Eschalon: Book I

I bought this when it was on sale for $2.39 and have to say after playing it for some 30+ hours it was well worth the $5.99 it would be normally. What is this game and what's it not? Does it feel old school? With games like Daggerfall and Wizardry 7 and Might and Magic VII to compare it to, I'd say it faired well. In fact, it's easy to play. Few things: 1) Mouse-based interface with a fixed kepmapping. 1) The graphics are 2d-isometric, but they're sharp, unlike many old school 3d rpgs. 2) I never felt the need to save scum and only reloaded a savegame once in 30 hours of gameplay. 3) The stat system is not confusing. The only drawback is you need to enter the character editor to get help information. - The game includes a map and a mini-map that accompanies a cartography skill. - Quest NPCs can die and they'll attack enemies if nearby, so be careful of that. - The game doesn't stop you from going to high-level areas. However, it's very difficult to stray so far off the path and you're given a lot of opportunity to escape your pursuers. - Older areas don't respawn, so if you have to go back for something, it's a breeze. However, if you rest and something respawns, I think it does stick around. Overall, I'm happy with this game. I would love to say more, but this review system doesn't allow me to create a larger review.

This is a real shame, because early on it appeared to have all of the perfect ingredients to make a really engaging, atmospheric and fun game. The opportunity was missed by some really poor mechanics and insane gameplay that makes the gamer feel hated by the developers. Other poorly designed games give you at least SOME tools to have fun and beat the bad guys ... this game gives all that to the bad guys, and leaves the gamer feeling increasingly impotent. I enjoyed the unique turn based gameplay, which once you get the hang of it makes perfect sense. I also liked the character creation, the crisp feel of the opening act, and the premise of the storyline. I was willing to grind , trying to make each level-up make a difference to my character, even though it never felt like it really did. Killing a woodland wasp took around 20 arrows, 90% of health, and several in-game days of killing thugs that respawned if I tried to get my health back up through resting by camping. What made me ultimately quit and uninstall this game wasn't the Amiga 500 style graphics, nor the annoyinging soundtrack, nor even the repetitive water torture drip, drip, drip of resting ... killing the inevitable thugs that appeared while sleeping ... resting .. killing the inevitable thugs that appeared while sleeping ... resting ... killing the inevitable ... well, you get the idea. Nope, none of that. The reason I simply gave up, and can only rate this game 2 stars is because ... it felt like I was going nowhere. My character could never find enough loot to pay for even anywhere near enough arrows/ potions needed to last a level without copious amounts of death. It all felt like too much hard work, and less and less fun with each hour. I originally bought book II and III to play them as a trilogy, but I can't be bothered to load the other 2 games up, because this was eventually so mind numbingly dull. A genuine shame that such a good idea was so badly spoilt by terrible gameplay design.

I happened across Eschalon Book One when it was available for free on GoG when purchasing other games, so that's a bonus, because I would have been left feeling rather disgruntled had I paid for it. Certainly, there's a large world to explore, but when most of it is filled with repetitive hack and slash encounters, it just gets tiresome and repetitive. The underlying story isn't particularly interesting, and after hours of aimless wandering around a dull and uninteresting world I couldn't interact with much, I just didn't feel motivated to continue. There is an element of freedom when it comes to character creation, however, I got the impression there was very little balance. The first I created was a ranger-archer type, but after very quickly running out of arrows, it soon became evident that roleplaying as such a character was rendered pointless. I never once found arrows in the various chests or barrels dotted around the lands, plus buying them from NPC's was prohibitively expensive. Essentially, the lack of a crafting system to fletch my own arrows made the whole purpose of that character build entirely pointless. Feeling forced to go with a melee type warrior in my next attempts to get into the game, were just filled with more tedium, making the whole experience feel extremely limited. Hack and slash, run away and heal, hack and slash some more, rest, wake up, hack and slash some more... rinse and repeat. Hardly what I would call an engaging challenge, nor particularly rewarding. Based on my experiences with this first iteration of the game, I feel zero motivation to try Book Two and Book Three. Reading the reviews for those, they just appear to be more of the same.

So far I am enjoying this. If you played rpg's in the 80's 90's it hits the mark. The movement is a bit wonky, but other than that great game. I would say this is like a really good graphical roguelike. I look forward to trying out book II.

Let's get to the nitty gritty. Beautiful opening visuals and music. Crisp clear interface in old school style but more fresh. Simple but very clear and detailed textures, pleasing to the eye. Good character animations. Day/night cycle. Excellent environmental sounds and atmosphere. Rousing game music. Survival mechanics. I could go on but this game certainly made a good impression on me. Happy to recommend.