This is the masterpiece of furry novels after finnishing leo,carl and tj-s route im genuenly bought by this novel the story the characters and how everything adds up to the immersion just makes this novel such a masterpiece i cant wait for the trilogy to be completed man im deadass dumb to try and put the story together as much as possible but it hooks up the player so much man i love it
Every time I try to open the new version's app it displays an error saying: "echo.exe could not open echo.py". I've redownloaded it a bunch of time and it still does not works
It's not the ending that we wanted. It's not the ending that we liked. It's ending that we needed. It's the ending with TRUE closure (at least if we leave him (I refuse to try and work things out with him)) at least in terms of their relationship.
I'm playing the game for the first time, and maybe its because there is an extremely small town named Echo in my home state which is very deserty next to a canyon of the same name. Its a little extra knowing a place that seems to match the geography and name so well.
Oh nooo! I'm finishing on Leo's route too, I thought it was the true ending with the anchor being the prominent symbol of the game, but then I got slammed by TJ and Flynn's endings and now I'm scared.
There are a couple cases when characters have sex, but those scenes get skipped And there are no NSFW sprites/CGs The maximum you can get is a character without shirt or in just underwear
I JUST FINISHED TJ'S ROUTE. I DON'T THINK I NEED TO READ CARL AND JENNA'S ROUTE FOR THIS. FLYNN AND ESPECIALLY TJ ROUTE ANSWERED ALL OF MY QUESTIONS. TJ ROUTE IS THE MIND FUCKING ONE, I CAN'T GET OVER WITH THIS!!!
I started at Leo's route then doesn't give me any clues for Sydney's death, so I decided to do Flynn's route cuz' he's been pushing tj, Flynn's route surely explained it all. Then, I decided to do Tj's route to find out what's really happening to him, and that's it— the most tragic and fucked-up ending I ever saw or read.
Anyways, I can't wait for tsr to be finished. I do really love the stories.
Spoiler alert on Tj's route, I want to share what I discovered, basically an assumption.
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I thinks tj is the one who made the scavenger hunt number 7. I mean it's pretty obvious, he's the one who finds the birdhouse in the forest, he exactly knew where the box is. Other than that, he's eager to end the scavenger/treasure hunt, he surely want to reveal chase's secret. The drawing say it all, after the hiking trip of Chase and Tj at the diner he draw a stick figures that tells story, to connect it the note inside the lunchbox is a drawing that also tells a story. So that means, Tj made the treasure hunt. The thing is, he sided with chase when attacking carl. I think, it is just an escape for himself to not reveal his secret too.
Hello, can someone help me on how to play the this game in sequence. Should i play first the Route 65 before playing "echo"? Im desperately need help rn
Hey, I wondered if it's possible to sync save files between the windows and linux version of the game (between my steam deck and pc). I tried to sync the save folder in the game folder (echo/game/saves/) in both versions but that didn't impact the ingame saves at all. Even moving or deleting the entire save folder didn't actually delete the saves ingame. So is there another location for save files and are they the same/compatible on linux/windows?
To be perfectly honest, despite being a furry, "Furry Visual Novel" is always something that immediately sounded like it would be terrible, but I blew through every path over the weekend and it's all I can think about now, gonna move on to Arches next!
Whole thing kinda reminded me of a mix of Silent Hill and Stephen King's It, but with furries.
Is there a canon ending/route for the overarching storyline (Echo + Arches)? I've only finished Flynn's route right now and I think it only has one ending but I've seen mention of 'good' and 'bad' endings for some of the others...
Oh, I also began with Flynn! My friend said that Flynn's route was the wildest to pick for the first gameplay. Also, three of them have good/bad endings. Only Flynn and someone else's have fixed endings.
Don't worry too much about which one is the canon ending, just choose a character and go through with their route. Whatever has passed, like with Sydney and even older things, will make sense little by little.
I, myself, played Flynn, then Leo, TJ, Carl and Jenna, but I was kinda burned out by the end, so I didn't enjoy Jenna's as much as I think I could. But feel free to pick any route!
I do plan on playing all of them but I was still curious if there was a true ending. It seems the general belief is that all the endings are canon, just separate timelines.
Ok just finished TJ's route. So far Flynn has not had great luck, 0 for 2 as of now 😅 I assume TJ is the other route that has only one ending? I didn't see any sings or options to have an alternate ending.
Finally, should I do Leo -> Carl -> Jenna or Jenna -> Carl -> Leo. I kind of want to wrap everything up with Leo's good ending since I want the non-relationship thing resolved between him and Chase in a good fashion, but I've also heard people recommend to do Jenna last. What do you think?
