Ashes of nothing.
Chained Echoes was such a welcome surprise when it released back in 2022. From its memorable characters, wonderful story, and a fresh take with its turn-based combat, it was a title that I adored playing, even taking home my Game of the Year award. When a follow-up to the game was announced via a DLC expansion, I practically leaped out of my chair, excited to jump back into this world and go on yet another adventure with this memorable cast.
While there are a few excellent moments here, especially one in particular, the DLC, Ashes of Elrant, was not quite the adventure I wanted. I was surprised how straight forward and lean it was, given the lead up into it stating that this was meant to be this “massive” DLC. While the main game clocks in around 35-40 hours, this DLC came in at around 7-8 hours, but ultimately doesn't feel like much was really added to the whole experience. It doesn’t feel vital to the experience.
After a scenario that sees the Crimson Wings taking on a dire request from a group of scientists, Glenn and the entire cast of Chained Echoes is transported to the land of Elrant, the birthplace of Lynne. There is a lot of history here, and when the team meets the White Wolf, a destined warrior, they begin to see the current situation and how they can assist.
Given the short length, I don't want to spend too much talking about the story, and who exactly the White Wolf is to this narrative. The story is largely around a rebellion within the Elrant empire, and various forces assembling to see the resurrection of the Harbinger. You'll have a few side quests to take on, some focused around this, but ultimately, the story doesn't really have many moments that stick with you, unlike the reveals in the base game.
While Lynne has a decent amount of story here to chew on, fleshing out her past, the bulk of the cast feel like they are tagging along for no reason as to just ensure the player has access to their favorite character. Characters like Egyl, Tomke, and Amalia, hell, even Robb, rhave a small handful of lines and a few scenarios, but had half the team been left behind here, it could have given more depth to at least the more important members of the cast.
Ashes of Elrant is also oddly accessed from the main menu. It isn't an extension of the main game in the ways most DLC work. This is likely to ensure players don't have to worry about their current save progress. The press materials dictate that this DLC takes place just before the final battle, which begs the question as to why they would take on this quest when such an important moment is casting such a large shadow over the story. It's a weird choice for sure.
Regardless, you'll have your Sky Armor, which is accessible for about half of the adventure here. It's not until you destroy three devices where you can fly. I will say that the path to get your Sky Armor’s flight ability was a maze of some poor level direction that had me stuck longer than I'd like to admit, especially after accidentally finding the solution that was sort of staring me in the face.
You'll soon travel to Elrant, deal with an issue that sets your progress back a bit, and then eventually be tasked with shutting down two machines on each side of the city. While you'll explore the city of Elrant and a few other smaller locations, the DLC has two main areas you'll explore; the Deadlands, and the Wasteland.
The Wastelands are where you'll eventually gain access to your sky armors, and frankly, it's a very empty and modest size location with only a few different types of enemies around a few lanes of moving sand that you'll need to find the one area where you can summon your sky armors to pass. The Deadlands; however, is a truly fantastic area. You'll brew a concoction to apply to some mushrooms that cure the land of its rot, bringing back the colorful nature it once was. It's a visually fun area with a nice gimmick.
Ultimately, the DLC doesn't feel as big as I was hoping, it has caves and various secrets to track down, including a cavern with a series of jeweled pillars that I've yet to solve, but I really was hoping for more areas that possibly invited the characters to have some stand out moments. The White Wolf has such a moment, which I referenced before, that stands alongside some of the best moments from the main adventure; you'll know it when it happens. And given the threat of the Harbinger, it was a shame the final encounter is lacking, given the drastic threat it poses.
The Ashes of Elrant offers 40 new enemies and bosses, with some great designs. Some of the bosses are incredibly fun fights, especially when you are in your Sky Armors, shifting back and forth with your gears. The major threats are well handled, with the final encounter being a really fantastic fight.
Added to the expansion is a reworked Crystal system that has monsters now dropping crystals, as well as the inclusion of some new items. There is also a talent board to increase the damage of certain characters, and abilities like talking to animals, but it doesn’t feel fleshed out or really important. That said, due to the short length of the DLC, I only ended up finding one new weapon for only a few members of my main cast, with only a small handful of new armor items. The notification for having new skills was constantly red, despite having no new skills that I could find, or at least those marked with the same red dot. This caused combat to just rely on what I had previously with my cast instead of feeling like a fresh new approach given it being a whole new adventure.
While the White Wolf brought some new attacks with his Bite mechanics, I was disappointed that my main cast didn't seem to have much to add to their arsenal. The game also features a new fishing mini-game, with fishing spots spread out across this new area, complete with music unique to the mini-game. That said, there is plenty of new music tracks here apart from this fishing addition and many of these are pretty good.
I had a lot of high hopes going into Ashes of Elrant, given I adored Chained Echoes. However, I simply didn't find much here to satiate my desire for a new adventure with this cast. The roster is wildly underused and the threat had zero stakes, given it takes place before the final battle. Its implementation via the main menu was also a sign it wasn't going to be impactful to the overall adventure. It's more Chained Echoes, so I can't be too disappointed, but I simply wanted much more for a self-touted “massive” DLC that didn't amount to much at all.
Developer - Umami Tiger, Matthias Linda. . Publisher - Deck13 Interactive. Released - August 7th, 2025. Available On - Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC. Rated - (M) Sexual Themes, Strong Language Platform Reviewed - PC - Steam. Review Access - Review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.