Interestingly enough, Echo Generation is mostly an RPG that feels like a system ripped right out of the Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG games. It was especially noticeable because of how often I’d find myself vibing to a track only for it to fade out and quickly fade back in at the song’s start. The battle and boss music is also really top notch, though I did notice that much of the music seemed to cut abruptly at times and go back to its start before continuing in what were janky loop transitions. I could listen to the town music for hours on end, but there’s also unsettling music used to great effect in the game’s more frightening parts. It’s a really chill lo-fi mix that has a lot of moods to it. I also really appreciate the music and atmosphere throughout Echo Generation. Still, the journey is better than the destination and I appreciate the variety of narrative and visuals on the way there. I wouldn’t say “rushed,” so much as it feels breakneck how much everything ties up before it blasts you into the credits. However, when it comes time to wrap up, it feels like a lot of details conveniently come together all at once to close out the ending. For the most part, that’s all pretty fun stuff. There's lots of aliens, a boss ripped right out of Bloodborne, and a military complex with spider tanks that feel like they should be in Wasteland 3. It’s an eclectic game and it goes a lot of places. Without getting spoilery, I’ll just say there’s a companion that turns out to be necessary more than once to move forward and also a phone in an office that can be easily missed.Įcho Generation also feels as though it tries to do a little too much to tie a ribbon on things at the end. It took hours to come across esoteric solutions I never would have come to if I didn’t check literally every corner available to me. There was more than one time where I exhausted all routes and ideas for what to do next and began just searching the entirety of what I had unlocked of Maple Town. It doesn’t really handhold you or give you any blatant or cohesive directions either. Much of the game is reliant on that and when you reach the end of one thread of the narrative, it can be tough to find the next. finding in one place and taking it to another place to get. The only thing that lost me in the story is that a lot of this game is heavy on fetch quest stuff, i.e. Figuring out the alien visitors and what happened to your dad with your sister and friends is also a genuinely intriguing journey. You and your friends’ camaraderie and love of schlocky movies and comics like “Bunzilla”, even in terrifying situations no kid should be in, gives the game a vibe that reminds me of The Goonies or Super 8. It runs the gamut in its tone between highly lighthearted and funny to downright creepy and unsettling. That sets you and your sister off on a journey to get to the bottom of the strange things happening in Maple Town.Įcho Generation is a wacky trip packed with all sorts of nods to other media. When an alien ship crashes in a nearby cornfield, you find your dad’s work ID among the more unfortunate of the crew. Also, your dad has been missing for years after going to work for FST, or so you thought.
There’s also a top-secret research facility run by military corporation FST nearby. You live with your sister and mom in Maple Town where raccoons will fist fight you and a child-abducting maniac is on the loose. Just your average town bordering a top-secret baseĮcho Generation puts you in the role of an average Canadian kid who loves movies and wants to make one of their own. It doesn’t always work, but Echo Generation surely is something else. Echo Generation straps an interesting narrative, vibing soundtrack, and gorgeous visuals to an RPG style comparative to Super Mario RPG or Paper Mario. Does it live up the Stranger Things and Spielberg vibe it puts out? For the most part, yes.
This game was brought to show during the early reveals of gaming on the Xbox Series X and S, and now it’s finally available. New dev on the block Cococucumber turned some heads in 2020 when it revealed the voxelized suburban sci-fi RPG that is Echo Generation.