Pelit Magazine's review, translated

[BasiliskWrangler]

Here is a translation of Pelit Magazine's review of Book II. We were given special permission to reprint the article. Very special thanks to the translator.


Published in Pelit magazine, issue 6/2010. Reprinted in English by the author's permission exclusively at http://www.basiliskgames.com. Copyright Niko Nirvi, Pelit magazine.

Eschalon Book II (PC)

Ye Olde Schoole!

A gentle hand swept my tears away just as I was laying a bunch of flowers on the grave of Great RPGs. I'm dating again, and I'm in love +2.

Lots of exploration. Tons of character development options. Statistics micromanagement. Massive monsters and effective spells. Traps and puzzles. And a huge game world in which one may either follow the main plot or not.

The creator of Eschalon, Thomas Riegsecker, was not exaggerating when he promised us these features. Not much at least - one has to see the main plot come to an end to finish the game.

(Re)touching and wonderful
Eschalon Book I (Pelit 1/2008, 84p. + special recommendations) caught me by surprise. In addition to being a highly polished and enjoyable neo-retro RPG, it tickled my game bone from places I thought had worn off a long time ago. Thus, Book II got a place among the very few games that I have genuinely anticipated with great impatience.

In the first part of the trilogy I thwarted the goblin menace that threatened Thaermore, and salvaged the Crux of Ages, a magic stone that would help end the war. Peace was restored, but soon after the Taurax attacked, conquering Thaermore and stealing the Crux of Ages. Now the minotaurs are approaching Mistfall, a region in which my cabin happens to stand in Book II.

There, by the outskirts of a village, I wake up in the traditional RPG fashion, with no memory of my past or any skills worth mentioning. A world larger, but not much different from that of the prequel awaits me.

Gold coins hidden inside barrels, walking around in empty landscapes, stats and clichés. Why am I so unreasonably excited about a game that clearly is a relic, in a time of exciting new game entertainment experiences? The word 'relic' has two meanings. Except for something that is obsolete, it also stands for sacred artifacts. Eschalon carries a strong residue of the hallowed RPGs of the glory days, especially the Ultima series.

Eschalon II is a game in the classic meaning of the word. I control a single hero, who does exactly what I want him to do, nothing more. The game takes about 40-50 hours to complete, does not offer ready solutions to problems or offer a helping hand when things get tough, and it says things precisely as they are: "You have a 23 per cent chance of picking this lock." Damn straight!

Forever warriors
One of my best childhood memories involves me and my father sitting on a mountain top. He told me that one can trust only two things in this world: steel and duct tape. That's why I tend to start with a Warrior character whenever I begin playing a new RPG.

Games of recent years force the player to follow a predefined, limited skills tree. Eschalon lets me spend my hard-earned skill and attribute points in any way I want to, and additional abilities can be purchased with gold in the form of training or books. A group of inept adventurers is not needed, because the character can be developed into a multitalented hero. So, after garnering enough experience I healed, burned, lockpicked and did many other things that the heroes in Dragon Age, stuck with their limited roles, can only dream of.

Alas, in the beginning I was poor and nondescript, living in my little cabin near the village of Eastwillow in the countryside of Mistfall. I stepped outside, took a deep breath of the fresh, extremely fluid turn-based game system, in which the world moves only when I move. It feels like a real-time game in which you actually have time to wait and think. I admired the new, cutting-edge screen resolution of 1024x768, and, without any sarcasm boys and girls, the timeless graphics that suit their purpose more than well. Something else has also changed: in addition to the day and night cycle seen in Book I, the game sports different weather conditions that may have an effect on, among other things, how effectively weapons can be used in battle.

On my way to the village I killed, following the tradition, a rat. There is just enough money for me to buy a bow and all of the ordinary arrows the blacksmith has for sale. More can be attained later, as the shopkeepers' stocks are replenished every few days. The villages and towns still seem a little deserted, because I cannot help comparing them to those of, say, the Ultima games. Dialoque is relatively sparse, and conversations serve to guide the player through the plot rather than anything else, a fact that I am grateful for. I never understood people who demand ten books' worth of text in their games.