I'd say leave Jenna for last since it has the most positive ending in the game, and maybe do Carl first because I think it's the most chill route in the game
I wouldn't consider myself a furry (never say never) but Echo is one of the best visual novels, perhaps even games period, I've ever played. As someone who also loved Adastra, I can't believe I didn't go through Echo sooner. Very well-written with a fantastic, haunting environment, wonderful art and music and deep lore and choices presented that got me thinking over things for days. Not gonna lie, I did tear up at a few points of the VN, especially when the Leo route was concluding. Kudos to everyone involved with Echo, you have truly created something special here.
I meant more "Try and make an effort to actually READ about what you are playing." It's all appropriately tagged, so you really have no justification for your homophobic whining.
Like, OMG! Homosexual content in a VN by Echo projects!? Like, get outta town!
You could also try to be better person in general too, but if you wanna stay a hateful little goblin, that's your prerogative. Best of luck!
"just this gay shit existing is spoling it" is a judgement call, not a question. And I do think straight people can and maybe should play it, just like all of the straight content I consume despite not being able to connect with it on that grounds. You not liking it means literally just that, delete it and move on.
Yea, you should play. You'd be right at home in Echo. There's this nice forest you could set up a trailer and make some likeminded neighbors. Maybe even a nice bear bestie friend!
yeah yeah contunued to dislike boo on yall supporters whining about life circumstances ull never lsiten to anybody else who has different opinion and your pathetic 5 dislike doesnt change subject
Saying an entire group of people is bad or shouldn't exist is not a valid opinion. You are an idiot and so is anyone who judges an entire group on something they cannot change and is not harmful.
I suppose you are also mad at POC for not being white?
hm as its shitty saying"they cannon change" its variety of things may be they can change like praying or medication for lgbt as some belives shit u say they cant while some cant belive say "YES THEY CAN"
So can like someone pls explain this to me because this has got to be one of the MOST confusing VN I've ever played, and I've played a lot. It revolves around mainly what exactly happened with Sydney's death, it's implied that several different things happened with only 1 of them being 100% true and that's the fact that Chase did NOT kill him, but it's implied that it was TY and/or sam or a third entity that vowed to protect TY at all cost. The only actual conclusion, that yet again can be even more confusing, is that the true ending is Leo's good ending . But you need to play the sequel and get the perfect ending to even know this, and yet it's implied that also TY's ending is also real?! Like the VN seems interesting at first glance until you actually TRY to piece it together and it just falls apart, almost like it was created by multiple different people with different points of view. TLDR story starts off good but derails quickly once you get to the endings and try to piece it together; and who killed Sydney?!
Like in a higarashi kind of way? "I hope you know what that is😭" I've seen a few people compare the two a few times. Honestly I'm so confused. I think I really need to do a replay but I'm taking a break from the game for a bit.
In TJ's route we are given a treasure hunt, where the final reward is a drawing of Chase drowning Sydney while TJ watches. This is further confirmed by Micha telling us that he had a dream where he was being drowned by Chase and also TJ telling us in Flynn's route that he saw 2 brown-furred bodies in the water that day.
Even though Chase thought Sydney was being very "weird" the last 6 months (possibly because Samuel was possesing Sydney at the time) and also said that he was glad that he died (because of the "weirdness"), it's still quite uncharacteristic of him to just go ahead and murder him. (he is very indecisive, so he would never be able to make such a drastic choice)
I assume the murder was done by the same voice that killed Flynn in TJ's route, as they both appear to share the unreasonableness of it all. Chase did technically kill Sydney, but he really didn't want to. It was all because of that new voice. We know that the spirits possesing Chase can take control (Like when Chase is about to be killed by Brian), and since the new voice is much stronger than Sam, i'm certain it could force Chase to do something like murder.
And to put the final nail in the coffin: how would Chase end up with Sam's ghost if he didn't kill Syd? We know Sam changes hosts to the person that kills the current host (Sam->Syd's dad->Syd), so how would Chase end up with him if the person in the lake was someone else?
I wrote a comment here a while ago after finishing TJ as my first route, and I'm returning now after finishing all of the routes to correct some mistakes and write a definitive review of the best visual novel I have ever played.
I will try to keep this review spoiler free until explicitly written otherwise.
My point from the previous comment still mostly stands:
To have the best experience, you should follow the recommended route order.
Playing out of order is definitely a possibility, but can be (at least in my experience) confusing because the latter routes expect the player to know stuff. Though still, as other people here are saying, the route order doesn't matter that much if you finish all the routes, so feel free to go with your gut.
