Echoes of the End review - unrelenting battles spoil a cohesive action-adventure

Choreographing the rapid-fire blows of combat in a game can be a delicate business. Think the 'tough but fair' ethos of Dark Souls that's encouraged masochists to slug it out within the game's decaying ruins, or the barely perceptible increase in reload time for Halo 3's sniper rifle from 0.5 to 0.7 seconds - a tweak that Bungie implemented to prevent the weapon from dominating matches. Such considerations enable developers to craft satisfyingly visceral fights without being too frustrating; to impart the adrenaline of combat without reducing wins to hollow victories.

To say that Echoes of the End is merciless may be an understatement. It's an action-adventure game that barely tolerates mistakes and expects familiarity through well-practiced, split-second maneuvers. Make a long leap across two platforms, but time your jump at exactly the right time or fall into the endless abyss below. Counter an attack with a parry, but only a second after you spot the telltale white glow of an unblockable assault. Break an enemy's shield by casting a well-timed spell, but watch out for attacks behind you.

This may seem tantalizing to players who revel in punishing challenges, but Echoes of the End verges on frustratingly obtuse, despite a promising start. Set in the fantastical, Nordic-inspired continent of Aema, characterized by mountain ranges, glacial landscapes, and medieval stonework, Echoes of the End is littered with the mechanical remains of a long-gone civilization. Ryn, a Vestige born with powers so vast and unfathomable they're said to be calamitous, traverses its ruins by harnessing her magical abilities.

Some of these ruins are straightforward environmental puzzles with platformer elements, but a few additional devices are inventive. Take the Preserver, a so-called Aemic technology that Ryn activates with her magic to reconstruct crumbling walls or bridges; in later puzzles, these must be used in conjunction with the static skill that Ryn's companion, Abram, possesses. At times, Abram can use his skill to hold certain structures in place while Ryn switches between different Preservers. In later chapters, Ryn encounters even more Aemic devices, each adding a new wrinkle.

There are also flourishes to be found in combat. You begin with the basics, such as swinging your sword for a light attack and mastering Ryn's Vestige powers. Shift is a particularly gratifying spell to cast, letting you toss one enemy into another with a satisfying crunch. Eventually, you gain access to a greater toolkit of abilities, like chaining multiple light hits for a sweeping attack or performing sword throws that damage enemies at a distance.

At first, this facilitates purposeful, no-frills combat: there's no inventory to manage, no potions to imbibe, and no weapons to upgrade. Fights become an invigorating, balletic jaunt, and once they're over, a checkpoint to rest up and prepare for the next battle is usually nearby. But these experiences eventually sour.

Environmental puzzles, while challenging, demand utmost precision, and failure comes at the cost of a sliver of health. Some walls can be climbed while others can't, and the distinction isn't always immediately clear. Short obstacles that appear hikeable are instead cordoned off by invisible walls. Combat, too, suffers from the same appetite for extreme rigor. The window for parrying is small, which makes dodge-rolling the ideal strategy to avoid getting pummelled.

Even so, the payoff for successful parrying is unbelievably stingy; you don't deal additional damage, but only cause your enemy to recoil. While there is some tactical variety with your skills, these are highly dependent on a surprisingly scant mana pool. Cast around three spells in a battle, and your mana is drained. You can replenish mana by slashing enemies with light attacks, but doing so is painfully slow.

Then there are the chained or heavy attacks, which can be interrupted by enemies at any time, effectively discouraging their use unless absolutely necessary. Keep in mind that some encounters involve fending off at least five to seven enemies at once, from long-range archers and spellcasters to heavily armored vanguards. Even bosses become manageable when compared to these sequences, since you're mostly fighting them one-on-one and their attacks are largely predictable.

There are more grievances - like how enemies can materialize behind you, or that you're not impervious to attacks even during loading screens, resulting in fights beginning with a third of your health already gone. Checkpoints also become increasingly disparate; at one point, I had to manage two long battles back-to-back, a sequence that I suffered through for at least two hours.

Yet what's most damning is how your powerlessness in combat doesn't align with the immensity of Ryn's Vestige powers. Her strength is said to be so overwhelming that she has to rein herself in for fear of unintentionally hurting her loved ones, like Elsa from Disney's Frozen. Ryn's struggle with her identity as a Vestige is at odds with the reality of combat, where you're bested by common foot soldiers all too frequently.

Despite its initial charms, Echoes of the End eventually wore me out. Its fights feel unconquerable, dragging out my numerous deaths to torturous lengths. At the apex of another fruitless, unfair battle, with two archers shooting fire spells from the far corner of the arena as vanguards and shieldmen close in on me, I've had enough. Echoes of the End's ordeals are so relentless that it necessitates grinding to nearly no end—a shame that it began with such a cohesive, thoughtful vision.