I think I've exhausted as much as I'm willing to do in Echoes. Amazing game, highly recommend, but that side stuff is incredibly hard. Played it for 35 hours. The team is level 65. It plays much like any mainstream game. However, the difficulty spike, once you reach the final dungeon, is rather insane. Playing optional repeat areas on "Easy" is just as time-consuming and thought-provoking as early gameplay was on "Normal". The reason why I was so intent on playing areas of the game that are optional was because of an item collection side quest. There is a full suite of Diamond playing cards hidden among the world. I managed to miss out on only two cards while playing the main story. And it turns out to be completely skipped if not paying enough attention to exploration during the main campaign. The developers remedied this by making the cards available in chests exclusively in the final dungeon's "Hard" difficulty. Now, if "Easy" presents enemies that can OHKO your party members, how am I to make progress? All in all. The crafting system in this game is superb, and I wish other games could take notice. The individual characters can be customized with precision about playing style by way of skills, equipment, and augments. No two playthroughs can be the same.

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip
For the stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
It was early in the morning when he rode into the town
He came riding from the south side slowly lookin' all around
He's an outlaw loose and running, came the whisper from each lip
And he's here to do some business with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red
Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer though a youth of 24
And the notches on his pistol numbered one and 19 more
One and 19 more
Now the stranger started talking, made it plain to folks around
Was an Arizona ranger, wouldn't be too long in town
He came here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead
And he said it didn't matter he was after Texas Red
After Texas Red
Wasn't long before the story was relayed to Texas Red
But the outlaw didn't worry men that tried before were dead
20 men had tried to take him, 20 men had made a slip
21 would be the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
The morning passed so quickly, it was time for them to meet
It was 20 past 11 when they walked out in the street
Folks were watching from the windows, everybody held their breath
They knew this handsome ranger was about to meet his death
About to meet his death
There was 40 feet between them when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather 'fore a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger's aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
It was over in a moment and the folks had gathered round
There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground
Oh, he might have went on living but he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
Big iron, big iron
When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

Kenshi is very special to me. Ever since I laid eyes upon this weird masterpiece, I've been obsessed with its world and gameplay. The character creator is pretty unique, letting you choose things like how crooked your character's back is and in what pose they stand, as well as offering very interesting races that all have their own lore and interactions. Depending on what race and/or gender you choose, different factions within the game will treat you differently and you'll often find that making friends is much harder than making enemies.
The world within the game is a cruel wasteland, populated by fanatics, bandits and slave traders, as well as scary monsters and giant lasers shooting from the sky. I can't even begin couting the amount of times my little troop of misfits and I have run for our dear lives, trying to make it to the next city without getting eaten or kidnapped.
Success is not handed to you and making enough money to pay for your next meal can be quite stressful, especially at the beginning. You'll have to train long and hard, if you're decent enough, you can make a living as a hunter or by turning in criminals. But desperate times will need desperate measures and selling people into slavery or getting others killed by guards to loot their corpses is often the easy way out. Generally speaking, it's always more difficult to be a good person rather than taking advantage of poorer and weaker people around you.
The world is constantly changing, whether you're around or not, with faction fighting their own wars against each other and patrolling through the areas, and you're most definitely not the chosen one who they'll turn to. You'll have to prove yourself first, make a name for yourself and do favours, just so they even consider your existence. If you're really strong and have the right people behind you, you can actually change the political climate within the game and go as far as banishing some and advancing others. And, if you're organised enough, you can even establish your city and become your own faction.
This and more awaits you within this game and I can't recommend it enough to anyone who's hungry for something new and refreshing. That being said, here come the cons.
The graphics are not good, and I mean, really not nice to look at. They do the job and I personally have actually grown to appreciate them, but it's a fairly new game and it looks like it came out in 2005. The gameply is extremely slow and hard and while that should be considered a feature, it definitely makes it a game not everyone can enjoy. The learning curve is steep and even after playing for 70h, I've still not learned everything there is to know and honestly, I'm not even close to becoming a proper faction member. The game is as brutal as its world and being sold to slavery has happened to me more than once, often setting me back, and I sadly have lost many companions in my pursuit of greatness.
If you're out for a hardcore adventure with no quests and an alien world, this game might be the next big thing for you. If you don't have the time or the patience, it's probably best if you look for something else to play, because it's as pleasant as eating nails for breakfast, yet so addicting.