Great visual novel, it made me question what am I doing with my life. This novel left me feeling depressed, empty, useless. It has also made me wish I had friends growing up, it was pretty difficult for me to make friends. And I think that is why Carl route hit me the hardest. Sure he had friends but when he was starting to talk about his anxiety, when he had panic attacks I understood how he felt. At the end of his route the good ending when he overcame that, when he felt better about himself when he gained confidence in himself I started crying so much wishing that was me. I wish I wasn’t so insecure about my body wish I could get over my social anxiety just like that, especially when he was talking about going back to school. I feel like failure i let my family down for not finishing school and I really couldn’t bring myself to go there. It was really tough, people making fun of my weight, recording me while I was falling asleep in class. Actually thinking I had friends but they were “friends” And just to find out a few days they stole some of my stuff from my backpack when I was away and started to give my stuff out to some of my classmates when I found out it was already too late it was the end of the day. I have tried/did hurt myself when it was just too much for me. I am trying to get better now but it is still hard for me i really do hope one day I can change like he did, I really hope I can look in the mirror and smile back at that person how is looking at me and love myself.
Find your people and stick with them. Look up local support groups, leftist groups, etc. You don't become confident on a whim, it's a cultivation that starts with changing your habits, changing your thinking, and changing your experience.
Absolutely fascinating! I think I've played it fully -- I started with Carl and ended with TJ. Very, very cool game and I keep wanting to dip back in and look for things I might have missed.
after reading leo route,i feel lost,i try to find something comfort my suffering.so i finish reading echo and echo65,everytime chase talks to leo only to make me suffer more.Above all, it is the best gvn i have ever read,thank for trauma.
First thing's first, this game is not meant for everyone. It's a horror visual novel. Truth be told I am not a fan of horror or scary media by any stretch. That being said, this is probably the greatest piece of media I have consumed in a very, very long time.
If we look past the horror aspect of the story: the writing, the artistic value of the narrative, the pacing (for the most part), the character development, and the visual art, are nothing short of masterpiece quality.
I really cannot understate the merit that Echo commands. If we include the horror, it seems to both toe the line of traditional horror tropes in storytelling but subvert them. Not only insomuch as the story includes the almost expected twists and turns in its plot, but also in the way that the story keeps the audience engaged in the individual feelings and lives of the characters. Needless to say, when the characters hurt, we hurt. The deep emotional impact that the story has on its readers is something of awe and a warning to those that aren't in the best mental state.
I was a late arrival to Echo in terms of the furry VN scene's obsession du jour. I first played Adastra in early 2020 during the horror of COVID lockdowns and have since become a devotee of the Echo Project. So I want to preface the following with the fact that I speak as an unabashedly biased and pro-Echo partisan source.
The downsides of the story is that it lulls from time to time. I remember having to will myself into continuing on with playing the story in the beginning scenes on Saturday. Another theme that was a major detractor for me was the Southwestern US setting. I speak with bias, since I live in the US Southwest and am not the biggest fan of the local culture, the "theme" of the landscape and thus any story that is based around such a place. But, to Echo's credit, it doesn't build itself off of the Southwestern cowboy aesthetic, which is what I initially feared when I started playing.
Another unfortunate aspect of the story was that some horror scenes seemed overly gratuitous and served little more than to remind the reader that Echo is still indeed a horror story. Now obviously this is expected with the genre, but some things I felt would better serve left out.
Besides that, there were still some minor typographical errors in the dialog, but nothing devastating to comprehension.
The soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal. This is something in which the Echo Project shines. We the audience get invested in the stories of Echo Project titles not only because of the stellar writing but the intuitive emotion-laden tracks and presentation of said music. The work truly does speak for itself.
All things considered, Echo is absolutely a must-play for anyone who consumes furry themed visual novels. The game's appeal not only extends to the queer-furry crowd, but even to the general visual novel-consuming public, queer and non-queer, furry and non-furry alike.
Just started playing and accidentally started TJs route first, I think I'm close to finishing it. However after reading some comments it seems like it's best to do his as one of the last ones. Should I paused that route and start another one instead?
I also played TJ's route first. I really don't believe it matters. If anything, I prefer putting his first since it gives you the "sweetest" story and gives you the smoothest introduction. It only gets rougher from there on out, and even considering TJ's route, that's quite the assessment.
I have to agree with this. TJ's route is the least mentally-jarring and is a great introduction, and it gets more and more confusing as you go down other routes.
Played this game ~2 year ago when I was in a really shitty state of mind which looking back I realise was not the greatest idea. I definately fucked myself up for a while as I used to spend hours playing through the different routes hoping there was a happy ending for the characters I'd grown attached to.
Eventually I spent a day systematically going through every choice in the game until I got all the dialogue just so I could squeeze as much content out of this game as possible. After that I just led in bed for a couple of hours even though it was the middle of the day because I didn't really see the point in doing anything because my fictional people were essentially gone which in hindsight is one of the lowest points in my life...
So yeah before you play just really think about if you're doing good right now. I get that there's a good chance you'll think you can "deal with it" like I did but as you can tell by the sad state I was in it really isn't worth it. Now that I am in a better state of mind I'm gonna play it again and hopefully have a much better experience (I do hope the feels hit hard still tho). Also props to the echo team for making a vn so emotional that it became my life for a while (but seriously if you're reading I actually love you guys so much for all the work you put into your vns).
