Well, I wasn’t expecting that. What I had expected from Echo Isle was a Zelda-like RPG that gives off 8-bit vibes and is likely to be a lengthy adventure of fetch quests, locating ancient relics, and dabbling in fairy potions. All of those were true except the lengthy part. I clocked in under 90 minutes, and I’m far from a speedrunner.
Josh Koenig Games’ title was exactly what I was looking for. I’m not a typical RPG fan, though I enjoyed Mondealy and some of these more recent silly titles like Knuckle Sandwich and Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass. However, having revisited A Link to the Past on the SNES after playing it over 30 years ago(!), I was up for some top-down dungeon crawling, splashed with a good volume of fantasy and lore. The latter balances out the pacing and is well-received.
In Echo Isle, the land had been plagued by monsters, so the guardians created a lighthouse to ward them off, though they insisted it wouldn’t last forever. That foresight proved true as the lights went off and the monsters are back, albeit it’s not exactly a catastrophe and is very manageable. A shooting star lands shortly after this, and that’s where you arrive with the locals insinuating their saviour has arrived, while some remain nonchalant and continue with their fishing. Cue some blocked paths and initial quest for a sword.
Initially, you can’t do anything but walk, but within five minutes are awarded a sword. Combat is limited but effective as the arc of the sword manages to keep enemies at bay with few niggles – those being the four directional positioning that goes with the territory. Through exploration, new skills are learned from a jump, a bomb, and a bow and arrow. All three open up new routes and are self-explanatory, with the latter two working in combat, also. Like the aforementioned Zelda, there’s a health system represented by hearts, which starts with three and expands through discoverable consumables in the form of four-leaf clovers. Additionally, health is in abundance through smashing jars and a refillable fairy potion.
Echo Isle is incredibly easy and might account for the playtime. Enemies respawn when leaving an area, but do not reward with gems or health, so it’s not necessary to beat them. Typically, they need to be eliminated as they’re blocking your path or providing kickback into a hole, off a ledge, or knocking you along some ice that causes you to slide into a hole or off a ledge. This can be annoying, but all part of the challenge. Luckily, there are plenty of savepoints which are conveniently placed near bosses.
Boss fights are surprisingly easy, too, and you’ll probably defeat them in the first attempt. There is an exception to the second-to-last boss, who spawns enemies and can get out of control, but doable. Which brings me to the end, without a spoiler. After collecting the four echo stones to power the lighthouse, you have to fight the final boss. They fight in phases and, again, are really easy at first, but the difficulty spikes and the deceptive bullet hell may end up thwarting your progress. That’s fine as there’s a save point outside. Alas, the game crashed for me. Again, that’s fine. I can go explore a little more, unlock an upgraded sword and increase my health count, then try again. However, without pretending I beat it a second time, the same thing occurred, and I died, and the game crashed.
The last aspects were very frustrating as it meant exiting the game through the Steam Deck and reloading. There was no data loss each time this happened, but it did crash each time I died. Even the short running time would not put me off this solo venture, as Echo Isle is a charming game with excellent pace and a good variety of skills. Not everyone wants to dedicate 30+ hours to an old school RPG, or maybe they do, but like me, don’t have that sort of time. In that respect, this is a fun little companion to carry around on your Steam Deck or stream on your mobile. The crash was only at one specific place, so that can be fixed. That said, if you’re a true Astral Knight, you won’t experience this as you’ll slay the enemy without breaking a sweat.
