Echoes of The Cataclysm is a Ren'Py visual novel by nuii pointer, presented with animated 3D CG art and a sci-fi, dystopian setting. It is set in a future where particle collider failures caused worldwide radiation storms, nearly destroying humanity and giving some people psychic powers. These powered people are feared and called Psions. You play a male protagonist in the grim city of Neo Angeles in 2069. After a disturbing encounter with Psions, he uncovers a shadowy government plot to spark a war against them. His choices force him to examine his own bias and decide whether to support the agency or defend the Psions.
The current build is still in development as Chapter 1, Part 1 of 3, version 0.1.11, dated July 25, 2025. It is available for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android, in English, with uncensored content. The latest update improved Android dialogue name readability, added mobile swipe gestures for the menu, hiding text, skipping, and returning to the previous frame, made save naming toggleable from the save/load screen, fixed incorrect update notices, and stopped forcing the player's name into title case.
Developer's description
In the future, a destabilization event from particle colliders unleashed explosive radiation storms throughout the globe. The event, dubbed “The Cataclysm”, almost wiped-out all of humanity, and endowed psychic abilities onto pockets of the population, now ostracized and named “Psions”.
In the grungy and gritty city of Neo Angeles in 2069, our main character is haunted by a run-in with some Psions. Now, after stumbling upon a conspiracy orchestrated by a shadowy government agency to ignite a devastating war against the Psions, he must delve deeper, confront his own prejudices, and decide whether to aid the agency or protect the Psions he once feared.
Chapter 1 - (Part 1 of 3) - v0.1.11
Android - Dialogue Name Readability - Fixed an issue where the name (since its outside of the main textbox), could sometimes be difficult to read.
Mobile Gestures - Added gestures for Mobile. (Swipe-up to open the menu. Swipe-down to hide text box. Swipe-right to start skipping. Swipe-left to go back a frame.)
Save/Load Screen - Save Naming - Change to allow the "Save Naming" feature to be toggleable. Added a new toggle button on Save/Load screen that enables/disables Save Naming.
"Update Available" account for "None" value - Fixed an issue where on some online platforms, the "Update Available" is incorrectly showing that there's an update.
MC in-game name titling - Fixed an issue where player's name was being forced to be "Title" case, which didn't allow characters to be all uppercased.
UI Choice Menu - Reworked Choice Menu to be more distinguishable from the dialogue text box. This moves the Choice Menu items to be in the center of the screen; also allows Mobile to be more accessible with these buttons.
Dialogue box resize - This is to better support mobile devices by reworking the dialogue box and its Preference Sizing. A lot of longer scene dialogues also have been split into multiple dialogues, requiring more clicks, but allowing readability on mobile. It also allows the dialogue box to be shrunk down in height on desktop.
Optimize for Mobile - For the release of Android, a lot of reworks had to take place. Save/Load screen rework. Preference sliders rework. Confirmation dialogue rework. About screen rework (and credits). Main menu rework. Entire
Upgrade RenPy - In addition to all of the reworks (listed above), in order to keep 4k on desktop, but also utilize smaller images/videos on Android, RenPy had to be upgraded to the latest version which supports the varying canvas sizes.
Dedicated Asset LFS Repo - This is more behind the scenes, but in order to support the varying images/videos on the automated build server, moving the assets to another (specialized) repository was needed. The "Asset Repository" had a build step in of itself, where it would automatically create resized assets for the main repository to use.
Loading Pre-splash Images - Created "Loading" splash images for Desktop and Android.
Android Icon - Simple but needed for the Android release.
Textbox Opacity Slider Fix - Found and fixed a bug where the Textbox Background Opacity slider, when set to 100%, wouldn't actually set it to be fully black.
History Resize/Rework - Fixed and reworked sizing necessary for Mobile.
End Credits Resize/Rework - Fixed and reworked sizing necessary for Mobile.
Re-visit choice menu exclusions - Removed the "Exhaustive" menus, where the choice would disappear; this originally caused a bug where the user couldn't proceed after the rolled back.
Toggle Quick-Menu Preference - Allow the Quick-menu to be toggled via Preferences.
Re-visit Panning/Zooming - Allow the extra camera motion to be toggled via Preferences
Chapter 1 - (Part 1 of 3) - v0.1.1
Initial Release
Player reviews
Player rating4.5 / 5 · 4 ratings
Written reviews4 · avg 4.5★
Positive (4–5★)100%
Latest review2025-07-28
What players say
Early feedback is mostly positive, praising story and visuals while noting world-building and animation issues.
5★2
4★2
3★0
2★0
1★0
Players like
Interesting story and premise
Strong visuals and character renders
Beautiful animation
Common complaints
World building and context need improvement
Some animations are poor
Workplace lacks protection and doors
Best for players who enjoy post-apocalyptic stories with interesting powers and strong visuals.
Summarised from 4 written player reviews.
Batman_Sid2025-07-28★★★★★
Great start and a fascinating premise. I wish the dev good luck on the project even if some of the animations make cry myself to sleep at night. I saw this guy working on the game on discord streams and…
insectgoat2025-07-10★★★★★
Writing this after the initial release so this review is all about potential this game has. I think it's good so far, but could use improvement in the context and world building department. But as the game goes on I…
N0madS0uL2025-06-29★★★★★
VERSION: Ch.1 P1 v0.1.1 (some numbers eh) SUMMARY: Good start, done fairly well on most fronts, interesting story. RATINGS: (out of 5): NOTE: The following categories and scoring method are my own criteria and may require more context. Additionally …
★★★★★(4)
