During a special preview event at Bandai Namco Entertainment, I had the chance to try Synduality: Echo of Ada, an upcoming PvPvE mecha looter shooter. The game is being developed as part of the wider Synduality multimedia franchise, that encompasses and anime, manga, and light novel series currently in publication. At the event, director Yohei Kataoka and producer Yosuke Futami gave some information on the upcoming multiplayer mech adventure as well. For example, the game will not only be an online game, as it will count with a single player story mode.

The main gameplay loop of Synduality: Echo of Ada is simple. Online Raid is the main mode at the moment. In it, players sortie into vast maps, look for resources, and fight with enemies and interact with other pilot Drifters. Inside their Cradlecoffin mechs, players will be accompanied by an AI Magus companion that grant them essential intel and skills. Your Magus AI constantly gives advice and input based on your playstyle, preferred weapons, and other data, and they are very chatty. Hopefully, the final release will include English VA for players, as having to look at subtitles can be a major hindrance to players.

The only objective available during my time playing the game consisted of mining a required quantity of AO crystals. While I could extract from the field at any time in the build I played, completing these objectives will be a requirement for progression in the final version of the game.

The multiplayer aspect of the game relies on no preset parties, and no verbal communication between players. Instead, players will have to create uneasy alliances with other players using emotes and other forms of non-verbal communication. While most players will be marked as friendlies, it is possible to choose to betray and attack them for their resources. While the risk of PvE-focused players encountering a lot of PvP players intent on grifting exists, Kataoka and Futami assured that there will be measures to balance the game out, such as your AI Magus partner warning you, and marking the map for hot spots, as well as a reputation system that marks aggressive players intent on PvP as untrustworthy or risky.

During my first sortie, I encountered a player Cradlecoffin that I thought was an NPC enemy, and got into a gunfight that I narrowly won. In my second sortie, I found a player peacefully mining for resources, and noticing an emote wheel in my button layout, I tried to say hi to them. This occurred before the developers confirmed that the focus of the game is on multiplayer PvPvE gameplay.

The gunplay in Synduality: Echo of Ada is really solid so far. There are plenty of weapon types in the game already. Aiming feels nice and all weapons feel very powerful. During my three different sorties, I had the chance to try out several different assault rifles, shotguns, and snipers, and I also grabbed a powerful railgun at one point that felt particularly powerful and fun. The weapon and loot system feels familiar, close to something like Apex Legends or Borderlands.

Controlling your Cradlecoffin mech, however, is extremely weighty and even slow. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, at the time I had just finished playing Armored Core VI, and the difference in maneuverability was stark. Cradlecoffin mechs are weaponry closer to tanks, and while they can jump and boost to gain some speed and traverse the uneven terrain, they are very deliberate machines to control, unlike other mech games with gameplay focused on shifting between ground-based and air-based maneuvers.

As for the PvE aspect, enemies in the game (called Enders) will gather near AO Crystals, and some will roam around the map. Enders come in a few varieties so far, and they can overwhelm players easily if they’re alone, or under certain conditions, such as heavy rain (which damages your mecha) as well as near bigger AO crystals. PvE enemies didn’t feel particularly outstanding so far, but I can see how mixing Enders and other pilots could be an interesting aspect, and lead to some fun and tense scenarios.

The Story Mode in Synduality: Echo of Ada will be Amasia Research, and will be PvE focused. In it, players will go through maps with specific preset loadouts for each mission. The player will explore the underground city of Amasia, and will uncover the mystery of what happened in the past to Drifter Alba Kuze and his Magus companion Ada. The developers said that Amasia Research and Online Raid are not fully disconnected, and that the story mode will be an extension of the online mode.

While Synduality: Echo of Ada seems to have a solid foundation, and what I played of the game was fun, releasing a new multiplayer shooter in a market flooded with competitors is a risky endeavor. Hopefully, it’s indefinite delay can help the game’s developers polish what they have, and expand on the basis of what seems like an ambitious and promising project. Ultimately, whether multiplayer games like these live or die hinges on many factors, but I hope Synduality: Echo of Ada offers plenty of varied content on release, and is properly marketed to its potential audience outside of Japan.

Synduality: Echo of Ada is currently in development for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam.

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