Nerd Mentality

Melee combat will generally boil down to some quick button mashing, while spell casting requires your character to stay stationary as you aim a targeting reticule over your foe. The magic system allows you to choose between six varieties of spells ranging from elemental to healing which you can toggle on the fly. Later in the game, you can combine these spells to form more powerful versions. However, this is about as deep as the combat gets. The majority of fights will be over in one or two attacks. The only real exceptions are the boss battles, which actually require some strategy, but are too few and far between to be a real selling point. Fortunately, there are lots of weapons and armor to be made, which gives the game some added variety.

The item creation system allows the player use reagents they have found to create powerful weapons and armor or to upgrade the items they currently have. These reagents can be found in chests or bought from vendors, but the majority will come from the hordes of dead monsters the player leaves in their wake. Generally, you will need to visit certain areas multiple times while farming a particular monster that drops the reagent you require. While this can occasionally be tedious if you need multiple or rare reagents, it never becomes overwhelming. Other games have used similar item creation systems in the past, but the one in Echoes of Time makes multiplayer much more interesting.

The multiplayer feature in Echoes of Time really helps the game shine. The player has the option to either play with friends locally or over internet with cross-platform compatibility. Multiplayer is accessed in game and supports up to four players. You can play through the main storyline, but a vast majority of the fun comes from some of the competitive mini-games you can access in the towns. These games can be cooperative or competitive with the winner receiving a large chest upon completion. One of the more interesting games involves players attempting to kill a large group of rodents in a dungeon. Some of the rodents are fake and some are real. If you kill a fake one, it explodes and nearly kills you. Only the player holding the magic artifact can determine which is which. Needless to say, being able to talk to the people you are playing with in the same room as you is a definite advantage.

The primary drag of this game is the repetitive puzzles the player faces time and time again throughout the game's dungeons. They generally involve the block pushing and button pressing faire we have seen repeated in games time and time again throughout the decades. It feels unnecessary and only detracts from the primary action of the game, especially considering their frequency. When will developers learn that pushing multiple boxes on to multiple buttons to open a door is played out? I'm pretty sure even the most casual of Bejeweled gamers could figure out that brain buster.

Closing Comments

All in all, this game is mediocre at best. It has some unique RPG elements combined with some occasionally frantic hack-n-slash game play, but they aren't enough to stand up on their own. Both the Wii and the DS have better options available to you at a cheaper price. If you are having a couple friends over, and by some chance they all own a copy, then you might have a fun distraction for a few hours. A better bet would be just to ask a friend to rent it with you and bring it back to the store the next day.