Hi, just finished Flynn's route and now only TJ's route is left, is it a good thing I left that route for the last? Probably not but this game has made me think, a lot and made me feel a lot. I thought people were overreacting over it being heavy but now even I can say that this game is a true psychological horror. The lore gets messy here and there but in general, makes sense. For me, the most heartbreaking routes were Flynn's and Leo's in which both the Epilogue made me bawl out. The route I liked the best was Jenna's because I just adored how the friendship group adhered despite everything, I am a big sucker for a happy ending so don't blame me. Overall, an amazing and very powerful game and recommend someone with a stable heart to play, as for me, I will be taking a break before TJ's route and all the extra stuff and prequels/sequels I play. The epilogue in Flynn's route still hurts me seeing chase all alone and broken. Thank you for reading, I appreciate it! Also thank you the developers for encoding this game in my mindset for days rent free
The developers recommend doing either TJ or Flynn's last in the recommended play order, but most fans usually leave Flynn for last due to how it was written as a "finale" route, so I'm interested to see how your experience might differ playing TJ's last!
ok yeah i finished it in a day because I needed closure and,, TJ's route was um
depressing to say the least
I wish now i had done Jenna's route last so i could make it the canon ending in my head but, all the endings were pretty good! Though, TJ's, Flynn's and Leo's route absolutely broke me.
Hello! In the game during Wednesday on Leo's route, when everyone is looking for Carl, I noticed a very small typo where it's written "form" instead of "from" (cf picture below).
I am having a blast on the game so far overall, it's an amazing story and I love all the characters, keep up the good work!
So I played through once and was wondering if theres a specific choice or set of choices in game that branches off into different routes, I really love this story and want to experience some of the alternating paths.
What route did you start with? In the prologue of the game, just after Flynn lashes out at everyone at Yeeyaw, you get options like:
Follow Flynn, sit with Carl, find TJ, follow Leo and Jenna
Those decisions choose your route (Clicking Follow Leo and Jenna gives you another choice between going after Jenna or Leo)
Some routes have 2 endings and others have only 1 set ending. But there are tiny little jumpscares hidden that only come out if you make a certain choice.
i searched that number in the (working) games folder and nothing came up. Idk how to fix that, but if you want im sure someone could send you the working folder through the internet. maybe have a friend download it and send it to you?
I had downloaded VN thinking it was another novel, not realizing it was a Horror VN. And holy shit, how scared I am of horror stuff, but the story is just perfect! Sometimes you want to cry, sometimes you have a stupid smile on your face, and seriously, I finished Leo's route a little while ago, and I'm sure I won't be able to do the other routes without having a mini heart attack, because as I'm a fucking curious, I go looking for information, and holy shit, this is very complex, maybe I just see the other routes through videos instead of playing games, because I'm not sure if my fragile and needy little heart could handle some, especially that of TJ. I guess my only problem with everything is that it doesn't have a really happy ending, byt it's just a problem with happy endings that I have.
For the better? Sorry but it's way more realistic and beautiful that Chase itself also suffer from the histery, the hum. He's not someone that special do change everything. It would be lame if the author go that way of fixing things, just like what happens in every horror movie like The Nun. Chase didn't have to fix everything, he is too occupied trying to keep alive in this madness.
This is not a history about someone who's involved in mystery and fix everything in the end, that's my only point.
Also Stephen King's overrated. Sorry but this is way more original than his books. And I say that because I read a lot, I never stop reading, it's the only thing I do better. This plot of echo exist for a very long time, I read once that the author actually build some things in 2014. So it wasn't all put whatsoever, he had a plan and thoughts.. A little respect please, you can give your opinion, but say that "I can change this for the better" not very respectful you know. Hope you have a good day, sorry if I say something that made you feel bad. Not my intention
This visual novel would be good if it wasn’t abusing “brain-washing” trope to such degree. When one or more character do bad things their responsibility get undermined later by “oh, it’s not their fault, it was all supernatural’s town influence!” Such a cheap and unnecessary excuse.
Anyone know if Mcskinny and Howly have individual twitters or places to follow them? Love their writing and just want to see if I can creep to gain any tips to see how they got so good :')
Hello everybody! I was wondering if there was a way to download older versions of Echo. I'm interested in what the old menu and mechanics used to look like/work. Thank you!
Lol you guys were waiting for a dating simulator when FROM THE VERY BEGINNING everything is clear that this is a horror history. Even from here, in itch.io, it says that. Sorry to say the truth but the breakup is more realistic than them being together.
This isn't a history about comfort and happy endings. You cannot go further without sacrifice something, let things go. Leo learn that in the hardest way, even a miracle he's alive in his own route. The first time I made it, I was so shocked and depressed, but disappointed? NEVER! This is still one of the most creative and original things I have ever read. Thank you echo project!
Man I think this game is gonna be to much for me, I almost cried on the first game, and I actually cried just reading the description of the game, like what the story's about. I might not make it out alive playing the game, I'll update you guys If i survive. See ya!
omg the part where my charter kills flynn its was scary at the same time thinking he needed that but i wish i was able to see me and TJ date and kiss some more BUT IN JEN I LOVE IT ALL
I don't really ever comment on anything I play, but I have to comment on this. I played this for the first time just now, finished Leo's route and wow. This was so beautifully written, I never thought I would get so drawn in, get so scared, and actually cry (I'm a pushover anyway) all in one characters story in a visual novel... I can not wait to start Flynn's route next, after a good week emotionally recovering. Great job on this. Much love!
I recommend saving Flynn's route for last. It is the wildest ride, and pays off the most if you've played all the other routes first <3 Since you finished Leo's, I recommend Jenna's since it closely relates to Leo's. This is all according to the recommended order by the developers btw.
That said, it's really up to you, but the dev's order gives the most cohesive story experience as a whole.
It's been a few days now and Leo's route is still playing with me, I saw both ending and obviously one was very... rough to see and the good ending was so emotionally draining for me, still feel a bit empty now lol. Very scared to see how the others play out but looking forward nevertheless <3 T_T
I don't think I've ever felt the need to comment on something before, but damn... Finally got around to joining the TSR/Echo craze, and finished the last of the routes in Echo today. I did a recommended route I found of Carl-Leo-Jenna-TJ-Flynn, and I'm really glad I took that route. Heavy stories are kinda my thing, and this absolutely did not disappoint. This is actually my first VN, and I loved how they were able to use the format to push the horror aspect of the stories.
