As a RPG and Stepmania enthousiast, this would seem like the perfect Indie game for me. And indeed, it was fun to play. It was unique. It was something fresh. And being a RPG fan, I am used with doing repetitive things in order to get that one rare drop.

One warning is that even casual gamers who would like to simply play the game and go through the story, might still face some moments where they have to engage battles over and over to get that last item for a recipe. Bite through it, the way you make story progression is quite slow in itself. Ronald Jenkees kicks ass, but not after the 6~7th time in a row. Yeah, having only one fixed song per enemy doesn't get you on your toes that much.

On sales it's usually just one buck, so hopefully no buyer's remorse after you've even spent an hour at it.

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Now I have to admit when I first started playing this game I had quite low expectations of it. I absolutely love rhythm games but I couldnt see how they could successfully combine this into a RPG style. Although I was proved wrong as this game is AMAZING!!

The mechanics of the game are very unique and there is nothing quite like it. You use the rhythm of the music to fight a battle. To this you use the arrow keys and click them as soon as the arrow reaches the bottom of the screen. And this is when it gets unique. You have 3 fields to control via this rhythm ability. Mana, Attack and Defense. Mana is collected and can be used to cast spells in the attack field. You can switch through these fields at your free will. You need to make sure that you use each field correctly and at the right time to survive and win the battle.

The story of this game is what most suprised me. It had me hooked throughout the entire thing. There are many twists in the story that keep you guessing throughout the game. The voice is acting is very well done and the characters are very likable. You really do get to know the characters. In a rhythm game a gripping story is the last thing I would have expected. I am not going to go into detail about the story but just experience it for yourself and you will see how great it is.

The whole look of the game is completely incredible. The art style gives a real great look to the game that compliments the awesome gameplay.

Throughout the floors you get different items. You have collect these items through playing the levels. I felt the items abilitys were very well balanced and contributed well to the gameplay. These items are obtained through a random drop rate on levels. Some items have a very low drop rate on levels later on the game. Unfortunetely this is where my only bad point comes from this game. To get these items it can become very grindy with you having to repeat these levels multiple times in a row just to get it. This can get very boring after a while.

I'll end this review with the best part of the game, the soundtrack. It is made of music by Ronald Jenkees and Michael Wade Hamilton. I always feel that a game has a great soundtrack when I like it so much that I even listen to it outside of the game itself, and with this one I did. It is incredible and goes great with a rhythm game.

Overall this game is a true masterpiece and a bit of a hidden gem. This game is possibly one of the best I have ever played and I really highly recommend it.

• Don't ever buy this game.
  
• Maybe consider it on a sale.
  
• An average game.
  
• A good game that should definitely be considered.
  
• A must play!

Before the Echo (the game was known as Sequence previously) is an interesting RPG. The game plays like Dance Dance Revolution with the notes divided into 3 separate note tracks running concurrently on the screen for casting spells, defending against attacks and regenerating mana. There is a quirky story to pull you through to the end but what won me over was most definitely the music tracks behind the gameplay.

I can't really gauge how difficult it is to play for beginners to the genre due to my many years of playing rhythm games from Stepmania, Guitar Hero and my current timesink of Osu!. Anyone who has played such games should find no problems however with adapting to the mechanics.

Due to the RPG nature of the game, it can become a grind for specific items to drop on the monsters which are used to craft items needed to progress in the floors. The game does not come with any additional content beyond the story that I am aware of (I played mostly at release back in 2011).

Before the Echo wasn't the most challenging game personally but it sits in my game library as a comfortable purchase when I look back over two years. Give it a go if it is on sale but just be aware it may not be fun for everyone; the usual disclaimer case for most games in the rhythm genre.

A pretty damn awesome rhythm game that sells dirt cheap. The music alone is easily worth the retail price and if you like a bit of RPG sensibilities with your music gaming that has an actual storyline... get it now!

I used to like it. I was gonna play again, but it can't be played on Windows 11 due to the lack of Windows Media Player. That's the only reason why I don't recommend it.

Sequence is an entirely unique game which combines rhythm gaming with RPG mechanics. Three boards drop arrows simultaneously in a DDR fashion - one for attack, one for defense, and one for regeneration of mana with which to attack further. The player rotates between the boards while pressing the arrows in time with music in order to win the battle, gain experience and items, craft weapons, and learn new spells.

It's quite fun, if a bit short. The voice acting is quite solid for a budget title, the music is fairly good, and the graphics are perfectly serviceable if quite static - however, for the type of game it is, that doesn't get in the way.

The story gets a little odd (if predictably so) towards the end, but all in all, I had a lot of fun throughout. It's more for rhythm game fans than RPG fans, as those mechanics are the dominant ones, but it's definitely worth a look if you want to try something different.

I have to admit, this game surprised me. I got this game from a bundle and decided to install it to try it out. I end up really liking it and played it until the very end. It's a rhythm based game, you have to change between 3 panels with Q and E, you use the arrows to hit the notes.

When I saw the tutorial I thought the game would be insanely confusing and hard to play, but it's quite nicely done, as you see all 3 panels at once at any time, so you see what is coming.

The art is really cool, the music is awesome and the story is even more awesome! I wanted to play until the end to know what happens... It's full of surprises, it's hiralious and you get hooked right into the story.

