There's also no conventional leveling system, which means relying on getting SP and upgrading Skills to buff characters up in-between battles.
Because the battle order is displayed at the top of the screen, players have to consider risking Overheating to kill enemies quickly or dialing it back to stay in Overdrive and avoid burning out. Thankfully, Chained Echoes' combat is excellent - its turn-based combat has a lot to love: Skills to consider, TP to monitor, and the Overheat and Overdrive gauge means a good amount of strategy is required and keeps battles engaging. Of course, all this cleverness might mean very little if the gameplay wasn't great. There are plenty of familiar themes and character archetypes, of course, but one of Chained Echoes' biggest successes is that it never feels lazy when calling back to SNES classics, and it never feels pretentious when it's poking fun at JRPG clichés.
The game walks a fine balance of celebrating some of the best JRPGs of all time while toying with conventions. However, it quickly subverts expectations (like in that same Chrono Trigger homage). Available now, Chained Echoes is one of the best games of 2022.įrom the opening seconds - a nice homage to Chrono Trigger - Chained Echoes proudly harkens back to a nostalgic time of wired controllers and chunky game cartridges. On the surface, it may look like yet another indie RPG obsessed with the SNES era, but thanks to an engaging combat system, compelling characters, and stellar worldbuilding, it proves to be much more. Chained Echoes, an indie JRPG from Matthias Linda and published by Deck13, is a pleasant - and pretty much perfect - surprise.
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