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To me, the narrative of Chained Echoes is one of the most spectacular stories in modern games. To say my jaw was on the floor would be an understatement. Van takes his place and watches as Timothy succumbs to his own self-inflicted wounds. In a final moment of pure malice, Van stops Timothy’s ritual. This will mean that eventually they will be together again, however many lives they go through. He stabs himself to ensure the priest will do it. Her soul will live on, whole, and Timothy comes up with the bright idea of going through the same ritual. Realizing the only way to save his beloved, Timothy takes her to a priest to perform the ritual that will send her soul into the Maelstrom. Van runs off crying out it wasn’t his fault. Lenne moves in to save her lover and is instead stabbed. When push comes to shove, Lenne chooses love, and Van in a drunken stupor tries to stab Timothy. Lenne was bought by his family as his fiancée, and he wants his money’s worth. Unfortunately, waiting in the wings is Van, a drunkard, a noble with a silver spoon stuck up his ass. Lenne is tasked with saving the world from the Harbinger, a being of terrific evil, while Timothy is a learned man who has fallen in love and is willing to give up everything for her. Two of those individuals will be Lenne and Timothy.
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There are people whose whole souls travel through the Maelstrom and slowly return to their former selves. However, there are exceptions to this rule. In Chained Echoes, people live their lives and die, and their souls are sent through the Maelstrom where their essence is redistributed back into the world. There is a multi-generational war between nations, with incalculable lives lost, and at its center is a version of Romeo and Juliet that is a wonderfully wicked twist on the celebrated tragedy. There are mortals battling gods for the fate of all beings. It has a world brimming with depth and phenomenal characters. Ĭhained Echoes is a mythic title, perhaps one in a million.
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This article contains spoilers for Chained Echoes.
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