Echoes of Elysium: A Clockwork Survival RPG

The Dream of the Open Sky

There is a specific fantasy that gamers have been chasing since the days of Skies of Arcadia or the ill-fated Worlds Adrift: the dream of building a flying fortress, gathering a crew of friends, and sailing into an endless horizon of clouds and adventure.

Echoes of Elysium, the debut title from Loric Games, attempts to capture that lightning in a bottle. Launched into Steam Early Access on January 27, 2026, this co-op survival RPG pitches itself as a procedural clockwork sandbox where the sky is not the limit—it’s the playground.

With a price tag of $19.99 and a “Mixed” review score on Steam, Echoes is currently in that volatile state common to ambitious survival games: it is simultaneously brilliant and broken. For every moment of awe-inspiring flight, there is a moment of frustrating desync. But beneath the technical rough edges lies a heart of gold (and brass gears) that suggests this could be the next genre titan.

If You Build It, It Will Fly

The undisputed star of Echoes of Elysium is the airship. In many survival games, your base is a static shack on a beach. Here, your base is a mobile war machine.

The building system is robust, allowing for a level of customization that feels empowering. You aren’t just slapping a balloon on a raft; you are designing engines, placing thrusters, and laying out deck plans. As one Steam reviewer put it, “It’s a game where you live out the fantasy of being a sky warrior by building a sick airship so you and your friends can rule the skies.”

The physics of flight feel fantastic. There is a weight to the vessels. Large, lumbering fortresses feel heavy and require careful maneuvering, while smaller skiffs zip around with agility. The loop of upgrading your ship—from a fragile wooden platform to a steel-plated dreadnought—is the primary dopamine driver. You aren’t just leveling up a character; you are leveling up your home.

Clockwork Chaos

The setting of Elysium is a fractured paradise. Unlike the endless blue oceans of Raft, the skies here are filled with floating islands, drifting debris, and massive clockwork mechanisms. The aesthetic is “Clockwork Punk”—lots of brass, gears, and ancient technology powered by souls.

Exploration is the name of the game. You and your crew (up to 6 players) must venture out from your ship to harvest resources from these floating landmasses. The verticality adds a fresh twist to the standard survival formula. Using gliders and jetpacks to navigate between islands feels fluid, though the risk of falling into the abyss adds a constant layer of tension.

However, the world currently suffers from the “Early Access emptiness.” While the points of interest are stunning, the space between them can feel barren. “It’s all flying from point a to point b with nothing to do in between,” noted one critical review. The procedural generation does a good job of creating terrain, but it needs more life to fill the gaps.

Harvest, Craft, Survive

The core loop is familiar to anyone who has played Valheim or Enshrouded.

1. Scavenge: Land on an island, hit trees and rocks, loot chests.
2. Craft: unlock new recipes through experimentation (a nice touch that avoids boring tech trees).
3. Upgrade: Slap a bigger engine on your ship.
4. Repeat: Move to a more dangerous biome.

Combat is split between ground skirmishes and aerial dogfights.

Ground combat is currently the game’s weakest link. Reviews describe enemies as “bullet sponges” that hit too hard early on, making exploration feel punishing rather than adventurous. The AI is basic and often rushes the player without much strategy.

Aerial combat, however, is where the game shines. Manning turrets to fend off “Heron” faction ships or mechanical sky-beasts captures the chaos of Sea of Thieves, but with altitude. Screaming at your friend to repair the engine while you bank hard to avoid a missile is a peak co-op experience.

The Early Access Reality: Bugs and Roadmaps

Let’s address the “Mixed” rating. Echoes of Elysium launched with a host of technical issues. Desync in multiplayer is a frequent complaint, with players teleporting or seeing different things on screen. “We ran into noticeable desync when trying to regroup,” one review warned.

However, the developer response has been nothing short of exemplary. Loric Games is updating the game at a breakneck pace. One user noted, “I’ve never before seen the frequency or quality of updates being pushed out this fast in another EA release.”

The developers have also been transparent with their roadmap. According to their Early Access Roadmap for 2026:

• Spring Expansion: Will introduce “Storms & wind,” new enemies, and Tier 3 airship parts.
• Summer Expansion: Promises a “New biome,” “Caves & Dungeons,” and a “New Player Class: Pilot”.

They also released a “Report Card” ranking their own progress, admitting that while “Airship Building” is in a good spot (rated with a shiny goat), “Ground Combat & Enemy AI” needs significant work. This level of honesty is refreshing and builds trust that the jank is temporary.

Visuals and Sound

Graphically, the game leans into a stylized, colorful aesthetic that ages well. It’s not trying for photorealism; it’s going for atmosphere. The sunsets over a sea of clouds are screenshot-worthy, and the clockwork enemies’ design is distinct and creepy.

The sound design deserves special mention for the ship mechanics. The hum of the engines, the creak of the wood, and the wind rushing past create an immersive soundscape that makes you feel truly airborne.

Comparisons

• vs. Raft: Echoes is deeper in its mechanics but less polished. If you loved expanding your raft, you will love building your airship here, but don’t expect the smooth progression curve of Raft just yet.
• vs. Sea of Thieves: Echoes has better progression (RPG stats, gear) but lacks the seamless, polished multiplayer interactions of Rare’s pirate sim.
• vs. Worlds Adrift: This is the spiritual successor many have been waiting for. It captures the physics-based flight better than any other contender.

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Breakdown: The Good, The Bad, & The Clockwork

The Good	The Bad	The Ugly
Airship Building: Best-in-class customization. Building a flying base feels intuitive, rewarding, and deeply personal.	Ground Combat: Enemies are sponges, AI is brain-dead, and hitboxes can be janky. It needs a total overhaul.	Desync: Multiplayer connection issues can ruin the experience, causing rubber-banding and lost progress.
Developer Activity: Loric Games is pushing hotfixes daily and communicating clearly with roadmaps and report cards.	Empty World: While the islands are pretty, the sky between them is vast and often boring.	Tutorialization: New players are often dropped into the deep end without an explanation of key mechanics, such as engine maintenance.
Flight Physics: The ships have weight and momentum. Piloting requires skill and feels fantastic.	Tutorialization: New players are often dropped in the deep end without explaining key mechanics like engine maintenance.
Visual Style: The “Clockwork Punk” aesthetic is unique and beautiful, separating it from generic fantasy survival games.

Should You Play It?

Yes, if you have a dedicated group of 3-6 friends who love Raft or Valheim but want more complex vehicle building.

No, if you are a solo player (it’s doable but lonely and hard) or if you have zero tolerance for Early Access bugs.

Recommended for fans of: Raft, Sea of Thieves, Forever Skies, Guns of Icarus.