Eschalon: Book II

First of all I played it from the beginning to the end and I enjoyed it quite a bit. However, I almost didn't. I like RPG's but my characters are usually the warrior/ranger type. However, in this game the advantage clearly lies with magic. Hence, when I noticed the imbalance I chose to play a pure magician with alchemy. It was great fun playing it and I finished the game with spare 10k gold in my pocket. Let's hope the next book will provide a more balanced approach and even it it doesn't just know what choose...

I bought this a while back on another website, however the game is excellent. It's a grid/turn based rpg. There were big improvements from Book I to Book II. Improved graphics and weapon modifications. However, the game can be unforgiving at times. Luckily, you can turn off some features (i.e. hunger). The music is memorable as well as the gameplay. The story is nice (until the end). Overall, I would highly recommend this title. I put in about 25 hours and really enjoyed myself. Side note: It also worked with a cheat engine if you want to further explore/tweak with max level characters.

Eschalon has the potential to be very charming. It has several mechanical bugbears that hold it back to an incredible degree. • There is absolutely no way to move faster. The slow pace at which the PC travels kills any sense of urgency or swiftness. Even compared to other CRPGs like it, this is a very sluggish gait. • Fast travel is useless. The game is entirely linear, with very little to no reason to return to previous areas. • There are too many stats. Even the primary skills feel redundant, but the list of minor skills just goes on forever and you need to dedicate too many levels up to work something minor like your map up to a competent level. • Many items, abilities, and spells are redundant. Why ever bring a torch for light when you can use cat's eyes for ultravision, or learn a stronger spell when fire dart is simply more efficient? • Inventory management is poor. Moving items about is a fiddly business, and bringing an item out to invoke it is often more trouble than it is worth. For a bit more fun, there's an arbitrary weight limit in addition to an item limit. • Survival elements, because reasons. This and the third game have optional survival elements, something that even the most hardened GMs don't bother with in most games because they're so easy to trivialize. And they're easy to trivialize in this game as well. Don't bother activating this feature.

Not really from the good old days, but it sure feels like it. The story is epic and involving, the character creation is extensive and allows you to play how you want to, and the interface reminds me of greats like Baldur's Gate and Ultima. If you enjoy CRPGs from the 90s as much as I do then you need to buy this game and the first one as well!