Echo

it started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this...

its so weird and hard to try and explain whats good about echo because its surface level is equally ridden with humble shortcomings and overwhelming power...the prose is not anything special, the presentation is often in the novice land of weird sprites and endless kevin macleod music (though the cgs tend to be wonderful at least) theres a couple route-specific flaws, and maybe a couple ideas or plot beats have been Done Before if u care about that stuff. but its just so clearly one of the greatest things ive ever experienced in any medium, and could only exist in this specific form as a visibly amateurish gay furry itch.io cult classic...a sprawling, ambitious, colorful, comforting, gutting, endlessly fascinating generator of Thoughts and Feelings stepped in the kind of emotional truth you can only get from a niche product whos very conception will grant it the safety of probably not penetrating beyond its niche. but maybe thats a shame...echo is difficult to recommend, but i Do want more people to know about it, if for no other reason then its going to inspire at least one of them to take its lessons and go back something possibly even better...tho nothing could ever replace this

i am under no illusions that i will write a definitive review of echo, especially in the spoiler-free fashion i keep my stuff in, but after having spent literal years now reading this (i read my first route in late 2021, and took massive gap breaks between all the times i slowly returned to chip away at it), starting in one of the most tumultuous times of my life and ending it what has been one of the most peaceful times of my life, there are some things is especially have to commend...i owe it that much for its companionship

for me, echo's greatest strength, and its greatest thematic idea, is its commitment to the long-term effect...a relative de-emphasis on the individual moment-to-moment reading experience as anything amazing in isolation, and ability to weave these seemingly non-amazing scenes into something unspeakably identifiable and powerful. identity , for the game, for its routes, for its characters, is rich and multifaceted because it exists less in any big gestures and more in an increasingly dense personal history spent interacting with them. part of why the game took so damn long for me to playthru is that it has a kind of naturally rising emotional difficulty...the more routes u do, the more emotional baggage u have with the characters, the more u have to reckon with when they are onscreen , consciously and subconsciously. its not the the innocuous becomes massive in hindsight, it mostly stays innocuous...but it takes on a different color and flavor, becomes more specific and distinct

none of this is unique to echo, hopefully it could be applied to most good longform storytelling. but i do think echo has a uniquely powerful and steady hand in this department that resonates in myriad ways...its characters overwhelmingly traumatized queers with varying backgrounds of abuse, attempting to not be defined by the dry and brittle embrace of the town they spent their whole lives in...a struggle that often fails because the past cannot be truly left behind, and when actively denied manifests in secret subtle horrible ways that are now beyond your understanding because you have refused to reckon with it. the characters are their experiences, every moment of their lives enabled by every previous moment of their lives...there is no way to un-form themselves, who were formed in great pain and a deeply unjust world.

it is in this way that this being not just a gay game but a Gay Furry game is so fucking important. being queer is inherently traumatic in the cishetero patriarchal world, inherently abusive...even if not overtly, then internally, raised in an abnormality in a world that doesnt even teach u to recognize urself as one, leading to potentially years and years of ur identity and attractions being isolated from urself as u subconsciously recognize they are not yours. furries are overwhelmingly queer, and why not? u spend so long separated from urself, that u have to look in unexpected places to find it in a comforting and authentic way...why not cute animal people?

echo's niche is not tangential to its power (tho it is refreshingly un-exhausting about the logistics of its animal people world, leading by almost entirely intuition with a couple moments of playfully leaning on the unmovable concession that is the central aesthetic identity), it is Exactly Why i dont care if another vn ten years ago did similar things with anime girls or whatever. this is a frank and harrowing and emotionally complex discussion of internal and external queer trauma for an audience that will inherently understand it, without having to do any pandering or explanations to those who dont. this is why the game constantly blurs the line between romanticism/eroticism and horror, rather then being a DDLC style bait and switch where one becomes the other. this is why every single one of the deeply lovable incredible main characters could be convincingly argued to be a terrible person, and why theres no contradiction in that when the game asks u to love and accept them anyway. this is why every route has revelations that re-contextualize the entire game, with a full workable picture denied until the very end (and even then, in a world so vast, whos to say what we're still missing?). this is why the shit with sydney's dad is the way it is.

