So many of my favourite games feature turn based combat, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. When you think about taking turns to swing swords or cast spells it sounds a bit silly, but the strategic focus it so often brings is like a delicious drug to me. There are so many ways to feature turn based combat too, with timing based inputs, real time elements, and all manner of other twists on a tried and tested formula. What twist could be better than adding cards to the proceedings? Absolutely none, and Echo Generation 2 agrees.
I didn’t actually play the first Echo Generation, but this sequel is actually a prequel. Whereas the first game was all about a kid searching for their father, Echo Generation 2 sees you playing as that father and going missing. Well that’s one part of the story anyway, because this game is split into chapters where you’ll play as all sorts of misfits with entirely different motivations for fighting with cards.
The starting chapter features a girl with telekinetic powers escaping from a lab, with an unusual code name instead of something more normal. If this sounds familiar then you’ve probably watched Stranger Things, just like the developers. Snarky comments aside it’s a fun opening chapter, which leads to a whole load of tonally different ones.
Whether you’re playing as a doting dad or living dead zombie mother, you’ll be playing cards to fight against enemies. Each character starts with a deck that features cards that attack, block, and inflict some sort of status effect. With random cards dealt each turn it’s up to you to use them to the best of your ability, whether they’re ideal for the situation or not.
Alongside all these fairly familiar card combat elements, there are also coloured symbols on your attack cards. Enemies often feature similar symbols above their health bar, and to break their defence you’ll need to play your cards to match them. It’s another thing you need to be careful with when building a deck with all the new cards you find, which is a fun layer of complexity I was excited to dive into.
While combat is definitely the highlight of the game, there’s a lot to do outside of it too. This is an RPG after all, so you need to get stronger in a variety of ways. By leveling up a character they’ll gain a skill point, which you can put into their skill tree for all sorts of benefits. The first unlock you’ll want to aim for will let you play more cards on their turns, but there are so many other buffs to grab too like a greater hand size or starting with some extra armour.
When you aren’t focused on fighting, you’ll probably by exploring the voxely world of Echo Generation 2 and letting the synthy eighties soundtrack wash over you. The vibes of the game are frankly delightful, even when you’re exploring a black and white wasteland. Admittedly the places you explore often feel quite small and occasionally lacking in worthwhile things to find, but the atmosphere makes up for this somewhat.
There’s a lot of cool elements to Echo Generation 2, but I found myself often wanting to enjoy it more than I actually did. The sort of episodic nature of chapters means you’re always playing as new characters, and that means levelling them up enough to actually play more than a single card every time. The characters don’t really feel that different either, all focusing on different status effects that ultimately do fairly similar things. I would’ve rather stuck with one party and just improved them really, instead of levelling up a whole load of weenies one at a time.
Echo Generation 2 is a stylish RPG with fun combat, but ultimately the structure lets it down somewhat. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy deck building and fighting various monstrosities though, especially while that lovely synth played in the background. It may not be perfect, but I can’t deny there are a lot of aspects of Echo Generation 2 that kept me invested as I played.