To eat or not to eat?
The most important new feature in the game is the choice of whether the hero will feel hunger and thirst. Save for the last miles of the game, there are plenty of wells, and drinking from them costs nothing. However, it was a good idea to make this feature optional, as finding food is hard and the shops charge a good deal of gold for it.
I was forced to abandon my first game because there simply was not enough food. Leveraging my foraging skills did not help either. Then I started a new game with the hunger option turned off, and found the spells 'create food' and 'draw water' available for sale at a magic shop shortly after. The irony.

A man is measured by the length of his blade
I felt a bit disappointed at myself on the second go because having to take food and drink into account had forced me to change my style of play toward a more risky direction, which I found quite enjoyable. Well, at least I took some risks by turning on another option that does not let me save the game if my character is sick, poisoned or if monsters are nearby. Perhaps I'll be braver next time.

Eschalon is a hostile place. Monsters are static, i.e. they do not respawn after an area has been cleared of them. Camping is an exception to the rule, as the sleeping hero may be awakened by a group of randomly generated enemies. Experience points are awarded generously enough, so that my Murgh Sharduk was able to gain levels without having to resort to grinding.

I usually fought the monsters by running around in circles and shooting them with magic spells and the few precious arrows I had. The enemies are invariably dangerous or very dangerous, at least in groups if not alone. The battle system has been improved so that one may choose between different modes so as to exchange maximum damage for better accuracy or the other way around. As a last resort in an emergency, the player can choose a defensive stance, disabling the ability to hit back, and run.

No matter how much you'd want to be Conan the Barbarian, survival without any magic skills is unlikely. There are two types of magic in Eschalon: Divination and Elemental. Spells are learned from scrolls, which can be either found lying in various places around the world, or bought in shops. The spells are well designed and very useful in their respective fields of use.

Alchemy is now actually very useful, because the hero forages for ingredients while resting. The longer he rests, the more stuff he will collect. The whole fighting and spells system is well balanced: fighting is done quickly, but it is not reduced to the oversimplified clickfest seen in Diablo.

Looking forward to Book III
Eschalon Book II is a wondeful game. The game felt 'right' from the beginning to the end. The interface is polished, the level of difficulty is good, everything falls in place very well. The only thing I could complain about is the relative shortness of the story. I was left wanting for more side quests and secrets, especially in the final stages of the plot.

Knowing that a free expansion to Book II will be released later this summer will make the wait for Book III a little easier. The timing is great, as both Eschalons are perfectly suited for casual gaming sessions at your summer cabin. Just dig up that same old laptop you've kept there for years, open a can of cold beer and fire up this game - it will probably run smoothly regardless. And should your wife cut her kneecap instead of firewood with the axe once again, the adventure will wait for you.

It might not be wise for you to ask her why she didn't invest skill points in Cleaving Weapons, though.

Niko Nirvi (Pelit magazine)

86 out of 100
PELIT Magazine Special Recommendation

"A fantastic sequel to a fantastic RPG."

Pros:
Retro in a good way
Polished and fluid gameplay

Cons:
Not for fans of high tempo games

[Hactar]

Well, I'm finnish and have a subscription for the magazine in question so in that way I'm biased, but it really is a great review and the translation does do it justice
And I'm glad to see it used to try and get BW some more sales.

I had completely missed Book I and never heard of it before the reviewer, Niko Nirvi, published a small news article about the then-upcoming Book II on the front page of Pelit.fi. Naturally I was attracted to such an article titled "The most anticipated game of the year has come!" which then went on to describe the diamond-hard core of the game in just a couple of sentences also providing the link to where to get the game.

I quickly downloaded my copy, tried the demo, and bought it before the actual review was published!

So if your Book II convertees need further proof that they have to get this game, then show them this article!

-Hactar

[Painted Lady]

I am personally very fond of people who love Eschalon because I think it is a wonderful game. It was nice to see such a positive review - and it quite accurately reflected my opinion as well.

[Nomen luni]

It's a shame my foreign language skills are lacking. I love this reviewer's style!