I think one of the big reasons this story dragged me in so much is the parallels with my own childhood friend group. Hell my rich friend's name was Karl, even haha. The only one that didn't have a parallel in my group was Leo. For this reason, reading about their dynamic gave me a LOT of nostalgia, since my group didn't stay in touch really.
HIGHLY suggest. I've even suggested it to my non-furry friends.
Mild Spoilers follow:
I'd have to say that while I loved each route, and I don't think the story works nearly as well without reading all of them, my favorites are probably Carl's and Leo's. Carl's mainly for the twisty surrealist story, I really enjoyed that. Leo's route, to me, had the most satisfying ending of them all and I really enjoyed the obsession plotline - I thought that was really well done.
TJ/Flynn routes really drove home the heaviness, which I thought was a great way to end my reading experience. I know a lot of people say Jenna's route for the end due to the happier ending, but I liked not knowing the truth until the end. All-in-all such a good story and I can't wait to start Arches.
P.S. - As the Flynn of my group growing up (and I was definitely Flynn in my 20s), screw you guys (j/k)
Well I finally finished. I have only finished Leo's route but .. I kept having to take breaks. By the end, I just cried my eyes out. I guess I some of my own emotions that I didn't realize. I don't know if I can even through the other routes. It's just something that got me with dread etc. But thank you Echo Project for this. It has been an amazing ride. I don't know how you guys did it .. but thank you for the experience.
I've seen my fair share of "dark, heavy themes" but this game does not hold back the punches. Remember to take a break if it gets too much for you (Mild spoilers: Especially in TJ's/Flynn's route).
Right off the bat I have to say that I am very much biased with my review of this VN. I had been part of this VN's fandom since 2018 and only recently fell out of love with the fandom's complete saturation of man-children who can't seem to understand basic narrative threads.
However, I will attempt to avoid mentioning that further within this review. I will now start the review proper.
---
Echo. What can be said about this absolutely amazing horror experience? The way the creators use the VN format to effectively scare the player is damn genius and one of the reasons this story could never be told outside of that format.
The set-up is simple: You are Chase Hunter. A otter who grew up in Echo and are coming back for spring break to do a school project and a chance to reunite with your childhood friends: Flynn, Carl, TJ, Jenna, and Leo. You get to Echo and everything seems fine for the first 2 days of your trip. On Monday however, you and your friends go to a river near Lake Emma, the place where your friend, Sydney was found dead. This sparks an argument between Flynn and the rest of you. After said argument is over, all but you and Carl have left the area and you must make a choice: Which one of your friends will you go after?
This is where the route choice presents itself. And I must say, it is an excellent set-up. I will review each route individually and give my opinions on each.
Carl's Route:
Carl's route is the one I played first. Before I get into the nitty gritty of the route, I must mention how you begin his route. You sit down. That's it. You just click his name and sit down next to him. It's a very passive way to begin a route and matches Carl to a T. You see, Carl lives a very sedentary life. He plays video games, eats, smokes weed, and sleeps. But beneath that exterior of laziness is a great character who I fell in love with.
This route consists of Chase attempting to mediate between Carl/James Hendricks I and Jenna/John Begay. The nightmare dimension part of the route is expertly written and I seriously love it to bits. Except for one detail: Raven. Raven is a useless "character" who also ends up in the nightmare dimension with Chase, Carl and Jenna. His contribution to the route essentially boils down to: be a plot device and help Chase separate Carl and Jenna. That's it. For this reason, Carl's route is my least favorite of the routes in the game.
Overall, Carl's route is well written and intense, but is taken down a few notches by the presence of Raven.
Leo's Route:
Oh boi. Leo Alvarez. A character I greatly despise and am sick of seeing everywhere. Anyway, Leo's route was the second one I played. I fell for the trick of thinking Leo was buff wolf husbando and was quickly proven wrong by his actions before and after the hysteria starts. He manipulates Chase into believing that the rest of their friends know they are together when in actuality Leo lied to them as well. He behaves like an absolute fuckin' psycho for the majority of the hysteria. And he's just overall not a good choice for husbando. We'll get to who is soon, don't worry.
Leo's route has some of the most terrifying moments in the game for me. Brian's torture of Chase, the mine scene, the bad ending. All of these moments gave me legit fuckin' nightmares and I'm still scared of Brian. The writing in this route, as usual, is amazing. Howly and McSkinny utilize the visual novel format to great effect here. This is also the first route where we get a hint that we're actually playing as Samuel Ayers from The Smoke Room.
Overall, I think this route is quite good. It's better than Carl's by a long shot, that's for sure.
TJ's Route:
Fuck man. I don't even know where to start with this one. This is my second favorite route in the game. Solely for the emotional impact that the ending had on me. This is one of the only routes in the game that has a single ending. And it's a banger, lemme tell you.
The main reason you would pick TJ's route is to comfort him after Flynn yelled at him. I should know, this is why I picked it! But the game skillfully turns this desire against you over the course of the route. The way the writing slowly turns your own desire to protect TJ against over the course of six hours is nothing short of fucking incredible. I went from enjoying TJ's company, to being unsettled by the intrusive thoughts choice, to being freaked out by the diner bathroom scene, to being horrified by the hotel bathroom scene, and finally to crying my fuckin' eyes out by the end. I will never experience this route for the first time ever again. And that fact makes me very sad.
TJ's route is fucking amazing. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk!
Flynn's Route:
Flynn Moore. The black sheep of the Echo fandom. It would seem Flynn ignites rage in the majority of the fandom for simply having trauma. But that is neither here nor there. I shall simply say that Flynn's route is my favorite in the game.
This route is the only one with overt sex scenes. I was surprised when I experienced this because I had thought Echo to be a mature game that knew senseless NSFW content ruined good stories. But I was proven wrong! The sex scenes in this route serve the purpose of showing Flynn's main coping mechanism: Sex. Flynn was the closest in the group to Sydney before he died. Syd's death greatly effected him because of said closeness. However, he was never able to express his grief over his best friend because his other friends made him bury it deep down to avoid hurting TJ. This lead to an embittered man with deep-seated issues that were never resolved.
