Eschalon: Book I Review
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Given the tight, well-balanced nature of the economy, the randomness in looting is a bit unwelcome. Loot is randomized when you click on the container. You might get a set of worthless rags. Or you might hit the jackpot and find some great armor. My first character (which I eventually abandoned) never got lucky and I was poor for the first few hours of the game. Note that this is not a bad thing. My second time I got lucky more than once, and ended up with a comfortable surplus. This is also not necessarily a bad thing, although the fact that I had such wildly different outcomes due to randomness led inexorably to the realization that.
I can keep clicking on the same barrel and then reloading the game if I don't get something good. By doing this, I can make more money in 30 seconds of clicking & reloading than I could in a half hour of just playing the dang game. The incentive to act this way is just too strong, and the rewards are too great. Again, randomizing loot adds variety, but the randomness shouldn't overshadow the other factors. Randomness should be spice, not the main dish.
Still, I'm now on my fourth character, which should be seen as an indirect endorsement. I wouldn't have spent so much time with the game if I wasn't enjoying it. This is, despite my nitpicking, a fun game. The story and character progression are the meat and potatoes here, and I haven't even touched on those yet. I'll get to that eventually.
