KCD2 publisher's stunning, troubled Norse RPG gets a whole new version just two months after launch, and it changes everything

How long should a developer leave a game before dropping an enhanced edition? It's a difficult question. The original Baldur's Gate released in 1998 (a lot of people forget BG3 has two predecessors), with Beamdog's enhanced edition landing in 2012. The spruced up version of Neverwinter Nights arrived in 2018, 16 years after its inspiration, with Aspyr Media's enhanced version of its sequel dropping in July of this year, 19 years later. In each of these cases, there's a decent chunk of time between the original and its touched up version, but this is 2025, and weird things are happening. Echoes of the End, which released on August 12 of this year, is getting an enhanced edition, and given it sits at only 425 lifetime reviews, that's somewhat surprising.

If you haven't heard of Echoes of the End, it's described as a "cinematic, third-person action-adventure game" set in a world inspired by Iceland. With graphics that rival Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and combat that blends magic with traditional hacking and slashing, you may be wondering why you've never heard of it. The middling reviews probably answer that question.

In our own Echoes of the End review, Khee Hoon praises its puzzle sequences and general combat, but bemoans the game's overall difficulty and focus on precision. Describing it as "uncompromising," he notes that its "challenge and precision is painfully difficult to overcome, and undercuts the power of its protagonist in the process," subsequently awarding it a less-than-glowing 5/10.

It doesn't fair much better on Steam, with only 68% of lifetime reviews in the green, leaving it sitting in 'mixed.' While recent responses are more positive, players claim that it's a relatively average God of War-style fantasy romp, with noting particularly "ground breaking" to set it apart from competitors.

I return to my original question then: how long should you wait to release an enhanced edition of a game, especially when it doesn't have the weight of a Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights? Myrkur Games' answer is, apparently, two months.

"Echoes of the End initially launched in August, receiving praise from critics and players for its strong characters and storytelling as well as beautiful environments modeled after real Icelandic locations, but criticism for a slow opening chapter, technical issues, and a combat system that didn't meet player expectations," the official press release reads.

"Rather than shying away from criticism, the team actively sought out player feedback, then worked tirelessly day and night to produce an Enhanced Edition of the game, addressing every point raised by the community. This hard work has resulted in dozens of major changes and improvements across combat, balance, animations, pacing, difficulty, an entirely new equipment system and more."

There are several key changes here, some of which feel actively targeted at some of Khee Hoon's biggest bugbears. Main character Ryn's animations have been updated to feel more response, and combat has been reworked entirely, with "more satisfying hits" likely being music to a lot of players' ears.

There's also the addition of the aforementioned equipment system, with 13 new outfits and over 20 relics to help you customize your build and really hone your playstyle. There are also fewer puzzles, which should help with the overall pacing and address issues with the particularly grindy first chapter.

All of these changes are also completely free to those who already own the game, so thankfully you won't have to shell out $30 the same way I did with Neverwinter Nights 2's enhanced edition (regrets, I have a few).

Echoes of the End's huge enhanced edition update is now live. You can pick the game up here.

If you're looking for something with a similar feel to Echoes of the End, we have a rundown of all the best single player games. Or, if you, like me, love a weighty narrative adventure, we have a rundown of all the best story games, too.

What's your favorite enhanced game? Let us know on Discord - just give me an enhanced edition of the original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. That's all I want.