Echo Build 36 - Between Then and Now

@Sean I feel like what happened to Sydney isn't black and white, after all, we only saw it from Chase's perspective, and as we know, there are other forces at work when it comes to Chase and the crew. As Janus mentioned and what I believe to be the part of the curse of echo, Quartz, according to again, Janus, amplifies negative emotions, I believe that whatever monster chased down Chase, may be guarding the mines for that very reason. Then again, this is Echo and nothing is what it seems.

Ryezun

Yeah I was, sorry for the miscommunication

Ryezun

Okay, so it's been a while since I've been back to this VN. I only just now finished what Im praying is just the BAD ending for TJ's route. I'm not going to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet, but this left me feeling sick to my stomach. The only reason i believe this is just one possible ending is because i asked the creator back when i finished Leo's route, and only the 'good' ending has a 'The End' screen. The bad one just goes back to the credits at the end, which is what the ending I got for TJ did. Can anyone confirm or deny that there's another ending?

Bobby Thornbody

I believe DragonLord was referring to a flashback that takes place earlier on in which they were kids and Sydney was bullying TJ

Not to forget the whole 'spirits' part of this story. It seems evident that they play a very important role in the history of this group. In fact, I'm even inclined to believe that even the original murder committed by Chase was done under the influence of these spirits. As to which spirit was compelling him to do so back then, it is hard to tell (Throughout the many branching paths, it is also apparent that there are many more than just one spirit.) although it is quite clear that it was Sydney's spirit that influenced Chase into killing Flynn. More importantly, I get the feeling that a recurrent theme in this game is that Chase, and ourselves, very often do not have control over the situation. Instead, it is the spirits who often call the shots, and could very easily manipulate any involved characters into doing their bidding if they so wished. We are effectively their playthings, at the whim of their impulses. In Sydney's case, for a long time it makes you feel like the ghost just wants to make Chase suffer, but as the story progresses, specially after Chase is made into killing Flynn, that sort of falls short.

John Collins

Chase didn't "push Sydney", he dragged him down into the water and drowned him. Chase wanted to protect TJ because Sydney was trying to murder him, in the end Chase loved TJ as a brother or as a friend and he just felt like he needed to protect him.

Sean

Similarly to how it was mentioned in route 65, Sydney's death affected all of them differently, knowing what Chase did, it makes sense why he was well, 'least affected', I say this only because he is plauged by guilt throughout the whole story of echo, TJ's storyline just highlights all of this, Leo's obsession, Jasmine's escapism, TJ seclusion ( which as the above mentioned made him easily manipulated by chase), Flynn's well, *cough* you know.. , ect, alot of it makes sense now, because as we see in the strange flashbacks and whatnot Chase pushes Sydney over for bullying TJ and in that Sydney stopped moving, wether or not that was actually when he died is irrelevant, but rather that Chase's own Possessiveness of TJ was getting worse with that 'I'm doing this all for you attitude'. As we know when everyone arrives at the scene of the incident with TJ staring across the water, and with this chapter coming to a close, what other dark secrets could echo hold?

Ryezun

All I can say is wow. That was not how I expected things to end, but it does fit with the overarching theme thus far of no happy endings. While I sincerely hope there is a second ending to this route at some point, (like the other two had) it's hard to see where the branch would come into play unless it's at the line seen in the picture teaser for this post. Just walk away and everything plays out differently. Nonetheless I still greatly enjoy this VN and look forward to seeing how the other two routes pan out as well. Keep up the great work.

Richard

Pretty lame compared to Leo`s route, like the art though.

I have no idea what to think of Chase anymore. I think this ending was a mindfuck for us all, honestly.

Chris

Jeeeeeeeeeus christ...

CameIlia

Well...that made my heart skip a few...Dozen...beats, holy heck that was crazy. I guess I did need balance, where Adastra makes my heart skip beats of happiness Echo has to make it jump with suspense and tension LoL

LLVPandaSevron

You bring up a good point here. Personally I think the reason for TJ acting the way he does is because he allows himself to be controlled; especially by Chase. As we learn, Chase drowns Sydney because he was a bully and wasn't a very nice kid but mostly because he was picking on TJ. I think Chase over the years had emotional control over TJ as evident by the fact that they now hold these two murders as their own little secret and I think the point here is to highlight Chase as being a psychopath and TJ as being a compliant accomplice who will fundamentally do whatever Chase wants him to do. Of course we see that TJ does have some reserves and doesn't go completely complicit with everything Chase wants but he's more than likely been mentally abused with the whole "I killed him to protect you" and thus always ends up springing back to Chase in the end no matter what he does apparently. In my opinion I think it makes perfect sense that TJ would end up going back to Chase after he goes and "saves" him from Flynn at the end and because of what the two had personally been through together. In fact, we see TJ almost able to break away from Chase's grasp when he tries to leave Echo through Julian just to get away from Chase but as I said before, being "saved" from Flynn and having now THAT murder held over his head he once again falls right into line with what Chase decides.

TheBigBadWolf

The writing is so on point. Such a dark, cold, and sad ending. I love how different this VN is from all the other ones, even if it's sad as all hell.

Chris04

Well, I'm proven time and time again that this VN is not for the faint of heart. There is something fascinatingly sick about Echo, but I always come back for more. It can't be overstated how important of an experience I think it is. SPOILERS AHEAD SPOILERS AHEAD- There is one criticism I have of this update, though. After the scene where Chase almost rapes TJ, it is quite strange how he just accepts Chase again without ANY confrontation about what he did to him. This update would be even much better if it could be explained how TJ forgives Chase instead of leaving that hanging in the air, nagging at the reader's mind. Other than that, the intrigue only grows for me. If this is the only ending for TJ, congratulations on having three routes finished! I can't quite put my admiration for this visual novel into words, it's just amazing. In fact, I would say it's one of the most captivating stories I have read in my whole life, overall.

Sнеf

Man, now that I've actually played it, the sensation is... cold. Yeah, I really feel like my heart's been torn out. It's gonna take me a bit to process this, but... ooof.

Songstress

Too much sadness!

Tequila Mockingbird

Not to seem like i dont still really like Echo, or that i didn't like this part of the story, but am i the only one who feels like Echo lost its luster? Leo's route imo had alot more of something that Flynn and TJ's are missing. It almost feels like Adastra literally sucked all the positive energy out of Echo. I can't really quantify it, but to me it TJ's route spent the whoooooole time building up anticipation with no payoff, and by contrast Flynn's sort of paid off way too early.

Aamano

Woh, without words. I liked it very much, and now I only have the question --Spoiler-- what's happened with chase in the end but good, an open end is also fine ^^

Didac Montero Borràs

Made me cry, gosh damn. This is gonna mess me up for a while, I wish it didn't happen. Good writing though. <3

Oh god, oh no, oh god, oh no! I'm on the threshold of something powerful, I just know it!

Songstress

I have no idea what to think of TJ anymore.

Man, fuck this game. Good job. That's the best I could come up with. I mean it in a good way.

John Collins

Well, you managed to rip my heart out again. Thanks for that. It really needed some air.

Oz

Welp, this takes the cake for being the creepiest ending for me so far I'm gonna go have some nightmares now don't mind me.

TheBigBadWolf

Are we to anticipate an alternate ending to TJ's route as well? o3o

Kilik Odagawa