It’s absolutely astounding that 1 person developed this game

Chained Echoes takes certain elements from the developer's personal favorite JRPG's such as Chrono Trigger, Suikoden, Xenogears, and Final Fantasy VI. Examples include: Chrono Trigger's smooth transition into battles, Suikoden's HQ system, Xenogears' mechs, and Final Fantasy VI's industrial/steampunk/fantasy-magical setting with heavy political machinations and fun set pieces. I'll go a bit further and add that the music reminds me a bit of FF Tactics and Secret of Mana. Some of these elements may have been borrowed, but the game is quite original on its own. I hope that this game gets some recognition because it's a terrific game overall.

I'm about 10 hours into Chained Echoes, and it's RIDICULOUSLY good! The story and characters have me deeply invested, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next!

I think the constant comparisons to classics aren't necessarily a good thing anyway. I know wearing your inspirations loud and proud (even in store descriptions) is the thing to do for many indie developers, but what ends up happening to me most of the time is that I'll pick up an indie game that is inspired by something I like, play it for a bit, and inadvertedly compare it to the classic in every little detail, even where it may have decided to be different. The game never gets to stand on its own merits because of the comparison its own creators drew. There's some exceptions to this where I regard the indie as the better experience, but it happens very rarely. In any case, this game looks really beautiful. I might play that come next year.

What I really like about Chained Echoes that sadly a lot of jrpg don't seem to handle well, it's how fast pace the game is. There is no "dull moment".

I just finished the game over the weekend, it's an absolute blast and does so many things well. I don't see it as something I'll do multiple playthroughs like I would with Chrono Trigger (and it's probably down to being time is scarce now compared to when I was younger). But I would highly recommend this game.

I'm so fond of this new series you've been doing lately. I get to look at new games that I haven't really heard much about, and always get the joy of hearing your opinions. Thank you!

Thank you for being the only person to so simply and so quickly explain the general idea of the combat system. I watched a few videos just wanting the basic idea and everyone else made it so complicated and I couldn’t get my answer without having to watch overly long videos explaining too much. Now that I’ve seen your video I’m very interested in playing it and I think I’ll like the energy/efficiency kinda thing. It actually might be the closest thing to the chrono cross battle system of anything else I’ve ever played. And I love CC’s battling.

1st Press Games is bringing out a physical Switch and PS4 version.

Glad you covered this! Been looking forward to it and showing it to my son as well. Looking good, man. Jeep up the great work💪🏽

While I definitely see the connections to CT, a series that I personally love a ton that it kept reminding me of is Legend of Heroes. The fragile peace between the nations, information of ancient practices being lost to time/kept secret by few, evolution of weapons technology, tragic events connecting the lives of our characters, and several other themes and things in the game remind me of LoH whether unintentional or not (I don’t always see these themes in jrpgs that aren’t more war based). However, there are so many unique design choices that keep it interesting to me and prevent me from feeling like it’s just one thing. LoH is also generally a slow burn but this game tosses you between characters in a very clever way to keep the momentum going. I’m almost finished with the game, but there are many things to do if you want to get all the achievements and even SP grinding isn’t as extra as level grinding in some games lol

Great video, Derek. I finished the game yesterday and I really liked it overall. It is an ambitious game The combat system, music and story were the high points for me. I do feel a bit mixed on how they handle the progression. There were parts I think I was going to get soft-locked because I couldn't upgrade my abilities or weapons. Not a fan of that "you can only get skills by beating bosses" mechanic. Anyways, can't wait to see more of this dev!

Great video. I had the same impressions on this game as well. I'm looking forward to diving into it at a later time as well. Thanks for the interesting analysis as always.

Hi Derek, I'm new to the channel I've seen some old ones recently. Why did you not do Beyond Oasis for the Genesis/Megadrive? I think that with your love for pixels it could be great for you. Have a good one and merry chrismas.

Was considering if this would be my next game once I'm done with Signalis. And now I definitely think it will be.

I've never been huge on many JRPGs. Shin Megami Tensei were always my only ones, honestly. I've missed out on many "classics", and so I know I've missed many references or inspirations from those in Chained Echoes. Can't say I'm upset about that though. This game has been an absolute treat to play, and I'm so glad I can appreciate it for its own merits instead of constantly comparing it to other, likely good, games. So many story moments in this game have gotten a "no fucking way this is happening" out of me. The music is gorgeous and fits the tone. The combat is engaging and compels me to WANT to fight. I'm currently in Act IV and I'm already mourning the end of Chained Echoes. It's been an absolute blast from out of left field and Matthias Linda has my full respect and thanks for the experience.

Chained echoes, one piece, octopath 2, suikoden remaster and sea of stars. Oh man what a splendid year of jrpg gaming. Im so stoked.

