Eschalon: Book I

[Nightshape]

JUst wondering if anyone had actually played this game, if so, what was your verdict.... Thought about picking it up, then I wasn't certain that it would actually be worth my time...

[aries101]

There is a demo for you to download if you don't know if you'll like it. Be aware, though, that Eschalon: Book 1 for the moment can only be boight via download since the developer, Basilisk Games, ran out of CDs...(or dvds). So popular was the first game in this trilogy.

 

I have played the demo; it is very hard, but not impossible. Skills mean something in this game. If you don't have enough points in lockpicking, crates will explode, putting points into geography (I think) will it so that you see more on the auto-map. The combat is also very hard, but not impossible. The combat is sort of turn-based. You each have turns, and you need to strategically think about where you're moving your character.

 

Graphics wise ist is not as polished or clean or full of bloom as some other games, I could mention, but it is OK. The story is intriguing enough to get you going; the environment is interesting, enough, to do the same.

[Hell Kitty]

Skills mean something in this game. If you don't have enough points in lockpicking, crates will explode

 

what

[Kaftan Barlast]

You never tried lockpicking a crate, have you? I failed to pick one just the other day and it damn near blew my head off. The science behind how a wooden crate mostly filled with coins can suddenly and mysteriously explode is quite complex, but the existance of this phenomenon has been irrefutably proven.

[Monte Carlo]

Apparently, if you dont put enough points into moving silently, your character develops verrucas. It's awesome.

[mkreku]

I bought this game straight from the developer! It was only a 70 MB (or so) download so it was OK.

 

The game is excellent, if a little on the short side. I absolutely love the mapping skill! The combat is pretty fun, the small world is well thought out and detailed and the quests are obviously hand made and feel like they're made with passion instead of cut and paste.

 

If only the game had been longer and had more content, I would have recommended it to everyone. Now I've only recommended it to old school RPG fans who enjoyed games like Utima 4-5 and the like. Obviously to noone here, damn Bioweenies.

[Magnum Opus]

Yeah, played this one. For an indie game, it's really quite well done, if a bit on the simplistic side compared to, say, a Bioware game. Or an Ultima, though the game still has that vibe about it.

 

There are some interesting uses for skills. The automap will remain completely blank unless you put at least one point into Cartography, but there's a spell you can use to boost that skill if you don't want to do that. Downside is that the map will vanish when the spell wears off. Light as well becomes an issue, not only for seeing in naturally dark places but for combat as well; are modifiers that come into play for dark-fighting.

 

I found the combat ridiculously easy, but then again, I was playing a mage-type and I've heard fighters are much harder, which I recall thinking plausible enough last time I went through. Acid slugs in particular would be trouble for fighters, I think. Fighting at range is really the only strategy you'll ever need, if you want to go that route.

 

Graphics are nice. Music is very good. All enemies move at 1 square per turn, which is a bit odd. Some enemies are tougher than others, but all seemed pretty similar. Rather liked the looting. Treasure is scaled, but still interesting enough to be worthwhile.

 

Watch out for crypts. Good for farming, but unless you know what's going on, you might end up with 30 poltergeists homing in on you. Not good, that.

 

Story is a bit on the "thin, but overdone" side, I found. Thin, in that it doesn't really impact much of anything, overdone in that what plot elements there are have all been seen innumerable times before in RPGs. Amnesia. Long-lost brother. You know the drill. In that sense, is good that the story doesn't mean much. Dialogue is very colloquial, even long-winded at times compared to the stripped-down and optimized word counts Bioware et al. work with, but I don't mind reading, and there's not all that much the game has to say anyway. Quests aren't particularly involved... usually of the Fedex variety.

 

Personal verdict is favourable enough to keep an eye out for Book II, and I actually expect to get that one when it comes out, but don't expect too much complexity. Do expect to see a few mechanisms that modern gaming has done away with or never really put to the test, such as that automap thing mentioned above. A very solid first game from a more or less one-person dev house, IMO. Well worth a looksee.

 

Can see the game being a little off-putting for those not familiar with the older oldschool games out there. Try the demo first.

[Nightshape]

I bought this game straight from the developer! It was only a 70 MB (or so) download so it was OK.

 

The game is excellent, if a little on the short side. I absolutely love the mapping skill! The combat is pretty fun, the small world is well thought out and detailed and the quests are obviously hand made and feel like they're made with passion instead of cut and paste.

 

If only the game had been longer and had more content, I would have recommended it to everyone. Now I've only recommended it to old school RPG fans who enjoyed games like Utima 4-5 and the like. Obviously to noone here, damn Bioweenies.

 

Ta, I think I shall have to purchase it at some point based on the Old Skool vibe. I'm going through a retro phase.