SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada

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SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada is a single player and multiplayer survival shooter game with anime and science fiction themes. It was developed by Game Studio Inc. and was released on January 23, 2025. It received neutral reviews from players.

Discover Synduality Echo of Ada on the official PlayStation website. Check out the latest trailers for this sci-fi action-adventure for PS5, where mech-like machines go up against mutated monsters, and explore screenshots, gameplay features and other details.

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53%

Audience ScoreBased on 885 reviews

story36 positive mentions

optimization35 negative mentions

Engaging gameplay loop with gathering, upgrading base and managing resources
Unique mech combat with satisfying weighty movement and interesting Magus AI companion
Atmospheric world design with solid audiovisual elements, and fun occasional co-op encounters

Highly unbalanced PvP favoring one faction and leading to frustrating gank sessions
Punishing loss on death system causes significant grind and slow progression
Poor optimization and technical issues including lag, crashes, and hit registration problems

story
383 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
87%
4%
The game's story is set in a post-apocalyptic world with intriguing lore and a companion AI that adds narrative depth, but it is largely fragmented, locked behind repetitive, fetch-heavy quests, and accessible only after significant multiplayer progression. While some praise the single-player missions for their challenge and connection to the anime, many find the story delivery lacking, with minimal rewards, underdeveloped narrative content, and a focus skewed towards multiplayer PvP that detracts from the intended story-driven experience. Overall, the story is seen as incomplete and overshadowed by grindy gameplay loops, limiting its appeal to players seeking a cohesive and engaging narrative.
- “For someone like me who liked the anime, the single player story is why you wanna buy this game, it really shows how and why Alba became a hero and it really connects to the anime so well. It took me 10 hours to finish the entire thing and I even took my time just to really absorb the entirety of that missing lore.”
- “The story takes place in the year 2222, long after humanity was devastated by a catastrophic event known as the “tears of the new moon.” This mysterious toxic rain wiped out much of the world’s population and gave rise to monstrous creatures known as Enders that now dominate the planet’s surface.”
- “The relationship between pilot and AI partner is one of the game’s more interesting narrative elements, offering moments of dialogue and companionship during otherwise lonely missions.”
- “The story missions were a great idea poorly executed.”
- “You cannot access the story in any real order without completing every single one of such missions and to get those, you need to progress in the main mode of the game.”
- “The solo play missions only allow you to collect audio and video records of the story, and you end up fighting normal enemies that aren't related to the story.”
gameplay
253 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
64%
7%
The gameplay of Synduality: Echoes of Ada offers a unique blend of mech combat and extraction shooter mechanics with a solid core loop centered on risk-reward scavenging, crafting, and tactical combat. While many find the combat satisfying and the gameplay addictive, criticisms include grind-heavy progression, punishing mechanics, repetitive loops, and balance issues between PvP and PvE that can frustrate players. Overall, it presents an ambitious and enjoyable experience for fans of the genre but requires patience and tolerance for its current mechanical and monetization flaws.
- “The gameplay loop for this game is quite fun, PvPvE extraction shooter style like Arc Raiders, Escape from Tarkov, and other similar titles.”
- “This game has some quite interesting mechanics that other extraction shooters should take from like the in-raid squad formation system to tackle a co-op mission on the map together with randoms, quick purge of your storage container for combat mobility with the press of 2 buttons simultaneously, the bounty system for infamous "player killers" which marks them on the map as a warning after certain actions and gives money for taking them out, and the enemy identification scanning system that lets you see potential ally and foe by checking their faction on your HUD.”
- “The core gameplay is engaging, the mech designs are solid, and the combat has the potential to be truly exhilarating.”
- “The gunplay is terrible, the enemy AI is terrible, the enemy variety is non-existent, the base-building, requests and crafting are so punishingly grindy and the reward is just more bad gameplay.”
- “Not an ounce of thought went into designing the gameplay loop here.”
- “It's a massive letdown because the aesthetic and setting are the main appeals for the game and the gameplay and complete lack of any systems design whatsoever mean it's never going to actually compete with anything else in the genre.”
optimization
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
57%
36%
The game suffers from generally poor optimization, with frequent reports of stuttering, rubber-banding, and severe frame rate drops even on high-end hardware. Many players note a lack of sufficient graphics options and server instability that further impact smooth gameplay. While some experience decent performance, consistent technical issues and inefficient PC porting hamper the overall experience.
- “Performance-wise, I've had a pretty clean experience with no issues.”