2022 was the year of indies. There were so many great games released this year that it's insane.

I'm looking forward to playing this at some point. It's just going to come down to finding the time. Lots of releases that I'm still working through and many more coming in 2023. It definitely looks to be worth the time. I love the look of the game, and the battle system seems fun. If the writing quality and characters can match the aesthetic appeal, it might be an indie classic.

4:35 There are difficulty options 👀 You can change enemy stats, you can make them more aggressive with skills, and make your overdrive more wide or more narrow. Once you start fighting large groups of enemies, it gets really hard to stay out of the overheat.

Ooooooo nice I’m wrapping up tales of vesperia....was gonna try this next. Happy to see a video on this

Thank you for making videos on JRPGs Derek!

I'm definitely gonna be adding this to my collection soon, the story and gameplay systems, from what I've seen, definitely have me intrigued.

I'm about 35 hours in and I think what's been most interesting is that it makes so many very intentional references to so many other games that it becomes its own thing through the combination (as well as the more unique elements like the combat system). It has the non-random on-screen battles from Chrono Trigger, boss/quest based leveling up from Chrono Cross, building a base with NPCs from Suikoden, a separate mech combat system and some story/character beats from Xenogears, and I feel like at least some inspiration from the intricate setting with history, political intrigue, and moral ambiguity from the Ivalice games (and the way character portraits are angled from FFT specifically). It also makes a bunch of direct references to various events from specific games, like the opening and fair from Chrono Trigger, or the party splitting up early on in FFVI. It's definitely very obvious that Linda was inspired by other games, but it's not a reference or intended successor to any one of them above any others.

I never heard of this game until you released this video. Afterwards I took the plunge and bought the game, and am so extremely happy with it. This is the very definition of a hidden gem. So far I'm 20ish hours in and this has quickly taken a spot in my top 5 games of 2022!

Does a physical copy of this game exist? I can’t seem to find it.

I'm interested in seeing your thoughts when you hit Act 2, and 3. I think this will blow your mind, Dood 😁

Really curious to hear about your thoughts once you beat the game! I didn't even have heard of the game until a few weeks before release and I thought I was already done with the year, having picked my GotY (Neon White) and everything ... And suddenly this game comes out, I start it on the whim and it totally blows me away and becomes my new top game. It was such a welcome shock! I also love how the game keeps introducing some new mechanics later down the road. There's some Chrono Trigger, some Xenogears, some Suikoden 2 in it ... Lots of goodness. And the storyline was phenomenal.

Thank you for another honest review!

Was waiting for your opinion on this one

Definitely been hearing good things. Hoping to sit down with this soon!

This game is one of the few entertainment things that the German government invested money in that turned up with a result that was actually worth the investment.

Any game where the name of the Adventurer Clan your characters start is "The Crimson Wings" will definitely have the seal of approval of Prince Olivert Reis Arnor. I started this game a short while ago, and Chained Echos has an incredibly comfy feel for longtime RPG fans. There are things borrowed from Chrono Trigger, things borrowed from Final Fantasy (the existence of machines and magic is very FF 6, finding crystals in the world and inserting them into weapons and armor feels very much like the materia system in FF 7), things borrowed from Xeno Gear and Saga, things borrowed from Trails, things borrowed from Ara Fell, and things borrowed from many other places. That makes the game incredibly intuitive, I've yet to struggle figuring out where to go next, if I lose and get a game over, I'm easily able to make adjustments and win on a second try (the JRPG "logic" of Chrono Trigger is baked into this game, it's never your levels that are holding you back, it's your tactics). If I have one thing I'm not loving about the game to this point, it's the story. Games with deep, complex story-lines tend to need to be a slow burn at first in order to properly set up the story. Games like Chrono Trigger, which have simple, easy to comprehend stories, don't need to do this. I'm not able to follow the story very much, because it's too complex for a game that doesn't want to make the player wait for the game to explain things first. I think the story would benefit from a re-write to make it simpler. That's a minor complaint, all-in-all, this game is awesome.

I'm glad I bought this game on Steam. Itching to play it but I've promised myself I have to finish Ni No Kuni first. Great episode. Helping the hype (responsibly) and excitement of getting to it for me.

4:42 like when you get the airship and can fly around the whole world? Or the skg armors and fly around the whole maps of areas? Oh yeah. It opens up.

man you've done it, you've added another game to my backlog!

Is there free roam after Story to make 100%?

I am throughly enjoying this game and would only compare it to CT in its base play style I think it was only meant as a description of the games play style. I really am enjoying the characters and some of those expectations being turned on the head here. I feel like this is how a D&D campaign would start. The portraits are really nice and I'm having fun with the overdrive mechanic. I started out the year with one indie Rise of 3rd power and ending it with another Chained Echoes. This has been a great gaming year for us. Looking forward to what 2023 brings.

