Don’t think old-school PC game greatness is gone. Otherwise you will miss this great game!
I’ve gone through the Baldur’s Gate series a dozen times. Arcanum and Diablo as well. For a while I played action RPGs, but they got old too quickly. Then I heard about the Eschalon series. At first, I didn’t think it could be true. An old-school RPG with real-time/turn-based fighting, an overhead view, and the isometric characters that I love? Yes!
So you’re probably wondering right now why this game is different. Is there anything that makes it unique? Yes, there is. You start off with the character generation system, and from the get-go you will see many different attributes. Fans of D&D and Baldur’s Gate, keep reading. You still have to roll for your stats, but now every stat has a purpose. Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Speed, Intelligence, Perception, Wisdom, and Concentration all have an effect on what you do in the world.
I bet now you’re gonna ask, “What about the classes?” The class system is unique but simple. They merely help you decide which one skill you’ll get as a bonus. Other than that, it is all up to you. You can make a mage wielding heavy armor and maces, a ranger than that casts spells, even a rogue wielding two-handed swords. Anything is possible for your character. Did I mention you get to select your religion as well? How cool is that?
All this aside, I know most people think that it still isn’t enough. Fortunately, there’s more. Besides what makes most RPGs identical, there is a lot of realism to the game. For example, you have a hunger meter and a thirst meter. They lower as you are walking around and questing. When they reach the bottom, it’s game over. This forces you to take a logical approach to where and how you will quest. Should you keep going farther into the evil lair and maybe starve, or should you go back home to recuperate? This somewhat brutally realistic approach makes the game feel very real.
One last important aspect is the fighting system. It’s simple- whenever you move somewhere, even if you are not fighting, the NPCs move. You can also press the space bar to stand by idly while everyone else keeps moving, which is excellent for rogues when they are hidden. In a fight, however, everyone moves at the same pace. But from what I’ve seen, fights still go pretty quickly. Whether you’re fighting one-on-one or two-on-one, you just keep clicking at a fast pace. It’s almost a mix of turn-based and real time action, and it’s addictive.
As for the graphics, I am not as picky as others, but I still feel that they are polished. You should at least try out the demo if you are into computer RPGs and are interested in this game. If you like it enough, you also can buy it at the reasonable price of $25 on the company’s website.
Games: Eschalon Book II, Platforms: PC, Genres: RPG, Publishers: Basilisk Games, Developers: Basilisk Games
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Hi, DK I would like to know about the game, pease help me: I created a character who uses axes heavy fighter and heavy armor, and I see that light armor are much cheaper and I can usable, simply acquire the ability. The problem is that I already bought several points on heavy armor, I wonder how these developments for skills, how do I gain new abilities to attack, so far I have my technique ax on level 10 and gained an ability to attack, how do I make new ones, and how do I catch more attacks, I miss very much. and please how do I walk faster, my character does not walk it drags. How do I know where my location on world map, and the books and scrolls in the game I find I can use them even being a fighter? Do you have a guide for this game, I liked a lot and I would play it until the end.
Sorry I couldnt get back to you earlier. The most basic advice I can give to you about the game is to take everything at an even pace. If you dont, your gonna have a problem with fighting the higher lvl monsters. This is not one of those games where you can be a powergamer and be romping all over the place and owning things left and right. You fight things at the rate they are at. As for what you are saying, heavy armor is better than light armor in some ways. It has higher damage absorbtion by 1 point if you want to compare light and heavy. This is not to diss heavy armor, but light makes your experience much easier by avoiding battles. There are certain skills that you dont really need to put points into, some are-both the armor skills. There are books in the game that give you free skill points for armor so dont worry. As for your axe you are refering to cleaving weapons. You get a new attack at lvl 10 Cleaving skill. The new attack hits a number of enemies at once with one shot so use it when you are surrounded. To use the skill press Shift+ left click on the enemy. The speed of the game is ok, but at times it is slow. Just try and stay on the main quest to make the experience less tedious. As for the world map you have to have at least 1 point into cartography to get it. Again use skill books at the taverns to buy one. Every time you get to a new tavern, save the game and load that game back up until they have what you need. I’ve done it numerous times. For everything else I didnt cover, go to Basiliskgames.com and go to the forums. There are people there that know much more than me. They can answer your questions, and dont worry since they are very quick.
Hope this helps ya,
LOL @ master of none. How many hours will Eschalon Book II take to beat?
How many endings?
It has two endings and hour-wise is all up in the air. It could take some people 20-40 hours and others spend their time and do every quest. My piece of advice is to pick 4 skills in the beginning, just 4. Spend most of your time leveling up your weapon or magic skill. I would say something like 5 at start up. By lvl 3 that skill should be lvl 10. And if you are a fighting class and use a weapon skill that means you get a feat. The feats are the best part of the game. Each weapon mastery is unique to the weapon. Fore ex: maces get devastating blow which shatters armor and multiplies all your damage by 2 in an attack. Piercing weapons like daggers get an extra attack per round which can be good too. I specialize in my fists. Unarmed combat gets a 4x multiplier to damage with one shot! There’s other specialties out there too that have just as cool ones. Any more questions feel free to ask.
The thrist and hunger meter is a great idea, forcing you to find food or some sort of thirst quencher. In all of the RPG’s that I’ve played you could basically free roam, and not worry about food or water.
Yea it definitely requires that you bring the right amount, otherwise put points into foraging. The only thing that is a little tough is when you first start your first character. I was stupid with one of my characters because i gave myself too many skills in the beginning thus making me into a jack of all trades (master of none).