These issues fuel the main conflict of his route: he wants to find out how Syd died all those years ago but he's unable to because of his trauma. He spends his nights trying to wash away his problems in the arms of strangers but nothing works. Even The Smoke Room isn't enough (Speaking of The Smoke Room, that scene made me extremely uncomfortable.) Eventually, he does discover the truth and the POV switches from Chase to Flynn. And here is where I realized this route was my favorite. Everything after the POV switch is 10 times better than what came before solely because we, the readers, get to know Flynn quite well, but the in-universe characters still just see his emotional shield. It's a genius way to get the audience to empathize with Flynn while at the same time not ruining the story's continuity.
The scene in "The Smoke Room" with "Sydney" is still one of my favorite moments of the entire game. The monologue that the Echo entity gives to Flynn and us is nothing short of masterful writing. And the ending happens. Flynn becomes the very monster that haunted his friends as children. He becomes part of The Amalgamation as I call it. A collection of all the souls that died violent deaths in Echo. The final part of Flynn's route is surrealistic writing done to amazing effect. The final line made shivers go up my spine.
I love Flynn Moore. He is an extremely well-written character and his fate in both this route and TJ's left me feeling empty inside. I love this fucking route so damn much.
Jenna's Route:
This was the final route to be completed. Therefore, it was the one I played the last. I really like this route. It tied a lot of stuff together. Jenna is a character who I personally dislike. She is a manipulative cunt who uses her traumatic family life as an excuse to talk down to all the other characters and I just found her to be insufferable.
However, playing this route gave me a new perspective on her. This route focuses the most on the Tetanus Alley gang: Micha, Heather, and Jeremy. Thus this route also focuses the most on Jenna's traumatic family life. The writing of this route is, as expected, amazing. Howly and McSkinny never disappoint, well Adastra sucked ass, but they still can write good shit.
I now must talk about THAT scene.
Lemme me set the scene: You've been playing this game since 2018 and you're slowly realizing the fact that you're almost done reading the entirety of it. You start reading the latest update and get to the hotel scene where Jenna and Leo argue over Chase. You get caught up in the moment and then HE appears: Chulpa. He just FUCKING WALKS ONTO THE SCREEN IN THE ONLY CASE OF ANIMATION IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING GAME! I shat my fuckin' pants and screamed like a banshee.
And from there Brian enters the scene again and tortures Chase and Leo in quite possibly the most graphic scene in the game. But then Brian is killed by The Amalgamation and Chase and Co. leave his trailer only to find the truck that killed Samuel Ayers in the '60s.
Here Leo delivers a speech that semi-redeemed him in my eyes. Not fully. But I sympathized with him at the very least. And yes, there is a distinction between "empathize" and "sympathize". Maybe look it up yourself, you dolts lmao.
Overall, Jenna's route was a perfect conclusion to a 6 year in the making visual novel that changed me in ways I never thought possible: I'm a furry now! *le gasp*
Thanks for reading my review of Echo the visual novel.
Have you tried Arches? By far the weakest story in the "Echo Universe" but it's good. Theres alot of Brian action though. (Not as bad as the Leo Chase 'bonding' scene. Yet.)
Edit: Nevermind, just read your comment on Arches.
Hi, please disregard everything this nut says, we watched him have a breakdown in another furry VN server after he insulted basically everyone and called the things people enjoyed trash.
Finish all routes last night. Must say first I wasn’t really sure if I’d like Echo at all since I’m not really into horror movies and such….
After finishing the first path, which ended up to be TJ’s, I was completely hooked with the story and the characters and just had to finish all paths. Must say some parts where hard to read. I had to stand up to get some fresh air multipel times…
AS an note for anyone who is going to read Echo, you should definitely read Jenna’s path last. The ending of her path lets you look back at the whole story in an way lass dark and sad way as any other path. It’s probably the best way to end/close Echo…..
(Spoilers) Isn't it better to play Flynn's route last? It literally reveals the entire truth about everything Imo Flynn's route should be locked until all the others are finished
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Spoilers!!! I guess?
Great visual novel, it made me question what am I doing with my life. This novel left me feeling depressed, empty, useless. It has also made me wish I had friends growing up, it was pretty difficult for me to make friends. And I think that is why Carl route hit me the hardest. Sure he had friends but when he was starting to talk about his anxiety, when he had panic attacks I understood how he felt. At the end of his route the good ending when he overcame that, when he felt better about himself when he gained confidence in himself I started crying so much wishing that was me. I wish I wasn’t so insecure about my body wish I could get over my social anxiety just like that, especially when he was talking about going back to school. I feel like failure i let my family down for not finishing school and I really couldn’t bring myself to go there. It was really tough, people making fun of my weight, recording me while I was falling asleep in class. Actually thinking I had friends but they were “friends” And just to find out a few days they stole some of my stuff from my backpack when I was away and started to give my stuff out to some of my classmates when I found out it was already too late it was the end of the day. I have tried/did hurt myself when it was just too much for me. I am trying to get better now but it is still hard for me i really do hope one day I can change like he did, I really hope I can look in the mirror and smile back at that person how is looking at me and love myself.
Also thanks for the crazy experience
Find your people and stick with them. Look up local support groups, leftist groups, etc. You don't become confident on a whim, it's a cultivation that starts with changing your habits, changing your thinking, and changing your experience.
I never liked Flynn. He's the most misunderstood character, yet he's a jackass.
Absolutely fascinating! I think I've played it fully -- I started with Carl and ended with TJ. Very, very cool game and I keep wanting to dip back in and look for things I might have missed.
after reading leo route,i feel lost,i try to find something comfort my suffering.so i finish reading echo and echo65,everytime chase talks to leo only to make me suffer more.Above all, it is the best gvn i have ever read,thank for trauma.
