Parents' Guide to Echo Generation

The overall tone of this role-playing game is The X-Files meets Rugrats (meets Stranger Things meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind), but it's also a lot of fun. Echo Generation is full of movie and TV references that are a joy for those who may remember them, but isn't alienating to those who may not. The main story takes a back seat to the puzzles and combat, opting to focus on smaller goals such as boss battles. It's not until the last third of the game where the main story takes over as a singular focus, but the game's consistently entertaining from beginning to end.

The biggest strike against this title is that the puzzles are often not based in logic and can get annoying for those who don't already have the patience for them ingrained from years of point-and-click adventure experience. But a simple Google search for a walkthrough is probably enough to keep frustration at bay. Looking past that, Echo Generation is simply fun to play. The developers made a really smart choice in integrating quick time events during combat (meaning that players have to press a sequence of buttons at the correct time to earn extra damage on their attacks), as well as focusing combat on a series of unique boss-like enemies rather than just a few enemy types. This makes battles feel fresh and engaging throughout the story. As for the story itself, Echo Generation is a reminder that video game plots don't have to be airtight as long as they're entertaining. There's a lot to be said for the zany antics that players will get themselves into, such as helping the neighborhood conspiracy theorist fix up his trailer or defending the neighborhood from a band of talking raccoons. There's a self-awareness in the writing that creates a sense of chaos without negative consequences. Echo Generation isn't here to provide a compelling or emotionally moving story, it's here to be an alien-hunting fantasy experience full of clever TV and movie references -- and that's okay.