Is this written by the same folks who did the main game? Cuz... there's a lot of distractingly obvious british-isms that don't fit the setting, and there weren't any of those in Echo
Yep, though I wrote it right after writing a shit ton of college essays for my senior year and while I was doing a lot of WoW RP, so the dialogue kind of reflected that. No worries, though, a revised version of R65 is coming soon. - McSkinny
haha, thanks for the reply, just made me curious. there were, like, 3 in the opening few lines but the rest of the vn didn't feel out of place again 😅
i love echo! thanks for your hard work 😸
is it based on real facts? (because I know the city exists)
based on real facts?
this game is canon prequel to Echo, idk if it is also based on someone real story :/
This is not what I am saying, but Echo itself is real town and that guy might ask if (for example) the murder in the mines was real as well (in this town).
so... big buff werewolf men too? :3
Sign me up rn
Echo is a real town in Utah, with the lake and motel and yadda yadda, also only has like 50-100 people. Apparently Howley went to the town and got inspiration for the game. Aslo some of the BG photos for Echo are from the actual place. Pretty sure anyway.
Why does Leo look like a rabbit?
Why does Leo look like a rookanga?
the linux file has an .exe, is it possible you put the windows version in the linux link ?
you can run the .exe in wine or simply run the .sh file (right click to menu or copy the .sh file to terminal)
wine is hard to control tho, running the .sh is better.
just curious, is this game finished? I haven't played it yet.
I believe it is! This is only a short story, so it doesn't have as much content as Echo.
This is a very good prequel! I played it after the smoke room and before echo. I wanted to do them in order. Too bad Tj is under that blanket the whole time though, I bet he would be very cute as a young guy, he sure acted cutely!
Why most of the characters look different than in the main echo game?
'cause of the timelapse I think (sorry my bad english but I hope u understand, I mean the years they stand from each other, Chase in the college, Leo in echo and stuff)
Different artists, I guess.
well for one thing, Echo takes place like 5 something years after route 65. so it's only natural they'd look different
The description "a clap and a cry" makes it even scarier. Nice job tho
So is it recomended to play this if you have already played the main game? I'll be honest, I feel kinda hesitant because the character design looks so different from Echo...
I would get caught up with the main game (finish / catch up with the dev's on all the routes). Narratively this game will make a bigger impact on you if you do.
Main game isnt finished yet
thus why i say caught up
Thank you for making this, it really made me appreciate the main story and even made me satisfied on the Leo endings, in which I experienced harsh anguish for, for the original. This series means a lot to me now, and thus I can't show my appreciation enough. I'm very excited to see where this series goes next!
Im confused. Right after they are abort to listen to chase parents voicemail the game just ends. Is that it?
Yup. It's a short VN prequel to the visual novel Echo. If you haven't already, I'd recommend checking that out for the continued story.
I played the Android version and it have only a single end in...? They both ... ?
No matter what I choose have only one single end?
Rio de Janeiro, February 29th 2020
I don't remember playing a prequel before. So it must be it. I just expected a little more from it.
This remind of some of my long dreams. So short to be real and so long to not be.
Thank you.
Mews,
Pandrine
my only complaints why is there no good endings, like okay this was the order i play threw the game Jasmin, TJ, Leo into carl, Carl, and Flinn, and like Jasmin freaked me out like their was no tomorrow, then TJs was like a death threat from anonymous over here, then like bad dragons but good, into deleting history? like what
I keep getting app not installed even though it Is. I need help!
I'm talking about the other echo game
How ironic ur username is Leo
why Leo's ending is like this both endings are bad 😭😭😭😢😭😭😭😭 Please make a third ending.
Like , a third choice when you say that you love him and I will never leave you no matter what, and you tell him you are here to help , then you tell your friends to go without you and bring help.
Then you stay with leo until the next day when the help comes. Then you live with him and help him with his problems , and he helps you through your breakdowns. And stay together and live a happy ever after life
Please consider this I'm sure a lot of your fans would like it
I would like something like that for TJ
No, because TJ is the untouchable virgin church boy typecast. Like Jenna, he has no interest in Chase, either sexually/romantically.
God i was soooooooooo emotionally ivested in leo
My heart almost sunk into the ground
Ik same I always want to see chase and leo get back together. They would be so cute together
They ARE cute together.
We would love it
Just as a heads-up, this will be slightly spoilery.
Asking for this is blatantly ignoring the entire theme of his route. It's about letting the past go. Hence the recurring theme of the anchor as an ominous figure. Both endings indeed leave heavy feelings, but that's the point. If you want an ending where Leo and Chase get back together, you get a train wreck. No matter how cute they can be together, at the end of the day, their relationship is not a healthy one, and because of the nature of the issues, it would be almost impossible for them to work through them while being together.
I totally agree.
The whole story is just a shocking reality check. A reminder that nostalgia isn't real. Nostalgia is a fucking liar, that makes us cling to a past that never really existed. Endlessly chasing a feeling that we can never recapture.
It's easy to hold on to the idea that things will go back to the way they were. But you can't. It's hard, and it's painful, but you have to admit that that thing you had is gone and it's never coming back.