because if queerness is beautiful, yet also inherently traumatic, then that trauma can be, from some specific angle and trick of the light, beautiful as well...or at least, it can still produce a beautiful being, of which i have known countless...we are our experiences, especially our ugliest and most unjust ones. we cannot undo it, and yet we are worth something anyway. this is the revelation, and reorientation of how i see myself, that has allowed me to like myself for the first time in my life

i hadnt had this realization when i started echo, finishing it now id say its been the dominant pattern in my thought for the past year or so. echo is a space where i have returned like an intellectual checkpoint. am i being as kind and understanding to my younger self and their mistakes as i am to sydney? am i keeping a good holistic view of all of this enlightened traumaqueery to make sure im not making any excuses for genuine abuse, from or against or outside myself? has my acceptance turned to passivity? has my fear of passivity overturned my acceptance? have i been remembering that my worth and energy comes not from easily listenable or observable traits but something far more ephemeral built up by individual points of view choosing to spend time with me? echo has been equal parts challenging and comforting, realist and idealist, indulgent and thoughtful, spiraling and perceptive. at least in this stage of my life, its difficult to imagine being "done" with it , or having learned all i can from it. but even if i move on eventually, it, like everything, will remain within me. i could not be happier to have it here

Echo is one of the best visual novels for furries. Awesome writing, awesome stories. (It reminded me a lot of Higurashi: When They Cry).

The characters here feel like real people, unlike most games where the characters feel more like well-written character. Chase, Leo, Jenna, Flynn, TJ, and Carl all are relatable in some way (to me), and you got really good dynamics between some of the side characters (especially Daxton with his dynamic with the group). I strongly recommend trying out this game!

I especially think Jenna and Leo's routes are the best. The symbolic ending of Leo's route I could go on about! Definitely play this game! There is much to love.

This is THE best vn I've ever played. I randomly came across a post on reddit that lead me here and goddamn this exceeded all my expectations. 10/10

It broke my heart once... It broke my heart twice... Just as It broke my mind, my soul, everything, over and over and over. And I am still coming back.
This is something I never experienced before. Played all story lines except of Carls one..... I'm going back in guys.... No matter how much it f***es me up.

I hate Leo and I love Leo,
I hate Jenna and I respect her,
I hate Chase and I understand him,
I suspected TJ and I love him,
I love Flynn and I love him more afterwards...

Every story line just gives you something to skip heartbeats for. I hate you Echo.... and I love you.

It was... something, enjoyable scary it was a horror btw, I got attached legit stayed up all night, a great read/play, I suggest it, Man.. I'm gonna be thinking and idk reflecting for a while... great story gonna play the like prequel one ig, Thanks

the story isnt quite for me tho i do love a mystery and media that gets me thinking about its lore (?) and whatever that entity that lives in chases and flynn's body which please please add a good ending to flynns route leo got two i cant live with this heart break for flynn 

and also when flynn gets posessed by the entity when it leaves chase (im assuming its because of the poison in some way that it leaves) that you use the same exact thoughts chase has for flynn in the car ride at the end it feels really wrong however it would make sense if his thoughts had been changed to fit the entity's 

This is by far one of the best visual novels I've read on Itch.io, and this piece of art is FREE TOO? It was amazing

Can't stop loving  Leo, man Chase fucked him up. Yes I fully believe everything that happened to Leo was Chase's fault. 1st When one of their childhood friends died Leo yes became protective cuz he doesn't want any of them to die makes sense, and 2 chase left everyone there without any notice which made Leo worried about Chase, and 3 I fully wished Chase would talk some sense into Leo at least it would've been what I would've done. I hate Chase because of his actions in the past.

I am here for Leo and i got punish for it. Nevertheless great visual novel

ok so I finished the vn twice, it's, I mean at least it's not how I predicted and there are actually good happy endings. It's great vn with pretty sad story (only pretty sad because I only played Leo route I've seen people saying the worst as the most idk, sad ones are TJ and Flynn routes so like no way I'm gonna play them, Leo was already sad enough). 

(spoilers about Leo route) 

I REPEAT 

S P O I L E R S BE CAREFUL 

never fucking fixing any men again, imagine your first actual ending being ending where you bleed out while cuddling with your somewhat maniacal and unstable mentally boyfriend (and imagining, seeing him as perfect lover forever material while dying) because of which your feet were cut off by a train. "He can be fixed"? nah he can't and well I learned it the hard way, Leo good route though was actually kinda nice, I mean it was kinda sad mainly at the begging but it ended up definitely better than bad Leo ending even though I was crying a bit on both.  I just wanted a happy red wolf that can be fixed but he's got too many red flags to fix them all he isn't fixable. 

