There is something very wrong in Vale’s world. For one thing, everyone is dead, and for another, she’s trapped here. Billed as a cosy horror game – there’s an oxymoron of a genre if ever I heard one – this gruesome landscape is populated by the strangest, most sinister creatures you’ve ever seen, but they’re kind of friendly? When they’re not about to eat you, that is.
Vale’s Echo looks sublime. A 2D puzzle adventure that toys with elements of the gothic, the macabre and Eastern European folklore, Roberta Railité’s hyper-stylised artwork makes it feel as though you’re playing a horror comic strip, each area dripping in unsettling details and populated by fish-men, ghouls and at least one giant crab beast that wants to devour you with its sharp, pointed teeth.
Vale herself seems fairly nonchalant about the whole situation, and she’s an instantly likeable character, with her emo-goth clothing and Gen Z outlook making it seem as though this is quite normal. The fact that’s she’s accompanied by a helpful floating skull who offers words of advice is actually kind of reassuring, and while there is nothing normal happening here, you feel empowered to be curious, to explore, and to do so without too much dread. I guess that’s the ‘cosy’ part.
You make your way through each area, opening cupboards, looking at pictures, and finding insects or occasional bits of severed human remains, while attempting to solve the light environmental puzzles set in your way. These might extend from finding a key, through to deciphering a monster’s taste in food via their penchant for art, but it’s all very focused, at least here in our hands-on. Nothing feels like too much of a leap in logic, and it flows together at a pace that feels natural and unforced.
It’s all held together by the atmospheric soundtrack provided by Shaun Głowa, his dark synth work ebbs and flows through your exploration, adding further menace and dread to each moment. The audio-visual design is simply tremendous, and I think Vale’s Echo will attract a lot of fans, just on aesthetics alone.
The key here is that I want to continue playing. I’m not normally a fan of the horror genre, but I do enjoy dark fantasy settings, which this feels more in keeping with, and the setting and storytelling is perfectly weighted to pull you in. Deividas Baumilas, the game’s lead developer, caught me as I finished up, and noted that I’d told the truth to a fish-man about what I’d done to his family – spoiler, I’m lucky all he did was strand me in a boat.
He told me that for one thing, most of the people playing choose to lie, so I felt fairly smug about taking the moral high ground, but also, that it would have later consequences in the game. It hints at a branching narrative that alters based on your previous choices, and gives each of those decisions extra weight.
Vale’s Echo is a weird, dark, but undeniably enchanting foray into the cosy horror genre. It builds an absorbing world, and, beyond anything else, you’ll want to steer Vale to safety.
If you’re interested in learning more about the game through its development, there’s a Discord server for you to hop into. For everything else on it, stay tuned to TheSixthAxis.