Review Eschalon: Book 1 review

[Monolith]

Tags: Eschalon: Book I

<a href="http://www.gamersinfo.net">GamersInfo</a> are late to the party with their positive <a href="http://www.gamersinfo.net/articles/2609-eschalon-book-1">review</a> of <a href="http://basiliskgames.com/book1.html">Eschalon: Book 1</a>.
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<blockquote>Once you get past the creation system, you’re dropped into an open-ended world. You can go where you like, and nothing holds you back except for your character’s level and skills. Exploration is turn-based. Just point and click, and he’ll go in the direction you want. Monsters move whenever you do something. Left-mouse button initiate your primary attack, whether it is a sword, mace, dagger or bow, while the right mouse allows you to cast spells. So if you’re being chased or have encountered a tough monster, you can take all the time in the world to decide your next move. Basilisk is not joking with the statement about “playing at your own pace.” You can literally stop and smell every flower. For me, this is one of those games that is perfect to play at the end of the day. Just prepare a cup of chamomile (or Sleepy Time) tea, turn on this game, and slowly inhale and exhale. Feel the tension slowly fade away.</blockquote>
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And the physically handicapped rejoiced.
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Anyway, could you smell every flower in Oblivion? After drinking the amount of chamomile tea he drank you'll probably can.
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Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com">Gamebanshee</a>

 

[Luzur]

well i liked it since it reminded me of Ultima.

only bad i saw in it was no big city to quest in.

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

well i liked it since it reminded me of Ultima.

Seconded. It was old-school, but as in "pre-Fallout old-school". For me, one of the most enjoyable games in a long while. It's not perfect but it did strike a chord.

only bad i saw in it was no big city to quest in.

I didn't even miss a big city. I liked the quiet ambiance of a backwater setting with slowly deteriorating/completely abandoned settlements few and far between. Again, that's just me.

 

[Vidder]

And the physically handicapped rejoiced.

What was the rpgcodex standard argument for turn based combat again?

 

[Captain Rufus]

I liked the demo, but the ability to only buy a download version kept me from dropping coin on it. Plus the sequel sounds better overall than the original, so why not wait?

PS: Game developers: I have a 1900 by 1200 24" iMac widescreen. I would LOOOVE it if your games would let me go fullscreen on it, or have resolutions higher than 1024 by 7xx or whatever made me all a twitter on my Voodoo 5 era PC. Its just pixels. Its ok to let me see more of the gameworld/map.

(This same thing annoys me in the Commanders wargames. Bad enough they want 50 bucks for them, but 1024 res only? Uhh.. no.)

 

[Dark_Paladin_Anti_Hero]

The download version works like gog.com's games. You get an .exe. If you go to their forums you might think otherwise, but those are people who stupidly deleted the file after installing. I wonder if they throw away game discs after install as well.

Eschalon is... nice... but it's hardly anything like Ultima at all.

 

[Luzur]

reread: it REMINDED ME of Ultima.

not that it had anything to do with Ultima, more then the style with birds-eye-view.

but if the choice was either love Eschalon or Fallout 3 i would pick Eschalon any day.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

A shame that as a mage you'll spend lots of time running away early game.

 

[someone else]

Roguelikes are better, well some of them. Never did complete Eschalon I, it is slow and boring.