Fading Echo Review

Fading Echo is an action-adventure RPG developed by Emeteria and published by New Tales and Com2uS Holdings. I admit, I wanted to review this because I wanted to be a waterbender like in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and I've been itching to try out a nice action-adventure again. So, will I find myself drowning in fun or left high and dry?

The story centres around One, a young Legend and nomad exploring the planet of Corel. The Paradox Corruption has warped the universe, fracturing the world into multiple realities, and One is the only, well, one with the power to stop it all. However, this journey will not be easy, as Maddock, the cause of the Paradox, has no qualms about wanting her dead. With time running out, One must learn how to use her newfound powers quickly or else Corel is doomed.

The narrative is fine, I feel. I found myself interested in the type of world Corel is, One's past, and all the world-building that's told through various interactions. Throughout the game, you'll meet a variety of characters, like One's mother Rahne and the AI-like Vellum, who each have something to say about the various places you explore. Slowing down to listen to some fairly interesting conversations was a nice break in between all the action.

It's not all great, though. I don't think all the characters you meet are as compelling as they should be, and some of One's dialogue can be a little grating, as she tends to make some MCU-level comments throughout the game. She isn't unbearable to listen to, but there are some weak performances here and there that didn't exactly endear me to her character.

The real star in Fading Echo's presentation is the art direction. Holy cow, there are some amazing sights to be seen here. The graphics look straight out of a comic book, complete with cutscenes that are framed as if they were in such a medium. It all looks so surreal and mystical, especially when it comes to visiting different realities. With a serious sense of scale within the environments, leaving me in awe as I travelled upwards towards my goal. One's flowing, glowing blue hair is exceptionally done well here, making it almost hypnotic to look at when you're moving around. It also helps you to keep track of her and when things get chaotic.

Enough about that, though; let's talk about the gameplay. This is a third-person action-adventure with some light RPG elements. Your goal is to unleash all four Æther Sources from corruption, separated into four distinct areas: the Cindervault, the Æthermines, the Bone Spire, and the Ygdran Hollow. However, in what order you take on these challenges is entirely up to you, which is actually quite cool. You're also not forced to do it all in one go, as along the way you'll unlock Beacons (three for each area) that send you to and from the central hub.

As mentioned before, One's main element is water: creating blasts, waves, and even transforming into a blob to get into places she normally couldn't go to in her human form (I spent a majority of the game as one, as it was slightly faster than human form). They are the only powers you get, but it's all you need to get through the game.

Throughout your travels, there will be monsters that must be defeated before you can pass on through. These enemies can be quite tanky if you're just relying on your normal attacks alone. You do have a Vault Kick which boots enemies away a fair distance, but it does no damage otherwise. Luckily for you (and terrible for them), there's more to combat than beating monsters with a blade on a stick.

You will rarely ever go two steps without encountering pools of elemental liquids that each have unique properties: lava burns, slime makes you vulnerable to more damage, and corruption glitches out enemies… or flat-out kills you. The only purely helpful element is water, which recharges your abilities. However, those very same elements also affect your enemies far worse, as you can clear a status effect by going into blob form, while they have to wait it out.

Elemental enemies also have elemental weaknesses. For example, using water on a lava-type will solidify them, which freezes them in place and lets you kill them in three hits. When you're dealing with five monsters at once, each with a different type, it becomes quite the challenge to ensure everyone is weakened enough to deal with. The toughest enemies were the normal and water types, because I couldn't easily exploit them.

This all isn't helped by the fact that One is pretty squishy, losing chunks of health if hurt even when playing on the equivalent of Normal difficulty. You do have healing potions, but if you run out, they are only replenished by killing enemies or visiting a checkpoint.

This leads to fights often being heavily dictated by the enemy types and your environment, left trying to figure out the best way to dispatch the waves of foes. You can either rely on exploiting status ailments, weakness, or simply kicking monsters into bottomless pits. It makes every encounter engaging, where I had to utilise my abilities wisely if I wanted to get out alive. There's no such thing as a fair fight after all. Here's a tip: friendly fire is a thing.

Those very same elements can also help you in solving puzzles. Making contact with them in blob form changes your properties: lava turns you to steam, which increases your air time, slime boosts your jump, and corruption allows you to teleport back to a previously saved position. And like in combat, each one interacts with the others differently, like contacting lava as a slime blob turns you into a lava blob instead of steam. You'll need to figure out how to use whatever is available to grab batteries, press buttons in time, or simply get to the other side since it is blocked off.

Puzzles may also involve using portals to shift through different dimensions, either to retrieve something or to traverse an area that's impossible in the current world, and they all have a unique aspect like anti-gravity panels and water tubes. These little brainteasers can be difficult to figure out and involve creative use of your powers and the elements. They made me take a moment to think it through, and I found myself stuck for several minutes even. Once you do solve it, it feels incredible. Think outside the box, and it should be smooth sailing all throughout.

By the way, the transition between dimensions is rather quick and smooth. You only have to wait a few seconds until you're in that reality. Now that I think about it, other than starting the game and dying, there are no loading screens. You're in full control for a majority of the playthrough, which is very nice.

By killing enemies and finding chests, you'll slowly fill up a green crystal. Fill it all the way, and it becomes a skill point you can spend back at the central hub for upgrades, like more health, wider areas of effect, and longer durations. There's even an option to sacrifice health if you're low on the energy to execute special attacks, which I found very useful after unlocking it early. What options are available is determined by which area you unlock Beacons in, so make sure you choose wisely. Even if you regret some choices, you can refund your skills to redistribute them at any time.

There are also upgrades that are hidden away, so it's worth checking out previous places to ensure you haven't missed anything. Though there isn't a map to help you, there are chest trackers in the hub to see which areas still have stuff in them. Also, by unlocking Beacons, they lower the threat level, which makes backtracking far easier.

That being said, there are some issues I ran into. Glitches I encountered include one instance of falling through the floor and some framerate drops below 60, I did have to fight the game itself a little. The camera is a physical object, which you will learn fairly soon when it hits a wall and gets uncomfortably close. I did sometimes fight blind for a few seconds, which is one too many for me. Also, a lock-on mechanic would've been pretty helpful in some encounters.

Aside from camera issues and some iffy dialogue (that does repeat at times), Fading Echo is a great game if you give it a chance. With engaging combat that'll make you think on your feet, puzzles that will challenge your ability to think outside the box, and a world worth exploring, it definitely deserves picking up if you want a new adventure in a far-off land.