I searched a bit and most people seem to agree that Carl->Leo->TJ->Flynn->Jenna is a good order, which I do not object, but would like to elaborate: (I should note that it is also the order in which the routes were written)
Carl's route does not need any context at all to understand, so easy first choice. Route 65. This is a small prequel game that will be referenced in Leo's and Jenna's routes. It's good if you play it, but it may be skipped as it doesn't really add much to the table that isn't already in their routes. Leo and Jenna could probably(?) be switched, but I think Jenna's route explains quite a bit more stuff than Leo so we're keeping her for the end. We're keeping one of these routes for last because these have the most satisfying good endings. TJ and Flynn could also be switched, as they both circle around simillar plot points, but from different viewpoints.
Before starting the game, you should also play the short side stories (click on the lake in the menu, then the broken window and then scroll down to Chase). Even though they are well hidden, they will be mentioned quite a bit in the game.
Thoughts on the game itself
The game may seem very generic at first. But it quickly gains momentum as the friend group gets into an argument because of an old incident at the lake, where one member of the group had drowned when they were kids. You then have a choice to follow each of the characters and their vastly different experiences around the town following the incident.
You will feel a lot of emotions playing this game, be it delight, contempt, confusion, sadness or lust (and believe me there's a lot of the last two), but you will never feel boredom because the plot always manages to move along without feeling sluggish.
You should definitely play the game if the idea of psychological horror sounds even a little bit interesting.
I also need to say that I absolutely LOVE the way the situational illustrations (like shown on the top of the page) are drawn, and I am absolutely bewildered how perfectly these images depict the feelings of the characters and the situations. One moment you are looking at a generic background, imagining the scenario before you, and the next you are looking at an image perfectly portraying it; the feeling of cold, dark, unsettling, yet somehow slightly warm melancholy with a hint of familiarity, a deja vu. After seeing some of the images, I sometimes spent a while just looking at them, collecting my thoughts and thinking about how good and elaborate this game actually is.
Thoughts on the endings and story (MAJOR SPOILERS)
Carl - Even if Carl's route is the very start of this journey, it shows very well how the game is/will be: your friends are haunted by something, you're just a plaything to it, and if you decide to humour it, it will not end well. His good ending was surprisingly wholesome, with Carl turning his life around because of the experience, but there was still a hint of bitterness because of the lack of any information about what happened to the others while we were hallucinating. His bad ending was very brutal, just the way Carl was depicted at the end broke my heart, a common theme that happens in all the bad endings.
Leo - Again, wholesome good ending, but there is always that neverending bitterness, that feeling that you could've done more, better. His bad ending was very, very well depicted. The whole way it felt like a bad dream. "There's no way this is happening, or is it?" The way all of it happened left me speechless, which also is also something very common (at least to me) across all the bad endings.
TJ - This one is a doozie. It was the very first ending I have finished, and it just left me baffled and insanely confused. I decided that it would just clear itself up later and finished Carl and Leo before attempting TJ's route again, and I must say... I am still confused. (I even replayed the ending while writing this review just to make sure I am not overexaggerating) It's not the murder itself that is confusing to me, but rather the aftermath. The scene in the car just feels... like TJ isn't actually himself. Yes I do know that Chase's perception is absolutely fucked by now, but when TJ smiles, it just doesn't seem like him at all, even if it'd be dishonest. This route also feels much more real, if that is the correct word, than the other routes. Leo, Jenna and Flynn have monsters, Carl has possesions but TJ only has Chase's Hum-induced schizophrenia, which just makes it so much more unsettling than the other endings.
Flynn - He didn't deserve it. That is all I could think of when I finished his route. Getting killed by Chase in TJ's route may be one thing, but to have everything ripped from you after everything seemed to be going fine, only to then be thrown hundreds of meters underground to burn to death, THEN while that is happening to also hallucinate about all the horrible things that happened in Echo, AND THEN TO FUCKING TOP IT ALL OFF he gets turned into a monster that isn't even fully him, gets completely removed from his timeline and then has to watch all the horrible events happening in Echo. Like WHAT THE FUCK?! This is probably the worst fate of a fictional character that I know of, and I know of quite a few.
