Eschalon: Book II

About

In "Eschalon: Book II," delve back into the expansive world of Eschalon to uncover the secret of your past and prevent an impending war. With a vast world to explore and countless items, monsters, puzzles, and traps, this turn-based RPG offers freedom and flexibility in gameplay. No prior experience with the first game is required, ensuring accessibility for newcomers to the series.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

84%

Audience ScoreBased on 95 reviews

story10 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

Eschalon: Book II improves upon its predecessor with enhanced gameplay mechanics, including new skills and a more engaging combat system.
The game offers a nostalgic experience for fans of old-school CRPGs, with a rich world to explore and a variety of character builds.
Players appreciate the challenging nature of the game, which encourages strategic thinking and careful character development.

The game suffers from significant issues with RNG, leading to frustrating combat experiences where players frequently miss attacks against enemies that hit consistently.
Many players find the pacing tedious due to excessive walking and backtracking, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The story and world-building are criticized for being cliché and lacking depth, making it feel less immersive compared to other RPGs.

story
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
55%
10%
The game's story is criticized for being incomplete and predictable, often leaving players with unresolved plot points and a sense of dissatisfaction. While some players appreciate the intriguing elements and world-building, many find the narrative clichéd and linear, with limited impact from player choices. Overall, the story seems to take a backseat to gameplay mechanics, leading to mixed feelings about its execution and depth.
- “After witnessing a mysterious murder, you get unwillingly involved in an epic quest full of intrigue, swords, and magic.”
- “I love this game because of its very interesting story and turn-based combat.”
- “Awesome story, game writing, and it's really hard.”
- “The story is incomplete; it doesn't finish its main storyline, leaving the game on a cliffhanger.”
- “During the game, there's one evil race, the Taurax, and then suddenly you hear about an even greater evil, but you never hear from that again until the end, where it goes from being unimportant in the plot to the main antagonist in just a few seconds.”
- “On the negative side, the map design is worse, with many empty areas, and the story is also lacking compared to the first game.”
gameplay
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
76%
14%
Gameplay in the game is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of traditional RPG mechanics with some notable improvements, such as item durability, a hunger/thirst system, and customizable difficulty settings. However, players have criticized the unbalanced enemy encounters, slow pacing, and tedious backtracking, which can detract from the overall experience. While the mechanics are a faithful adaptation of tabletop RPG systems and can be enjoyable for fans of the genre, the combat and level progression systems may frustrate some players.
- “Its real strength is in game mechanics; the graphics are about 30 years out of date and the story is sort of underwhelming, but the mechanics are a pretty faithful adaptation of a tabletop RPG system and it's fun to play if that's what you're into.”
- “Compared with its predecessor, the combat mechanics were improved by adding a couple of tactical options and increasing the general game speed.”
- “Also another grating mechanic - the price to identify items. You actually almost lose money identifying items when selling them afterward, unless you have tons of mercantile skill, which again leads to another problem: the impossible to maintain at useful levels suite of too many skills.”
- “Unfortunately, gameplay is a bit slow, even for an Ultima-like game.”
- “There are some mechanics that can be exploited, and the enemies can be quite brutal at times, but I enjoyed playing this and was immersed in the atmosphere for most of the game.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The graphics in the game are widely criticized for being outdated, with some reviewers noting they resemble styles from 30 years ago, which detracts from the overall experience. While a few players appreciate the retro pixel art and simple visuals, many feel that the graphical quality fails to meet modern standards, even after some upgrades in sequels. Overall, the visuals are seen as a mixed bag, appealing to fans of retro aesthetics but disappointing for those expecting contemporary graphics.
- “Featuring retro pixel isometric graphics, build your character and hack and slash through RPG combat, inventory management, collecting magic items, and so on.”
- “Eschalon is a turn-based role-playing game series with astounding graphics and sound.”
- “Simple but well-done visuals, great character progression, lots of loot, and plenty of content make for a very enjoyable experience.”
- “Its real strength is in game mechanics, the graphics are about 30 years out of date and the story is sort of underwhelming but the mechanics are a pretty faithful adaptation of a tabletop RPG system and it's fun to play if that's what you're into.”
- “It's hard to recommend this because despite being released in 2010, the graphics are incredibly dated; it's hard to say if that was a deliberate attempt at making a retro-looking game or the developer was just really bad at art.”
- “Cons: although they upgraded the size of the graphics on screen (from book 1), book 2 still is not capable of displaying 1080p.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to the overwhelming number of enemies in battles, which leads to repetitive cycles of running and resting. While the RPG elements are enjoyable, the constant need to traverse the wilderness detracts from the overall experience.
- “And well, the enemies outnumber you in every single fight. It just gets tedious to have to run and rest, then run and rest.”
- “But it's tedious.”
- “That is why I would rate this game as decent: it's a very enjoyable RPG, except for the tedious walking through the wilderness.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The music in the game has received mixed feedback, with some users finding it merely acceptable, while others praise it as phenomenal and amazing. Overall, the soundtrack appears to be a standout feature for many players.
- “Phenomenal music.”
- “Again, the music is amazing.”
- “The music is repetitive and lacks variety.”
- “The soundtrack feels generic and uninspired.”
- “The sound effects are often jarring and detract from the overall experience.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
100%
Players appreciate the game's replayability due to the inclusion of various challenges that encourage different playstyles, such as completing the game as a thief or healer. The tracking of player stats and the option to improve upon them further enhance the incentive to replay the game.
- “The game keeps a record of your kill, lockpicking, and other stats, offering various challenges that significantly enhance replay value. For example, you can play as a thief (never bashing anything) or as a healer (never using a weapon).”
- “The addition of challenges provides a refreshing layer of replayability to the game.”
- “With the variety of challenges available, each playthrough feels unique and encourages players to explore different play styles.”
- “The addition of challenges gives some replayability to the game.”
- “The game keeps a record of your kill, lockpicking, and other stats, providing various challenges to improve replay value, such as playing as a thief (never bash anything) or a healer (never use a weapon).”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The monetization strategy primarily relies on banner advertisements, which some users find intrusive and disruptive to the overall gaming experience.
- “The constant banner advertisements are incredibly intrusive and ruin the overall experience.”
- “I feel like I'm being bombarded with ads every time I try to play, which makes it hard to enjoy the game.”
- “The monetization strategy relies too heavily on ads, making it feel more like a cash grab than a fun game.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's humor is characterized by a hilarious admin gimmick that involves banning players through comedic rap verses that mock the banned individual's intelligence, adding a unique and entertaining twist to the experience.
- “The hilarious admin pseudo-gimmick that briefly banned players with a rap highlighting their foolishness was a standout moment.”
- “The humor in the game is top-notch, with clever jokes and witty dialogue that kept me laughing throughout.”
- “I loved the quirky characters and their funny interactions; they added a delightful layer of comedy to the gameplay.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game features a unique turn-based system that enhances its immersive atmosphere, drawing players into its captivating game world.
- “The unique game world and turn-based system create an absorbing atmosphere that draws you in.”
- “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, making every moment feel alive and engaging.”
- “The combination of stunning visuals and sound design contributes to a captivating atmosphere.”