PLATFORM: PC, PS5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Originally released in August 2025, this linear third-person action adventure follows lead character Ryn, born with the ability to wield an ancient magic power, on a quest to rescue her brother and defend her homeland from a war that threatens to being the world to the brink of collapse. Coinciding with its arrival on PS Plus, a recent “Enhanced Edition” update has attempted to address many of the issues that players initially encountered, with refined combat, new animations, and more responsive controls, as well as introducing an equipment system that allows players to equip ability-changing relics and experiment with a variety of gameplay styles and builds. There’s also a more balanced difficulty option, New Game Plus mode, a very welcome performance patch, and plenty of other tweaks that refine and enhance the overall experience.
Largely flying under the radar since its release, at first glance Echoes of the End might not look too different from many other games, but its easy to grasp sword and magic-based combat, entertaining powers, intricate puzzles, constantly evolving mechanics and beautiful Icelandic-inspired landscapes prove to be an incredibly satisfying combination. The first hour or so might feel a little slow, as the game takes its time to introduce its movement and combat mechanics, but by the time you reach chapter three or four (of ten in total) you start to amass a decent amount of upgrades to Ryn’s abilities, allowing her to chain heavy strikes, parry enemy attacks, and use magic to hurl enemies around the screen or drain their life to replenish your health bar, as well as combining skills with her companion, Abram, who assists in battle by stunning, tripping and grabbing enemies, allowing Ryn to close in for brutal execution moves.
The further you get into the game, the more vicious its enemies become, and the puzzles and environmental challenges become increasingly unusual and tricky to solve, making each area interesting, engaging and, most importantly, fun to explore. With its most glaring issues seemingly addressed by the Enhanced Edition update, Echoes of the End is one of those games that may well surprise you with how good it really is. Sure, there are still a few rough edges here and there, but it’s still a fantastic effort from a small dev team that fans of fantasy-inspired action-adventure games should have a really good time with.
