Echochrome Review
Release Date: TBA (NA) (Rumored in May)
I know what you’re thinking. How can I review a game that didn’t come out yet in EU or in NA? It doesn’t matter, because I can.
Presentation: 7
In its own right, it’s really hard to say how this game can present itself. Since it was inspired by the famous M.C. Escher Lithograph Drawings, to even think about presenting the game is sophisticated! Ok, it’s not flashy or anything, but the simplicity is so perfect, that it shouldn’t be messed with. It starts out by fading into the menu and with some simple gameplay in the background. But throughout the entire game, it keeps a mellow and extremely sophisticated feel.
Graphics: 4
Graphics… Ok, well… It’s ONLY black and white (with a few hints of red here and there), and made up of lines, lots of trippy, trippy lines. The screen shot below shows you what the whole game looks like. Not very amazing, but like in the presentation, it keeps the game mellow and sophisticated.
Sound: 8
This is the second best thing about the game. The female announcer that explains the game to you, sounds very sexy, but you might get annoyed when she says “Oops” a thousand times after your character falls off the game environment. Each event in the game has a sound, and even though that’s not that much… it’s still nice. These events include movement through the menu, the steps of your character, jumping, falling, respawning, etc. But the best sound amongst these is the background music. It’s so mellow, it’s amazing, and it’s simple classical music… with a lot of violins. It helps you think and it keeps you feeling good and mellow, which is important since the game is so goddamn hard.
Gameplay: 9
This is the selling point of the game… obviously. It’s a puzzle game that is really, really hard. Why do I say this? When you yell in anger at the TUTORIAL, you know the rest of the game is bound to be hard. It is almost flawless, but in some cases, the game won’t recognize that you’ve made a "perspective connection" with another platform, so your character will keep passing the point at which you pass onto another platform. It was inspired, like I said before, by M.C. Escher’s Lithograph drawings, where logic is thrown out the window, and its throw far. The way to play is to manipulate the environment so you can get passed certain obstacles using the 5 rules in the "world of echochrome.”
Which are:
Perspective traveling, the character will walk in what seems to be the path.
Perspective landing, the character will land at what appears to be below.
Perspective existence, if you block a gap with another object, there is a path.
Perspective absence, if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.
Perspective jump, your character will jump on what seems to be above you.
This is accompanied by 3 game modes:
Solo, use the 5 mysterious laws to create paths to encounter all “echoes” (shady looking versions of your character.)
Pair, have the same colored characters encounter each other. (Two white dudes touch each other to become gray, while at the same time, two black dudes touch each other to become gray, and then the gray dudes touch each other.) This does NOT involve touching of the junk.
Others, it’s the same as “Solo” but opponents appear on the level. (If they touch you, you have to respawn at either the beginning or at the last echo you touched.
There you have it… It’s that… And it’s hard… And it’s perfect.
“Enjoy the mysteries of this world.”
Lasting appeal: 10
LOOONNNGGG!!! The Japanese version has about 100 levels, and the North American version (which is only sold on the PSN) has about 56 or so for the PSP and the PS3 versions. How ever the one I got my hands on has 96 levels, hehe. Each one of those levels can be played in all three game modes. So in total, the Japanese version has 300 levels, and the North American version has 168 levels. On top of that you can also make your own brain scramble M.C. Escher levels! And on top of that is the long, long, long time it will take you to complete the said puzzles. Each puzzle can last from about 1 minute to 20 minutes.
Beta Screenshot
Final Word: 38/50 Good!
It’s not like any game I’ve ever played, this deserves a game type of it’s own. something along the lines of, “Hard on the brain puzzle game, from M.C. Escher drawing fame.” It’s not the best looking game, but it’s so good for a puzzle game, especially on the go and for a hard thinking experience. Not to offend anyone, but anyone with an unintelligent mind should try to steer clear of this game.
Video Review(content warning)
Posted by Genemech 112 days ago
Echochrome Review
Release Date: TBA (NA) (Rumored in May)
I know what you’re thinking. How can I review a game that didn’t come out yet in EU or in NA? It doesn’t matter, because I can.
Presentation: 7
In its own right, it’s really hard to say how this game can present itself. Since it was inspired by the famous M.C. Escher Lithograph Drawings, to even think about presenting the game is sophisticated! Ok, it’s not flashy or anything, but the simplicity is so perfect, that it shouldn’t be messed with. It starts out by fading into the menu and with some simple gameplay in the background. But throughout the entire game, it keeps a mellow and extremely sophisticated feel.
Graphics: 4
Graphics… Ok, well… It’s ONLY black and white (with a few hints of red here and there), and made up of lines, lots of trippy, trippy lines. The screen shot below shows you what the whole game looks like. Not very amazing, but like in the presentation, it keeps the game mellow and sophisticated.
Sound: 8
This is the second best thing about the game. The female announcer that explains the game to you, sounds very sexy, but you might get annoyed when she says “Oops” a thousand times after your character falls off the game environment. Each event in the game has a sound, and even though that’s not that much… it’s still nice. These events include movement through the menu, the steps of your character, jumping, falling, respawning, etc. But the best sound amongst these is the background music. It’s so mellow, it’s amazing, and it’s simple classical music… with a lot of violins. It helps you think and it keeps you feeling good and mellow, which is important since the game is so goddamn hard.
Gameplay: 9
This is the selling point of the game… obviously. It’s a puzzle game that is really, really hard. Why do I say this? When you yell in anger at the TUTORIAL, you know the rest of the game is bound to be hard. It is almost flawless, but in some cases, the game won’t recognize that you’ve made a "perspective connection" with another platform, so your character will keep passing the point at which you pass onto another platform. It was inspired, like I said before, by M.C. Escher’s Lithograph drawings, where logic is thrown out the window, and its throw far. The way to play is to manipulate the environment so you can get passed certain obstacles using the 5 rules in the "world of echochrome.”
Which are:
Perspective traveling, the character will walk in what seems to be the path.
Perspective landing, the character will land at what appears to be below.
Perspective existence, if you block a gap with another object, there is a path.
Perspective absence, if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.
Perspective jump, your character will jump on what seems to be above you.
This is accompanied by 3 game modes:
Solo, use the 5 mysterious laws to create paths to encounter all “echoes” (shady looking versions of your character.)
Pair, have the same colored characters encounter each other. (Two white dudes touch each other to become gray, while at the same time, two black dudes touch each other to become gray, and then the gray dudes touch each other.) This does NOT involve touching of the junk.
Others, it’s the same as “Solo” but opponents appear on the level. (If they touch you, you have to respawn at either the beginning or at the last echo you touched.
There you have it… It’s that… And it’s hard… And it’s perfect.
“Enjoy the mysteries of this world.”
Lasting appeal: 10
LOOONNNGGG!!! The Japanese version has about 100 levels, and the North American version (which is only sold on the PSN) has about 56 or so for the PSP and the PS3 versions. How ever the one I got my hands on has 96 levels, hehe. Each one of those levels can be played in all three game modes. So in total, the Japanese version has 300 levels, and the North American version has 168 levels. On top of that you can also make your own brain scramble M.C. Escher levels! And on top of that is the long, long, long time it will take you to complete the said puzzles. Each puzzle can last from about 1 minute to 20 minutes.
Beta Screenshot
Final Word: 38/50 Good!
It’s not like any game I’ve ever played, this deserves a game type of it’s own. something along the lines of, “Hard on the brain puzzle game, from M.C. Escher drawing fame.” It’s not the best looking game, but it’s so good for a puzzle game, especially on the go and for a hard thinking experience. Not to offend anyone, but anyone with an unintelligent mind should try to steer clear of this game.