Jenna - Thank. Fucking. God. that I followed the recommended route order, because if I had to end it on Flynn I would be crying for a few weeks. Jenna's route has 2 good endings depending on how you see it. The first good ending ends with what everyone wanted to do when the histeria started: get everyone away from Echo. There is of course Echo's slight feeling of bitterness™ because of the call that Flynn got (which I assume is about the death of his aunt), but other than that everyone is safe and sound. The second good ending is very bitter, where Chase unintentionally(?) manipulates Jenna into indirectly killing Heather and then flooding the entire town. This may seem pretty bad at first, but remember that the Hum always returns, and Jenna essentially managed to break the cycle and saved countless lives. It it not good for the friend group, but it is basically the "for the better good" ending. Nobody will ever get hurt again, but it cost a few lives and releationships to get to that point.
TL;DR Carl: G. - very good start for the game B. - heartbreaking Leo: G. - Wholesome w/ a hint of bitterness B. - Felt like being in a nightmare (compliment) TJ: B. - Confusing, heartbreaking and surprisingly realistic Flynn: B. - Worst fate of a character in any fiction I've ever heard of. He didn't deserve that! Jenna: G. - The ending that everyone wanted B. - The ending that everyone needed
Final Thoughts (No Spoilers)
As mentioned at the begining of this novel-sized word dump of a review, the game is good, though I don't think I need to tell that to you if you managed to get this far down. If you didn't play it yet, play it! If you did, then heck, play it again! It's free! The download button is right there! Now click it and step into that emotional rollercoaster. This is probably as good as any visual novel can get; the worldbuilding is very extensive and interesting, the characters are relatable and well made, and the artwork, fuck, the artwork fits in absolutely perfectly. 10/10
I actually believe Chase was possessed during TJ's route towards the end, and one of my favorite bits of writing in the entire story is when Chase realizes that he could still save Flynn but the then the protective TJ spirit takes back control is beautiful.
I agree that Jenna's route should be last, I accidentally got her 'bad' ending and that last line gave me shivers but it was so good and a wonderful way to wrap up the game.
Yeah, not to mention the new entity that possesed Chase during TJ's route had a very different agenda from the mountain lion chosing for Chase in other routes.
The last line from the mountain lion voice, when Chase finally does the deed actually sent shivers down my spine: "We were manipulated... we keep moving in circles"
About the route order, don't be afraid to just go with your gut. Part of what makes this game special and fun is the unique way people experience the story and how you may react to plot relevations based on the info you're given.
I played flynn's route first, the one that people usually recomend somewhere last or middle but this ended up becoming my favorite game ever made because the story is structured in a way were a route order won't have a negetive effect on your playthrough.
I've never seen anyone like echo anyless because of the route order they played. The "reccomended" order is there but the fact that I've seen around 5 different versions of it shows you should be fine to go about the game how you want and it's only there for people who want a curated experience.
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Comments
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This is the masterpiece of furry novels after finnishing leo,carl and tj-s route im genuenly bought by this novel the story the characters and how everything adds up to the immersion just makes this novel such a masterpiece i cant wait for the trilogy to be completed
man im deadass dumb to try and put the story together as much as possible but it hooks up the player so much man i love it
Every time I try to open the new version's app it displays an error saying: "echo.exe could not open echo.py". I've redownloaded it a bunch of time and it still does not works
Screaming and crying right now, after playing Leo's route, Like is there an ending where I can end up with Leo? If so then can somebody help me 😭
is this on steam?
Literally going to spend the entire summer trying to understand everything that just transpired in this game.
One question, this game already has all the routes or the separate downloads, the truth is that I already got confused
All the routs are in one game. There is a scene where you have a list of people to talk to after a fight that sets which rout you are on.
Leo deserved a better ending, both for him and for us.
I'm not talking wether hes hot or not, hes just fucked up because of that town, in MY opinion he really deserved a better ending.
It's not the ending that we wanted. It's not the ending that we liked. It's ending that we needed. It's the ending with TRUE closure (at least if we leave him (I refuse to try and work things out with him)) at least in terms of their relationship.
Maybe you're right, but that's just my opinion.
Jenna had the best ending, at least in terms of emotional content.
I'm playing the game for the first time, and maybe its because there is an extremely small town named Echo in my home state which is very deserty next to a canyon of the same name. Its a little extra knowing a place that seems to match the geography and name so well.
This isn't Echo Utah is it?
It definitely is
Damn its strange knowing I've been to the town this game is set in. *shutters*
bro my game crashed when carl talk to chase in the fog is the spots to happen??????
NAH... that story is fuckd up bad. Now i´ll have to calm down with some romance holy f..
I just finished the Leo route. I'm not gonna say anything spoilery but.. DAMN.
Oh nooo! I'm finishing on Leo's route too, I thought it was the true ending with the anchor being the prominent symbol of the game, but then I got slammed by TJ and Flynn's endings and now I'm scared.
now i've finished every route but TJ's. I have no idea what to say
Is this NSFW?
