After the distraction of the holidays and some, er, other things *cough* mark of chaos *cough*, I've finally finished Eschalon. First game I've finished in probably over 2 years. I clocked in at about 50 hours because:
a) First time through, I like to scour every corner of a world, if feasible
b) I played a Ranger, which seems to be a class that takes a little more thought and deliberateness in combat and resource management
c) I play slowly in general.
What a lovingly crafted game. And it hit the bull’s-eye for me in so many design choices. A few examples:
World - great atmosphere without trying too hard. Manageable size without feeling too small.
Writing - less is more. Just how I like it. Enough to feel realistic and contribute to immersion, but not so much that I thought I was reading more than playing. Nothing wrong with reading, it's just that I can usually get a much better story and much, much better writing out of a book by a good author than from a game. To put this in context, I've never been a fan of the overflowing, purple prose style for cRPG's. I find it usually works against my personal immersion factor rather than for. Also, obvious dialogue branches thinly veiled with lots and lots of less than inspirational (i.e. hackneyed) lines aren’t a plus in my book. Just get to the point with enough style to give the character some, well, character. I think Eschalon nails this most of the time.
Combat - challenging and well paced. Not too much. Not too overwhelming. Very fun. Got to use lots of tactical options, more so than most cRPG’s I’ve played recently. Melee, ranged, offensive magic, defensive magic, buffs, alchemy, environment, lighting/sneaking. Used them all to good effect. Often. Very rich. As a bonus, my Ranger got to be a true Ranger growing in skill with his bow to the point that for the last quarter of the game he was dropping most foes before they got to him. How many cRPG’s have a valid ranged character these days?
Character Progression - again, well paced. The game was tough without being spirit-crushing for the first 25%, challenging for the middle 50%, and I felt satisfyingly powerful for the final 25%. Note, based on general feedback on the game, mileage can vary significantly here depending on how you build your character. Guess I got a bit lucky with my first.
Skill Progression - great. Lots of meaningful options to choose from without too much overlap. Plus, really felt the difference in effectiveness as points were added. I've read the criticisms that the game "forces" you down a generalist path, but I'm not buying it. I plan to play more purest classes in future runs just to see. Finally, like that there are multiple options for increasing skills, i.e. point-buy, books, trainers and items. Nicely done and with restraint. Never felt like it was too easy to level up as many skills as I wanted. Choices almost always required thought.
Tricks and Treats - traps! puzzles! fire-bombs! levers! camping! varying diseases! curses! Found myself saying “whoa. that’s cool.” far more often and much further into the game than many others.
To sum up: loved it! Can’t wait for Book II. Now, when can I find some time to complain about the Gamebanshee review…