"no, polyamory would have made them worse!"

See the problem with these two positions in relation to the characters from Echo is that it has things backwards.

Chase and friends becoming a polycule isn't the solution, rather I think it's a very likely result of the "solution"whatever that may be / if it exists.

That is to say that if socioeconomic and paranormal forces weren't preventing them from getting the VERY necessary psychological healing, and assuming that Sydney doesn't die then I actually think that the friend group would have just evolved into a polyamorous relationship dynamic.

I don't know, I just think that there is a lingering erotic tension that Chase seems to have with most every character that he has any kind of meaningful emotional connection with. Which is I think part of the deliberate irony with his character considering he, all the other characters, and even the fandom at Large tends to hold the position that he is not that interesting of a person, so it's sort of adds a bit of mystery and ironic humor that this unbuttered piece of toast of a otter man is such an unintentional Casanova 😂

Though obviously sexual love, romantic love, and platonic friendship love are all three distinct things in theory, in actual "human" psychology they tend to be far more nebulous and fluid and I can definitely see in a hypothetical situation where the HORRORS (both psychological and paranormal) either don't exist or are resolved, where the now presumably far more healthy and intimate friendship that exists with Chase and are other protagonists mixes with that aforementioned erotic tension and morphs into a more explicit romantic devotion towards both Chase and select other members of the friend group.

You know, some level of deeply psychological horror or horror adjacent urban fantasy / science fiction that centers around a "Town with a Dark Secret" but the crux of the narrative is actually about the psychology and inner lives of the characters rather than the true nature of the mysterious Town itself which is really more of a symbol but also in the gothic tradition is something of a character onto itself.........

10 out of 10 got to be one of my favorite genders! Though I do adore it's more light-hearted parodies such as Gravity Falls and Welcome to Night Vale, when played straight and done well there's literally nothing that surpasses it in terms of quality fiction.

The Echo Visual Novels, Night in the Woods, and Beacon Pines are the cornerstones of what I hope will eventually become a loose quasi subgenre of Queer Furry Small Town Horror.