When you break up with him it is excruciating to see Leo and Chase so utterly destroyed by the acknowledgement that it's over but it finally allows them both to move on with their lives instead of clinging desperately to a dream that was never going to happen.
And the epilogue shows that they are finally healing. Yeah, Leo cried himself to sleep every night for almost two years. And Chase is still suffering from sever PTSD from what happened in Echo. And that pain will likely never leave them. But at least they're looking forward now, to what could be. Instead of backward, trying to recapture what was.
Even though every part of me wanted to see hem happy together, I recognise that it just won't work. Even though they both still love each other, they both have issues that they simply cannot push past if they don't let that part of themselves go.
I think that Leo could be a great boyfriend. Just not for Chase. And I think Chase could be a great boyfriend. Just not for Leo.
Not anymore.
I hate to admit it, but that last part was utterly beautiful in a bittersweet, melancholic sort of way.
"[I]f they don't let [...] go," is the condition for an irrepairable relationship. If they did let go, there could be hope.
An adage: old chapters close and new ones open. I agree, Chase and Leo could never return to the good old days; the past stays in the past, but by no means is nostalgia "fake". They did have a history, and they could create a future together if they remember said good old days AND commit to changes that improves their relationship. Open communication and willingness to be vulnerable are keys to their closed doors.
I'll admit I was kinda going through some shit when I wrote my initial comment. So I will clarify by saying that nostalgia is real, and can absolutely be a good thing (in fact it is psychologically necessary) but it can also sometimes lead to an unhealthy romanticization of the past. I do think that Chase and Leo could still have a future together, but it would take a great deal of work on both their parts, especially after the events of Leo's arc. I believe that the healthiest option is for them to admit that though they still love each other a relationship is simply not in the cards.
I won't say it's impossible. The romantic in me still believes in the power of what they had but I think that the ultimate moral of this story is "you gotta know when to fold 'em". That as painful as it might be, sometimes (not all the time, but sometimes) the best thing you can do is let go, move on, and try something new.
I was talking to a friend about Echo and I summarised the relationship like this: "Contrary to popular belief, love is not all you need. You also need trust and communication. Leo is bad at trust, and Chase is bad at communication." And therein I think we can identify a formula for fixing their relationship. And if you want to follow that line of thought then go ahead. I'd like to believe that there is hope, I'd like to believe that love can withstand anything. But ultimately we all take away what we need from a work of fiction, and at the time I personally really needed a story about letting go of the past.
I hope you are well, and I hope I didn't cause too much of a stir with my first comment, I was in a fairly emotionally charged state at the time of writing.
I was myself a bit harsh when I wrote my initial comment. I was rather irritated from seeing the work the author put into doing something original and thoughtful and most comments on the situation being only requests for Leo and Chase to end up together.
What I meant at the end by "almost impossible while they're together" is that they tend to keep each other in chains while they're near each other. They're a bit too taken into nostalgia and honeymooning to take the issues seriously until it becomes overwhelming. They could go to couple's therapy or something, but I don't really see them making that decision until they've reflected on what happened and grown more, and I'd see them only be able to do their personal growth while apart.
I don't think it is actually impossible for them to be together, but the thing that would mostly aggravate me about such an end being present is that it would reinforce the feeling of that ending being the "good ending" and the others being the "bad/normal endings", demeaning their value in the end, as the true goal would be to find a way to have them be together. I am a hopeful romantic at my core, and I was pining for them to be together, until I saw the ending and reflected on what lead to it. I just think such an ending would be a disservice to the overall narrative.
If someone wrote a fanfiction about them working through their issues and maturely growing to become a functional couple, I'd be all for it, but I don't think it's the type of narrative most common for fanfiction unfortunately. I still don't think it would be the best to include it within the game itself.
Says "letting the past go," but Chase chose to return to Echo! Ohhh, the irony! Some of us do not deny the theme of Leo's route. We simply want the two to be happy. I respect realists to be doubtful, but I also appreciate optimists to be hopeful. Also, have you ever heard of couples' counseling?
As a recent reader looking through older comments, it amazes me how badly some readers missed the point of Leo's route, even to this day when Echo itself is close to finishing development.
Granted, this is just a game so I guess people wanna escape reality and keep their hopes up but if it wasn't obvious already, Echo is *NOT* that type of story. If anything, Leo's route was a harsh but needed reality check.
LeoArashi is the "I can change them!" them type... I sincerely hope you're not like this IRL because that's such a scary mentality.
Also a necrocommentor here. I acknowledge the themetic importance of Leo's route, so no arguments there; however, that does not entail our wishful desire for our boys to reunite are any less or insignificant. If anything, heartfelt and human.
Here is my reality: I once knew an emo greaser kid in middle school who despised others, including me, just to look cool and edgey. You know what happened? I changed him. How? By simply being his friend. To this day, we are brothers for life. Scary, right?
I like Arashi's optimism and hopefulness, but it takes two to tango of course. Leo said he wants to change for Chase, GREAT! The challenge is is that Chase might not (depending on the route), great...we can point out literary irony when Chase chose to return to Echo in the very beginning despite moving on and knowing better. Conversely, Leo has forgiven, though not forgotten, their past despite wearing the anchor bracelet symbolizing otherwise.