This is my story about this game, or more accurate about my life after playing this VN. To be honest I don't care if you believe me nor if you don't. I am aware it might not be the best place to send such thing, but I'm going to do it anyway. Also I wanted to post it on Echo anniversary, but I want to give enough time for mods or whatever to delete it if it is too disturbing and out of place before the big day.
It all happened almost one year ago. I saw this title and though „hmm, furry horror VN, I haven't seen such thing before. Oh, there is some CW that warns me that this is game that is emotionally intense. Well, it ain't stopping me though.”
You have to know, that my mental health wasn't... well, good. I had no real friends nor online for 4 years at that time and I abandoned my last one nearly one year before playing this game. But about him later. The point is... I was 19 years old wreck.
Playing this game wasn't just hard, it was absolutely heartbreaking. It sounds pathetic, but those stories somehow oneped my eyes to things I was blind for my entire life.
I had a friend, let's call him Rob for keeping this somehow anonymous. We knew each other since we were 7 (7-18, it's 12 years), we weren't best friends, but we were good friends. Except we wasn't... not really...
I was constantly making his life miserable through our childhood years (I would even go so far to say that I wronged him) and he was making me miserable during my teen years. We didn't see our problems and when we did we pretended it was all fine and that there was nothing wrong after ours arguments. I was the first one that just... broke after one of those, I was sick of his behaviour and simply ghosted him. He tried talking to me again, like he always tried, Rob was always the one who tried to make amends after argument, but this time I didn't talk back. It was so painfull at that time, I knew exactly what I was doing – I was breaking friendship with the last person I was talking to yet. And what is even more sad, I did that in the worse possible way, he tried talking to me for months... but I was adamant.
After playing Echo, I was thinking about him again and about what I have done, how it could affect him, how HE could react to my absence.
I knew for a fact that he had absolutely no one either and I was the only friend of his. I saw how devastating it was for him just as it was for me. I saw how shitty friend I was not only through those brat years, but through my whole life, how badly I didn't give a shit about him, how I didn't care about anything he was talking to me. Of course, he was as bad as I was, but here is the problem: I was shitty friend. He saw that. He stoped giving shit either cause „why bother?”. I felt worse and I was behaving even worse. He saw I'm even worse than before so he didn't care even more. It was vicious circle that none of us saw at the moment. Our problems could be easly resolved if we just TALKED, but we never did. Yeah, we could split earlier either, but it would be healthier and farier to both of us.
So. After I played whole VN I decided that I will tell Rob everything what was bothering me through those years, everything what I thought of him and of me and everything what I discovered after reading this VN. This letter was so big that I was writing it a couple of days...
… and when the time came I send it to him.
He was silent for a whole month, but finally send me back his answer. It was one sentence.
He thanked me and bid me farewell.
He never showed me any appreciation. Never ever. Even though it was too late to save this friendship, I was happy. I was happy, because I made it right, for both of us. I'm glad I did that. I'm glad that this one time I could bring him smile, even the bittersweet one and he could bring me the same smile either.
But it's not the end of the story! 2 months after that I decied to send another similar letter to my best friend whom I ditched literally the same way and because of the same reasons like Rob. But... she was always good to me, she was the best person I have ever met (before u all get this wrong, life is fcking ironic, I'm gay and she is lesbian xD). We hadn't talk to each other for 4 years. Yes. 4 years. I didn't want to befriend her again. I wanted to make things right just like with Rob. But she insisted to meet again and this time she didn't take no for an answer. So I said yes and we met...
… it wasn't easy, I told her it won't be like ol' good times, but we are making progress and it is all looking pretty good so far.
It's not easy to crawl back from the pit I was in for such a long time. It's a proces, very long one. I won't say that I'm now a different person, it would be a lie. However I am better that before. I'm better to myself, I'm better to those around me, I'm improving. I know I shouldn't have play this game. To be honset it was 50/50 in my case. I would go either the path I have gone or I would break (I wasn't suicidal though). I wanted to write this letter many months ago, but I had to wait and see for myself that I indeed changed and that it wasn't just spur of a moment after experiencing the best piece of media I have ever seen. I'm Echo's patreon just for this one reason, I want to show anyhow my appreciation because I am grateful this much for the life I got back (at least partially)
I want to say one thing to the creators and it's not how good this VN is, because they know it already and I just said that.
I want to say that you saved someone. Literally. You were the reason I ended up here where I am. You are the reason I am smiling more. You are the reason my former friend found closure and my second friend got her friend back. I'm wholeheartedly thankful. Thank you.