What is Ash Echoes and Should You Play It?

Ash Echoes is an upcoming mobile/PC gacha game that features amazing anime-style graphics with intense real-time tactics gameplay. Ash Echoes is developed by Aurogon Shanghai and will be published by NEOCRAFT LIMITED. The game is set to release on November 13, 2024, leaving us with just 7 days before the official global release. The game is set to officially release on both PC and mobile devices, giving you a chance to test it out anywhere. Furthermore, it’s free to play, which only makes it easier to try out. Now that, with that out of the way, let’s see what more Ash Echoes has to offer.

Unique Combat

Ash Echoes is an interesting game to enter the gacha market, as it features a unique real-time gameplay style that is hard to find in other gacha games. Nowadays the market is filled with either 3D hack and slash titles or turn-based titles similar to Fate and Star Rail. Ash Echoes tries to stay away from these and rather focuses on a unique real-time tactics gameplay. In Ash Echoes, you place your characters on a hexagonal grid where you can move them around and have them cast skills to stop your enemies’ advances. You control up to 4 characters at a time, with the unique ability of being able to swap your on-field characters at any time. You view the characters from an eagle-eye perspective similar to Path to Nowhere. Each character has two unique skills and an ultimate, making for a nice gameplay feel similar to tower-defense games yet different.

Anime Style Characters

The game offers an expansive roster of various unique characters, each with their own role and element, allowing for a lot of team customization. Each character has a unique look, and they are all represented in 3D form when playing the game, once again similar to how Path of Nowhere displays its characters. There are different rarities to the characters, which are represented with stars, with the highest characters being 6 Stars. This system is similar to how the rarities work in Reverse: 1999, so if you’re familiar with that game, you should be able to get the hang of things quickly.

Is it a Gacha?

Yes, Ash Echoes is a gacha game. It has limited rate-up banners similar to other gacha games, and you’ll be playing to gather premium currency so that you can pull for the characters you want. If you’re not a fan of gacha games, then Ash Echoes might not be for you, but if you enjoy the thrill of pulling and are a die-hard gacha fan, then you might want to give this game a try next Wednesday.

Should You Play Ash Echoes?

Are you a fan of gacha games and anime-style graphics? If your answer is yes, then you might as well give Ash Echoes a try. Its unique take on combat and real-time tactics gameplay might not be for everyone, but the game does have an [Auto] mode, so you won’t necessarily have to play at all times. The models for the characters look amazing, and given that its a new game, we can expect to get a ton of pulls to scratch the summoning urge. The game is free, so if you've been looking for something to fill up your time with, then it might just do the trick.

That being said, if you’re not a fan of gacha games or anime-style graphics, then this game might not be for you. Yes, the combat might prove interesting and be enjoyable to fans of the real-time tactics genre, but the gacha mechanic can also be quite the turn-off, so consider if that is the case for you and if you’re willing to give the game a shot.

Ash Echoes releases next Wednesday, November 13, 2024, on Steam for PC and Mobile!