- “Performance is also fine at maxed out settings and 2k resolution for my specs.”
- “The performance is fine, there are some problems with hit registration but they get better each patch.”
- “The game is poorly optimized, even with my i9 4th and RTX 4070.”
- “Performance is pretty bad for a graphically mid-tier game in 2024, I can't hit a stable 60 fps even on low details.”
- “Performance optimization is bad.”
graphics
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
63%
11%
The game features a distinct anime-inspired sci-fi aesthetic with appealing character and mech designs, offering a unique visual identity. However, its graphics suffer from poor optimization, limited and clunky settings, frequent performance issues—including lag, stuttering, and high hardware demand—and blurry or bland textures that diminish the overall experience. While fans of the art style may enjoy the visuals, most reviewers note the need for better graphics options and significant performance improvements.
- “It has a very nice, well-defined art style, the world-building is cool, and it performs and plays well.”
- “Visually, Synduality Echo of Ada stands out thanks to its striking sci-fi aesthetic and use of modern graphics technology.”
- “Set in a beautifully detailed world, the game excels in its anime-inspired, sci-fi aesthetic, bringing a compelling atmosphere and stunning visuals that captivate from start to finish.”
- “Even if that was fixed, the game runs awful no matter what you do (UE5 yay) and is just a rough port from PS5 with very limited graphics settings.”
- “Optimized like **** and even on max settings it looks horrible and fries my CPU (80% load btw). Can't edit graphics settings in raid for some reason (you need to go into main menu or your hideout).”
- “The game constantly stutters, freezes, and locks up entirely at any graphics settings, despite task manager claiming it uses less than 8GB of RAM, less than 6% of CPU capacity, and less than 5% of read/write speed every time I've had to open it because the game froze (often).”
grinding
81 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
1%
99%
Grinding in this game is widely criticized as excessively tedious, punishing, and poorly balanced, with lengthy resource farming, crafting, and base-building loops that often end in losing valuable gear and progress. While some find the grind relaxing or integral to the extraction shooter style, many players are frustrated by the slow progression, repetitiveness, and the impact of aggressive monetization and PvP griefing on what should be rewarding gameplay. Overall, the grind is seen as a significant barrier that diminishes enjoyment and deters sustained engagement.
- “The gunplay is terrible, the enemy AI is terrible, the enemy variety is non-existent, the base-building, requests and crafting are so punishingly grindy and the reward is just more bad gameplay.”
- “Grinding is too long, you lose good gear way too easily and the work to get that gear back is easily 10-12 hours if you're not passively collecting/making the parts.”
- “Furthermore, crafting takes real world hours to make anything of suitable value; you will spend 12, 14, 16 hours making something you can lose in less than 5 minutes; meaning you need to once more go back to grinding out the resources to make your stuff again.”
monetization
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5%
69%
26%
The game's monetization is widely criticized as aggressive, predatory, and overly reminiscent of free-to-play or mobile models despite its $40 price tag, with pervasive microtransactions, costly battle passes, and grind-heavy content that often feel like cash grabs. While most paid content remains cosmetic and core gameplay is accessible without extra spending, many feel the monetization detracts significantly from the experience, leading to frustration over paywalls, imbalanced PvP advantages, and lost purchased items. Some acknowledge the necessity of monetization for live service support but find the implementation excessively greedy and at odds with player expectations for a premium-priced game.
- “The game does really feel like a free-to-play game with microtransactions, skins, and a battle pass, which can be a bit upsetting, but the core gameplay is enjoyable without paying any extra and nothing that gives you an advantage is behind a paywall.”
- “Other than that, all the in-game monetization is purely cosmetic, which is a fine way to help the game remain profitable over the course of its lifespan.”
- “The game is amazing, an extraction looter shooter with interesting companions providing abilities that aid you in your travels; the monetization people complain about is a simple battle pass that won't give you anything you can't get for free except some cosmetic items for your companion.”
- “Absolute disgrace of a monetization system for a pay to play game.”
- “The microtransactions are predatory, and you can permanently lose unique items bought with real money upon death.”
- “Being $40+ and having mobile tier monetization is straight scummy.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
56%
25%
The music in the game receives mixed reactions: some praise its contribution to atmosphere and unique character voices, while others find it repetitive, monotonous, or even annoying, with the opening theme and music video being notable highlights. Players often appreciate the ambient and combat tracks for immersion, though several choose to mute the in-game music due to lackluster compositions. Overall, the soundtrack supports the game's mood but divides opinion on its quality and variety.
- “The sound design contributes to the atmosphere with a mix of ambient environmental audio and dramatic musical themes during combat encounters.”
