16-bit JRPGs still have a place in this modern gaming world | Chained Echoes - First Impressions
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, so powerful that the once bygone era of 16-bit video games is now back and currently an oversaturated market more than ever. Every once in a while though, you find a gem worth playing. This time, it's titled Chained Echoes, a nostalgic 16-bit JRPG game in a fantasy world where Dragons and Mechas exist.
Chained Echoes takes place on the continent of Valandis, a land teeming with magic and rich history, currently ruled by three warring kingdoms: Taryn, Escanya, and Garvos. Mostly set one year after a massive catastrophe resulting in heavy casualties for everyone, which forced all three kingdoms to sign a peace treaty. This is where the main characters come in, to stop an impending resurgence of the war and if possible, end it for good.
Chained Echoes’ lore is well detailed and attentively explained in the game, it got me hooked already in the first few minutes of playing. The worldbuilding is just masterfully done and you can tell that the writers put so much effort in it with the rich backstory of Valandis, its kingdoms, its people, the magic, and the technologies. Chained Echoes immediately makes you care about the characters with its humor-filled lighthearted dialogue, meaningful NPC interactions, a relatable down to earth premise, and an engaging balancing act between all the different characters.
If you liked the TV series Game of Thrones, then surprisingly Chained Echoes instills a similar vibe to it when it comes to Storytelling, at least for the first few hours that I've played. The way you go back and forth between different characters, and how they all feel like protagonists and main characters in their own rights. All with their own segments and moments to shine.
Chained Echoes is a beautiful game. The pristine 16-bit style coupled with the emotional soundtrack evokes heavy nostalgic feelings, even if I haven’t even played it before. It felt like I was back to SNES or PS1 days, while still experiencing something fresh and in some aspects, modern. Modern like the ultra smooth UI motions and camera panning, fittingly superimposed with the choppy 16-bit style animations.
The battles are handled in a traditional JRPG turn-based system but are not instanced into another battle screen, they still happen in the same area you are roaming around, just with somewhat repositioned characters.
Variety wise, every character has their own set of skills with Active, Passive, and Stats. And they are unlockable using Grimoire Shards, something that is earned after every battle and is fundamentally a substitute for non-existent level-up and experience system.
There is a slight new twist in the combat, with Chained Echoes’ Overdrive system. One that you may need to balance and maintain or suffer heavy penalties. Use certain attacks and skills and it can push the Overdrive bar into the green zone where you have the most bonuses and positive effects.
Push it a bit too far, and it will overheat and punish you with additional damage from enemies. Using too few of them will cause you to “underheat” go back to the green zone, or even undershoot it and back to the yellow area.
All HP and TP (Mana) is reset after each battle, which gave me a mixed feeling: It's a nice convenience not having to conserve your TP, going on a skills galore not holding anything back, Along with not having to maintain your HP throughout multiple battles. But it eliminates any challenging survival elements while progressing in the story. Just win the battle and everyone is fully restored.
My only gripe thus far with Chained Echoes is how new information is presented to you, mainly the game mechanics and how it tutors you. Plastering you with big walls of texts explaining the control scheme, or how a game mechanic works. It didn’t help that the game is already text heavy with its dialogues because of the non-existent voice acting. A “show, don’t tell” approach would have been way better.
In my first few hours of Chained Echoes, I can positively say that it is a masterclass example in worldbuilding and storytelling. A shining example of how 16-bit JRPGs still have a place in this modern gaming world. A powerful game that will invoke heavy nostalgia feelings while still delivering a fresh experience.
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