Chained Echoes

Chained Echoes is a 2022 role-playing video game developed by Matthias Linda and published by Deck13 Spotlight. It launched on Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Drawing from 1990s Japanese role-playing games, it uses turn-based combat, 16-bit-style pixel art, and a story told across multiple characters. The plot follows a group of unlikely heroes working to end a war between three kingdoms.

**Gameplay** The game uses pixel art inspired by the 16-bit era and turn-based combat. Unlike many older RPGs, enemies appear on the map and trigger battles on the same screen, similar to *Chrono Trigger*. In turn-based fights, each party member has a standard attack, special abilities, items, and a defensive stance. Attacks and abilities raise an "overdrive" meter; when it reaches a green zone, abilities become more effective. If the meter overheats, the party must discharge excess by using specific actions like defenses or "Ultra Moves." Characters do not level up traditionally; instead, skills improve automatically through battle, with additional skill point rewards. Players control a party of up to eight characters, and the game takes roughly 30 to 40 hours to complete.

**Plot** *Setting and characters* The game takes place on the continent of Valandis, where three kingdoms—Taryn, Gravos, and Escanya—have been at war for generations. After a catastrophe caused by the Grand Grimoire, the kingdoms sign a peace treaty. One year later, an unknown force tries to restart the war, and a group of unlikely heroes band together to form the Crimson Wings and stop it. Valandis is a small part of the larger world of Eldrea, which blends a medieval aesthetic with fantasy elements like magic, dragons, and mechs called sky armor. "Human" is a blanket term for all sapient races, including anthropomorphic animals, while real-life humans are called "hyoms." A recurring element is the "Echo," a person's soul that reincarnates and carries residual memories. The Grand Grimoire is a magic crystal that, when shattered, repairs itself by absorbing all life within a thousand meters, except for the person who broke it.

Key characters include Glenn, a sky armo