Where shall I begin?
First thing's first, this game is not meant for everyone. It's a horror visual novel. Truth be told I am not a fan of horror or scary media by any stretch. That being said, this is probably the greatest piece of media I have consumed in a very, very long time.
If we look past the horror aspect of the story: the writing, the artistic value of the narrative, the pacing (for the most part), the character development, and the visual art, are nothing short of masterpiece quality.
I really cannot understate the merit that Echo commands. If we include the horror, it seems to both toe the line of traditional horror tropes in storytelling but subvert them. Not only insomuch as the story includes the almost expected twists and turns in its plot, but also in the way that the story keeps the audience engaged in the individual feelings and lives of the characters. Needless to say, when the characters hurt, we hurt. The deep emotional impact that the story has on its readers is something of awe and a warning to those that aren't in the best mental state.
I was a late arrival to Echo in terms of the furry VN scene's obsession du jour. I first played Adastra in early 2020 during the horror of COVID lockdowns and have since become a devotee of the Echo Project. So I want to preface the following with the fact that I speak as an unabashedly biased and pro-Echo partisan source.
The downsides of the story is that it lulls from time to time. I remember having to will myself into continuing on with playing the story in the beginning scenes on Saturday. Another theme that was a major detractor for me was the Southwestern US setting. I speak with bias, since I live in the US Southwest and am not the biggest fan of the local culture, the "theme" of the landscape and thus any story that is based around such a place. But, to Echo's credit, it doesn't build itself off of the Southwestern cowboy aesthetic, which is what I initially feared when I started playing.
Another unfortunate aspect of the story was that some horror scenes seemed overly gratuitous and served little more than to remind the reader that Echo is still indeed a horror story. Now obviously this is expected with the genre, but some things I felt would better serve left out.
Besides that, there were still some minor typographical errors in the dialog, but nothing devastating to comprehension.
The soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal. This is something in which the Echo Project shines. We the audience get invested in the stories of Echo Project titles not only because of the stellar writing but the intuitive emotion-laden tracks and presentation of said music. The work truly does speak for itself.
All things considered, Echo is absolutely a must-play for anyone who consumes furry themed visual novels. The game's appeal not only extends to the queer-furry crowd, but even to the general visual novel-consuming public, queer and non-queer, furry and non-furry alike.
Just started playing and accidentally started TJs route first, I think I'm close to finishing it. However after reading some comments it seems like it's best to do his as one of the last ones. Should I paused that route and start another one instead?
I also played TJ's route first. I really don't believe it matters. If anything, I prefer putting his first since it gives you the "sweetest" story and gives you the smoothest introduction. It only gets rougher from there on out, and even considering TJ's route, that's quite the assessment.
I have to agree with this. TJ's route is the least mentally-jarring and is a great introduction, and it gets more and more confusing as you go down other routes.
Personally I did TJ > Flynn > Leo
Really? I did them in alphabetical order and TJ’s and wish I would have swapped his and Jenna’s.
Played this game ~2 year ago when I was in a really shitty state of mind which looking back I realise was not the greatest idea. I definately fucked myself up for a while as I used to spend hours playing through the different routes hoping there was a happy ending for the characters I'd grown attached to.
Eventually I spent a day systematically going through every choice in the game until I got all the dialogue just so I could squeeze as much content out of this game as possible. After that I just led in bed for a couple of hours even though it was the middle of the day because I didn't really see the point in doing anything because my fictional people were essentially gone which in hindsight is one of the lowest points in my life...
So yeah before you play just really think about if you're doing good right now. I get that there's a good chance you'll think you can "deal with it" like I did but as you can tell by the sad state I was in it really isn't worth it. Now that I am in a better state of mind I'm gonna play it again and hopefully have a much better experience (I do hope the feels hit hard still tho). Also props to the echo team for making a vn so emotional that it became my life for a while (but seriously if you're reading I actually love you guys so much for all the work you put into your vns).
Hi, just finished Flynn's route and now only TJ's route is left, is it a good thing I left that route for the last? Probably not but this game has made me think, a lot and made me feel a lot. I thought people were overreacting over it being heavy but now even I can say that this game is a true psychological horror. The lore gets messy here and there but in general, makes sense. For me, the most heartbreaking routes were Flynn's and Leo's in which both the Epilogue made me bawl out. The route I liked the best was Jenna's because I just adored how the friendship group adhered despite everything, I am a big sucker for a happy ending so don't blame me. Overall, an amazing and very powerful game and recommend someone with a stable heart to play, as for me, I will be taking a break before TJ's route and all the extra stuff and prequels/sequels I play. The epilogue in Flynn's route still hurts me seeing chase all alone and broken. Thank you for reading, I appreciate it! Also thank you the developers for encoding this game in my mindset for days rent free
The developers recommend doing either TJ or Flynn's last in the recommended play order, but most fans usually leave Flynn for last due to how it was written as a "finale" route, so I'm interested to see how your experience might differ playing TJ's last!
ok yeah i finished it in a day because I needed closure and,, TJ's route was um
depressing to say the least
I wish now i had done Jenna's route last so i could make it the canon ending in my head but, all the endings were pretty good! Though, TJ's, Flynn's and Leo's route absolutely broke me.
Welcome down the Echo rabbit hole! *hugs*
Thank you friend, :')
Really? I always felt Jenna's had more closure to it along with more info about generally everything that's going on.
I would say something more verbose but I can't come up with the words. Just uh, good game, very good game. Loved it.
My first vn, and honestly it was far beyond my expections. This game made me experience every single emotion possible.
Hello! In the game during Wednesday on Leo's route, when everyone is looking for Carl, I noticed a very small typo where it's written "form" instead of "from" (cf picture below).
I am having a blast on the game so far overall, it's an amazing story and I love all the characters, keep up the good work!
