Somber Echoes Is a Compelling, if Familiar, Metroidvania [IGN]

After spending nearly two hours exploring a preview build of Somber Echoes, an upcoming Metroidvania from developers Rock Pocket Games and Lav Games, I’ve walked away feeling optimistic about its chances to stand out in a crowded field of similar titles. Though my short time with it didn’t lead me to believe it’ll be wildly inventive, its foreboding atmosphere, solid combat, and mobility-based exploration has left me feeling eager to see more.

Somber Echoes takes place entirely on the Atromitos, an abandoned spaceship left in the aftermath of some type of cataclysmic event. Players take on the role of Adestria, who has been tasked with searching the vessel for her twin sister, Harmonia, and stopping her from destroying the universe. Though the opening hours are light on dialogue and exposition, there’s a compelling blend of sci-fi and Greek mythology at play here. During the preview, I ran into reimagined Greek gods like Ares and Hephaestus, and I imagine there are quite a lot more to meet throughout the rest of the campaign. The extent of their impact on the story is yet to be seen, but color me intrigued to see how the team will weave Greek tragedies into an apocalyptic space opera.

Of course, you can’t really have a Metroidvania without significant amounts of exploration, and Somber Echoes is off to a great start overall in that regard. Very early in the preview, I found the aether lantern ability, which appears to be the core mobility mechanic in the game. This allowed me to enter a ball of energy and then select the direction I wanted to eject. While I could only use this ability once per landing during the section of Somber Echoes I played, a tooltip in the menu promised more aether cores could be found to allow for additional uses.

And naturally, with vertical exploration being one of the driving forces of the experience, there were tons of areas I couldn’t reach yet due to not having these eventual improvements to the aether lantern. I’m looking forward to propelling myself to some of those just-out-of-reach areas once I’m powered up enough to perform multiple jumps in the full version.

But even with the limited mobility in the preview, there were a variety of secrets to find around the derelict spaceship. I examined each room thoroughly and found plenty of fake walls and clever shortcuts, as well as some unusual dead ends that seemed like they could be home to additional collectibles or upgrades in the final build. With seven districts planned for players to explore, I suspect there will be hours and hours of interweaving rooms to have fun searching through. And a much-appreciated ability to name the rooms you’ve visited should make it considerably easier to remember points of interest you want to return to later.

Meanwhile, combat in Somber Echoes is a simple but satisfying affair, too — at least so far. Most enemies had only a few attacks in their arsenal, but careful attention was needed to identify how to react to each of them. Certain attacks were unblockable, and with no roll or dash to avoid them, parrying was the main option available to avoid taking damage. I did find that using the aether lantern to hurl myself over foes was effective at repositioning out of a tight spot, but getting hit mid-animation interrupted my plans a few times.

Still, being punished for trying to reposition my character was something I kind of liked. Some of these enemy encounters took place in tight spots that really forced me to consider how best to prepare to take them on, making otherwise straightforward fights feel more tense. Seeing creepy monstrosities rushing toward me from both sides with environmental hazards nearby and limited space to move was a rush, and I’m looking forward to more of that kind of level design in the full campaign.

Speaking of level design, there’s some great environmental storytelling in the Atromitos’ detailed backgrounds, which do an excellent job of selling its mythology meets technology aesthetic. But at least in the areas I explored in the beginning of my demo, the vessel was exceedingly dark. As much as I dug this dreary and desolate vibe, the limited color palette of orange and red coupled with some samey locations caused a lot of screens to blend together after a while. But more concerning is how the darkness combined with visually busy environments occasionally made it difficult to make out certain on-screen elements or define what was and wasn’t playable space.

A time or two, I found myself jumping toward a platform only to realize that it was in the foreground (which has a way of making you feel especially dumb). Other times, some small ranged enemies blended into similarly-colored lights so well that I didn’t even notice them until they damaged me. I would sometimes even briefly overlook something interactable that just looked like part of the background clutter.

These issues were never so frequent or intense that it ruined my enjoyment, though, and they largely appear to be intentional design choices meant to invoke a sense of constant dread and claustrophobia. I’ll admit this somewhat disorientating direction hasn’t fully clicked for me yet, but I also know it takes time to learn each Metroidvania’s tricks and tap into the flow of its unique layout and mechanics.

Considering how enjoyable the game’s combat and mobility can be, I’m looking forward to finding that flow in Somber Echoes and seeing what dangers lie ahead in the Atromitos. And I’m feeling fairly confident that I’ll be able to do so because, while there’s already a lot to love about it even in its pre-alpha stage, the team will be making improvements and adjustments that are certain to only elevate what is already shaping up to be an overall exciting Metroidvania romp. We’ll find out for sure when it launches later this Fall.