I Lost My Mech in Synduality—and Couldn’t Wait to Try Again

In Synduality: Echo of Ada, my first mech loss happened on my second sortie. A series of mistakes led to my downfall: I didn’t buy insurance, carried too much gear by accident, and didn’t repair my mech before a crucial fight. As a result, I lost everything. But despite the frustration, I was immediately eager to try again, which shows how engaging the game is. The combat is satisfying, but the slow start might turn some players away before they experience the fun.

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, where humanity is nearly wiped out by mysterious blue rain. This rain kills humans on contact and makes animals and plants gigantic and dangerous. To survive, society has moved underground, using giant mechs called Cradlecoffins to explore the surface and gather crystals. Your mission: venture out, collect resources to upgrade your base, make money, and escape before the dangerous creatures destroy your mech.

Cradlecoffins are unique mechs. They’re slower than those in Armored Core but faster than those in MechWarrior. They’re similar to the mechs from the 2002 game Phantom Crash, offering a balance of speed and heaviness without much vertical mobility. Unlike Armored Core mechs, these mechs can’t jump or fly.

You’re not alone in this world. Your mech is paired with a Magus, an AI companion that helps guide you, mark objectives, alert you to threats, and even track the weather. You can fully customize your Magus, making it as normal or quirky as you want (yes, you can bathe them, though that’s a little strange). The game seems to lean toward a more “robo-girlfriend” vibe, as the available clothing options are more feminine, but there are different personality types to choose from. Whether it’s a supportive mentor, an eager-to-please girl, a big brother figure, or a competitive athlete, these characters bring personality and charm to your journey. They’re your only companions for most of the game, and their presence is a welcome one, adding a bit of humor and companionship to the adventure.

Why Most Players in Synduality Aren’t Out to Kill You

In Synduality: Echo of Ada, you can customize your Magus not only in terms of appearance but also special abilities. These abilities can help you find crystals, identify hostile creatures (called Enders), or provide intel on other Cradlecoffins. I personally liked the options that protected me from the dangerous rain and the ones that could spot other Cradlecoffins from a distance. The game can be tense when you hear another player’s mech nearby but the ability to tailor your Magus to suit your playstyle as a Drifter (pilot) is a nice touch.

While you will encounter other players in Synduality, most aren’t there to kill you or steal your loot. In my experience, these encounters often involve cautious standoffs, with both players aiming their guns at each other, then exchanging a wave emote before going their separate ways. It’s a tense but thrilling moment, as you’re always one unlucky, uninsured run away from losing everything.

The game’s theme of working together to help humanity fosters this cautious camaraderie, but there’s always the risk that another player might want your gear. I’ve had a few firefights with other pilots, but they’re rare at first. It’s funny when multiple Cradlecoffins share an elevator to go underground and it’s a relief when you almost take a shot at someone, only to realize they’re not alone.

Of course, there’s always the possibility of finding an opportunity to take out an unsuspecting player. Once, I watched someone fight Enders with their back to me while I had the perfect sniper shot. I took the opportunity, and it was an exhilarating, tense moment. But I’m sure one day, I’ll be the one on the receiving end of an ambush, and I won’t blame them for it.

Why I Won’t Blame Players Who Finally Take Me Down in Synduality

In Synduality: Echo of Ada, every mission involves making important decisions. You’ll need to decide how far to venture from the elevators, what materials to collect for your base, how much ammo to bring, and whether to prioritize carrying capacity or defense for your mech. Each choice matters, and you might regret it when you’re low on health, far from an elevator, and surrounded by threats. Knowing your goals for each run and picking the right tools is crucial.

The resources you collect can be used to upgrade your base, which starts as a bare cave covered in weeds. Over time, you can add floors, upgrade storage, and create repair kits to make your base more functional. Watching your base evolve from an empty shell to a useful space feels rewarding, as each upgrade makes your life easier.

However, Synduality‘s biggest issue is the grind. The early hours of the game feel repetitive, with you constantly going to the same areas, fighting the same enemies, and gathering the same materials. While the tension of possibly losing everything keeps things exciting, the lack of variety can get tiring.

Making real progress takes time. You’ll need several runs to gather the materials required for upgrades or to complete Requests (missions that require you to collect specific items or defeat certain enemies). Early on, progress can feel slow, and the game hides some upgrades behind unlocks. Once you unlock more, things open up, but the early grind can feel long.

Even after gathering enough resources, you’ll often have to wait for real-world time gates before you can complete your upgrades. This forces you to either wait, chat with your Magus, gather more resources, or spend in-game currency (or real money) to speed things up.

Synduality’s Biggest Issue: The Grind

In Synduality: Echo of Ada, every run brings the chance to experience something exciting. After a few unfortunate deaths where I lost progress, I had a change of luck. During my next run, I found a destroyed mech and salvaged parts that helped me recover some of my losses. That moment shifted my perspective on the game and made the grind feel more rewarding. Once you hit your stride, the gameplay becomes much more fun, and you can focus on goals like upgrading your base or completing missions.

The thrill of discovery is always present. I once stumbled upon two downed Cradlecoffins packed with loot and raced back to safety. It felt like an unexpected holiday surprise. However, the path to this point can feel slow. Synduality tries to be newcomer-friendly with its insurance system and player flags, but the pacing could be improved to offer rewards faster.

Eventually, you unlock more challenging content, such as new maps, tougher enemies, and complex objectives. These additions make the game more engaging but also introduce more experienced players, some of whom might not be friendly. There are also single-player combat missions that help you practice, but unfortunately, they don’t offer much reward beyond lore.

Co-op missions are another feature, though you can’t team up with friends before heading into a mission. Instead, you’ll join random players for shared objectives. These missions bring additional risk and reward, as working together can lead to valuable loot—if you survive.

A downside is the inclusion of microtransactions and a battle pass, which allow faster progression. While the battle pass offers some free rewards, losing everything to another player can feel frustrating. Despite the game not being free-to-play, you can still progress at a reasonable pace without spending money, though the deluxe version offers quicker rewards.

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Pros and Cons for Synduality: Echo of Ada

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
⚔️ Fun mech fights	🌀 Gets repetitive early on
🤖 Cool AI buddy (Magus) helps a lot	⏳ Upgrades take too long
🛠️ You can customize your mech and Magus	🔒 Some features are hard to unlock
🤝 Team missions are fun	🎮 Can’t play co-op with friends directly
🏠 Building your base feels good	🕒 Waiting time for some upgrades
🎁 Finding loot is exciting	💰 Has microtransactions and battle pass
😎 PvP is tense but not always deadly	💀 Losing your mech really hurts

Conclusion

Synduality: Echo of Ada is a tense extraction shooter with cool sci-fi action. The game starts slow, with a lot of repeating tasks and slow upgrades. At first, it made me lose interest. But once I got past the slow start, it got much better, especially when you beat an opponent in a one-on-one fight. Also, make sure to buy insurance if you have valuable gear—it’s a bit of a scam, but it can save your mech, which is really important in the game.