Yeah, the game despite being completed still have these wrinkles of oopsies here and there. That doesn't make it any less of a great story though!
Would appreciate it if they release a small update specifically to tweak typos, still.
So I played through once and was wondering if theres a specific choice or set of choices in game that branches off into different routes, I really love this story and want to experience some of the alternating paths.
What route did you start with? In the prologue of the game, just after Flynn lashes out at everyone at Yeeyaw, you get options like:
Follow Flynn, sit with Carl, find TJ, follow Leo and Jenna
Those decisions choose your route (Clicking Follow Leo and Jenna gives you another choice between going after Jenna or Leo)
Some routes have 2 endings and others have only 1 set ending. But there are tiny little jumpscares hidden that only come out if you make a certain choice.
I started with TJs and played through all the others at least once, Leos was my favorite throughout, whilst Carls was my least favorite.
why does it only download a file called "5524815" without any file extension or anything? how do i fix it?
i searched that number in the (working) games folder and nothing came up. Idk how to fix that, but if you want im sure someone could send you the working folder through the internet. maybe have a friend download it and send it to you?
ok so i just checked and it works on a different browser.
After playing Leo's route a couple years ago and just quitting to save myself from further trauma, I'm finally back to torture myself even further.
Wish me luck friends.
"I knew you'd be back. They all come back eventually..."
I really wasn't happy about remembering those lines when I booted it up after such a long time.
Thanks for reminding me again that's so nice of you.
I had downloaded VN thinking it was another novel, not realizing it was a Horror VN. And holy shit, how scared I am of horror stuff, but the story is just perfect! Sometimes you want to cry, sometimes you have a stupid smile on your face, and seriously, I finished Leo's route a little while ago, and I'm sure I won't be able to do the other routes without having a mini heart attack, because as I'm a fucking curious, I go looking for information, and holy shit, this is very complex, maybe I just see the other routes through videos instead of playing games, because I'm not sure if my fragile and needy little heart could handle some, especially that of TJ. I guess my only problem with everything is that it doesn't have a really happy ending, byt it's just a problem with happy endings that I have.
For the better? Sorry but it's way more realistic and beautiful that Chase itself also suffer from the histery, the hum. He's not someone that special do change everything. It would be lame if the author go that way of fixing things, just like what happens in every horror movie like The Nun. Chase didn't have to fix everything, he is too occupied trying to keep alive in this madness.
This is not a history about someone who's involved in mystery and fix everything in the end, that's my only point.
Also Stephen King's overrated. Sorry but this is way more original than his books. And I say that because I read a lot, I never stop reading, it's the only thing I do better. This plot of echo exist for a very long time, I read once that the author actually build some things in 2014. So it wasn't all put whatsoever, he had a plan and thoughts.. A little respect please, you can give your opinion, but say that "I can change this for the better" not very respectful you know. Hope you have a good day, sorry if I say something that made you feel bad. Not my intention
hey no need to diss steven king like that, some of echo's routes are pretty akin to his work
This visual novel would be good if it wasn’t abusing “brain-washing” trope to such degree. When one or more character do bad things their responsibility get undermined later by “oh, it’s not their fault, it was all supernatural’s town influence!” Such a cheap and unnecessary excuse.
consider looking up metaphor, allegory and other such figures of speech
Anyone know if Mcskinny and Howly have individual twitters or places to follow them? Love their writing and just want to see if I can creep to gain any tips to see how they got so good :')
Thanks! Nah, we don't really have individual twitters or anything. You can just follow the Patreon or Discord for future projects.
- McSkinny
Hello everybody! I was wondering if there was a way to download older versions of Echo. I'm interested in what the old menu and mechanics used to look like/work. Thank you!
Gonna be giving the VN a try
Really disappointed with the leo route...ngl
Why?
Lol you guys were waiting for a dating simulator when FROM THE VERY BEGINNING everything is clear that this is a horror history. Even from here, in itch.io, it says that. Sorry to say the truth but the breakup is more realistic than them being together.
This isn't a history about comfort and happy endings. You cannot go further without sacrifice something, let things go. Leo learn that in the hardest way, even a miracle he's alive in his own route. The first time I made it, I was so shocked and depressed, but disappointed? NEVER! This is still one of the most creative and original things I have ever read. Thank you echo project!
Man I think this game is gonna be to much for me, I almost cried on the first game, and I actually cried just reading the description of the game, like what the story's about. I might not make it out alive playing the game, I'll update you guys If i survive. See ya!
lack of updates from this person concerns me a bit
I was reading tru the comments trying to figure out if i should play the game or not until i read this.
I laughed waaay too hard at this.
"her headfur flutters in front of her face, then slips right off- falling on the pool table. a wig.
I realize now that the fennec isn't actually a girl at all, at least not physically"
YEOUCH that line didn't age well
yea chase is a bit of a lib, what of it? lol
omg the part where my charter kills flynn its was scary at the same time thinking he needed that but i wish i was able to see me and TJ date and kiss some more BUT IN JEN I LOVE IT ALL
I don't really ever comment on anything I play, but I have to comment on this. I played this for the first time just now, finished Leo's route and wow. This was so beautifully written, I never thought I would get so drawn in, get so scared, and actually cry (I'm a pushover anyway) all in one characters story in a visual novel... I can not wait to start Flynn's route next, after a good week emotionally recovering. Great job on this. Much love!
I recommend saving Flynn's route for last. It is the wildest ride, and pays off the most if you've played all the other routes first <3 Since you finished Leo's, I recommend Jenna's since it closely relates to Leo's. This is all according to the recommended order by the developers btw.
That said, it's really up to you, but the dev's order gives the most cohesive story experience as a whole.
