Reviews

Echo Isle Review: A Quick and Fun Adventure

Echo Isle is a throwback, inspired by games like the original Zelda classics.

The lighthouse in Echo Isle

“As long as the lighthouse shines the island shall remain safe.” But what happens when that lighthouse goes dark?

This is the premise of Echo Isle, a self-proclaimed "pocket-sized" action-adventure game created by solo developer Josh Koenig Games. In it, you play as an Astral Knight named Aster, sent to banish the darkness from the land, and the creatures that came with it.

Echo Isle is a throwback, inspired by games like the original Zelda classics. The game looks like it was designed for a Nintendo 3DS console, playing in a square window. Areas and levels are well designed and beautiful with a 90s 16-bit aesthetic.

Echo Isle is a relatively small game. The map is built out in a 5x5 block of locations. Within those 25 areas, there are four dungeons, which are filled with puzzles the player must navigate. These expand the breath and depth of the game. In each dungeon resides an Echo Stone, one of the pieces you need to relight the lighthouse.

Each dungeon contains a treasure chest with a new skill that helps in your journey and to defeat the boss at the end. These may be new abilities or weapons. While many of the enemies are relatively tame, bosses present more of a challenge. Combat is relatively straightforward, only using a few buttons on a standard controller.

I played Echo Isle on a Steam Deck, which was a fantastic experience. However, I decided to give it a try one night on my PC. The game does not utilize Steam’s Cloud feature, so when I switched equipment, I had to start from scratch. I also had a glitch where items in the final boss battle were there for my first few attempts, but disappeared later. Some of the controls seemed a bit awkward, and the game would benefit from allowing you to change them. Replayability is also non-existent.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Echo Isle. It was a short game, taking me about 3 hours to finish and I was taking my time. Puzzles are fun, but not overly challenging. Since the game retails for $5 - about the cost of a cup of coffee - it is well worth the investment. Overall, I give Echo Isle 3.5 of 5 stars.

Echo Isle is available now on PC.