I adored this game. I loved the point-and-click adventure element, along with the typical visual novel experience of making choices that affect outcomes. Solving the mystery was very fulfilling. I felt like the game wasn't trying to hold my hand through it, but actually allowed me to piece the clues together myself.

I never had an issue with the previous artwork in Woodsy Studio games, but I'm sure others will be thrilled to see the artwork improvements. It looks much more polished and smooth. I thought the CG images were beautiful.

Once again (like in their other games), they did an excellent job of including diversity. People of color and queer characters are never tokens, but people who have goals and agency in the story. I was also glad to see polyamory discussed again, as there are very few games (or media in general) that show polyamorous characters in a positive light. One of the strongest themes of the story has to do with accepting others for who they truly are, no matter how much society doesn't accept someone. If someone wishes to live their life a certain way, and it harms no one, and makes that person happy, then why have prejudice? Why spread hate?

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story, a good mystery, and making choices that matter in a video game.

Echoes of the Fey—The Fox's Trail is a gripping detective story full of mystery and magic. The world I dived into really was fascinating. I'm especially grateful for beautifully drawn elves. Both the story and art are stunning.

I'd like to start with the protagonist. Usually sooner than later I'm annoyed with a female main character. The way they are portrayed always make me sick. I got used to self-insertion while playing, so it's far from being pleasant in such games. But not here. MC is just awesome. Her expressions are fabulous! The sprite is perfect! And her personality is amazing! I'd like to have more novels with such an appealing female protagonist. For now she is the best in my personal rating of likable female MCs. The best and the only... She is not ideal, definitely has some flaws but it only makes her realistic. So color me greatly impressed.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1775208936
I love visual part of this novel a lot. All sprites are very pretty. Plus, you may change MC's appearance (hairstyle, outfit) if you purchase some magical potions. Unfortunately, I can't say I found CGs very attractive. I kinda got used that they are the most appealing, but not here, at least not for me.

The story was very captivating. Though it's not a typical visual novel. You don't just read and choose options to proceed the narration, you pick the herbs, walk in the town... You have freedom to decide which place to visit first. I typically prefer just reading, not to waste time on meaningless clicking through different locations. But in this game it was much fun. After some hours of playing it became like a native, quite familiar place for me. The map is very convenient, by the way.

So, you play as a private investigator solving a mysterious case. And I was totally engrossed in that task. When you learn the truth, the way you can handle it is very versatile. I usually have in mind one specific, ideal picture of how the story should be ended according to my perspective. Here surprisingly I enjoyed quite opposite outcomes, to such extent that I had waves of goosebumps several times. A very impressive plot. At some point I figured out the truth after having gathered numerous clues but I definitely didn't see it coming at first. That was an exciting revelation.

While seeking the truth, you may have close relationships with some characters, including one female char. The game focuses on the story, I can't say there're routes in a typical way we see them in otome games. It's more likely some scenes. They were greatly enjoyable but unfortunately too short.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1771006157
Because of all that walking it felt like I didn't get enough opportunity to immerse myself into the story. I needed more text without any distractions. But anyway despite this, writing was nice and I feel like knowing all those characters with their distinguished personalities. English is good, there are some minor 'typos' (one missing word though pronounced, one repeated twice word, once no space). The only 'serious' issue is wrong usage of dashes, or no dashes at all would be more correct, as the writer uses hyphens instead. Sorry, I couldn't help but noticed it all the time.

The novel is partially voiced. When sentences aren't voiced, characters usually don't keep silent, we still hear some repeated phrases. The written and pronounced texts in this case differed but they actually were about the same. It created some volume effect, added more depth. I really liked it. Sadly, I don't know as many visual novels with English voice-over as I'd like. It seems that Japanese one is much more frequent. English is my second language, I want to hear more of it. In this novel I especially enjoyed the Patriarch's voice. It suits the character so well. That was a great pleasure!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1772993520
Unfortunately there's one quite significant thing that kinda spoiled the whole exciting experience a bit. Again, it's inconvenient settings. For example, no save when choices appear, too little save slots, no gallery, no way to hide the text (it was esp disappointing in CGs), skipping only of all text (that's really disastrous when you replay the game trying to get all achs), F12 is not working for screenshots, I had to use other programs to upload ss. And I really dislike this damn feature I keep seeing from time to time urgh. You know when two chars speak, the one who is talking at the very moment is kinda highlighted and the other one is in the shadow. What for, dear developers? It's perfectly clear even without it who is in the center of attention right now. I'm a screenshot enthusiast, but when half of the picture is dark... *unamused *

And my final complaint is about the last (?) choice. During my second playthrough I tried not to invite Heremon to the tavern. It WAS a choice, right? Plus, it was marked as optional in the tasklist. But I couldn't enter any other place looking for company or even the very tavern myself, wtf was that?! Maybe I missed something. But I tried all places, all characters for several times and nothing. That was frustrating. Welp, I was not utterly against spending time with him again but what for is this misleading choice in this case?

