Echoes of Mystralia is a magic-infused action-RPG that takes heavy inspiration from Hades, for better and for worse. If you’re not a fan of Supergiant’s mythical roguelite, you should probably turn around now. On the other hand, if you’re into snappy combat and screen-filling magic spells, pull up a chair and stay for a bit…
What is Echoes of Mystralia?
Developed by Borealys Games, Echoes of Mystralia is an action-roguelite and the Early Access follow-up to Mages of Mystralia, a similarly magical game, but one that’s structured somewhat differently.
Echoes is a Hades-like, for want of a better term, but the vibe here is more cartoony, and I was kinda reminded of Avatar and The Legend of Korra, which I half-watched with the kids when they were younger.
Despite this being an EA game, the overall presentation is great. I did notice that some of the environments could do with more points of interest, but the visuals are, generally, really nice.
Everything looks crisp, colourful, and reactive, and the spell effects can look particularly good at times. Perhaps the biggest highlight is the main map, which might sound like a weird thing to praise in a game like this, but I really like the way it has been put together.
The world-building is also really strong, which is no doubt a benefit of the groundwork put down in the studio’s previous game. On those terms, the base for Echoes of Mystralia is rock solid, and there is so much for Borealys Games to build on.
What’s in Early Access?
The game launches with all the trimmings you would want from an Early Access build, with three biomes to explore, each complete with smaller regions and their own particular quirks. I’ve got a way to go before I see it all, and there’s still more content to come in the months ahead as we move towards 1.0 and beyond.
Echoes of Mystralia offers a really interesting magic system, with upgrades to make, item slots to fill, and new spells to unlock as you expand your repertoire. The Lotus meta-progression system seems extensive, too, with lots of upgrades waiting to be unlocked. There’s already a lot to work through.
The only thing is, the spell-crafting takes a while to warm up, and the combat is challenging enough to slow you down a fair bit too. I really just wanted to jump into the proverbial deep end a bit sooner, and start playing around with some of the many magical toys that Echoes of Mystralia clearly has waiting for me in its spellbook.
At the moment, the game’s most exciting point of difference is a little bit buried in the roguelite structure that facilitates and drives the action. I’d love to see Echoes of Mystralia let off the leash a bit more often, but really this is a pacing issue, and it’s the kind of thing that’s quite easily fixed.
I think it’s also fair to say that this pacing issue is becoming a wider problem for Early Access roguelites, and not just for Echoes of Mystralia. On the one hand, developers need feedback to inform their work as they iterate on the gameplay loop and meta-progression systems. On the other hand, if you make them work too hard for it, there’s a risk that your audience isn’t going to stick around long enough to get to the really good stuff.
Either way, Echoes of Mystralia is a solid action-roguelite at launch. I think it has a ton of potential and could eventually be a great Hades-like. I love the idea of systemic combat driven by magic, and I can’t wait to see more of this side of the game as I play deeper into the campaign. I’m not sure the current setup lets its best elements shine as brightly as they could, and Borealys has work to do if its ARPG is going to hit the heights that this Early Access launch suggests might be possible.
Echoes of Mystralia is out now in Early Access on PC (Win), and I played the game via access kindly provided by the developer!
