Eschalon: Book I

By: Derek Yu

On: November 19th, 2007

We first posted about this game over a damn year ago! Well, it seems it was worth the wait.

I haven’t played very much of Eschalon: Book I, but what I have, I’ve been pretty impressed by. The presentation is definitely top-notch. And I can see the creators took some inspiration from Diablo for their user interface. It’s not a bad thing – the game is incredibly easy to get into for a CRPG. I like how quickly you begin adventuring.

The story thus far feels a bit clichéd (amnesiac hero, war between humans and Orc-equivalents, etc.), and hasn’t really pulled me in yet. The dialogue is also slightly contrived, in my opinion. These issues haven’t really gotten in the way of my good time with the game, but they are worth noting. The developers have promised some big surprises in the storyline, too.

Anyway, give the demo a go and see for yourself (Windows users only, at the moment). If you’re looking for a traditional fantasy RPG, and a well-made one, at that… well, it’s here, and it can be yours for $28 US. I can already say that I’ll probably plunk some cash down for this one myself!

Hit the jump to see an example of the character creation screen.

(Tiger Sauce is an atheist because there can be no god greater than Tiger Sauce. Tiger Sauce beats things to death with swords. Such is his way.)