- “The quiet sounds of wind, machinery, and distant creatures create a sense of isolation while exploring the surface, while intense musical tracks amplify the tension of battles with enemy creatures or rival players.”
- “I didn't bother to learn a thing about it before it launched, so I got to know the setting completely from zero, and I'm finding the oddly upbeat 'can do' vibe, the low key 'Firefly' music, and the blend of Monster Hunter, Armored Core, and Phantom Crash gameplay with base builder elements works for me.”
- “What a “great” extraction shooter… with terrible performance, a boring world, only two maps, and insanely annoying music.”
- “Having a better time with the game than I expected, but the garage music makes me want to die in an industrial accident.”
- “The music is quite terrible apart from the opening theme with the composer Masato Nakayama delivering frankly bland and uninspired work.”
atmosphere
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
27%
20%
The game delivers a unique and engaging atmosphere through its detailed sci-fi, anime-inspired world, complemented by ambient sound design and dramatic music that enhance immersion. While the progression system and PvP dynamics can disrupt the experience for some, the tense, melancholic mood and distinct character personalities contribute to a compelling and memorable environment. Overall, players who appreciate atmospheric world-building and immersive audio-visuals find the game’s setting captivating despite some execution shortcomings.
- “The sound design contributes to the atmosphere with a mix of ambient environmental audio and dramatic musical themes during combat encounters.”
- “Set in a beautifully detailed world, the game excels in its anime-inspired, sci-fi aesthetic, bringing a compelling atmosphere and stunning visuals that captivate from start to finish.”
- “The gameplay is fun, the world building is interesting and the atmosphere is appropriately tense and melancholic.”
- “The game loop is simplistic and repetitive without fast progression, and fits well with the loosened up atmosphere of the game (in menus etc., outside of battlefields), including the music.”
- “I'm really big into atmosphere and immersion in my games and I've found that other players generally clown all over my immersion and ruin the atmosphere.”
- “I'm really big into atmosphere and immersion in my games and I've found that other players generally clown all over my immersion and ruin the atmosphere.”
humor
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is diverse and adds personality, with amusing NPC behaviors and quirky in-game elements like the magus's antics and AI battery life. However, some players find the game's mechanics and monetization ironically funny in a frustrating way, contributing to a mix of lightheartedness and annoyance. Overall, humor enhances the game's charm but can also highlight its more contentious aspects.
- “While you're in the base working on stuff or browsing menus, the magus wanders around and does stuff, some of it mundane, some of it funny. It gives the game a lot of personality and makes it feel more alive.”
- “Your magus will look kinda funny :p. You need to upgrade your base to have at least a bathroom and pay 3k to make them look normal again.”
- “Really beautiful game, wonderful gameplay, funny interactions <3 quite the chill :3”
emotional
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game evokes a mix of emotional responses, from wholesome and cooperative interactions to frustration driven by microtransactions and slow progression. Players appreciate the unique atmosphere and thrill of scavenging with their mecha companions, though the emotional impact is tempered by time locks and costly in-game purchases. Overall, it offers memorable moments but also emotional challenges tied to its reward system.
- “Your android buddy adds an emotional hook in that they don't want you living in squalor.”
- “I genuinely like this game, I've sunk 50+ hours into it and it's the first mecha game that has made me feel the actual thrill of being a scavenger. The atmosphere is amazing and I love heading out on my robot to make bank so I can make myself my own objectives.”
- “Had some wholesome moments where another player saved me from bandits because we waved to each other earlier in the run.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
The game's stability is notably poor, with frequent stutters, freezes, and server issues causing lag and rubberbanding, especially for players outside local server regions. Despite low system resource usage reported, optimization remains lacking even after multiple updates, resulting in a buggy and inconsistent experience.
- “Game is a buggy mess.”
- “After 1 year of playing this game from release, after 3 seasons, it has not been optimized that much. Server performance is bad to the point that if you are not in the same region as the server, you will experience rubberbanding, random lags, and freezes every game.”
- “The game constantly stutters, freezes, and locks up entirely at any graphics settings, despite task manager showing less than 8GB of RAM usage, less than 6% CPU capacity, and less than 5% read/write speed whenever the game freezes (which happens often).”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Character development is criticized for featuring uninteresting and poorly designed enemies, with character designs described as uncanny and odd. However, some appreciate the anime-style characters and atmospheric setting despite these shortcomings.
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers an enjoyable and wholesome experience but lacks significant replay value, as most players find a single playthrough sufficient. While elements like worldbuilding and customization are appreciated, the overall level design does not encourage frequent replays.