Despite being a person who loves both reading and video games all these years, I’ve never really gotten into visual novels. I’ve always been somewhat intrigued by the idea, but I’ve never really felt compelled to pick one up. It changed when I saw the first ad a few months ago. Described as “a personal journey through a shattered post-apocalyptic world,” it was just a glimpse. Echoes of Emergent‘s edgy aesthetic and melancholic atmosphere had me pre-ordering it. Now that I finally get to play (read? Live?) I’m kind of blown away.
Echoes of Emergent is a Playdate exclusive title from RNG Party Games, the same team that made . It opens with protagonist Ayumi on an intense scavenger hunt to find whatever she can find in a ruined city. He is alone, afraid, and worried about his dwindling resources. As the story progresses, Ayumi jumps between her dark new reality and flashbacks to a time when everything was normal. Her frantic efforts to survive, to carry on, are interwoven with the memories of her family and friends – some happy, some painful. And there is a cat.
The story is illustrated with haunting backdrops of Ayumi’s desolate surroundings, which do little to create a truly disturbing effect. If you press the down arrow on the D-pad, you can collapse the text box to get a full view of the backgrounds. It takes a few hours to get through the whole story, but it’s definitely worth your time. You can hold your position by pressing “B” to pull up the menu.
Echoes of Emergent it’s the kind of experience that will stay with you for a while even after it’s over. It’s available in the Playdate Catalog for $8, but you can also get it – and its attractive – open .