All in all, I find this visual novel immensely enjoyable, despite all those technical inconveniences. I highly recommend to try it. The story is worth it. I can't wait to start the next part Echoes of The Fay: The Last Sacrament .

Features: English language only. Medium language skills required. One playable female character. Detective story. One episode - one case. No unsolved mystery that goes on in episode 2. No puzzles - just some deducting and decision making. Partial voice acting - not every line is voiced.Two GxG, Two(???? Second option not confirmed) GxB options. The romance options are “options”. They are not required for playing and are not forced upon you. !If you only want some romance this game is not for you!

Art: 9/10 (subjective - either you like it or you don’t) I really like it. It’s a fresh breather from all the Anime stuff. The art style is consistent and well done. You can really see how much she improved from her last games.
Backgrounds: 9/10 Professional made, pretty and won’t distract you from the story.
GUI: 6/10 Simple, not distracting, get’s the job done, but I still wish for more shortcuts like saving game or something.
Voice acting: 8/10 Good voice acting overall - with some inconsistencies.
Soundtrack: 10/10 The soundtrack is amazing and builds up the right mood. Mostly Electronic. It was made by the dev. Very original. No 30 second loops. Tracks are up to 2 - 3 minutes. The developer was nice enough to put it up as DLC. I wish more developer would do this. If you want a demonstration you can find her music to one of her games here:
https://jennygibbons.bandcamp.com/album/quantum-conscience-soundtrack
Note: Quantum Conscience is a pure science fiction game and much darker than this. So the music from Echos of the fey is a bit different.
Story: 8.5/10A really good mystery VN, that won’t treat you like an idiot. Just a few minor inconsistencies.
Setting: 9/10 While it’s hard nowadays to come up with something completely different, I’m very glad that Woodsy studio managed to make something original and gripping.
Characters: 10/10 No kidding. I love them. You have your rivaling police detective, your responsible partner but they just feel so real and not cheesy at all. ( Btw. Heremon is a cinnamon-roll :3 )
Length: 8- 9,5h for the first playthrough, depending on how fast you read.
Replayability: ? I haven't played enough to judge it. But from my experience I would say much more that your average VN
Prize: 10/10 I saw VN’s who use lot’s of free assets and are charging much more. This prize is more than fair.
Final verdict: I would say a 9,5/10 A clear recommendation. If you like a good story or you are a VN fan then this is for you. The only thing I don’t like is the shortage of keyboard shortcuts and having only 5 saving slots (maybe that’s intentional.)

"Humans aren't supposed to use magic. That's what the Leshin say, at least. They fought a thirty year war to stop us from using our machines to draw energy from the fey. It didn't work. In the last days of the war, a few Leshin radicals staged an attack on the Fey reactor in the city of Onigrad. They vaporized most of the city and killed thousands of innocent civilians. It ended the war, but not like they hoped. Horrified by the actions of their leaders, moderate Leshin overthrew their government and sued for peace. The Immolation of Onigrad changed everything. It changed the relationship between our two people, bringing an end to the war but deepening our mistrust and hatred. It changed the landscape of human society, sending small city-states running to the growing Empire for protection. And it changed me, because I was there. Humans aren't supposed to use magic, but now I can. I just can't control it very well."

With this we are introduced into the world and history of the Echos of the Fey. A perfect opening and introduction to our main character Sofiya.

Sofya Rykov is a private investigator with a penchant for drinking too much and avoiding unpleasant serious personal stuff. This fact is made very clear in the beginning as she laughs away her traumatic experience in Onigrad. I becomes very apparent that she isn’t just a one dimensional character “who just loves to have fun”. Her actions and behaviour makes sense. She has her own packet to carry and life wasn’t very gentle to her. Thus she has her own voice, just like the rest of the cast.

And that’s what impressed me the most. Nearly every character has a sprite - side characters aren’t just some talking sprites that gives the player information. They have their own motivation, their own thoughts and thus their own ethics and morality. They aren’t just some blank characters who the MC can influence like some Bioware characters. They will act on their own manners. That doesn’t mean that we can’t completely influence them. This VN managed to flesh the characters out so well that they feel like a real person and everyone has something interesting to say. Never have I meant such interesting side characters in VN who are right now on the market.

Unlike most other VNs the decision we make here matters. It’s rare to see a Vn where choosing which decision to pick makes you sweat. It will have consequences and you are expect to clean up the mess you made for the most part. You simply can’t save anything at once and can’t satisfy everyone. Once you picked a path you should stick to it. That sounds more disastrous and depressing than it is. I just want to warn people that the game doesn’t take making tough decisions from you.

