Echochrome

Title: Echochrome
Platforms: PS3, PSP
Dev: SCE Japan Studio

Echochrome is an intuitive puzzle game that introduces many new things in the genre. Players control a puzzle world where they have to guide a mannequin to accomplish certain objectives to solve the puzzles.

The world is presented in a minimalist black and white, crisp, graphical style, which helps to better contrast the "laws of perspective". The audio is one continuously looping violin piece, which can get irritating after a long playtime, especially if the player is getting slightly frustrated over the puzzles. I found myself muting my console after a few hours' play.



This game's mechanics are unique in the sense that the gameplay involves a series of puzzles set in a rotating world of "impossible puzzles", whereby the player has to utilise 5 rules or "laws" of perspective that govern how the puzzle proceeds. The law of perspective travelling for example, lets the player connect two paths, one high and one low, by rotating the game area. Once the paths are connected, the mannequin may advance from one path to the other as it is viewed correctly in the current perspective.


The game can get very mind bending at first, but I soon managed to adapt to the mechanics of play and began to be able to solve puzzles quicker. The game includes an excellent tutorial about the laws and gameplay styles which is automatically run the first time you play, and can be re-accessed through the menu. It allows interactivity and teaches the player how the five unqiue laws apply to the world.

Gameplay has three different modes. "Solo" is a mode where players are challenged to collect "images" of black mannequins. "Pair" is a mode that challenges players to cause both sets of black and white mannequins to meet and finally to merge into a single mannequin. Finally, "Others", the final game mode, is arguably the hardest. You have to deal with black mannequins on the map which are "enemies" of sort, and one you bump into them, you will be killed and respawned on the last ledge you touched.


The variety of challenges offered are numerous, and the game's 56 levels are more than enough to keep one going for a long time, as each puzzle has many solutions.

Finally, there is an inbuilt level editor. This "Canvas" lets you build your own puzzles via simple controls. Pressing Triangle brings up a menu which allows the user to select the tile they want to place, and by using the directional pad, placing them in the world. The editor also features a play-test function which lets designers try out the map before saving it.


Once the map is saved, it can be viewed from the menu. From here, it can be sent to other players and re-opened for further editing. Players can also open other maps made by friends and This makes for a very high replayability value.

All in all, this makes for one of Sony's better puzzle releases from Japan Studio. I've been very impressed so far by their previous releases, and this is a game that certainly does not disappoint.
Echochrome is available for the PS3 via the Playstation Store and by UMD for the PSP.

You'll like:
Mind bending puzzles
Unique gameplay
Minimalist art style
Included level editor

You'll hate:
Overly mind bending puzzles.
Not being able to put it down.

Score: 9.2/10