Eschalon isn’t a Spiderweb series of traditional RPGs, with an isometric viewpoint, turn-based combat and free-stylin’ character customisation. If you were to watch a video you might think that was the case but Eschalon is actually a series of traditional RPGs from Basilisk Games. It features an isometric viewpoint, turn-based combat and free-stylin’ character customisation. The third and final entry has been a long time coming, and now that it’s upon us, I’m forced to consider replaying the previous games so that I can play the trilogy back-to-back. They are quite long though and my time is short. I’d strongly recommend the games to anyone hankering for slow-paced pen and paper style roleplaying, and you don’t have to start from the beginning – there are recaps for latecomers. The trilogy is available at a discount until February 28th though. Just sayin’. Also, demos.



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Quick word of warning – everything in Eschalon is turn-based. There’s no ‘switch’ when combat begins so even when exploring, every tile that the player moves allows enemies to move as well. This can make the game seem painfully slow but it is possible to hold the mouse button down and jog along at a steady clip until interrupted. If the animations are agonisingly slow, switch to OpenGL rendering when starting the game. The animations shouldn’t strobe but I know some people assume the game is simply that slow.

You may have noticed that the ‘demos’ link above actually points at a single link, for the demo of the third game. That’s because the official Eschalon website is undergoing maintenance after a server upgrade. While the site goes under the knife, I’ll keep that link up and replace with the link to all three demos as soon as the surgery is complete. The full game is available at GOG or Steam.

Old-fashioned demos to go with old-fashioned games. This post was brought to you by the eighties, decade of many classic television shows, cut short in their prime.



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