Somber Echoes is an action-adventure metroidvania set in a science-fiction setting of the spacefaring vessel called Atromitos, where you take on the role of Adrestia. Adrestia is a fallen entity revived by a mysterious force and given a second chance to save the universe from her twin sister, Harmonia. In search of answers, you will explore the vast space vessel while gaining powers, knowledge and various skills. The game was developed by independent developers Rock Pocket Games and Lav Games, and was published by Bonus Stage Publishing. Somber Echoes was first available via Steam for personal computers on the 21st of January 2025 and was later released for the PlayStation 5 console on the 8th of July 2025.
In Somber Echoes, you will need to master acrobatic combat and uncover ancient secrets. It is a myth-inspired metroidvania in which you will be armed with god-given abilities that you will gradually unlock by progressing through the game. Somber Echoes features an action-packed side-scrolling gameplay and is powered by Unreal Engine 5, so have no worries about the game’s outlook, because the graphics look great. You will embark upon a journey through seven districts, all looming with decay and ruin. The game is inspired by a Greco-Roman mythos but is set in a sci-fi surroundings where you will explore a wrecked spacecraft that is overrun by extra-dimensional horrors.
Somber Echoes offers multiple endings because your gameplay actions shape how the story ends, so the more you explore and discover secrets throughout the ship, the more choices you will face when deciding the fate of the Atromitos. The game also features challenges mode, which is a new way of experiencing Somber Echoes and is designed to extend gameplay and provide players with intense and skill-based objectives beyond the core story experience.
As already briefly mentioned, a cataclysmic event turned the space vessel Atromitos into breeding grounds for infested horrors from an unknown dimension. In the aftermath, a force chooses to awaken Adrestia from her death and bring her back to the world of the living. Taking control over Adrestia, you will be on a mission to stop your twin sister Harmonia from unravelling the universe. Game’s environments are graphically stunning, but getting through them by Aether Lanterns, which serve as Adrestia’s core traversal ability, is, in my humble opinion, not intuitive at all. You will be defying gravity by shapeshifting into a sun-like star and releasing the energy in any direction you want to. That is how you will move through most of the districts, and additional lanterns will allow you to chain dashes when you are in the air.
Besides the Aether Lanterns, parrying is one of the core gameplay elements as well. Mastering perfect parry against your enemies will help in gaining advantage in combat sections throughout the whole game. To master this gameplay element will not take long; you will just need to precisely time the press of the button mapped for executing parries. I can, however, not get behind the atrocious platforming mechanic, which takes away all the fun that you might have with Somber Echoes otherwise. That is a shame, because the game looked very promising through its screenshots and trailers that were presented before the release.
Somber Echoes is at best a mediocre metroidvania game that, on the other hand, does look beautiful. The game feels kind of empty when traversing the districts with the help of an extremely weird traversal feature that makes you want to rage quit the game before making any actual progress through the level, by slowly teleporting from one yard to another in an extremely unintuitive fashion. Somber Echoes does have potential, but falls pretty short behind its cool art style, gorgeous surroundings and… Nope, that is pretty much all.
