Echoes of Myth Design Influences: If Diablo, Hades, and Dark Souls Had a Baby (And That Baby Liked Maps)

There are many games that have influenced the design of Echoes of Myth—far more than might be immediately obvious. What’s even more interesting is how these influences have shifted over time, evolving alongside the many design pivots I’ve discussed earlier in Game Development is Iteration - Pivot, Pivot and Pivot Again.

At its inception, Echoes of Myth was envisioned as a fusion of Diablo-style progression and loot, Soulslike combat and world design, and traditional RPG narrative elements (without a singular clear influence for the latter). However, as development progressed, this vision evolved significantly, and today, Hades has undoubtedly become the strongest single influence.

Rather than just listing games, I’ll break down some of the key factors that have shaped the game’s design and how they fit together.

Ability and Build Design

Hades, Rogue Legacy 2

One of the core gameplay elements is the structured ability system, where:

  • Abilities fall into somewhat standardized categories (e.g., attack, special, dodge, magic).
  • Weapons or classes provide their own unique implementations of these categories.
  • Player choices and upgrades further modify and enhance abilities throughout a run.

Of course, every weapon and class needs to feel different—otherwise, why would players spend hours arguing on Discord about tier lists?

Map and Route Planning

Crying Suns, Last Epoch, Slay the Spire

The map system in Echoes of Myth is directly inspired by these games, particularly Crying Suns, which presents players with clear choices and tradeoffs regarding their path. Key mechanics drawn from these influences include:

  • Choosing between safe but less rewarding routes and high-risk, high-reward paths—because what’s a roguelite without existential dread over the “right” decision?
  • The ability to invest resources (such as money) to reveal additional map details, improving long-term planning.
  • A structured endgame reward system, similar to Last Epoch’s Monument map, where different paths yield different categorical rewards.

Loot and Stats

Diablo, Last Epoch

The loot system takes strong cues from Diablo-style ARPGs, particularly in its stat variety and build synergy:

  • A mix of static stats (+damage, +resistances, etc.) and dynamic effects that create synergies (e.g., status-based bonuses like increased damage to frozen enemies, triggered buffs and debuffs).
  • The approach to targeted farming in the endgame borrows from Last Epoch, where players can control the type of rewards they pursue—without being locked into farming a single boss or enemy.

Combat Feel

Dark Souls et al

Combat in Echoes of Myth emphasizes deliberate enemy animations, pattern recognition, and strategic evasion. Some of its defining characteristics include:

  • Dodge rolling with invulnerability frames and timing-based play.
  • Limited healing resources per run, though unlike Souls games, these aren’t tied to static checkpoints.
  • Weapon and potion upgrade mechanics, reinforcing long-term progression.

Enemies—and players—are subject to stagger, stun, and control mechanics, though let’s be real: at this point, stagger mechanics exist in nearly every action game, not just Soulslikes.

Boss Design and Scaling

Rogue Legacy 2, Hades

Boss fights in Echoes of Myth are designed with a learning curve but clear patterns that skilled players can quickly exploit, ensuring:

  • A tough first encounter, but a learnable fight without going overboard with fifteen million different phases and attacks.
  • Naturally scaling difficulty through meta-progression for players who struggle.
  • Iteration-based rewards, where certain builds may ease specific encounters.

Naturally, the goal is for bosses to crush the player’s hopes just enough to keep them coming back for more.

Movement and Targeting

Hades

While Echoes of Myth retains deliberate combat mechanics, movement and targeting lean heavily on responsiveness and fluidity, inspired by Hades:

  • Attacks immediately rotate the character toward the targeted direction—because aiming shouldn’t be the primary challenge.
  • Forgiving auto-targeting prevents frustration from pixel-perfect aiming.
  • Dodge-canceling is always available, keeping movement snappy and responsive.
  • Dodge rolls have charges and cooldowns but can be improved through talents and items.

Balancing tactical combat with fluid movement is key—getting stuck in an attack animation just to be blindsided by an off-screen enemy is not the intended difficulty curve.

Storytelling and NPC Interactions

Hades

The narrative structure is heavily inspired by Hades’ iteration-based storytelling, featuring:

  • Conversations with key NPCs evolving over multiple runs.
  • Main plot and meta-plot advancements triggered by key milestones.
  • A persistent hub world that reacts to the player's progress.

This ensures that storytelling remains engaging and dynamic, rather than a repetitive loop of “Oh, you died again? Here’s the same line of dialogue for the 20th time.”

Divine Domains and Boons

Hades

It’s no surprise that Hades played a role in shaping Echoes of Myth’s Divine Domains, which categorize upgrades in a way that supports player agency. However, in Echoes of Myth, these domains:

  • Extend beyond just talent upgrades, integrating into world interactions and progression mechanics.
  • Influence multiple layers of gameplay, rather than being limited to skill modifiers.

Meta-Progression and Training

Hades

A strong meta-power system underpins Echoes of Myth, similar to Hades, incorporating:

  • In-iteration currencies (gold for run-specific purchases).
  • Meta-currencies for persistent upgrades.
  • Merchant interactions that play a key role in runs.
  • Combat training, which—like in all roguelites—will likely be ignored by 90% of players until they rage-quit after a brutal boss fight.

Level Structure

Hades

Room-based levels connect to the map and reward structure, but with key differences:

  • Larger, exploration-friendly rooms, allowing for minor detours rather than strict linearity.
  • Encounters that can often be skipped, giving players more control over pacing.
  • Boss fights and reward mechanics that reinforce strategic decision-making.

Non-Game Influences

While most influences come from games, a couple of notable non-game inspirations have shaped the lore and worldbuilding:

  • Vernor Vinge’s Zones of Thought—for its exploration of intelligence and technological disparity.
  • Mother of Learning—for its take on world structure and iteration mechanics.

The Challenge of Blending It All Together

Naturally, many of these mechanics have become genre staples, not unique to any one game. The real challenge in designing Echoes of Myth isn’t just incorporating these influences—it’s ensuring they work together cohesively to provide the best possible player experience.

After all, throwing every good idea into a game doesn’t guarantee success—otherwise, every RPG ever made would be perfect.

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