There are a couple cases when characters have sex, but those scenes get skipped
And there are no NSFW sprites/CGs
The maximum you can get is a character without shirt or in just underwear
Good to know, thanks so much
I JUST FINISHED TJ'S ROUTE. I DON'T THINK I NEED TO READ CARL AND JENNA'S ROUTE FOR THIS. FLYNN AND ESPECIALLY TJ ROUTE ANSWERED ALL OF MY QUESTIONS. TJ ROUTE IS THE MIND
FUCKINGONE, I CAN'T GET OVER WITH THIS!!!I started at Leo's route then doesn't give me any clues for Sydney's death, so I decided to do Flynn's route cuz' he's been pushing tj, Flynn's route surely explained it all. Then, I decided to do Tj's route to find out what's really happening to him, and that's it— the most tragic and
fucked-up ending I ever saw or read.Anyways, I can't wait for tsr to be finished. I do really love the stories.
Spoiler alert on Tj's route, I want to share what I discovered, basically an assumption.
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I thinks tj is the one who made the scavenger hunt number 7. I mean it's pretty obvious, he's the one who finds the birdhouse in the forest, he exactly knew where the box is. Other than that, he's eager to end the scavenger/treasure hunt, he surely want to reveal chase's secret. The drawing say it all, after the hiking trip of Chase and Tj at the diner he draw a stick figures that tells story, to connect it the note inside the lunchbox is a drawing that also tells a story. So that means, Tj made the treasure hunt. The thing is, he sided with chase when attacking carl. I think, it is just an escape for himself to not reveal his secret too.
I started with Leo and it fucked me up pretty bad. I've got a soft spot for the well-intentioned himbo characters and he got did dirty
.There is nothing well intentioned about Leo
He's a vindictive liar with extreme anger and attachment issues
he was also willing to fuck a guy 3 years younger than him and record it when they were both underaged and then he acted as if it never happened
Leo is a walking red flag and was always unhinged
Hello, can someone help me on how to play the this game in sequence. Should i play first the Route 65 before playing "echo"? Im desperately need help rn
You could, but personally I would play Echo before Route 65 first.
Thanks
There's not really any difference between playing it before Echo or after Echo, but it can explain some mini-details in the main game
why does it keep crashing on my android😭😭😭😭
Try another version? Or redownload for me worked
Hey, I wondered if it's possible to sync save files between the windows and linux version of the game (between my steam deck and pc). I tried to sync the save folder in the game folder (echo/game/saves/) in both versions but that didn't impact the ingame saves at all. Even moving or deleting the entire save folder didn't actually delete the saves ingame. So is there another location for save files and are they the same/compatible on linux/windows?
Thanks in advance.
Is Clint a lemur?
he's a ringtail cat they only say it like 2 dozen times in almost every storyline
You are so real for this I feel seen
This was truly something special.
To be perfectly honest, despite being a furry, "Furry Visual Novel" is always something that immediately sounded like it would be terrible, but I blew through every path over the weekend and it's all I can think about now, gonna move on to Arches next!
Whole thing kinda reminded me of a mix of Silent Hill and Stephen King's It, but with furries.
Is there a canon ending/route for the overarching storyline (Echo + Arches)? I've only finished Flynn's route right now and I think it only has one ending but I've seen mention of 'good' and 'bad' endings for some of the others...
Oh, I also began with Flynn! My friend said that Flynn's route was the wildest to pick for the first gameplay. Also, three of them have good/bad endings. Only Flynn and someone else's have fixed endings.
Don't worry too much about which one is the canon ending, just choose a character and go through with their route. Whatever has passed, like with Sydney and even older things, will make sense little by little.
I, myself, played Flynn, then Leo, TJ, Carl and Jenna, but I was kinda burned out by the end, so I didn't enjoy Jenna's as much as I think I could. But feel free to pick any route!
I do plan on playing all of them but I was still curious if there was a true ending. It seems the general belief is that all the endings are canon, just separate timelines.
That's pretty much it! The past is always the same, but there are missing pieces you will find in each route to see the entire picture :D
Ok just finished TJ's route. So far Flynn has not had great luck, 0 for 2 as of now 😅 I assume TJ is the other route that has only one ending? I didn't see any sings or options to have an alternate ending.
Finally, should I do Leo -> Carl -> Jenna or Jenna -> Carl -> Leo. I kind of want to wrap everything up with Leo's good ending since I want the non-relationship thing resolved between him and Chase in a good fashion, but I've also heard people recommend to do Jenna last. What do you think?
