RPGCodex recently finished their time with Eschalon: Book II. The review has no score, opting instead to highlight a number of up and down points. The Codex is a notoriously hard-to-please group of enthusiasts and despite several criticisms, they ended their review with: “…it’s still a pretty nifty game which every fan of the genre should try. And which fans of the first game can safely buy before even trying.” Fair enough.
Link: RPGCodex Review
Samwell Fay
The Codex is a cesspool of idiots. I have never seen them give a positive review – ever. Besides that, their “journalism” is a joke, which is why no one takes them seriously anymore. Why would you even reprint their review, BG?
Elwro
Care to discuss any specific points or would you just prefer to stick to name-calling? I tried to provide an in-depth review; apart from bare facts, I wrote what I liked, I wrote what I didn’t like, and I gave my reasons for that. What’s wrong about that?
(I might not be able to respond for some time since I’m on vacation with rare access to the net, but eventually I will respond fur sure.)
BasiliskWrangler
@Elwro – Thanks for the review. I thought it was fair- you played the game and gave your opinions, of which you had many good things to say as well as a few negatives. Of course we will take your issues to heart and see what we can do to improve the third and final Eschalon game.
@Samwell – We appreciate your support, but your comments are just going to stir people up. If you want to have a civil discussion about the review, please feel free to start a topic in the forums.
IJBall
I think this review is mostly fair. There are a few things that are personal preferences of Elwro (e.g. the inventory ‘Autosorting’ thing which I think most of us feel would *not* be a good idea; the idea that there should be more than two weapons/armor presets (it’s not that I don’t think it’s a good idea – it’s just that I don’t feel all that strongly about it…)), but I think many of this review’s criticisms of Book II are pretty broadly shared. In general, I think I agree that more refining and “tinkering” of (esp. the engine) will be needed during the Book III development process.
But I think the one area where Book II has the potential to really excel (vs. Book I) is the one area that I think few of us have been able to tap or appraise yet – that is, namely, that Book II seems like it’s better set-up for both add-on expansions, and also potentially varied player-created content. That’s probably beyond the scope of Elwro’s review, but I think it’s the thing that most excites me about Book II.
Caroline
i think it was a reasonable review, the emptiness i do agree with, it makes wandering round lookin for things so boring, the rest of the game we are enjoyin thoroughly. Possibly could have done with more tweakin before release, and why there are two dungeons/caves we cant acess on this game makes no sense. overall thoroughly enjoying the game.
BasiliskWrangler
@Caroline – remember, those two dungeons are entrances for add-on areas. We’ll be announcing the first one very soon!