Echo Night (video Game)
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is a 1998
adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
developed by
FromSoftware FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development and publishing company based in Tokyo. Founded by Naotoshi Zin in November 1986, the company developed business software before releasing their first video game, ''King's Field (video game) ...
for the
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
. It is the first game in the ''
Echo Night ''Echo Night'' is a trilogy of Japanese adventure games developed by FromSoftware. The original ''Echo Night'' was first released in 1998 for the PlayStation. Two sequels were developed; '' Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares'' for the PlayStat ...
'' series, following up with the Japan-exclusive '' Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares'' in 1999, and '' Echo Night: Beyond'' in 2004. A port for the
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
was included with ''Adventure Player'', an adventure game creation tool, which was released in Japan on June 30, 2005. A fan translation of the port was released in 2022, translating its title as ''Echo Night: The First Voyage''. The story revolves around Richard Osmond, the game's protagonist, and his journey to find out what happened to the ship Orpheus, which mysteriously disappeared from the sea. The story also uncovers the mystery of two stones that contain some kind of supernatural power.


Gameplay

''Echo Night'' is played from a first-person perspective. When confronted by a ghost, the player must turn on the lights in the room by means of a light switch. The player is often transported into the past via the passengers or certain objects. Once the player fulfills a task important to a spirit, they will vanish and drop an "Astral Piece", which can be used to get a different ending scene.


Plot

The game starts with Richard at his apartment receiving a call from the Anchor Police Department regarding his father, Henry Osmond. Summoned to his father's house, Richard discovers his father's diary, which leads him to a train. He meets at the train a man named Henry Osmond, who is actually trying to pursue William Rockwell who, according to Henry, is being possessed by the Red Stone that is attached to a knife. They duel inside the train, but William uses his granddaughter, Crea Rockwell, as a defense against Henry. William then shot Henry, but the bullet hit the Blue Stone from the latter's chest. The Blue Stone was split into two, one half of which Henry gave to William's granddaughter, Crea. It is revealed then that William is being possessed by the demon of the Red Stone. After that, Richard is brought back to his father's house, where he discovers inside the secret room a painting of the ship, Orpheus. Richard is brought to Orpheus and meets the passengers who died when the ship disappeared. Richard saves the souls he meets inside the ship by resolving their personal issues. As the game goes on, Richard discovers that the Red Stone which William possesses has the power to change one's destiny to their desire by killing people using the knife the Red Stone is attached to. Richard meets William's son and daughter, who are aware of the story of the Red Stone and plan to kill their father on the ship, but were killed by him first. Richard also meets Crea Rockwell through time travel, and is able to retrieve the Blue Stone. At the game's climax, Richard discovers that his father was on the ship too, and was able to kill William. But as soon as Henry gets hold of the stone, he proclaims that he desired the Red Stone all along. Richard is able to destroy the Red Stone using the Blue Stone. After the Red Stone is destroyed, Henry instructs Richard to leave the ship, and the ship itself disappears soon after. If the player fails to leave the ship, an article states that Richard Osmond and his father were mysteriously lost in an accident. If the player reaches the nose of the ship and doesn't enter the secret passage, Crea saves Richard, who awakes in his father's house. He leaves the house and approaches the policemen in the car, who ask Richard to get tools from the trunk as the car won't start. When Richard opens up the trunk, he finds the red knife in there. Reaching the nose of the ship and entering the secret passage leads to a dialogue with a blind man, with two additional endings depending on the player's choice: if the player takes the red knife, Richard awakes in his father's house and kills the policemen, as he is now possessed by the red knife. Refusing to take the red knife destroys it, after which Crea saves Richard, with several scenes and messages from her being shown in the last scene at Richard's house.


Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the
review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
. Japanese gaming magazine ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'' gave the game a 32 out of 40 score.


References


External links

* {{FromSoftware games 1998 video games First-person adventure games FromSoftware games Video games about ghosts PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Portable games 1990s horror video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Kota Hoshino Single-player video games Agetec games