The spells aren't limited to only damage, you have shielding, direct damage, DOT, healing, boosts... Alot of different spells to use. You have to kill the monsters and ascend floors until you reach the top. All monsters have specific drops which you have a certain percentage of getting everytime you kill them (with music of course). You also have to craft/find your gear and you can learn new spells by using scrolls and completing the songs with high accuracy or note combos.

Theres not many bad things to say about the game... My only real issue with the game is the hitboxes... Sometimes it looks like you miss but it actually works and sometimes you think you succesfully hit the note but you didin't. Luckily this rarely happens so it didin't affect me too much. Maybe i'm just bad at the game though, I don't know!

This game is definately worth looking into, especially since it is only 4.99$. I'd say anybody that likes good stories or rhythm/music-based games should really try it out!

I've been buying a lot of bundles recently, I picked up ~20 in July, and Sequence has been one of my favorite pulls thus far.

*NOTE: This review will be fairly biased, as I enjoy dj-ing/mixing electronic dance music.

If you like rhythm games like Tap Tap Revolution, music - in particular the electronic dance music genre, grinding, and crafting, then you will really enjoy this game. Ronald Jenkees does a lot of the music for the game, and if you like his style then you will love the music found here.

The aesthetics of the game are nice - the artstyle for the characters and backgrounds are well-detailed. The music is very, very good, however, if you do not like the electronic genre, then you may get tired of hearing the music, and this is critical because it is the core of the gameplay and (so far) the variety is not too expansive. You will also grind quite a bit, so you will be hearing the same tracks repeatedly.

The story is decent, nothing too fancy. The voice acting is not bad, and the comedic banter between the main characters is funny at times. There is also some teasing of common RPG elements, which I always find very nice when not overdone.

The controls are easy to familiarize yourself with - you use the WASD keyes and/or the arrow keys in combination with the numbers (spell hotkeys) and Q and E. The tutorial is skip-able but extremely important for understanding the mechanics of the game. The learning curve is moderate to difficult - especially if you are not used to playing rhythm games. I am pretty good at beatmatching by ear, so I tried the 2nd hardest difficulty and had to tone it down a level - my finger dexterity on the keys are still rusty; however, I plan to do a playthrough on the hardest difficulty once I beat the game.

Gameplay is very, very fun if you are interested in the rhythm genre. You have three windows, Defence, Spells, and Mana. Arrow kills will fall in the Defence and Mana windows, and you can swap your active window with the Q and E skills (left and right respectively). If you fail to press an arrow key in the Defence window, you lose health depending on the type of arrow (basic white color = -1 HP, and so forth). If you fail to press an arrow key in the Mana window, there is no effect.

Arrows will only fall in the Spells window when you activate one of your spells with the number hotkeys, however, you must also have enough mana to cast the spell. Failing to press even a single arrow key in the Spells window will cause you to fail in casting it and you will not be refunded your mana. Spells are the way you damage your opponent, and you can also heal yourself. I believe you can only have 4 active spells at a time (you start with 2 slots and unlock more as you progress through the tower).

Between battles, you can craft and equip different items. There are 7 floors in the tower you wake up in, and you are given new crafting recipes as you reach new floors. One item will always give a permanent bonus (ex: +1 to offence), and others can be new spells, armor, or weapons. You can also scrap your items for experience points. When you craft, you have to pay exp. to increase the chance of success (you can even pay lose levels if you want to pay that much exp); if you fail, you are not refunded the exp.

Levelling up is done automatically, you do not have to allocate skill points.

As you progress through the game, monsters will have a unique "guardian ability" for each floor - for example, on the 2nd floor enemies (once per battle) can activate an ability that makes the falling arrow keys fade to invisibility as they reach the lower quarter of your window. Listening to the beat of the music really, really helps because the keystrokes tend to match the beat very well. With enough practice, you can even swap windows freely and continue pressing arrow keys to the beat. There is a craftable item for each floor that allows you to ignore guardian effects (except when you fight the bosses).

Boss battles are fun and the character's are pretty funny. Each boss will use their guardian effect more frequently, and you cannot negate it with the inhibition item.

If you are interested in rhythm games, definitely pick up this fantastic game.

Highly recommend!

Art: 9/10 (I am being a little too much critical here, it is above great!)
Code: 10/10 (can not see flaws, very agile and stable! +there is calibration feature to fix A/V off-sync!)
Enjoyability: 9/10 +consists great humour! (especially check item descriptions!)
Beatmaps: 7/10 (sometimes weaker beats result in two keypress, when the strong one is one key press)
Toughtness if necessary: 10/10 (there are four difficulty settings: easy, medium, hard, spasmodic)


9/10

PROTIPS: #1: Use ASDF instead of arrows and numeric keypad 4,6 to rotate and 1,2,3,7,8,9 for spells. Really comfortable! #2: Medium is too easy. #3: Spasmodic difficulty most likely will require playing against easier enemies repetitively in order to level up and beat stronger enemies or to use recipes, because that will help a lot; makes game a little more like RPG because of the repetitions, but that is enjoyable, really. If that is not for you, take hard or normal. When I started with normal and went to 4th floor, I felt it was too easy for me and I went for spasmodic difficulty. I found it really challenging and that is what I really hoped for.