Rex was sent into Helix Bio-Lab Sector-07 to recover security data. He died there.

Then he woke up at the mission briefing, remembering how he died.

Fragment Echoes is a fast, stylish third-person action roguelike set inside a cyberpunk research facility that treats every fight as an experiment. Slash, dash and counter through Helix's combat units, absorb the powers of the dead, and return smarter every time reality rewinds.

• Perfect Dash through an attack to bend time and punish the opening.

• Launch enemies, chase them into the air and cut straight through them.

• Keep the string alive and climb the style rank from F to S.

Meet the blade at the last instant and the clash throws sparks and breaks their guard. Answer with a counter attack: a dash-slash that cuts through the opening. Time it perfectly and two counters chain. Helix's katana units parry back, so the duel is never one-sided.

Helix stored the memories of people who died in its experiments. Rex can absorb them. Each Echo carries a fighter's instincts: an assassin's shadow step, a berserker's fury. Echo Shadow herself offers you her Assassin techniques: Phase Strike, Invisible Cloak, Veilbreaker. Stack Echoes from the same family to steer your run, or shift into Echo Shadow form and turn a losing fight around.

Katana for speed. Greatsword for weight. Rifle for range. Dual chain axes forged from the first guardian you bring down. Swap weapons without breaking the combo and build strings no single weapon could.

Bring down Helix's first guardian and its forge hands you the Dual Axe Chain, two axes on a single chain.

• Throw an axe to hook any enemy and yank it into your combo.

• Whip the chain in wide arcs to tear through a crowd.

• Smash down from the air and drag fliers to the ground.

• Freeze enemies in place, or swing the chain up to a ledge.

Character stats. Every level gives points. Spend them on attack, speed, critical chance, critical damage or psychic power and shape Rex the way you fight.

Ability tree. Every weapon, Dual Axe included, has its own tree. Unlock new light and heavy steps, longer strings and finishers, and it stays unlocked across runs.

Neural skills. Each Echo you absorb adds a skill to this run's neural map. They're lost on death, so every run builds differently.

Inventory and implants. Equip four weapons, armour and Helix implants for your neural, vital and motor systems, then carry consumables into the fight.

Helix's guardians don't just hit harder. They read you. Spam an attack and you'll be punished. Learn the tells, break their posture, and earn the finisher. Somewhere deeper, Unit 7 is studying your data and becoming something built to beat you.

Between runs, return to the City. Track down former Helix staff, recover forbidden weapons and find routes around the gates that stopped you. Some answers aren't upgrades. A password or a weakness can matter more than damage.

• Echo abilities, weapon mastery and knowledge survive the rewind.

• The facility resets, but not perfectly. Strangers remember conversations that never happened.

• Is Rex moving back in time, or is a dead man's memory forcing the world to repeat with him?

Play the free demo now, and add Fragment Echoes to your wishlist to follow the descent.