I’ve been playing an oldschool RPG called Eschalon Book 1 by Basilisk Games for a little over a week now and loving every minute of it. If you ever played any of the original Ultima games, or Might and Magic, you should feel right at home. There is also a lot to be said about enjoying a game stuck in 800×600 so much, and this indie title gets so many of the little things right, from the pacing, the setting, the writing, the mechanics, that it all subtly works to keep you playing and having a good time.
No, that’s not a typo above, the game really is playing at a fixed 800×600 resolution, and in that very limited window are graphics that an Apple II could probably handle. There are better looking NES games out. Hell, I’m playing the game on my second PC because things just got creepy pixilated on a 24” monitor. But with all that said, the graphics, much like everything else, just work here in that “use your imagination to fill in the gaps” kind of way. Aware-winning they are not, but after a few hours they have grown on me, and if nothing else they certainly set the game apart and add to the whole ‘this is something a little different’ vibe the game has going for it (which is funny in a way, because the overall point is to go old-school RPG, not something that feels new).
The sound and controls are much the same, nothing amazing, but just good enough to draw you in and make playing enjoyable. As the game is turn-based, you don’t need the controls to be lighting-fast, and the sound has just enough variety to keep you interested and listening, plus the way it is used (wind noise when near a chasm for instance) are nice little surprises when you come across them.
What I like most about Eschalon however is how it plays both very open-ended yet at the same time guided enough to continue a (so far) solid story. The game world is broken up into zones, each one flowing into the other (no desert to jungle zone lines here), and you are free to explore however you want. Of course the local monsters might attempt to stop you if you go before you have leveled/geared up, but there are no magical barriers keeping you on a fixed path, no giant “you must do this now” roadblocks. There is a main quest chain and side quests, but how/when you accomplish things is up to you and your characters ability.
The plots general mystery and slow discovery is also enjoyable, fitting the overall pace of exploration rather than “rush to the end” save-the-world type stuff. Everything really is set up to feel like you are playing a lost adventurer just trying to survive and find out what is really going on. When you talk to different NPCs in different towns you get that same sense of inevitable doom and struggle, of people simply hoping today is not their final day while still trying to make the best of the life they have now.
The game is not without its faults of course, but most are of the player-driven/controlled variety. It’s entirely possible for instance that you roll up a terrible character and find the game a huge struggle. It’s then also very possible to ‘cheat’ by saving after every good turn and reloading after every ‘bad’ one. Fighting a tough enemy? Save, swing, if you hit and they did not, save. If they hit, reload. Rinse and repeat until the enemy is dead. About to open a chest? Save, open it, and reload until the random loot roll gives you something really great. Is it cheap? Of course, but ultimately the only one being cheated is you so I can’t exactly say it’s a huge deal. One could argue it’s a nice way to get around certain challenges without having to totally restart the game.
Other things, like how certain subsystems work and just how different stats impact different abilities could be better documented, but again this could be written off as something to slowly discover. You might make mistakes when assigning skill points or stats during a level up though, and one too many of those could lead to a restart or a whole lot of save/reload combat. I know I would have certainly done a few things differently if I was playing all over again, but my character is ‘good enough’ to continue, and the game not being a total pushover is not a bad thing IMO.
It’s always nice to be surprised by a title; to find that side-game to entertain you for a few dozen hours and get you out of the inevitable gaming routine that leads to burnout. If you are looking to enjoy some oldschool RPG gameplay, and don’t mind going very oldschool in the graphics department, I would strongly suggest giving at least the free demo a shot. I’m guessing more than a few readers might be pleasantly surprised.
I’ve been playing an oldschool RPG called Eschalon Book 1 by Basilisk Games for a little over a week now and loving every minute of it. There is a lot to be said about enjoying a game stuck in 800×600 so much, and this indie title gets so many of the little things right, from the pacing, the setting, the writing, the mechanics, that it all subtly works to keep you playing and having a good time.
No, that’s not a typo above, the game really is playing at a fixed 800×600 resolution, and in that very limited window are graphics that an Apple II could probably handle. There are better looking NES games out. Hell, I’m playing the game on my second PC because things just got creepy pixilated on a 24” monitor. But with all that said, the graphics, much like everything else, just work here in that “use your imagination to fill in the gaps” kind of way. Aware-winning they are not, but after a few hours they have grown on me, and if nothing else they certainly set the game apart and add to the whole ‘this is something a little different’ vibe the game has going for it (which is funny in a way, because the overall point is to go old-school RPG, not something that feels new).
