), and have been a fair-weather fan of some of the M&M series. I have to say that Eschalon kicks all their butts. (Okay, maybe not Fallout, but they aren't really comparable... anyway...) I bought the game within two hours, and after a few false starts with chars I didn't like, just beat the game with a solid 15+ hours of gameplay.This is by far one of the cleanest, simplest, prettiest, and most awesome crpg I've played in... well, ever. It's hard to count the things about this game to praise, but I'll try: simple but shiny and elegant graphics, complex but straightforward stat system, alchemy that is actually useful, no classes**, great replayability (more on that in a sec)... I love that the entire map is open to you at the beginning... if you're brave or crazy enough you can run to the citadel at level 1! Balancing of enemies is rather exceptional.. it's either hard and rewarding (early) or easy(er) and fun (later). Wealth was probably the best balanced/designed in any game I've played... you found enough stuff to sell to get a one or two things you wanted after every big haul, and you never got insanely rich. (I beat the game with 824 gold in my possession!) My criticisms are few, and have all been addressed ad nauseam here: I would have liked keypad movement, auto-stacking on pickup, and.. yeah, that's actually all I can come up with!
I finished the game with a level 14 "Druidic Magic User", though I was more of a fighter than anything (just used magic to 'roid myself up with buffs). I found three endings (trying not to spoil too much).. I gave the thingy to the bad guy, I gave the thingy to the good guy, and I killed the good guy and all his bad-@$$ guards (which was hard!). That's right, Destroyer with a level 14! [is that good??] My next play through will be with a rouge, might even try no magic.
Sorry for the ramble there, but this game was truly amazing. Can't wait for book 2!
Cheers,
~nepharis
* Never actually beat Exile III, though I probably played it for 100+ hours.. -_- Beat Avernum I with single-char party, which was really fun.
** In the standard, D&D sense of classes, that is. I love the flexibility the E:B1 system gives your character... I started off primarily a magick user, ended up primarily a fighter after I pumped strength,swords,light armor starting around lvl7. I even used a bow quite a bit in the citadel (sniping goblin sappers is fun)
![Officer [Silver Rank]](./images/ranks/officer2.png "Officer [Silver Rank]")
