Synduality Echo review by Ada ongoing
Blog Andrew Joseph 23 Jan , 2025 0
The first time I lost a mech in Synduality Echo of Ada was on my second sortie, a lot of things went wrong. I didn't have insurance in advance and I carried too much stuff with me because I pushed the wrong buttons and then chose not to take the time to fix it before I had a fatal encounter. I made a series of avoidable mistakes, then one bad decision, and this mech-flavored extraction shooter cost me everything I had – so that's a good sign, before I curse After Synduality and myself, I was immediately excited to try and get it all back. I still have a lot to do and see before I'm ready for a final review, but that trial by fire will definitely stay with me until the end.
Shared Love has a pretty cool premise: In the distant future, humanity has been nearly wiped out by a mysterious blue rain called Crescent Tears. In addition to killing humans on contact, blue rain causes animals and plants to grow large and aggressive. In order to survive, society has moved underground and uses giant machines called “cradle coffins” to explore the surface world and collect energy-generating AO crystals to survive. You play as a nameless, faceless castaway – the man who pilots the Cradle Coffin. Your goal? Get there, grab what you need to upgrade your base and make some cash, then get out before the locals turn the cradle-coffin into a tomb.
Cradle Coffin is not a traditional mecha. They are slower than what you find armored core – Although similarly armed as they are still bipedal and wield weapons – but faster than the behemoths you see in the game MechaWarrior. Ready to go deep? They actually look a lot like mecha from 2002 phantom crashthat is, they strike a good balance between being reasonably fast and still being heavy and limited in terms of vertical mobility. The Armored Core mech can dunk like Jordan. There is no rise in the cradle coffin.
But you are not alone. In addition to your mech, you also have a sorcerer – imagine a humanoid AI you can fully customize and play with – to help guide you when you're on the surface by marking objectives on the map, reminders You watch for threats and even track the weather. You can be as normal or as incredibly intimate as you want during the creation process, although Synduality seems to think you're more likely to choose a robot girlfriend than a robot boyfriend based on the available clothing options. (Even the AI-controlled Krad Coffin has a robot girlfriend.) There are several different personalities to choose from, including the supportive mentor lady, the dignified, eager-to-please girl; the encouraging big brother, the spicy jock, and just… I want you to be the best version of yourself. They're a weird and adorable little team – I laughed when my spicy jock robot girlfriend essentially told me to stop complaining and eat my veggies (read: the weeds we removed from the base), or else she Will hit me. Since they are your only companions for most of your time in Synduality, their presence is welcome.
In addition to their clothes and appearance, you can also customize your magician's special abilities and focus, whether it's finding AO crystals that provide more information about different enders (the names of the super-powered animals and plants I mentioned earlier), Still Giving Once you jump out of the ground, you'll encounter other Cradle-Coffin insiders. So far I like both the one that's good at protecting me from the evil rain and the one that has a knack for spotting other Cradle Coffins within a certain range, because hearing another engine sound in this game is Stressfulbut I love that you can customize your magician to help you become the best drifter you want to be.
You will encounter other players in the world of Synduality, but in my experience, most of them won't kill you and take your stuff. Often, an encounter with another player means the two of you have to be very cautious, aiming your guns at each other until one of you finally uses the waving emote. Then the other party gives it back to you, and you continue on your way. Granted, it's tense, and an extraction shooter like this should be, because you're never more likely to lose everything than in an uninsured escape. The whole “we're all working together to help humanity” thing builds careful camaraderie, but there's always the danger that someone will see your shiny shotgun and think “I want it, but I don't want to work for it” “. So… you know. This does look like a friendlier, gentler take on the extraction shooter so far, but you should still be careful with others, even if they make a waving face.
Managing each mission means making lots of interesting choices. How far are you willing to risk traveling from the safety of an underground elevator? What materials do you want to collect for your base, and how much risk are you willing to take to obtain them? How much ammo do you take with you when you go out? What kind of mecha? Would you prioritize carrying capacity or defense? All of these choices matter, and when you're low on health, don't have repair tools, are far away from elevators, and are in a world where everything is trying to kill you, you may regret your words and actions.
So far, Synduality has basically just been looping over and over again, but it's at least a fun loop with a bit of fun base-building and dress-up in the middle that I haven't had a chance to dig into yet. Less interesting are the microtransactions and battle pass (we live in hell!), which can greatly speed up the process of getting better Cradle Coffin, even though this isn't a free-to-play game. You get next to nothing on that pass's free track, which is somewhat of a standard issue, but I'll need to play more to see what these systems do for the overall rate of progression without spending any money. How big the impact is. If I didn't have the battle pass, I don't think I would have all the wonderful stuff that I have now that replaces what I lost.
I'm enjoying Synduality for now at least, although I haven't unlocked the single-player missions or the second map yet. Once I invest some time, broaden my base, and do more, I'll have a better idea of where Synduality falls. Until then, I'll go out into the world and try not to die too much. Kids, buy insurance. It's a scam, but it might save your life – or at least, your mech.
