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The first Echo Generation was announced back at an ID@Xbox showcase back in 2020, and I remember reading how Vanessa Chia, Writer & Producer and Co-founder of Cococumber, wanted the game be a reflection of the childhood many players grew up in, with the nostalgia of the era being a theme with that small town vibe that was prevalent in media of the time, such as Stranger Things, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, or The Goonies. Gameplay-wise, with RPG mechanics feeling familiar with a lack of mechanical bloating, you would be amiss to not feel nostalgic for games like Paper Mario or Super Mario RPG.
It was no surprise that Echo Generation continues this nostalgia-ridden trip with Echo Generation 2, giving the player a feeling of chill familiarity, like they are watching a Saturday morning cartoon with a bowl of cereal. What I did find a surprise, however, was how invested I would get into the characters and world the team at Cococumber would create.
You follow the game through the perspectives of two characters to begin with: Sister M & Jack, two completely different characters, sharing the same story without knowing. From the beginning, you can choose where you want to start, which is a nice addition if you think you will favor one over the other, though I find it hard to decide. As with some games with multiple playable characters that feel like a re-hash of each other, the stories are distinct and somehow, tonally different while keeping the same vibe, if that makes sense.
Sister M begins her story escaping the research facility she and the other children have been raised in and experimented on. Where are all your friends, and who is ‘The Commander?’
Jack’s story begins with him and his family having a weekend away in a cabin when there’s an explosion at Jack’s workplace, a local science facility. Jack then has to get his family home to safety before being called back into work to help save the day.
Is it the same facility? You’ll have to play the game yourself, but I played the first 3 chapters for this preview and also had the option to play two others, each chapter with a brand new character: Annata Z, a zombie who awakens with no memories other than that she’s missing her daughter, and Nolivia, a bounty hunter from the future.
The art style of the game follows on from the first being retro pixel art 3d extravaganza for your eyes, with each screen you enter being just as beautiful as the last. Within Jacks chapter, the game opens with a shot of a sunset across a lake but the one I keep coming back to is the guest bedroom.
With how the light shines through the window on either side of the bed, the cleanliness of the room which allows the greens and reds around the room to be highlighted, adding a greater level of 3d space to the already 3d pixel art. I don’t think I can think of a screen I entered that I thought was a let-down.
The game’s gameplay is a simple nostalgic take on a turn-based RPG battle system, where the good guys and the bad guys politely take turns in trying to beat the other to a pulp, one move at a time.
The difference this time around, though, is the reworked battle system, which works on a card-collecting system, where throughout the world, glowing trading cards will be hidden for the player to find, each giving you a new attack, defense, or support card to add to your arsenal. Each belongs to a certain type of card, either diamond, spade, or heart. Each enemy will have a stance bar above their health; using cards with matching symbols will eradicate their stance bar, making your subsequent attacks do more damage.
A choice that Cococumber made to distinguish the two stories is to put Sister M as a solo character who battles to escape the oppression of her overlords, and Jack as the typical dad who teams up with his babies to fight with knives and axes. It’s a great way to keep the player engaged with your gameplay as you change your tactics from being allowed one or two attacks per turn to 3-6.
Echo Generations 2 is short and sweet, with a completion time of around 9 hours if you want to see all the game has to offer, giving you a great bite sized game to pick up and play before you tackle your next mammoth of an RPG, or if you do want a trip down memory lane and play a game that feels like it could have been a console from your childhood.
Echo Generations 2 is available right now on Xbox Series X| S, Xbox on PC, Xbox One, Steam, and compatible handhelds. The game is also a part of your Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscription and features support for Xbox Cloud Gaming and the Xbox Play Anywhere program, making it the perfect game to play when you get 5 minutes, wherever you are.
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