Oh thank you! I'll check out Jenna's next :)
It's been a few days now and Leo's route is still playing with me, I saw both ending and obviously one was very... rough to see and the good ending was so emotionally draining for me, still feel a bit empty now lol. Very scared to see how the others play out but looking forward nevertheless <3 T_T
Welcome to the Echo rabbit hole. Prepare yourself is all I'll say... :)
Thank you for having me aha :)
Jesus was a skunk
I can't play it, it ended crashing whenever I open it
Is this Completed???
I'm pretty sure it is.
I don't think I've ever felt the need to comment on something before, but damn... Finally got around to joining the TSR/Echo craze, and finished the last of the routes in Echo today. I did a recommended route I found of Carl-Leo-Jenna-TJ-Flynn, and I'm really glad I took that route. Heavy stories are kinda my thing, and this absolutely did not disappoint. This is actually my first VN, and I loved how they were able to use the format to push the horror aspect of the stories.
I think one of the big reasons this story dragged me in so much is the parallels with my own childhood friend group. Hell my rich friend's name was Karl, even haha. The only one that didn't have a parallel in my group was Leo. For this reason, reading about their dynamic gave me a LOT of nostalgia, since my group didn't stay in touch really.
HIGHLY suggest. I've even suggested it to my non-furry friends.
Mild Spoilers follow:
I'd have to say that while I loved each route, and I don't think the story works nearly as well without reading all of them, my favorites are probably Carl's and Leo's. Carl's mainly for the twisty surrealist story, I really enjoyed that. Leo's route, to me, had the most satisfying ending of them all and I really enjoyed the obsession plotline - I thought that was really well done.
TJ/Flynn routes really drove home the heaviness, which I thought was a great way to end my reading experience. I know a lot of people say Jenna's route for the end due to the happier ending, but I liked not knowing the truth until the end. All-in-all such a good story and I can't wait to start Arches.
P.S. - As the Flynn of my group growing up (and I was definitely Flynn in my 20s), screw you guys (j/k)
Well I finally finished. I have only finished Leo's route but .. I kept having to take breaks. By the end, I just cried my eyes out. I guess I some of my own emotions that I didn't realize. I don't know if I can even through the other routes. It's just something that got me with dread etc. But thank you Echo Project for this. It has been an amazing ride. I don't know how you guys did it .. but thank you for the experience.
Take the CW as you will. Personally, I'd highly recommend reading it because of the characters, atmosphere and horror.
If you are a psychological horrors fans then go for it!
I've seen my fair share of "dark, heavy themes" but this game does not hold back the punches. Remember to take a break if it gets too much for you (Mild spoilers: Especially in TJ's/Flynn's route).
This game broke me
Esse jogo terá uma continuação
Na verdade já tem e se chama Arches https://echoproject.itch.io/arches
E também tem outro jogo chamado The Smoke Room que se passa 100 anos antes de Echo https://echoproject.itch.io/the-smoke-room
Os dois jogos estão em desenvolvimento mas o que ja tem disponível é incrivel
I'm convinced my echo brain rot is terminal. This game has a fucking vice grip on me and it's been a bit over a year now holy hell
Right off the bat I have to say that I am very much biased with my review of this VN. I had been part of this VN's fandom since 2018 and only recently fell out of love with the fandom's complete saturation of man-children who can't seem to understand basic narrative threads.
However, I will attempt to avoid mentioning that further within this review. I will now start the review proper.
---
Echo. What can be said about this absolutely amazing horror experience? The way the creators use the VN format to effectively scare the player is damn genius and one of the reasons this story could never be told outside of that format.
The set-up is simple: You are Chase Hunter. A otter who grew up in Echo and are coming back for spring break to do a school project and a chance to reunite with your childhood friends: Flynn, Carl, TJ, Jenna, and Leo. You get to Echo and everything seems fine for the first 2 days of your trip. On Monday however, you and your friends go to a river near Lake Emma, the place where your friend, Sydney was found dead. This sparks an argument between Flynn and the rest of you. After said argument is over, all but you and Carl have left the area and you must make a choice: Which one of your friends will you go after?
This is where the route choice presents itself. And I must say, it is an excellent set-up. I will review each route individually and give my opinions on each.
Carl's Route:
Carl's route is the one I played first. Before I get into the nitty gritty of the route, I must mention how you begin his route. You sit down. That's it. You just click his name and sit down next to him. It's a very passive way to begin a route and matches Carl to a T. You see, Carl lives a very sedentary life. He plays video games, eats, smokes weed, and sleeps. But beneath that exterior of laziness is a great character who I fell in love with.
This route consists of Chase attempting to mediate between Carl/James Hendricks I and Jenna/John Begay. The nightmare dimension part of the route is expertly written and I seriously love it to bits. Except for one detail: Raven. Raven is a useless "character" who also ends up in the nightmare dimension with Chase, Carl and Jenna. His contribution to the route essentially boils down to: be a plot device and help Chase separate Carl and Jenna. That's it. For this reason, Carl's route is my least favorite of the routes in the game.
Overall, Carl's route is well written and intense, but is taken down a few notches by the presence of Raven.
Leo's Route:
Oh boi. Leo Alvarez. A character I greatly despise and am sick of seeing everywhere. Anyway, Leo's route was the second one I played. I fell for the trick of thinking Leo was buff wolf husbando and was quickly proven wrong by his actions before and after the hysteria starts. He manipulates Chase into believing that the rest of their friends know they are together when in actuality Leo lied to them as well. He behaves like an absolute fuckin' psycho for the majority of the hysteria. And he's just overall not a good choice for husbando. We'll get to who is soon, don't worry.
Leo's route has some of the most terrifying moments in the game for me. Brian's torture of Chase, the mine scene, the bad ending. All of these moments gave me legit fuckin' nightmares and I'm still scared of Brian. The writing in this route, as usual, is amazing. Howly and McSkinny utilize the visual novel format to great effect here. This is also the first route where we get a hint that we're actually playing as Samuel Ayers from The Smoke Room.
Overall, I think this route is quite good. It's better than Carl's by a long shot, that's for sure.