The sound and controls are much the same, nothing amazing, but just good enough to draw you in and make playing enjoyable. As the game is turn-based, you don’t need the controls to be lighting-fast, and the sound has just enough variety to keep you interested and listening, plus the way it is used (wind noise when near a chasm for instance) are nice little surprises when you come across them.
What I like most about Eschalon however is how it plays both very open-ended yet at the same time guided enough to continue a (so far) solid story. The game world is broken up into zones, each one flowing into the other (no desert to jungle zone lines here), and you are free to explore however you want. Of course the local monsters might attempt to stop you if you go before you have leveled/geared up, but there are no magical barriers keeping you on a fixed path, no giant “you must do this now” roadblocks. There is a main quest chain and side quests, but how/when you accomplish things is up to you and your characters ability.
The plots general mystery and slow discovery is also enjoyable, fitting the overall pace of exploration rather than “rush to the end” save-the-world type stuff. Everything really is set up to feel like you are playing a lost adventurer just trying to survive and find out what is really going on. When you talk to different NPCs in different towns you get that same sense of inevitable doom and struggle, of people simply hoping today is not their final day while still trying to make the best of the life they have now.
The game is not without its faults of course, but most are of the player-driven/controlled variety. It’s entirely possible for instance that you roll up a terrible character and find the game a huge struggle. It’s then also very possible to ‘cheat’ by saving after every good turn and reloading after every ‘bad’ one. Fighting a tough enemy? Save, swing, if you hit and they did not, save. If they hit, reload. Rinse and repeat until the enemy is dead. About to open a chest? Save, open it, and reload until the random loot roll gives you something really great. Is it cheap? Of course, but ultimately the only one being cheated is you so I can’t exactly say it’s a huge deal. One could argue it’s a nice way to get around certain challenges without having to totally restart the game.
Other things, like how certain subsystems work and just how different stats impact different abilities could be better documented, but again this could be written off as something to slowly discover. You might make mistakes when assigning skill points or stats during a level up though, and one too many of those could lead to a restart or a whole lot of save/reload combat. I know I would have certainly done a few things differently if I was playing all over again, but my character is ‘good enough’ to continue, and the game not being a total pushover is not a bad thing IMO.
It’s always nice to be surprised by a title; to find that side-game to entertain you for a few dozen hours and get you out of the inevitable gaming routine that leads to burnout. If you are looking to enjoy some oldschool RPG gameplay, and don’t mind going very oldschool in the graphics department, I would strongly suggest giving at least the free demo a shot. I’m guessing more than a few readers might be pleasantly surprised.
Edit: This Chuck thing is harder than it looks…
Life comes at you fast. Chuck Norris comes at you faster.
Hardcore Casual 
Chuck Norris thought this article was so good that he made you post it twice.
At first i was “Wooah, such a nice long jucy read !”
But then i was moar leik “Meh …”
But to be serious, I dive into some ol’ school games from time to time (Master of Magic namely) and i always find the game superior to “all that new stuff” in certain areas. Amount of Detail and complexity, to name the most important ones.
While doing that, I also try to remove my nostalgia-tinted glasses as much as possible and they are still that good ! ;)
Computergames are Entertainment. And it is the same in all fields of the entertainment industry.
Once the “This is the new (Mainstream-)Shit” phase hits the fan, the commercialization kicks in and you established your own taste, all good comes from the good ol’ days or “Indieheads” =)
And that is not just the need to be different.
I really enjoyed Book I. Now Book II has come out so I’ll be getting the demo for that. I’ll be interested to see how the gameplay changes play out. And of course they added an “achievement-type” system.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the first thread that stuck out to me on the forums there: “I WANT MY MONEY BACK”. I had to go see what it was about – turns out the kid was dying too much and called the game a “save/load orgy”. Someone offered that maybe he was just a horrible gamer. :D
But man, people have been spoiled by games today, haven’t they? I remember games that had “save points” and you could lose hours of work between them if you weren’t careful. There’d be a freaking riot at Basilisk Studios by this guy if it was the original Final Fantasy, for example. (I seem to recall having to save at an Inn?)
I think that might be one reason I’m liking the game so much, it’s a challenge without feeling ‘cheap’ just to keep me playing. It’s very rewarding for me to finally beat an area or advance a quest, much more so here than in say an MMO (where usually time is the ONLY thing stopping you from being successful).
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