This is a neat little game from a new studio, had a good time from beginning to end.

It describes itself as an action RPG but it would be better to compare it to Splatoon with an emphasis on puzzle platforming. The MC's can shift between kid and squid drip forms, and there's an element of area control as everyone paints the terrain in their elemental goop.

There is some basic melee combat but the game makes it clear from the outset that you shouldn't be leaning on it, instead you should soften enemies up with status effects by booting them into hazardous terrain or laying hazards at their feet. As a puddle, you can freeze enemies with the water you leave behind but depending on your actions, you can dip into other elements and status effects to combat enemies that come in different elements and different shapes of area denial. In theory it's a cool system that lets you rewards clever thinking by expediting the fight.

You have only 3 elements at play; Water, Acid and Lava/Steam, and their applications are very limited. As the base element, water is the least effective as non-elemental and water-elemental enemies aren't affected by it, representing half of the enemies you fight. Acid is the best element as you have easy access to it, you can spread it as easy as water, and only 1/4 of the enemies you fight are resistant to it. Lava is as effective as acid but you can't spread it yourself, it can only turn you into steam for a higher jump and float, you instead have to rely on enemies spreading lava or whatever lava pools naturally reside in the arena. There's also corruption, but it doesn't seem to have any application in combat outside of making enemies harder to fight AFAIK.

It all culminates in a combat system that feels novel in the first few hours but never really expands beyond its original constrictions and is heavily dependent on the encounter design. You can run into fights where most enemies are resistant to your base moves and with no proper access to the other elements, forcing you to engage them in the dullest way possible, kicking them off platforms or whacking them for an agonising amount of time.

There’s some promise when the first combat ability you unlock is a neat body slam attack that rewards you for gaining height via the platforming mechanics but nothing you unlock afterwards has a similar level of ingenuity. There are some neat ideas along the way (If you touch Lava in Acid form, you become a lava ball and your trail of acid burns up like a line of gunpowder) but they don't seem to have any real application.

The game feels much more well-rounded when it comes to the puzzle platforming, leveraging the different elemental forms with pick-ups, environmental hazards and alternate dimensions to make you twist your brain over a river crossing style puzzle. It is unfortunately similarly held back by a lack of variety and progression, as you move through the same set of environments from beginning to end with very little shake ups to the puzzles. I would’ve preferred if the alternate dimensions were not so evenly distributed throughout the game. If each level was dedicated to one dimension, reserving the dimension switching to the final level, it would help alleviate the monotony.

The character designs are neat and the cutscenes make a great use of motion comics to stand out while staying within budget. The story on the other hand feels like it’s hampered by the budget despite feeling very unambitious.

There’s a lot of time and voice lines dedicated to propping up this setting of a ruined kingdom and the parties responsible for it, but you get the gist pretty quickly and lose interest just as fast since your characters turn up long after its collapse. There’s also a lot of awkward transitions from cutscene to background chatter as new characters and topics are a couple plot beats short of a proper introduction. The main villain can just show up on the comms making generic barks long before he is revealed in the story. Not to knock on the VA’s, some of the banter can be fun, but this may have been more effective and feasible of a story if it was tackled with more minimalism.

One final complaint is the music, the trailer music is a really neat bop but it doesn’t carry over to the main game at all, a massive shame.

There is still a fun time in this game and I hope if the devs get another shot they can either work with more on their plate or learn to do more with less.

As soon as I saw this game I knew I had to play it, and I had such a good time with the game I was sad it ended, I want more and this is a game I will replay and one I will 100%.
The combat is fun, the movement is amazing, it feels like its a modern ps2 era platformers but even better.

I highly recommend it, a few people who have watched me play it have also picked up the game because they enjoyed watching it, and I can't wait to see this game spread and see more people play it. Please do yourself a favour give it a go!

I really had a fun time with Fading Echo. The puzzles are fun to figure out and solve. The combat systems are neat. Exploration is fun. The music is good. Really liked the art style and the accessibility options for them. My only criticism is how the story was presented. I recommend.