I'd say leave Jenna for last since it has the most positive ending in the game, and maybe do Carl first because I think it's the most chill route in the game
Probably already answered, but I'd recommend doing Carl's path first. It's not as important to the other storylines/future than the other routes.
I wouldn't consider myself a furry (never say never) but Echo is one of the best visual novels, perhaps even games period, I've ever played. As someone who also loved Adastra, I can't believe I didn't go through Echo sooner. Very well-written with a fantastic, haunting environment, wonderful art and music and deep lore and choices presented that got me thinking over things for days. Not gonna lie, I did tear up at a few points of the VN, especially when the Leo route was concluding. Kudos to everyone involved with Echo, you have truly created something special here.
do we have confirmation on Duke's last name?
Reread Leo's route a week ago, I can't help myself but to feel bad for him.
Jenna's route made me not feel bad for him even in the slightest anymore
Disgusting wolf
The android version keeps crashing, what's going on :( Is there a minimum requirements? Or is this a general bug
I'm trying to play the android version, but whenever i start a new game it stops working... Is this supposed to happen?
Just gotta say worth trying it out good story.. think of doing a replay.. really enjoyed it!
it would be worthy to play tho just this gay shit existing is spoling it
p.s. the all dislike i got u suck doing it
bruh today everyone is sensitive!
No need to worry, I'm sure you existing is ruining something for somebody else.
The game is literally tagged as both Gay and Queer? I know homophobes in general aren't all that bright, but at least TRY and make an effort?
bruh if straight person doenst support lgbt why to try or waht else is point?
I meant more "Try and make an effort to actually READ about what you are playing." It's all appropriately tagged, so you really have no justification for your homophobic whining.
Like, OMG! Homosexual content in a VN by Echo projects!? Like, get outta town!
You could also try to be better person in general too, but if you wanna stay a hateful little goblin, that's your prerogative. Best of luck!
nah i am just asking if that should be played by straight
You're literally not -
"just this gay shit existing is spoling it" is a judgement call, not a question. And I do think straight people can and maybe should play it, just like all of the straight content I consume despite not being able to connect with it on that grounds. You not liking it means literally just that, delete it and move on.
Yea, you should play. You'd be right at home in Echo. There's this nice forest you could set up a trailer and make some likeminded neighbors. Maybe even a nice bear bestie friend!
yeah yeah contunued to dislike boo on yall supporters whining about life circumstances ull never lsiten to anybody else who has different opinion and your pathetic 5 dislike doesnt change subject
Saying an entire group of people is bad or shouldn't exist is not a valid opinion. You are an idiot and so is anyone who judges an entire group on something they cannot change and is not harmful.
I suppose you are also mad at POC for not being white?
i am caucasian white yo dumb!
hm as its shitty saying"they cannon change" its variety of things may be they can change like praying or medication for lgbt as some belives shit u say they cant while some cant belive say "YES THEY CAN"
Obvious 12 year old:
homosexual content triggering it, and gets angry at dislikes for talking shit about gays when this game literally has gay and queer in its tags.
nah i dont care i am 22 years
22 y/o? You act like a child. Your mental age does not match quite well. Go back to your collections of girl sex games and stop complaining.
ah yes accusing my collections as being seen for others too and not private xdd
bruh yall suck for disliking CANCEL THIS DISLIKE BUTTON!!
yes bet
Why did you even look at this you knew what u walked into dumass
> vn with bara and yaoi tags
> wtf there's gay ppl in here
<<<<
So can like someone pls explain this to me because this has got to be one of the MOST confusing VN I've ever played, and I've played a lot. It revolves around mainly what exactly happened with Sydney's death, it's implied that several different things happened with only 1 of them being 100% true and that's the fact that Chase did NOT kill him, but it's implied that it was TY and/or sam or a third entity that vowed to protect TY at all cost. The only actual conclusion, that yet again can be even more confusing, is that the true ending is Leo's good ending . But you need to play the sequel and get the perfect ending to even know this, and yet it's implied that also TY's ending is also real?! Like the VN seems interesting at first glance until you actually TRY to piece it together and it just falls apart, almost like it was created by multiple different people with different points of view. TLDR story starts off good but derails quickly once you get to the endings and try to piece it together; and who killed Sydney?!
Like in a higarashi kind of way? "I hope you know what that is😭" I've seen a few people compare the two a few times. Honestly I'm so confused. I think I really need to do a replay but I'm taking a break from the game for a bit.