Late but still, happy bithday to Carl!

Well... I won't be able to sleep tonight... Great game though!

the world's probably gonna end before i'm ready to play this sadly

I.. finished it...

After two whole years I finally finished it.

Not a fan of horrors on my side, very hard read for me. I needed to take breaks from time to time (for a couple of months) after each route, because.. MY GHOD how intense it is. Even if you are not a fan of such spooky games, I would recommend a try (pls read warnings!! it's not just for fun there). It is definitely a very unique, and versatile, and really one of the most outstanding VNs amongst other FVNs.

It is not a comfort reading for me. I don't think I'm going to re read it ever, but it definitely affected me in many ways. And I'm just incapable of forgetting something like this outstandish.

[spoiler]

p.s.: Carl's good ending is the only right one for me. idc. 

The leo route was very deep for someone having affection issues like me (the game punishes you for that and it's a good thing) Very well written story, it's a masterpiece that i will never forget <3 

if you can't handle torture, violence, or adult stuff, don't download this. it goes really deep, the content warning is REAL.

i loved this story, it was absolutely amazing how much it can affect you. i really hope we get more stories that can affect people as much as this one does. i can't wait to see your next work Echo Project.

FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

loved adastra hated the game based on the humans tour of adastra solely because of amicuss sprite so i think i can handle this :) (im lying)

Will Flynn ever get happy ending

even though I have never played this game, I have heard stories from people about the game's storyline. Just imagining it makes my eyes water... I've seen some of the photos and spoiler texts, and it hurts... it traumatizes me, especially since I'm just a gay teenager (-18)..."

I want to play this games, but I don't really understand English, especially when I was born my base language is not English but another,... so that makes me less proficient in those games

this game ruined my life 👍

If you’re considering playing this game, know that the warning isn’t there for show. This game goes to some dark places and it can very easily take you there with it. I started playing Echo five months ago; I’ve thought about it every day since. I can’t remember a time when a piece of media, much less a video game, has occupied my thoughts and feelings the way Echo has, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried playing or even thinking about it. Despite the fact that it’s so concerned with its own darkness, or maybe because of it, what I associate most with Echo is Love. This is a passion project in the truest sense of the phrase; every scene, line of dialogue, sprite, and piece of music, and every instance of symbolism, foreshadowing, and humor only ever gave me the sense that the developers put their hearts into it; that they put so much of their time and effort and pain into this game that their love bleeds through it and into you. Misery loves company, and there’s no love stronger than that born out of shared suffering. I am a gay man involved in the furry community who is in his early twenties; this game feels like it was tailor-made to break my heart. There are very few people I know who I can recommend this game to, despite wanting to scream from the rooftops about how it has made me feel and how dear it is to me. This is a title that was only ever going to be niche, but for the people this game was made for, it's unforgettable. Play this game if you want a little piece of the dark, terrible love that lives inside of it to live inside of you too.

holy shit

the auto forward button doesnt seem to work qwq

Literally crying because im on android and i cant get pass "you/they(I forgot) always come back" without crashing 😔

Finally finished all routes!

/!\DISCLAIMER/!\

DO NOT read my review if you don't want any spoilers!

While I don't directly discuss events from the story, me stating how the story made me feel might spoil the genuin, raw emotions that you might have otherwise felt by going in blind and naïve.

With that out of the way;

I held TJ's path in high regard. That path was really good at putting me on the edge of my seat more and more as it progresses. It was almost sickening, especially during a particular event that kept us readers on our toes until the big reveal happened. I got glassy eyed AF at the end but despite this, I was beside myself now knowing what I know about the otter.

That is... Until I got to Leo's path... The build-up 10/10, the tension 10/10, the sense of hopelessness 20/10. I lucked out and managed to do his entire route without picking the bad ending/dead end choices and I'm glad since it gives a sense of uninterruption. But with, what I assume is cannon for Leo, the 'good' ending, I could feel the lump in my throat, so I knew I was a glass house just waiting to be shattered... And when chase said it, I f****ng crumbled and nearly ugly-cried 🥹

Howly, McSkinny, both of you, Masterful Penmanship here. I'm very much vested in the Echo series and can not wait for the total completion of TSR. I thought Adastra was an emotional rollercoaster... Until I got sucked into Echo.

Encore, chaps!

To anyone under 18 reading this: STOP AND GTFO
To anyone 18 and above: Enjoy your trauma.