Eschalon: Book I - First Impressions

So I've been playing games again! This aforementioned one ^.

It's been a while since I partook in a real adventure, so I was hoping to find some such game in my digital collection that I had yet to play; give it a shot. I hit the jackpot! This was everything I want in an adventure game, and more.

It has:

• Balanced stats, with races, traits and skill point distribution that's both simple to use and difficult to master.
• Quests and characters that allow you access to certain traits without having to grind your level too much to get them.
• A good balance between difficulty and reward, that makes the grind not boring, but appreciatively time-consuming too. And you feel like you're making progress even when you occasionally have to step back from a particular dungeon and go somewhere else first. The exploration aspect's a big part of the adventure.
• Plentiful missions, that allow you to jump around, and get the EXP or gold you need to progress elsewhere. Stories and character fates slowly interweave into what I assume will eventually be an epic plot.
• Pieces of lore and know-how you pick up along the way. You find books occasionally with stories that are easy to read through, but so thorough. The world really is it's own world - though it does not require so lengthy reads to learn about. Your worldly know grows sporadically as you go, and probably makes it easier to choose the right character race and traits and all the next time you play.
• Magic that's helpful, and fun! You have levels there too, and key mappings that make spells easy to integrate into gameplay and battle. Speaking of which, there are...
• Key bindings and shortcuts for EVERYTHING. Everything relevant at least. Sometimes I wish the shortcuts were more flexible (like how you'd think it was universal you'd be able to use the ENTER key to say Yes, instead of just Y (or a mouse click), but once you get used to the provided mappings they are thought-out too.
• A world that's extensive! I'm eight hours in and it feels like I'm still just scratching the surface of it - though I wonder if all areas on the map are actually included in this game. Considering there's a Book II, too... and so third... and fourth?
• Characters with interesting backstories - in-game ones - even though interactions with them are scripted, and not the most dynamic. You have an interesting backstory too - in classic Cave Story or Zelda fashion. You wake up in a ravaged world with no memories, and so go on a quest to regain them, that quickly turns into a quest for something very different...
• A speaking tree! An ancient one. He's part of the quest, and it feels like there's a message with his being there too. To care for our world; for clean air and water. In a way it's a message that permeates the whole game, but not so that it detracts from the story. It's a cool bonus. Feels like a meaningful feat of design. And makes the game world one all the more worth exploring and protecting.
• A big inventory with room for almost everything - but not so much you actually don't have to manage your space! There's room to expand it as you level up too, and chests in the most diverse locations, where you can safely offload your inventory as well.
• Alchemy! And a thought-out system for mixing the different ingredients you stumble across along the way - they can be used both for potions and for equipment alterations. Though some things you'd assume will serve such purposes are really just... worthless. *cough* weapon fragments *cough*
• Day and night that come and goes as you wander. You can camp, or light a torch, or a lantern, or use magic to light the way instead - in more than one way... the circadian rhythm feels real, and yet there is an appreciative lack of focus on particular times or deadlines, too. You just wander, and live, and get things done, and time passes...
• Boats? There seem to be boats you can navigate too! Though I haven't gotten that far yet. *
• An environment that's diverse, and easy but not obvious to navigate. You walk around at an appreciatively (okay I'll admit at first it felt a bit slow and frustrating) pace too. Fast enough for it not to be annoying - once you get into it - but slow enough that you feel you really explore the sceneries too... plus it probably has the added effect of making the world seem a lot more extensive than it maybe actually is. Though there are ways to quick travel and move back to areas you've previously been in, too. Travel repetition's minimized.
• Ambient background sounds both relaxing and atmospheric! The music - when there is music - is good, and the lack of voicing I don't miss at all. The battle sounds are sometimes unnecessarily sexual, but never mind that! After a while you stop thinking about this probably unintentional VA innuendo, and it sounds like battle after all.
• Battle mechanics that are simple but good. You distribute your skills to manage different feats of battle better than others, too. Like for example being able to run away from one. And I like the weaponry; character itineraries so far.

When I say the battle mechanics are simple I don't mean the formulae that goes into calculating the technicalities thereof, btw. Those are all but simple. But: simple for the player!

They're easy to get into. The system's turn-based but responsive, so you don't really feel it's turn-based at all unless you intentionally wait yourself. It can be an appreciative respite sometimes if you do. There's time to consider your actions or alternative paths when you need to.

What more...

You find interesting items - there seems to be a lot of items. Random modifiers and imbuement further vary their breadth.

The lockpicking and trap disarming features are fun - and skills you can hone, too. Choosing what to hone is part of the adventure... you wont have skill points to spare on everything.

There are toxins, and curses, and all kinds of hindrances that add to the adventure, and test your skills, and sometimes just frustrate you to no end (this soon teaches you to save often, as most grievances occur randomly, and you can reload a previous save to alter said unwanted encounter).

And you don't have a party with you, it's just you! Which is something... that's maybe more common than not? I just happen to have played a fair share of games where that's not usually the case, like for example the Final Fantasy franchise, or Epic Battle Fantasy (inspired by ditto). And that Japanese one I forget the name of... UPD: Breath of Fire!

In that way Eschalon feels all the more personal, and all the more immersive.

I'm really enjoying this game so far. I'd post more but... I want to play more too!!! So that's what I'll do, and review more when more is due.

Let's hope this adventure is not too long, but also long enough, and the adventure lasting.

First impressions: Great.

 rated 4.5/5: almost awesome

* They didn't work! There was a plan to have a boat take you to Ash Island, but alas that functionality was scrapped for the final game

The visuals btw are also great! They're old now but they don't feel dated. The screen resolution's just 800x600px - and there's no way to change this, but it really doesn't feel that small. You can play full-screen. So it really is well-designed, and I appreciate that too.

Size-wise it's a very small game too, a mere 120MB or so, yet they (though the developer is apparently pretty much just a one man studio) manage to encompass so very much within it, and make it seem abundantly bigger! This also very much adds to my sense of appreciation here.

I was actually planning to get into Diablo II this time - another epic RPG I tried back in the day, but never fully completed. I apparently hadn't bought it yet...

No doubt I'd have enjoyed that too - and will play through in entirety some day, but for now, I'm glad I found this gem instead!

Now back to the game, then on to bed...