When Echoes of the End released on PC, the conversation online quickly centred around one thing: technical issues. From shader compilation stutters to random frame drops, many early reviews and user impressions suggested that this game, like so many Unreal Engine 5 titles before it, was weighed down by performance hiccups. I went into it expecting frustration, armed with patience and a healthy dose of scepticism. And yet, to my genuine surprise, I experienced none of those problems.
Let’s start with the obvious: this game is visually stunning. Built on UE5, the sweeping landscapes of Aema, icy mountains, lush valleys, volcanic forges, are crafted with a painterly eye for detail. Even standing still, there’s always something to take in.
Visuals like a tech demo
What stood out most in my playthrough wasn’t just how good it looked, but how smoothly it ran. I’ve seen reviewers call this “one of the worst stuttering experiences in recent memory.” Maybe I got lucky, or maybe my hardware configuration happened to align perfectly, but for me, those breath taking visuals weren’t tarnished by performance flaws. They were exactly what they were meant to be: immersive windows into another world.
Echoes of the End give me massive God of War and Uncharted vibes in tone and pacing. As well as graphics, scenery, companion interactions to name a few. It’s a cinematic, linear adventure with a clear focus on character relationships. At the heart of the story is Ryn, a character whose arc slowly but surely drew me in. Early chapters establish the stakes and the world, but it’s in the latter half of the game that her journey truly shines.
From a slow start to an engaging climax
One thing that struck me is how Echoes of the End balances its mythic, high-fantasy setting with grounded human emotion. There are big boss fights and epic confrontations, but what lingers are the quieter moments: conversations at campfires, glimpses of vulnerability, choices that feel like they matter even in a fairly linear story. By the final chapters, I felt genuinely invested, not just in seeing the story wrap up, but in understanding who Ryn had become through the journey.
Here’s where I diverge a bit from my otherwise glowing praise: the early gameplay is underwhelming. Puzzles are straightforward, combat feels limited, and the game sometimes seems to hold your hand a little too tightly. I can understand why some players bounced off in the first few hours, especially if performance issues compounded their frustrations.
But I’m glad I stuck with it. By the midpoint, puzzles introduce more layers, and combat expands with new magical abilities. You start feeling less like you’re walking through a tutorial and more like you’re actively shaping strategies in fights and solving clever environmental challenges. The pacing ramps up, and by the time the story hits its stride, the gameplay has caught up enough to keep you fully engaged.
Not all perfect
That said, I did notice moments where the combat clearly aimed to emulate God of War’s weighty, cinematic feel. You can see the influence in the camera angles, the dodge-and-counter rhythm, and even the way certain boss encounters are staged. The problem is that the responsiveness just isn’t quite there. While combat certainly evolves and becomes more enjoyable as new abilities unlock, it never reaches that same fluid precision. The result is a system that’s fun in its own right but occasionally left me wishing it controlled as tightly as the game it’s trying so hard to echo.
Echoes of the End is not a perfect game. Its puzzles can be predictable, its combat never fully blossoms into something groundbreaking, and its linear structure may leave exploration-hungry players wanting more. But judged on its storytelling, atmosphere, and visual presentation, it delivers a compelling, memorable adventure.
My conclusion
And for me personally, the lack of technical issues elevated the experience from “worth checking out” to genuinely engrossing. While others may remember their time with Echoes of the End as marred by stutter and frustration, I’ll remember mine as a seamless journey through a beautifully crafted world, one that managed to capture both my eyes and my emotions without ever breaking immersion.
So here’s my verdict: if you’re fortunate enough to avoid the technical troubles that others report, you’re in for a rewarding adventure. Echoes of the End may not redefine the genre, but in the right conditions, it proves that sometimes a game doesn’t need to be perfect to leave a lasting impact.
