Echo Generation is an eerie game with a sweet exterior

Echo Generation is an interesting indie game released earlier this year on Xbox, PC and Game Pass. It’s a mix of Paper Mario combat, adventure game puzzles and beautiful voxel art.

The story is one you’d be familiar with if you’ve ever seen Stranger Things, or other paranormal 80’s shows. Two young siblings and their pet – which could be anything from a cat, to a robot, to an alien cat – make some creepy, supernatural discoveries in their suburban town and decide to take care of it themselves, since the adults are incompetent.

Echo GenerationDeveloper: CococumberPublisher: CococumberAvailability: Released 21st October on Xbox and PC (Windows) for £20.99, and included in Game Pass

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Echo Generation is another wholesome release cashing in on some nostalgia, at least from the opening. The game welcomes you with massive, pixelated grins on every face and a charismatic 8-bit theme playing, which could’ve been ripped straight from a Pokémon game. The tutorial section pits you up against bad-mouthed racoons as you rummage through neighbours’ trash in your white-picket-fenced suburbia.

As I ran around the streets with my cat and younger sister, I wasn’t just reminded of the 80’s – when I was approximately minus-20 years old – I was also reminded of my own childhood in the 2000s. The sights and sounds were distinctly old school, but it was the benign adventuring that had me reminiscing of my childhood days wandering through nearby streets – at least if you remove the part about beating up racoons. As far as first impressions go, Echo Generation seems like a snuggly blanket; this is what retro games would like if they were made today. It’s cute, it’s happy and it wants you to be happy, playing out in your neighbourhood with the same street kids.