Echoes of Elysium Preview

Echoes of Elysium offers players full customisation over the design of their airships, including the ability to add individual pieces as they see fit.

Co-op survival adventures have very much been on the rise in the past few years with a number of titles looking to stand out from the crowd in various ways. Publisher Snail Games and developer Loric Games are hoping to attract a fanbase for their title Echoes of Elysium with a focus on airship building supported by some Greek mythological inspirations. Ahead of the game receiving a demo as part of the latest Steam Next Fest, RPGamer was able to find out a bit more from the development team about how that game is shaping up and its overall flow.

Echoes of Elysium is set in a version of the Elysian Fields afterlife concept and is built around making the vehicle one of the primary focuses. It draws inspiration from classical Greek inventors, particularly Heron of Alexandria, known for describing the first potential Steam engine called an aeolipile. Sometime prior to the game, the single landmass of Elysium was broken up into innumerable floating islands and most of its populace has disappeared. It is up to players to explore the islands and uncover the secrets that can be found within them, taking care to deal with the threats posed by clockwork constructs, including airships of their own. The Greek inspiration comes forth in its in-game designs, such as some airships shown being very evocative of ancient Greek galleys, as well as in the UI, which features touches of ancient Greek art.

Players venture between the various floating islands, finding resources and secrets.

The game allows up to six players to join up together in a procedurally-generated world divided into a selection of island clusters. Players start with a simple skiff, and their first goal is to collect the initial resources found in debris fields floating between the islands, which they use to create their first crafting stations and upgrades to their ship, as well as generate the fuel needed to make it move. In order to do this, players have their own personal glider and boost to be able to jump off their ship and take to the skies themselves. As players obtain new materials and create crafting tools they unlock new recipes. Island clusters come in different sizes and have different biomes; a medium cluster shown had around seven to nine islands while larger clusters may have up to fifteen or so islands. The overall game is intended to have a Valheim-esque structre, with each cluster having its own boss to defeat.

Echoes of Elysium offers players full customisation over the design of their airships, including the ability to add individual pieces as they see fit. Aerodynamics are not modelled by the game; instead the speed and manoeuvrability of the ship is determined entirely by the ratings of its upgradable core, engines, and control parts such as rudders, sails, and the like, as well as the weight of everything aboard. This gives players freedom to approach their designs with aesthetics or utility in mind without worrying about the physics of everything. However, players likely shouldn’t expect anything too nimble, as the airships shown required singificant forethought when it comes to not crashing into islands. The ship acts as a moving base, home to various crafting stations as well as storage boxes, so players will want to ensure it is also well defended with appropriate weaponry.

Airships can be freely built with multiple decks.

While players can pilot a ship solo, teaming up certainly makes their job easier. The game offers players freedom to approach this how they like, including building multiple ships for different roles such as combat, resource gathering, or scouting. One person will likely want to be engaged with the steering, while another can be in charge of keeping track of the enemy and manning the necessary weapons, although ramming is certainly an option for dealing with airborne foes, provided the ship is sturdy enough. In addition to an overall damage meter, all of the individual parts of the ship have their own durability ratings, so the ability to conduct on-the-fly repairs are another aspect to keep in mind. The early parts of the game are geared more towards setting up crafting options, but airship combat will become a bigger focus as players progress.

In addition to fighting using airships, players will also need to take on foes in hand-to-hand combat, which includes being able to board other ships and take out their construct crews. This combat uses a very straightforward system of just attacking and avoiding enemy attacks, with players able to pick up or craft a variety of weapons and other gear to help them. Another danger players will have to deal with are clouds. These are full 3D meshes in the game, and will create situations where players might not be able to see nearby foes or islands should they venture into them.

The ancient Greek inspirations show in multiple ways.

Character customisation will still be very light at the start. However, players will be able to unlock archetypes later on that allow them to take on more specialised roles. These include roles like pilot and engineer, which allow players to do certain things on the airship more easily, as well as a warrior archetype that performs better in combat. There will also be various abilities that can assist with flying, such as being able to consume less fuel.

The focus on building the airship will allow players to work together in both creating and operating it. There looks to be a strong sandbox base to build upon. Provided the team can ensure that there are plenty of interesting secrets to uncover and enough creative options to last, survival fans should find plenty to enjoy in Echoes of Elysium, which is planned to release on Steam Early Access soon, with console releases also planned down the line.