The setting is a nice mix between magic and Steampunk, with a hint of Final Fantasy. It’s unique in it’s own way without being obnoxious and the superb writing really helps. The writing and the worldbuilding is consistent and is really, really well done. The art is also very consistent. Everything feels fresh since the different Art, the GUI, the backgrounds and the music is made by the developers. No more Kevin Macleod music that has been used to death. All in all, it makes it very easy to get immersed into the game and it’s world.

Playing detective is fun, too. I should explain to you the game mechanics. The game is a mix of a Visual Novel and a Side-scroller. Dialogs and decisions are done and presented in a typical VN manner (Dialog box on the bottom, speaking Characters in the background, option boxes in the middle of the screen, see screenshots). Then there is the part we can walk around Vodotsk. We can enter shops and other locations by walking around the town and clicking on the doors or talking to people on the streets. The game has a map, an inventory and a quest log. We can walk around town as Sofiya or in our cat form. This helps with our research. People who play adventure games will feel at home here. And newcomers can easily catch up. The game is not to hard, but not to easy. The game will let you know on what to do so you will never feel lost, but also manages to not treat you like an Idiot. You are still expected to read and comprehend what you just read. Otherwise solving the case will be hard for you when you are expected to piece together all informations.

Uff, I hope I wasn’t rambling too much and thank you for reading. I hope my english writing wasn’t too horrible.

I've played free games with better story lines, art, and character development than this. The MC is really insufferable imo and as soon as she transformed into a cat I lost interest. After playing the free Episode 0 I thought the MC was going to be able to fly or something, but turns out she can just turn into a cat. You spend the rest of the VN slogging from one corner of the map to the other, running menial errands and turning into a cat so you can spy on people. I would have preferred just clicking on different points of the map to travel there instead of having to control Sophya as she runs around the tiny, uninhabited town. I don't know why anyone would trust her with any important task or investigation anyway.

Echoes of the Fey is a well written Visual Novel with point and click elements. The story follows a human named Sofya, who also has magical abilities. She and her Leshin doctor, Heremon run a private detective agency together. Sofya is used to the same boring case over and over, until she picks up a case that changes everything...

The first thing I noticed was that the game creates a detailed and believable fantasy world. There is history with enjoyable lore and 3-dimensional characters that immerse you in the story.

The detective story is nicely written. It lets you piece together the detective work on your own instead of just feeding you the answers. There are optional quests and plenty of choices that change the game throughout.

There are romantic options for both male and female. How you interact with the characters also changes the story a bit. The voice acting is fairly impressive. Not every line is voice acted, but a lot more than I expected. Each character has a distinct voice that suits them well.

Overall I would recommend Echoes of the Fey: The Fox's Trail. A friend gifted it to me and it exceeded my expectations. If you enjoy the fantasy genre and visual novels, I think you will have fun with this one.

Between itch.io and Steam I've played through this several times and highly recommend it. The writing is excellent and the characters are diverse and genuinely interesting. Sofya and Heremon in particular have a great dynamic. The central mystery has some surprising twists and turns and the voice acting is excellent. I loved the atmospheric music too. It really creates a unique sense of place for this fictional world.

On my first playthrough I took what I considered the "right" path (I know it's subjective) but on subsequent playthroughs I was really impressed by how emotionally satisfying and "right" the other endings turned out to be as well. Events unfolded in ways that stayed true to the characters and I never felt punished for the choices I made. Instead, each new choice revealed new perspectives on the characters and, even if the results weren’t always what I thought I wanted, they were consistently satisfying and interesting. There’s a surprising amount of emotional depth here. There are thematic elements that deal with identity, personal choice and acceptance, and they’re handled thoughtfully and (just as important) entertainingly. That can’t be an easy thing to juggle, so major kudos to the writers.

Really looking forward to Episode 2 and getting to explore more of this world.

I just started, but I have to say, the main character is really unpleasant. On top of that, the main character is described as having an alcohol problem right at the beginning of the game and then goes on to talk about her drug use soon after. While people can do as they like, it seems like a strange choice for a main character, as these are choices that are likely to alienate players (like me). I may try to play again, but I'm really disappointed.

This game is different from what I've played before. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm very pleasantly surprised. The developers are excellent storytellers.

What I'm most taken with is the voice acting and music. Very nice stuff!

The story seemed interesting and the art stood out to me right away. But I just couldn't get into it. The world the story takes place in isn't explained which just confused me. Especially with fantasy fiction you have to establish the world it takes place in so the player knows the setting. I wanted to like this game but I didn't.

I honestly thought the MC got the powers to fly! From reading Chapter 0! But alright... I like this power too. :p

The mystery was afoot... I like how the MC is and learning more about the world and characters and solving the mystery!

Well... There seems to be also a different way of HOW you handle the truth you find out... Near the end. *nod nod*

The Fox is adorable and I can read Chapter 2 now! WHEE!