I cried plenty of times playing this..The game is a one on a thousand achievement. And proves why story is an important factor on a game.

Waiting for confirmation that my physical copy has been shipped. Good video

Hi Derek is there a physical release of the game?

Great video! 👍🏻

Excited to play this game, will there be a USA physical release?!!?

The thing putting me until now while almost 8 hours in the game is how easy it is

Just gotta say, 8 months later and I was the exact 1,000th like on this video. I had to come back to this video because I'm so excited to play Sea of Stars but haven't even played Chained Echoes yet!

I didn’t even think about Chrono Trigger when I played this amazing game.

This game is so pretty! And some of the maps really remind me of Chrono trigger

It has lots of homages to not just chrono trigger but also Final Fantasy 6 (the huge Octopus fighting on a raft, the 3 scenarios at one point, serious tone etc ), Xenogears as you commented, and Suikoden. It is its own thing(combat, for example) but is clearly heavily influenced by those games. It’s a great game and I’m really enjoying my time with it.

I really like it, but I haven't played Chrono trigger so can't compare 😅 I hope they make a 2nd as the ending was open to it.

i just got the game and am about to play it.super excited

I was loving this game right up to the point it gave you the sky armor. Feel like it really shits the bed.

Hoping to get some eshop credit for Christmas and pick this up along with FFIX

Had no clue about this so thank you. Included on game pass which is a bonus!

great video derek

Just started playing this the other night. It really gives me FF6, Chrono Trigger, and Xenogears vibes. Was wondering why it had an M rating and then found out as I got into it more and a character dropped the F bomb. Lol

main thing going for chrono trigger comparisons is no casual fights

Do you Know its a German Game ? Greets Form Germany. You hve the best JRPG Channel worldwide! I will Play it too, But First I Play Persona 5 Royal to an End. Next month Persona 3 and 4 will be at the Gamepass. Help i Need More Time 😂

Not the best i played , but is fun. Making me wonna play Chrono Trigger DS again.

the dev of this game is fan of chrono trigger - xenogear and suikoden for sure. you can tell once you play it. but not a successor more like a illusion making you feel that they are. still it really fun to have them in game and to add those cute mechanic. in the end it game of it own. chained echo really shine coz he did so.

Great game so far, and is on Gamepass so that was an extra bonus. Feels like a game i will buy anyway as i dont see it getting old

I really like it but I would enjoy it more if it had character levels and the gem system wasnt crappy. Also battles can be a SLOG. Still a good game tho.

You look great man.

3am release?? Ok, guess I'll watch since I cannot sleep. LOL!

Im 50 hours in and having fun the overdrive bar can make or break battles but the game is fun lookung forward to sea of stars

This game is basically a combination of chrono trigger, chrono cross, every final fantasy, xenogears, suikoden, breath of fire, and xenoblade. There are direct and indirect references to all of those games…and it combines various story beats from all of them (and more games, I’m sure) If you grew up playing those games, you will probably love this because it combines those elements with a lot of finesse, and it’s really satisfying to catch all of the references. The combat and character progression systems are really good (better than the games that inspired it), and there’s a bunch of side content that’s fun for “completionists”. It fumbles a bit with the dialogue at times, but it’s really not so bad as to ruin the experience. Truly the best indie “Jrpg” to come out in the last decade. I had the same feeling playing this as I did playing crosscode, which was another standout in the indie scene (that in my opinion was also better than many of the games that inspired it) Oh…and the soundtrack is fantastic.

This is a very good game. Not quite on the same level as FF6 & Chrono Trigger for me personally, but certainly up there with the best modern indie RPG games like Crosscode & Undertale. Art direction & level design are stellar, music is wonderful, and the story & dialog are engaging & well written. Only really enjoyed two other indies more this year so far.

"setting the expectation then undermining it" is something this game does very often with its story

I like how this game does a better job of having separate stories that eventually come together than Square's shyte game literally called Eight Path Traveller.

Derek you look like you lost a lot of weight. Hopefully for healthy reasons. Thanks for covering this game. So looking forward to deep dive into it after I finish an additional couple hundred hrs of Tactics Ogre Reborn post game lol

The gameplay is so addicting and fun!

This is a great game and it does so many things well. One thing is it takes the system from chrono cross where you really only gain levels from bosses. But regular battles are not useless, since you gain sp to upgrade skills from everything. So there is no real need to grind, but fighting still gains you something! My biggest complaint is the character switching mechanic, and this might just be because I am playing on the hardest difficulty. But it is 100% needed to buff your characters, but newly switched in characters do not get those buffs, so they basically become one hit wonders with certain skills only to get thrown out immediately. I feel like if they were smart, group buffs would go to everyone, making all character viable at anytime. But this is nowhere near enough to not make this game not my pick for game of the year so far in the JRPG category.