Major spoilers for the whole game (duh)
In TJ's route we are given a treasure hunt, where the final reward is a drawing of Chase drowning Sydney while TJ watches. This is further confirmed by Micha telling us that he had a dream where he was being drowned by Chase and also TJ telling us in Flynn's route that he saw 2 brown-furred bodies in the water that day.
Even though Chase thought Sydney was being very "weird" the last 6 months (possibly because Samuel was possesing Sydney at the time) and also said that he was glad that he died (because of the "weirdness"), it's still quite uncharacteristic of him to just go ahead and murder him. (he is very indecisive, so he would never be able to make such a drastic choice)
I assume the murder was done by the same voice that killed Flynn in TJ's route, as they both appear to share the unreasonableness of it all. Chase did technically kill Sydney, but he really didn't want to. It was all because of that new voice. We know that the spirits possesing Chase can take control (Like when Chase is about to be killed by Brian), and since the new voice is much stronger than Sam, i'm certain it could force Chase to do something like murder.
And to put the final nail in the coffin: how would Chase end up with Sam's ghost if he didn't kill Syd? We know Sam changes hosts to the person that kills the current host (Sam->Syd's dad->Syd), so how would Chase end up with him if the person in the lake was someone else?
Best way to experience the game
I wrote a comment here a while ago after finishing TJ as my first route, and I'm returning now after finishing all of the routes to correct some mistakes and write a definitive review of the best visual novel I have ever played.
I will try to keep this review spoiler free until explicitly written otherwise.
My point from the previous comment still mostly stands:
To have the best experience, you should follow the recommended route order.
Playing out of order is definitely a possibility, but can be (at least in my experience) confusing because the latter routes expect the player to know stuff. Though still, as other people here are saying, the route order doesn't matter that much if you finish all the routes, so feel free to go with your gut.
I searched a bit and most people seem to agree that Carl->Leo->TJ->Flynn->Jenna is a good order, which I do not object, but would like to elaborate:
(I should note that it is also the order in which the routes were written)
Carl's route does not need any context at all to understand, so easy first choice.
Route 65. This is a small prequel game that will be referenced in Leo's and Jenna's routes. It's good if you play it, but it may be skipped as it doesn't really add much to the table that isn't already in their routes.
Leo and Jenna could probably(?) be switched, but I think Jenna's route explains quite a bit more stuff than Leo so we're keeping her for the end. We're keeping one of these routes for last because these have the most satisfying good endings.
TJ and Flynn could also be switched, as they both circle around simillar plot points, but from different viewpoints.
Before starting the game, you should also play the short side stories (click on the lake in the menu, then the broken window and then scroll down to Chase). Even though they are well hidden, they will be mentioned quite a bit in the game.
Thoughts on the game itself
The game may seem very generic at first. But it quickly gains momentum as the friend group gets into an argument because of an old incident at the lake, where one member of the group had drowned when they were kids.
You then have a choice to follow each of the characters and their vastly different experiences around the town following the incident.
You will feel a lot of emotions playing this game, be it delight, contempt, confusion, sadness or lust (and believe me there's a lot of the last two), but you will never feel boredom because the plot always manages to move along without feeling sluggish.
You should definitely play the game if the idea of psychological horror sounds even a little bit interesting.
I also need to say that I absolutely LOVE the way the situational illustrations (like shown on the top of the page) are drawn, and I am absolutely bewildered how perfectly these images depict the feelings of the characters and the situations. One moment you are looking at a generic background, imagining the scenario before you, and the next you are looking at an image perfectly portraying it; the feeling of cold, dark, unsettling, yet somehow slightly warm melancholy with a hint of familiarity, a deja vu.
After seeing some of the images, I sometimes spent a while just looking at them, collecting my thoughts and thinking about how good and elaborate this game actually is.
Thoughts on the endings and story (MAJOR SPOILERS)
Carl - Even if Carl's route is the very start of this journey, it shows very well how the game is/will be: your friends are haunted by something, you're just a plaything to it, and if you decide to humour it, it will not end well.
His good ending was surprisingly wholesome, with Carl turning his life around because of the experience, but there was still a hint of bitterness because of the lack of any information about what happened to the others while we were hallucinating.
His bad ending was very brutal, just the way Carl was depicted at the end broke my heart, a common theme that happens in all the bad endings.
Leo - Again, wholesome good ending, but there is always that neverending bitterness, that feeling that you could've done more, better.
His bad ending was very, very well depicted. The whole way it felt like a bad dream. "There's no way this is happening, or is it?" The way all of it happened left me speechless, which also is also something very common (at least to me) across all the bad endings.
