Echo Night

The first thing you should do when playing Echo Night is set the walking and turning speeds to the fastest setting and turn the voices off. Then strap in for a few hours of puzzle solving, some unsettling imagery and a few scares. After playing through it, I got the feeling that Echo Night could've benefitted a lot from a more cinematic approach to things. Most of the game is spent in silence, even in cutscenes, as music is used only when confronted with a particularly evil spirit. Every character, whether it's man, woman or child, has the same tone and manner in their dialogue and there's very little tension. Puzzles are good, and there's even a few casino games to play. As you save spirits in the game, they turn into spheres which you can collect and exchange for a life-saving potion. But, they also occasionally drop other, smaller, items like keys or stone tablets. If you don't notice these, especially in the game's dark setting, you'll get stuck with no clue as to what you missed--leading to a few minutes or even hours of frustration. It's also very Short-I was able to beat it in less than six hours of game time. There are multiple endings, but I really had no desire to play through it more than once. If you're a fan of From Software's other efforts (like the King's Field games), you'll enjoy it, but for most people, it's at most a rainy summer evening rental.

As a casual adventure game fan, I like Echo Night. In other words, it's nice and easy. The puzzles and clues are laid out on the simplistic side, which keeps frustration in check. Gameplay isn't bad, but it'd be nice if it supported analog. At certain points the eerie atmosphere is really potent ..but nothing like Silent Hill or Resident Evil. Still, Echo Night has its good moments, but sadly it's too short. Most will solve it in eight hours or so. Perfect for a rental.

This is one of those games I wished would go on a little longer. Echo Night is more immersive than Shadowgate 64, and there's a lot less reading and more actual puzzle solving. It's not as creepy as it could've been, due to a lack of haunting music and some really bad voice acting. Still, there are several scenes that are truly disturbing, like the old man who chases you around in the grave. From Software is good at creating a good story, but not so much at raising the fright factor.

After being disappointed with Shadowgate 64,1 didn't really want to take on another puzzle-based adventure game on any system--PlayStation or otherwise. But in retrospect, I'm glad I did. Although Echo Night suffers from being on the easy side, the overall experience is worthwhile. There are plenty of mini-quests to go on, lots of strange stories to sift through and freaky characters and ghosts to interact with. Sadly, it's only worth a rental due to its inadequate length.