I think the upcoming game sea of stars is closest to chrono trigger. But this game is good being its own thing. I've been having fun with it.

This game has a hugely diverse and complex set of characters and a much deeper world than Chrono Trigger. It doesn't have the position relevance and teaming up mechanics that made Chrono trigger battles so unique. I'm onto act three, and am really amazed at this one.

Great game. I bought the physical and digital version.

The game got better and better as it went on, I thought it was good now I think it's a masterpiece.

I love this game.

This game is absolutely fantastic

I’ve got about 10 hours in this game and I am really enjoying it so far.

this game is gold!

This game is AMAZING!!

Goty 2022. Fucking fantastic game.

Just finished the game. Everybody keeps bringing up Chrono trigger, but the game Chained Echoes is giving a homage to is Xenogears, and i am not just talking about the mech stuff. I feel like many plot twist are simular in Chained Echoes because they were in Xenogears, and some of them didn't needed to be in there. The plot structure is also simulare. I like the game, but at a point i felt 'ok, the game trows a little to much Xenogears stuff in the game'. And at the end the game trowa an ff7 plot twist in there, wich was also unnecessary... But the ending was good. And i had a good time with the game.

Just end my frist game. I take time in every side quest, recruit every unit read every lore. It pure quality 80hour game time. AND Very Best of this game is SONG.

CE still really need grinding, but in another way.

Nice cut

Heh, I've spoken with others about how one of the most exhausting aspects for indie devs is having their games endlessly compared with the "unwritten list of great retro games" that have become the modern language we use to describe games anymore and to what extent they compare to ff or chrono trigger etc. You can't just make a game anymore and let it stand on its own merits, NO! We must find the retro game it aligns closest with and then rate it by comparison. 😂

Wow, what the? Did I miss something? Did you answer any of those questions?

This game is one of the better games I've played in recent years

first time playing chrono trigger.. it has big pixel characters

This is much better than sea of stars

Some games have been compared to Chrono Trigger and others have actively tried to be the next CT, but none have come any close because they deviate too much, while the similarities are superficial. Cosmic Star Heroine had multi-character techniques like CT, but in CSH these were gear-based, so wheb you equipped a better weapon or armor, you lose that skill. Many games have taken the combat on the same screen approach, but it worked in CT because characters would position not in a straight line but scattered through the are, and they would change position when they attack certain enemies ornusing certain skills, while inbthese modern games, characters are always in a straight line, making the combat on the same screen a mere gimmick, not a real mechanic. CT, also, has meaningul changes through the game. Few and far in between, but some actions in the past will affect the future (like Fiona's forest). Alao, the endings change according to your actions. Most CT's ending were mere jokes or sketches but the seed was there. Later, games like Fallout New Vegas and Silent Hill 2 would have a better use of endings, only a few but well thought endings based on your decisions and playstyle, all them feeling natural. But many of the CT emulates la k meangful decision making and when they have different endings, it's all too artificial.

I've still never beaten CT.

0:55 Ummm, NOTHING could be "the next" Chrono Trigger and take its place. Though, does this game stand on the same ground as something of a masterpiece like Chrono Trigger? Undoubtedly.

If anything its more like FF7 with the story being almost exactly the same with some minor differences. Cycle of rebirth, lifestream / Monsters. Etc etc I wont spoil the rest. You even go through a part where you go in the protagonists head and fix him.

This is nothing like chrono trigger reminds me more of the more modern indies like comsic heroine

It's the game so many should have been but I think it just came too late for me personally

Oh wow man you lost weight!

Chained Echoes is easily GOTY 2022, or 2023 if you go by Game Awards metrics.

It doesn't really seem that much like Chrono Trigger, so I don't see why that's the main game comparisons are being made to. Like a big part of Chrono Trigger's gameplay that a lot of other turnbased rpgs don't usually do is the dual and triple techs. It sounds like from other comments it's closer to Chrono Cross if anything. And the smooth transition into combat, and the way the characters breathe in battle isn't really unique to Chrono Trigger. Is the only reason for comparisons because of the word Echoes in the title? Because of the Chrono Trigger romhack Square sent a C&D over that took place between Chrono Trigger and Cross, titled Chrono Trigger Crimson Echoes?

“No random encounters” is a huge turn off for me and in my opinion, Chrono Trigger’s greatest flaw. Do enemies respawn so you can grind if you want to? Or is this one of those terrible games that doesn’t let you grind?