TJ - This one is a doozie. It was the very first ending I have finished, and it just left me baffled and insanely confused. I decided that it would just clear itself up later and finished Carl and Leo before attempting TJ's route again, and I must say... I am still confused. (I even replayed the ending while writing this review just to make sure I am not overexaggerating)
It's not the murder itself that is confusing to me, but rather the aftermath. The scene in the car just feels... like TJ isn't actually himself. Yes I do know that Chase's perception is absolutely fucked by now, but when TJ smiles, it just doesn't seem like him at all, even if it'd be dishonest.
This route also feels much more real, if that is the correct word, than the other routes. Leo, Jenna and Flynn have monsters, Carl has possesions but TJ only has Chase's Hum-induced schizophrenia, which just makes it so much more unsettling than the other endings.
Flynn - He didn't deserve it. That is all I could think of when I finished his route. Getting killed by Chase in TJ's route may be one thing, but to have everything ripped from you after everything seemed to be going fine, only to then be thrown hundreds of meters underground to burn to death, THEN while that is happening to also hallucinate about all the horrible things that happened in Echo, AND THEN TO FUCKING TOP IT ALL OFF he gets turned into a monster that isn't even fully him, gets completely removed from his timeline and then has to watch all the horrible events happening in Echo. Like WHAT THE FUCK?! This is probably the worst fate of a fictional character that I know of, and I know of quite a few.
Jenna - Thank. Fucking. God. that I followed the recommended route order, because if I had to end it on Flynn I would be crying for a few weeks. Jenna's route has 2 good endings depending on how you see it.
The first good ending ends with what everyone wanted to do when the histeria started: get everyone away from Echo. There is of course Echo's slight feeling of bitterness™ because of the call that Flynn got (which I assume is about the death of his aunt), but other than that everyone is safe and sound.
The second good ending is very bitter, where Chase unintentionally(?) manipulates Jenna into indirectly killing Heather and then flooding the entire town. This may seem pretty bad at first, but remember that the Hum always returns, and Jenna essentially managed to break the cycle and saved countless lives. It it not good for the friend group, but it is basically the "for the better good" ending. Nobody will ever get hurt again, but it cost a few lives and releationships to get to that point.
TL;DR
Carl:
G. - very good start for the game
B. - heartbreaking
Leo:
G. - Wholesome w/ a hint of bitterness
B. - Felt like being in a nightmare (compliment)
TJ:
B. - Confusing, heartbreaking and surprisingly realistic
Flynn:
B. - Worst fate of a character in any fiction I've ever heard of. He didn't deserve that!
Jenna:
G. - The ending that everyone wanted
B. - The ending that everyone needed
Final Thoughts (No Spoilers)
As mentioned at the begining of this novel-sized word dump of a review, the game is good, though I don't think I need to tell that to you if you managed to get this far down. If you didn't play it yet, play it! If you did, then heck, play it again! It's free! The download button is right there! Now click it and step into that emotional rollercoaster.
This is probably as good as any visual novel can get; the worldbuilding is very extensive and interesting, the characters are relatable and well made, and the artwork, fuck, the artwork fits in absolutely perfectly. 10/10
I actually believe Chase was possessed during TJ's route towards the end, and one of my favorite bits of writing in the entire story is when Chase realizes that he could still save Flynn but the then the protective TJ spirit takes back control is beautiful.
I agree that Jenna's route should be last, I accidentally got her 'bad' ending and that last line gave me shivers but it was so good and a wonderful way to wrap up the game.
Yeah, not to mention the new entity that possesed Chase during TJ's route had a very different agenda from the mountain lion chosing for Chase in other routes.
The last line from the mountain lion voice, when Chase finally does the deed actually sent shivers down my spine:
"We were manipulated... we keep moving in circles"
Man, I dont remember the last line from him, I really ought to replay the game..
About the route order, don't be afraid to just go with your gut. Part of what makes this game special and fun is the unique way people experience the story and how you may react to plot relevations based on the info you're given.
I played flynn's route first, the one that people usually recomend somewhere last or middle but this ended up becoming my favorite game ever made because the story is structured in a way were a route order won't have a negetive effect on your playthrough.
I've never seen anyone like echo anyless because of the route order they played. The "reccomended" order is there but the fact that I've seen around 5 different versions of it shows you should be fine to go about the game how you want and it's only there for people who want a curated experience.
I played TJ first and was so fucking confused, but it added to the mystery and made me want to know more lol
Same, it definitely had me hooked.
"CW: Echo can be an emotionally intense experience and may not be for everyone."
holy fuck they were not kidding