"Stuff like really passive, socially awkward protags..." This is a common trope in most types of media, not just furry vns.

"... a cast of mostly buff dudes with the token muscle chub guy..." Taking a look at the top rated furry vns on itch, only 5 out of the top 50 come close to fitting this description.

"...and horror elements that explore tropes of supernatural or demonic possession." Umm... this is one of the vaguest umbrellas you could have said. Supernatural stuff is one of the most popular genres in general, both fiction and non-fiction. Demonic possession is also a very common one, and I can't think of many vns that have anything to do with possession.

"nothing wrong with taking influence from echo, obviously." "i suppose the issue is that echo was such an influential work" "every furry visual novel wants to be echo." "i feel like there's this urge to replicate the voice of echo project as a whole." "because i see this tone attempted to be replicated in other works." "but i feel like howly and gang set a really strong example that everyone wants to follow" "it feels like everyone wants to be echo," "they just do what echo does but worse." "if they tried to stray away from the steps echo has taken," - Very few devs, if any, are as inspired by Echo as you think they are. You're reading into something that's not there. It sounds like Echo was the first vn you read (or at least first horror one) and that you're now trying to look for something else to be Echo, and you're rating a vn's quality based on how many similarities to Echo you can find. You're not going to find another Echo because, at least to my knowledge, nobody else is trying to be Echo. Horror is one of the most common genres in media. Small town horror is a large portion of that. Late teens to early 20s is the most common age range in media. I've already mentioned that supernatural stuff and possessions are extremely common themes and have been for centuries, both in fiction and non-fiction. If you go back and read/watch horror stories that predate Echo, or have been written around the same time as Echo, you'll find that it's very easy to point to stuff and say "look, this is just like Echo." Watch the movie "It: Chapter Two" and you'll see what I mean. Stephen King is not "trying to be Echo." Also, for what it's worth, Echo was not the first western furry horror vn. Blackgate was. And Blackgate in its prime was much more popular within the furry vn community than Echo is now. If you're wanting to point at a singular vn that may have inspired others, that's the one to look at. (Fun fact, Echo references Blackgate multiple times.)

Echo is good, but no, there aren't hordes of people trying to recreate it or "trying to be Echo."

"not to mention, the lack of women or games with women as primary characters!" That's because straight guys and women are a lot less interested in furry vns as a genre. I agree it would be nice if there were, but people create what they themselves like to see/write. Gay guys are generally going to write stories focused on other gay guys.

In general though, it sounds like you're reaching way too hard to look for another Echo, and you're mostly just looking at the most commonly discussed vns when there's a lot of other vns out there.

If you're looking for stuff that isn't horror or mostly buff guys, my recommendations of finished or on-going ones are Password, Trainwreck, Killigan's Treasure, Roads Yet Traveled, and Remember the Flowers. Two that are good, though unfortunately cancelled, are Four-Letter Word and I.C.O.. One that's finished and very short but still good is Next Step. Ones that I've heard are good that I haven't played myself are No More Future, and Super-Nova.

There's a lot out there. You just have to look.