Echo Night

Echo Night is an obscure Survival Horror series that debuted on the PS 1. Each of the games uses the First Person Adventure format, putting the player directly in the shoes of the unfortunate Richard Osmond, solving puzzles and struggling to survive while helping

The original Echo Night opens with Richard being called to the torched remains of his late father's house. While sorting through the rubble, he stumbles across a hidden room with a mysterious painting... which abruptly transports him onto the deck of the Orpheus, a ship whose passengers and crew met a mysterious end decades ago. All appear to him as mere shadows, bound to the ship by past regrets; as he helps them resolve these issues, he gains strange crystals called Astral Pieces. Of course, not all of the ghosts are patiently waiting to be freed, to say nothing of the mystery surrounding what happened to the Orpheus in the first place...

The second game in the series, Echo Night 2: Master of Dreams, never saw its planned English release. Richard's girlfriend Rebecca Morgan has vanished; his search for answers leads him to a beautiful-but-haunted mansion, and to pictures of a woman who looks exactly like Rebecca despite having lived ages ago.

The third installment was also the only entry on the Play Station 2, and jumps the series into the year 2044. Echo Night: Beyond sees Richard Osmond and his fiancee Claudia Selfer about to fulfill their dream of being married on the moon. But before landing, their shuttle takes severe damage, and Richard wakes up outside the station disoriented and alone.

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The series provides examples of:

 * Apocalyptic Log: Found throughout Beyond.
 * Creepy Child: Various ghost children; in the original game, the first 'aggressive' ghost you have to deal with is a constantly giggling little girl named Claudia.
 * Fetch Quest
 * Flying Dutchman: The Orpheus.
 * Ghost Ship: In Beyond.
 * Ghostly Goals
 * Guide Dang It: Some parts of the third game give no explanation as to what has to be done, and to make things worse, certain objects that you examine cannot be examined a second time, meaning you can miss important information clicking around on the walls.
 * Haunted Mansion
 * In Universe Game Clock: First game includes an Internal Game Clock, which is tied to certain puzzles. Also, the on-board casino closes at 6:00 AM, and Richard will get kicked out if he's still gambling at that time.
 * Late to the Party: A recurring theme in each game.
 * Life Meter: Represented in Beyond as an EKG readout, which starts out at 80 bpm; strange encounters can make it rise, and if it reaches 300+, Richard dies.
 * Multiple Endings: Echo Night and Beyond each have four endings, while Master of Dreams has two.
 * Name's the Same: Richard Osmond is the name of all three protagonists.
 * No Export for You: Echo Night 2 did have a North American release planned, but it was canceled. Only way to see the game is if a fan translation shows up.
 * Ominous Fog: In Beyond, fog will actually make the shades more hostile, so Richard must find ways to avoid or clear it away.
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: Appearing as black shades, they usually require some trinket that will resolve their Unfinished Business.
 * Pensieve Flashback: In the first game, Richard can enter the Flash Back memories of various ghosts in order to learn how he can help resolve them.
 * Plot Coupon: The Astral Pieces.
 * Solve the Soup Cans
 * Undeath Always Ends