Eschalon: Book I Review
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You kill; they die. That's the way it's supposed to work, if you do it right. And if something dies, depending on the type of creature, you may find items left behind. The selection of items on corpses in Eschalon: Book I is appropriate. I've yet to encounter any flying insects carrying about magic scrolls ,as they did years ago in a deservedly bashed title, Might and Magic IX. On the other hand, some players may raise an eyebrow or two over the great disparity in quantity and quality of items found on many corpses and in chests. Typically, the number of goodies can range between none and four, and between a container that's empty and one filled with items whose worth totals 1500 coins or more. I have seen no evidence that there is any factor balancing out what a character finds over time. This poor treasure distribution begins with character generation, so I've been left with newly created PCs that have ranged from exceptionally poor and quickly dead to those who were comfortably flush, and could afford healing and magical potions. This is the way Divine Divinity operates, with a broad disparity of item content in goody containers. I don't say it's wrong, but I wish Basilisk had offered players an element of control at game start on the degree of variance, both in numbers and value of what you find. As it is, I'm sure that quite a few people will become annoyed after a series of unsatisfactory hauls, and fall into the easy habit of saving and rechecking chests/corpses to get a better deal. It's only natural even though it's very anti-roleplaying, too.
Conclusions
One other factor needs to be considered, here. Eschalon: Book I is not the product of even a moderately small company, but essentially due to the efforts of one person. As such, my numerous criticisms above need to be considered in light of what is possible under such circumstances. It doesn't make the writing in the game any better, but it does make what has been accomplished in graphics and game flow much more impressive, in my opinion.
In any case, I like Eschalon: Book I. Although at times it comes across as sketchy in content, there's a good deal to enjoy: the artwork, the low resource requirements, the relatively large, open field for gameplay. Combat is handled well, challenges increase gradually but sensibly if you go the fighter route and remain cautious in travel, and dungeons are appropriately varied. If it doesn't require a great deal of thought, that only makes it more of a casual game than some other RPGs, the kind of thing you can pick up for a few minutes to an hour, then put away and play again a day or a week later. It isn't compelling, urging you to see what new challenge or brilliantly devised quest lies around the next corner. But it is fun. And that means a good deal.