TJ's Route:
Fuck man. I don't even know where to start with this one. This is my second favorite route in the game. Solely for the emotional impact that the ending had on me. This is one of the only routes in the game that has a single ending. And it's a banger, lemme tell you.
The main reason you would pick TJ's route is to comfort him after Flynn yelled at him. I should know, this is why I picked it! But the game skillfully turns this desire against you over the course of the route. The way the writing slowly turns your own desire to protect TJ against over the course of six hours is nothing short of fucking incredible. I went from enjoying TJ's company, to being unsettled by the intrusive thoughts choice, to being freaked out by the diner bathroom scene, to being horrified by the hotel bathroom scene, and finally to crying my fuckin' eyes out by the end. I will never experience this route for the first time ever again. And that fact makes me very sad.
TJ's route is fucking amazing. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk!
Flynn's Route:
Flynn Moore. The black sheep of the Echo fandom. It would seem Flynn ignites rage in the majority of the fandom for simply having trauma. But that is neither here nor there. I shall simply say that Flynn's route is my favorite in the game.
This route is the only one with overt sex scenes. I was surprised when I experienced this because I had thought Echo to be a mature game that knew senseless NSFW content ruined good stories. But I was proven wrong! The sex scenes in this route serve the purpose of showing Flynn's main coping mechanism: Sex. Flynn was the closest in the group to Sydney before he died. Syd's death greatly effected him because of said closeness. However, he was never able to express his grief over his best friend because his other friends made him bury it deep down to avoid hurting TJ. This lead to an embittered man with deep-seated issues that were never resolved.
These issues fuel the main conflict of his route: he wants to find out how Syd died all those years ago but he's unable to because of his trauma. He spends his nights trying to wash away his problems in the arms of strangers but nothing works. Even The Smoke Room isn't enough (Speaking of The Smoke Room, that scene made me extremely uncomfortable.) Eventually, he does discover the truth and the POV switches from Chase to Flynn. And here is where I realized this route was my favorite. Everything after the POV switch is 10 times better than what came before solely because we, the readers, get to know Flynn quite well, but the in-universe characters still just see his emotional shield. It's a genius way to get the audience to empathize with Flynn while at the same time not ruining the story's continuity.
The scene in "The Smoke Room" with "Sydney" is still one of my favorite moments of the entire game. The monologue that the Echo entity gives to Flynn and us is nothing short of masterful writing. And the ending happens. Flynn becomes the very monster that haunted his friends as children. He becomes part of The Amalgamation as I call it. A collection of all the souls that died violent deaths in Echo. The final part of Flynn's route is surrealistic writing done to amazing effect. The final line made shivers go up my spine.
I love Flynn Moore. He is an extremely well-written character and his fate in both this route and TJ's left me feeling empty inside. I love this fucking route so damn much.
Jenna's Route:
This was the final route to be completed. Therefore, it was the one I played the last. I really like this route. It tied a lot of stuff together. Jenna is a character who I personally dislike. She is a manipulative cunt who uses her traumatic family life as an excuse to talk down to all the other characters and I just found her to be insufferable.
However, playing this route gave me a new perspective on her. This route focuses the most on the Tetanus Alley gang: Micha, Heather, and Jeremy. Thus this route also focuses the most on Jenna's traumatic family life. The writing of this route is, as expected, amazing. Howly and McSkinny never disappoint, well Adastra sucked ass, but they still can write good shit.
I now must talk about THAT scene.
Lemme me set the scene: You've been playing this game since 2018 and you're slowly realizing the fact that you're almost done reading the entirety of it. You start reading the latest update and get to the hotel scene where Jenna and Leo argue over Chase. You get caught up in the moment and then HE appears: Chulpa. He just FUCKING WALKS ONTO THE SCREEN IN THE ONLY CASE OF ANIMATION IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING GAME! I shat my fuckin' pants and screamed like a banshee.
And from there Brian enters the scene again and tortures Chase and Leo in quite possibly the most graphic scene in the game. But then Brian is killed by The Amalgamation and Chase and Co. leave his trailer only to find the truck that killed Samuel Ayers in the '60s.
Here Leo delivers a speech that semi-redeemed him in my eyes. Not fully. But I sympathized with him at the very least. And yes, there is a distinction between "empathize" and "sympathize". Maybe look it up yourself, you dolts lmao.
Overall, Jenna's route was a perfect conclusion to a 6 year in the making visual novel that changed me in ways I never thought possible: I'm a furry now! *le gasp*
Thanks for reading my review of Echo the visual novel.
-Kallier
P.S.
If you want to watch me experience the game for the second time, here's my 37 part, 48 hour long series I did on my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs_BZI-CHxZwiWUQYaahpfPKj2aF5-7DI
Have you tried Arches? By far the weakest story in the "Echo Universe" but it's good. Theres alot of Brian action though. (Not as bad as the Leo Chase 'bonding' scene. Yet.)
Edit: Nevermind, just read your comment on Arches.
Go to hell please! They will "love" you there!
what the fuck
Hi, please disregard everything this nut says, we watched him have a breakdown in another furry VN server after he insulted basically everyone and called the things people enjoyed trash.
Finish all routes last night. Must say first I wasn’t really sure if I’d like Echo at all since I’m not really into horror movies and such….
After finishing the first path, which ended up to be TJ’s, I was completely hooked with the story and the characters and just had to finish all paths. Must say some parts where hard to read. I had to stand up to get some fresh air multipel times…
AS an note for anyone who is going to read Echo, you should definitely read Jenna’s path last. The ending of her path lets you look back at the whole story in an way lass dark and sad way as any other path. It’s probably the best way to end/close Echo…..
(Spoilers) Isn't it better to play Flynn's route last? It literally reveals the entire truth about everything
Imo Flynn's route should be locked until all the others are finished
From story perspective I agree. Flynn’s or TJ’s route should be played last, since both reveal important parts/secrets of the story.