I love a good tale, one that twists and turns and leads you down a tunnel of mystery. ‘Echo Generation: Midnight Edition’ developed by Cococumber does just that. Being the newest edition of their 2021 released game including upgraded graphics, new features, and refined mechanics, we dive into the shoes of a kid who runs into trouble at every turn.

Set in what appears to be the 90s, in a normal suburban area, things are not as normal as it seems. Rocked by strange going on, such as talking animals, mad inventors, psychotic robots, aliens, and even a possessed ghoulish person who roams the hallways of the school. Your character with a Scooby Doo gang of friends, must investigate the supernatural events of your town and reveal the secrets they have been hiding for a long time.

The story is quirky and gives off a very ‘Stranger Things’ feel. The narrative is a strong element of the game and pulls together everything with its intriguing premise. I do wish there was some voice acting though as the beeps as lines of dialogue pop up on the screen do get tedious in long conversations.

Echo Generation is an RPG with turn-based and quick-time combat. As you fight enemies that can range from small racoons building in difficulty to up to things like massive mech monsters you level up your character through experience points.

As you level up you get to pick from one of three stat upgrades that might help your health, attack strength, or skill. You traverse a map of the town unlocking more areas as you go and coming across enemy encounters. A lot of objectives are locked and require you to acquire items to progress. It is very much fetch quests with minimal problem-solving to get the next item to move on.

While the controls are simple to master, everything feels a bit half-cooked. The RPG elements aren’t very interesting or in-depth, and the turn-based combat at times feels like it’s literally hit-and-miss since it relies on your reaction times to attack and block incoming attacks, making for not very accurate registering sometimes.

What I did find interesting though was the use of comic books as new combat skills, each with a unique mini-game to activate them. This did refresh the lull in the combat. One new feature that is greatly appreciated is the inclusion of a device that enables you to fast travel to previously discovered areas eliminating the need to run through multiple areas.

Whether it is docked on a T.V. or in handheld mode, the game is graphically so compelling. Almost blocky and lego in appearance, the scenes are splashed in vibrant pixellated colours even when in an eerie and ominous environment. Speaking of environments, each different surrounding area is so distinctive and teeming with intricate details to look at and absorb.

The music also complements this outlandish aesthetic with retro-like synth-wave music. These melodies effortlessly carry you from scene to scene and change perfectly to suit a sunset in the distance or an amped-up boss fight.

As a whole, Echo Generation: Midnight Edition while simple is a very charming turn-based RPG adventure. While it feels like a fetch quest, rudimentary combat does break up the experience, and the quirky story supports and lifts the game to be quite an enjoyable experience. Just watch out for some pesky raccoons though.

Written by: Stacey