Echoes of the End is full of contradictions. It is the debut project of Icelandic studio Myrkur Games, which, however, employs experienced people who have worked at CCP Games, Ubisoft, Supermassive Games, and Massive Entertainment.
Nevertheless, these veterans made several childish mistakes, which led to the game receiving a rather lukewarm reception upon release. And now I can’t imagine how they intend to continue the franchise (and they did have such plans) and maintain a staff of 40 people. At the same time, I have more positive than negative impressions of Echoes of the End. So what kind of game is it, and is it worth your attention?
A Strong Woman Saves The World Again
The contradictions begin with the plot. It is both banal and not. Everything revolves around the Empire’s attack on a small but proud state. To this end, the imperial forces stage a diversion and attempt to destroy a powerful artefact — a huge, energy-filled structure called the Ancient Guardian, located in a secret city of inventors. We play as Rin, a girl scout who patrols with her brother Kor to protect the city, the guardian, and other secrets of her homeland.
At some point, the imperial forces kidnap Kor, giving Rin an additional motive to artistically slice her enemies into bloody pieces. And this is not a metaphor — the girl very juicily chops off the heads, arms and legs of her enemies
We also have a little bit of gaming magic and excitement — Free Spin
Although her main weapon is magic, and that is precisely what makes the plot and Rin herself not entirely banal. She belongs to the ‘aftermath’ — people who are born with magical abilities.
Their magic is unstable and can be not only useful (such people are energetically connected to the guardians and support their work), but also harmful to those around them if the aftermath cannot control itself. Therefore, from birth, they are effectively made into hermits and used only for practical purposes, while trying to keep them away from friends and relatives. Rin’s father also asked her brother to be careful with her, but he completely trusts his sister.
Yes, in all this, one can find similarities with Ela from Horizon — she is also a hermit. But Rin has her own charisma and her own destiny. Even outwardly, she stands out — she is a strong and independent mulatto, although the action takes place in northern lands clearly inspired by Iceland. However, I don’t want to criticise the plot here: I liked Rin — she is well written, the girl has character and emotions, and that’s the main thing.
Heroine Of Swords, Magic And Puzzles
The gameplay entertainment programme is also quite decent in theory. The battles combine magic and all modern standards — dodges, perfect parries and blocks, light and heavy strikes, plus learnable combos and special moves. Thanks to her abilities, Rin can grab enemies from a distance, pull them towards her, throw them back or even knock them into each other, as well as throw barrels, stones and other objects at them to knock them down.
You can learn skills that increase the effectiveness of such exercises. In addition, as I said, his partner Abram Finlay actively participates in the fights, who can not only grab and immobilise, but also stun opponents with electric shocks. If you learn the appropriate skills, you can perform spectacular finishing moves against such immobilised enemies or shoot lightning bolts between them. The scientist also periodically knocks opponents to the ground with a jumping kick.
