If you are checking out reviews for this title, it is likely that you are a fan of Metroidvanias. You stumbled upon some gameplay that intrigued you and now you are here. Look no further, Gamer Social has got you covered!
Atmospheric, Metroidvanic goodness…
What is Somber Echoes exactly? Somber Echoes is dark toned fantasy game that is deeply rooted in the Metroidvania genre. Personally, this is a beloved category of mine.
Somber Echoes is developed by Rock Pocket Games and Published by Bonus Stage Publishing. Rock Pocket Games managed to develop a project that combines Greek Mythology with a deeply immersive Sci-Fi atmosphere. This combination is delivered with terrific uniqueness! Let’s take a deep dive into the specifics of this project.
Greco-Roman Space Vessel: Atromitos
Somber Echoes follows the story of protagonist Adrestia. Players will begin by resurrecting from, what seems like, a catastrophic event of sorts. Admittingly, these events are rather confusing at first, but they end up making sense as the story progresses. The catastrophic event has turned a once revered vessel, named Atromitos, into a desolate wasteland for horrific beasts and nightmarish scenery. Adrestia’s goal is to stop her twin sister, Harmonia, from causing the same upheaval throughout the entire universe.
Nightmarish Scenery
I played Somber Echoes interchangeably between a Steam Deck and a gaming laptop (capable of comfortably running games on default high settings).
The atmosphere, even on the Steam Deck’s screen, is absolutely amazing! There’s is a sense of eeriness as you wander through the chambers of the different biomes. In traditional Metroidvania fashion, you never know the horrors and combination of enemies you will encounter when progressing to the next corridor. Somber Echoes wins tons of points in this aspect and the art style is award worthy.
Gameplay? A classical adventure…
As I mentioned earlier, I am huge fan of Metroidvanias. Hollow Knight, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Metroid Prime, Metroid Dread, Rogue Legacy, F.I.S.T (Forged in Shadow Torch), and Ori to name a few. Whenever I embark on a new Metroidvania adventure, I always ask, “How does this experience stack up against the greats?”
“Somber Echoes is an outing worthy of the top 30 Metroidvanias of all time”
In typical Metroidvania fashion, Somber Echoes features progressive traversal. If you are unfamiliar with this term or mechanic in Metroidvania games, it simply means that areas of a game are unavailable until the appropriate ability is attained.
Adrestia has various abilities and weaponry at her disposal. First is her sword “The Gladius”. This is her melee weapon and with it you have the ability to chain together attacks. Along with the Gladius, you have the Arbiter, which is strong two-handed weapon that unleashes a powerful stunning attack.
Adrestia also has long-ranged ability. The legionary Spear is perfect for attacking at a distance. This weapon is best used from a calculated distance and is not highly effective once the enemy is in pursuit of you. Lastly in the ranged department is the Nocturnal Blast. This ranged attack is a bow and arrow that consumes some of your armor upon usage.
Adrestia has the ability to parry attacks, hover in the air while descending from a steep fall, and the ability to break through certain doors after being gifted with an enhancement to the Legionary Spear’s power.
Traversing The Universe in Style
Combat abilities aside, Adrestia has blessings that help her access and traverse the world around her. She has the ability to manifest Aether Lanterns. This ability is a cross between Samus Aran’s Morph ball and Nightcrawler’s teleport ability (hopefully you are familiar with X-Men). The Aether Lantern blessing allows you to morph into a ball of light and propel your way into any direction you aim towards.
The Aether Lantern also allows Adrestia to attach herself to radiant surfaces that permit her to ride the current in aa specific direction. Lastly, Adrestia is able to enter a powered Aether Lantern found in the world that turns her Aether Lantern blessing into a Supernova blast. This Blast allows her to break through and burn away blockages known as Nocturnal Gates.
“Exploration is very rewarding because it helps Adrestia discover travel points, making the world around her easily accessible.”
Somber Echoes boasts other forms of navigating the world as well. There are distinct districts in the game that consist of numerous rest points. You are free to use these rest points to fast travel to other rest points discovered within the same district. If you want to travel to another district, each biome has a Circe gate that allows you to quickly travel to your desired destination.
Another mode of transportation in Somber Echoes is the shuttle system and the teleporters. These modes of transportation are scarcer and take you to random locations. Needless to say, Somber Echoes has plenty of options for traveling the world and that reason alone makes exploration worth it.
Adrestia, choose your fate!
Somber Echoes‘ narrative is very compelling but be warned, if you are not a fan of games with narrated dialogue, you may be offput buy this game!
That small caveat aside, you’ll enjoy Somber Echoes for its multiple endings. To keep this review spoiler free, I’ll only emphasize that there are four endings. Each ending provides a different resolution to the story, adding replay value and encouraging players to explore all possible outcomes.
The Verdict
So, where does Somber Echoes fall in comparison to the greats in its genre? Somber Echoes is an outing worthy of being named amongst the top 30 Metroidvanias of all time! The narrative is compelling and well-constructed. The combat holds up classically in a genre full of timeless classics. Somber Echoes stands brilliantly as a title with its own identity while maintaining the DNA of the all-time greats. Rock Pocket Games deserves a standing ovation for this title!
Somber Echoes released January 21st and is available on PC via Steam. Steam Deck Compatibility still shows as unknown on the Steam page but, I can verify that it runs very well on said device.
