German Indie developer Ark Heiral just launched they Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming 16-Bit Retro RPG Chained Echoes. What hooked me was the art direction, battle system and MECHS! This game brings to mind other similar titles like Vanguard Bandits and Xenogears. The Mech designs and over visuals look incredible in this 16-bit world. They’ve provided a few audio tracks from the OST and it sounds sublime. I’m glad to see that developers still want to use Turn-based gameplay. It works so well for this style of game that draws inspiration from the golden era of RPGs. Also, you’ll be able to pilot Airships and explore the continent of Valandis.
Story:“The continent of Valandis and its three kingdoms are just recovering from a war that had lasted for over a century. The land is devastated, towns lie in ruins, monsters roam throughout the night and noblemen who have lost their lands and ranks organize themselves in bandit groups. In spite of all this, after a war that had lasted for generations, this is the first time the people of Valandis can finally experience peace. For this reason, on the second anniversary of the peace treaty, the southern Kingdom of Fonset is holding the biggest festival the land has seen in a long time. The streets are full of colorful food and loud music. People are dancing and laughing. Lords and ladies from all over the continent are invited to an extravagant banquet inside the castle.” 
Combat:No random encounters: No separate battle screen means that every battle takes place in a unique area. The player can take advantage of that environment. See that chandelier hanging above the enemies? Cut the rope and let it come crashing down on them. 
Depth built on simplicity: The battles are built on systems that are easy to learn but require strategic thinking to master. In a unique tag team system, your characters can switch other allies into battle in order to trigger certain skills, obtain overdrive bonuses and access a wider array of abilities. Every action you and your enemies take moves the party’s position on the overdrive bar. Your effectiveness in battle depends on this position and under certain conditions even allows the use of special attacks. But moving too far on that bar will have dramatic consequences for you and your party. 
The Kickstater for Chained Echoes lays out all the details about where your money will be going and how the developer of the game will proceed. At present, their modest goal of a little under $70K is about a third funded already. There’s still about 28 days left to pledge. Take a look at their announcement trailer below:
Chained Echoes – 16-bit fantasy RPG with mechs [Kickstarter Trailer]
KICKSTARTER LINK: https://kck.st/2RFOad4 CHAINED ECHOES is a story driven RPG with turn based battles, inspired by those classic japanese roleplaying games for SNES and PSX. The game is currently in early development for PC/Mac/Linux and a crowdfunding campaign is scheduled for this winter.
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