Echo Generation: Midnight Edition Nintendo Switch Review 8/10 "Slightly Stranger Things" 🪓🧢 @cococucumberco #IndieGame #GameDev

As a person who eschews the Savalas* and instead prefers movies, I’ve been spared the all-encompassing phenomenon that was Stranger Things and so the following tidal wave of ‘80s-tastic follow-ups very much didn’t pop up on my viewing radar, in fact – it’s been more through reviewing vinyl like the absolutely stunning Kingdom Eighties: Summer of Greed that the wave of ‘kids n’ kooky’ has trickled gently over my feet.

Not that I have an issue with it at all, my point is purely that I’m not burned out on it like I know others are. I am burned out on anime style visuals, however. Voxels - I continue to inhale as much as possible.

Beginning by choosing naming, and deciding if the main character is male or female, Echo Generation begins in your bedroom, and within nanoseconds the scene is set. In this vibrant, voxel-powered world set sometime in the ‘90s, natch – your father is missing, and you must explore the town and surrounding areas in order to track him down. This isn’t as straightforward as it sounds, for teenage meanderings and otherworldly happenings seek to obfuscate your path.

A scene-setting soundtrack that is suitably eerie and creepily cheerful in turns – expertly crafted by by Pusher will accompany you as you come across and either battle or assist giant rats, alien lifeforms, junkyard robots, talking animals, creepy teachers, anguished ghosts, skeleton cats and many many more.

Aside from the side-on, 3D exploration areas, you’ll also be drawn into turn-based battles, where you’ll unleash special abilities utilising mini-games to add extra damage and elemental effects. These are surprisingly fun and satisfying, as is wandering the world and working out what to do next. I did find that the game took a while to warm up for me, as it seemed tediously small and basic for the first hour or so, but as you unlock more options in your group, and more areas to visit, the game comes alive and I found it really drew me in.

As good as all of this is, there are the inherent flaws that can be found in the genre. Regardless of how fun the mini-games and battles are, after a few hours fatigue naturally sets in – although some repeat fights can be skipped, thankfully, and so it’s not overly grindy. I also wish that there was a button to highlight interactive areas on-screen, as the places you visit are incredibly busy with various debris, and it also commits the crime of leaving items that you require – obtainable thrugh completing fetch quests – just lying around, but you are unable to pick them up. For instance, early in the game you require a screwdriver, and although you clearly pass one just lying on the ground in another area, you must pass through several quest segments before one is handed to you, it’s very much a pet peeve of mine. 

SUMMARY

Echo Generation is a perfectly paced RPG clocking in between 6-8 hours, and will very much scratch that itch for lovers of nostalgia. The overall setup and mechanics may be a little thin for some, but at the heart is fun, lightly spooky tale wrapped up in solid gameplay and incredible atmosphere.

*Telly