Arches

Arches Arches is a choice-driven psychological horror where you and your companions investigate the abandoned ghost town of Echoes. Uncover lurking evil, face brutal events, and decide how you survive.

Arches

Arches is a psychological horror visual novel in which you and your companions return to a ghost town to investigate strange supernatural activity. As you dig deeper into the abandoned area of Echoes, you begin to uncover unsettling evil forces that have been quietly waiting in the shadows.

What happens to you—and to the people with you—depends on the choices you make. Throughout the story, you’ll encounter terrifying events that push the plot forward and can lead to brutal outcomes. Can you ultimately make it out alive in Echoes?

Story Overview

Content Warning: Arches is a horror story that may be emotionally intense for some players. It explores themes such as drug addiction, mental illness, and physical and mental abuse, including brief but intense violence through description and imagery. Please consider your mental well-being before downloading.

In March 2020, boyfriends Cameron and Devon arrive in the ghost town of Echo to conduct a paranormal investigation. It’s been five years since the mass hysteria was believed to have emptied the town for good. At first, the place seems deserted—but soon they realize something evil still remains in Echo, and it’s been keeping the horrors going all this time.

Arches is a standalone story that takes place after the events of Echo.

Changelog

• All music was replaced with new masters from the official release.
• Most tracks now loop smoothly with no noticeable breaks.



• The CG gallery was rebuilt.
• A music player was added.
• Cameron’s short story: CG edits made, an alternate version added, and extra lighting effects included.
• Cameron’s short story: Expanded by combining both short stories into one (the first part was previously a Patreon exclusive).
• Devon’s short story (Vessels): Added to the main game, available after the credits.
• Devon’s short story (Vessels): Added an extra CG and a slightly extended introduction.



• CG update: Added animation to a CG from build 2 (Cameron and Devon in the car).
• Preferences menu appearance updated.
• End credits updated.



• Typos corrected.
• A few scene transitions were adjusted.

Player Impressions

• I started crying after finishing this. The ending of the main story—and the additional content (if you know where to find it)—hit even harder. I’m not saying I dislike it at all, because I genuinely loved it. It also helped me realize I wasn’t mentally prepared for what the game brings, and that made the VN’s impact even stronger in a good way. Thank you.
• Nice pictures and nice animals—but are the animals gay?! I hope it’s a good game, and maybe it’s not really about that. If the animals are just “beast friends,” then please don’t include homosexual themes and let everyone have a good time together.
• Believe it or not, Echo (the game this is a sequel to) was an emotionally exhausting, traumatizing ride full of suffering. Honestly, it barely feels like it belongs here—there was practically PG-13-level sexual content. Instead, it was mostly about suffering, death, and despair. Think more Silent Hill 2 in VN form: occasional sexualized moments, but usually presented in a disturbing way.
• Even though they’re in the same horror genre, Arches starts building into a stronger horror experience as early as build 2. With a smaller cast and a tighter focus on the two main characters, the setup matches the setting that Echo never fully managed to achieve. If you’re new to Arches, consider checking out Echo first (the original, which is at least finished) to get the full context. There’s also Echo: Route 65 (a prequel VN) and Echo: Benefits (a spin-off fan-service VN). Finally, there’s The Smoke Room, which is still in development and takes place many years before Echo.
  Echo eases you into tension through unresolved childhood feelings and unanswered mysteries, but Arches wastes no time jumping straight into darker, rougher psychological horror. Some people might feel that’s a shift from what they expected—especially if they assumed it would lean more toward romance or a dating-sim structure. Either way, it’s still a psychological horror experience.
• Just a reminder: if you skipped the yellow text warning in the main post, Arches definitely includes heavy themes like drugs, death, and mental illness. The game does make this clear fairly early, but it probably should have startup warning tags like other psychological horror VNs. If you’re okay with furry, gay, and horror themes all in one game—and you’ve read the warnings—then you should be in for a fun time.