Echoes of the End's cinematic combat defines more than just the fights - it tells a story

Are you sick of having to choose between going for an up close and personal melee build or a ranged magic user? Well, the upcoming action adventure game Echoes of the End lets you combine both. Top that off with some smooth, immersive animations, and we've got what looks like a great game on our hands.

In Echoes of the End, you play as Ryn, brought to life with full motion capture and voice acting by BAFTA-nominated actress Aldís Amah Hamilton. You'll traverse the fantasy world of Aema, solving puzzles, getting lost in the story, and slicing off the limbs of anything that gets in your way.

This is Icelandic developer Myrkur Games first game, but you wouldn't know that based on how gorgeous it looks. Unreal Engine 5 helps, but it's the fluid combat that blends steel and sorcery that's caught my eye.

Ryn is a trained warrior and a vestige, someone born with a natural aptitude for magic. So, rather than just using one or the other, she utilizes both in combat. As well as the standard light and heavy attacks, dodges and parries of most action games, you also get to use a bunch of cool spells to ensure your enemies don't get the best of you.

My favorite ability is called Shift. It lets you pick an enemy up and fling them in whatever direction you like. You can use this to throw them into another foe, making them both stumble, or you can chuck them right off a cliff and let gravity sort them out. It really helps give you some space so you can use your sword on the closer enemies.

"We wanted the interplay of melee combat and magic to be central to the experience," says Performance Director Daði Einars. "It's about mobility and positioning."

The magical power that best embodies this is Drain. It locks you and an opponent in place while you steal their life essence to regain your own health. Just make sure you stop in time to parry any others coming in to attack you. Alongside a spell that basically shoves enemies away, it feels like a beefed up version of The Witcher 3's signs.

On top of all that, you've also got a companion, Abram, who can both stun the baddies and put them in chokeholds for you. He's pretty autonomous, and will even punch anyone you throw at him with Shift. It's hilarious.

Echoes of the End gives you all the tools you'll need to get through the challenging encounters, but "everyone's got a plan till they get punched in the mouth." The way you move yourself and enemies around the battlefield helps ensure the combat "creates its own story within each encounter."

And it looks great while you carve up your enemies. Your blade leaves a blur behind as you swing it, and plenty of blood and flashes of light make sure you know when you strike a foe.

There's also hitstop, which means each time one of your blows connects a frame is held for just a moment, giving your brain time to register what's happened. It's common in fighting games and Monster Hunter and lets you savour every moment of action.

To make things even more cinematic, the game has special execution kills. When you finish an enemy off in a way the game deems cool enough, the camera will shift and become more dynamic, showing off the action from all the best angles.

Echoes of the End is out August 12, 2025, and you can get it on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. If you want to keep up with the developer updates and check out more of the cinematic combat, you can follow them on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.