I have some strange attachment to classic dungeon-crawling RPG games. I’m not exactly sure what the drive is, but I have a pretty good idea and there’s something definitely there. There’s just something so liberating about slowly killing a whole bunch of enemies as you try to fill your seemingly never-ending backpack full of glorious and shiny loot. Not to mention, who ever gets tired of starting pathetically weak and fighting rats until you slowly become the biggest badass in the land? Well, killing rats in RPG games does get pretty repetitive… I will admit that much.

Eschalon: Book 2 is the sequel to Eschalon: Book 1. It was released May 12th for Windows, and May 26th for both Linux and Mac OSX. Hooray! It was another pretty title I picked up while Steam was doing another delightful little sale. Unfortunately for my wallet, these sales Steam has been doing are sometimes just too good to pass up. But I digress… I’m always looking for new opportunities of games to play on Mac OSX, as I have the ability to play on PC whenever I need, but it’s interesting to see how gaming on Mac is growing, however so slowly.

I had never played the first part of Eschalon, so I was a little nervous going into a direct sequel, but after a little research online I found, like most RPG sequels, it wasn’t necessary to have played the original to play this one. These games aren’t known for their fully original plots as much as they are known for their gritty and no joking around game-play. Shortly after downloading the game and jumping in, I discovered that there was seriously no screwing around in this game. It was easy to die, not to mention you had to balance hunger and thirst. Suddenly I was a Sim that could also kill monsters and hunt for treasure. At first glance, I am usually annoyed by food and drink bars, but it adds a lot more complexity to the game and I love the aura of realism it creates as you must plan your adventures out of the city and civilization before just blinding rushing into a large dungeon, as you may end up starving to death in the depths of a hellish environment. No bueno. However, if gathering food and water isn’t your thing, there are difficulty modifiers at the start of your game so you can choose how easy or hard you’re journey will be.

Oh Hooray, a corpse rife with disease. Thank god I avoided those tapeworms.

You’re quickly thrown into an adventure and disarray as soon as the game starts. You find yourself alone in your cozy little house, and of course, you’re left to ransack everything in the place and rob it blind as you prepare for your adventure. That’s a major key point of fun in this game, it doesn’t take long to jump in and start adventuring. It is highly addictive though, as you find yourself just wanting to give a little more time to complete a dungeon, gain another level, or explore a new area. That’s another glorious aspect of these old-style non-linear RPG games. You can steal, kill, and pretty much do whatever you want – but there are consequences. Did you just murder everyone in town only to learn you need one of those NPCs for a quest? Too bad, thus is the curse of being a psychopathic murderer. Of course comitting crimes while under view of other NPCs will cause them to start wailing on you, or call a guard to come quickly dispatch your life.

The graphics are nothing too outstanding, as the focus of this genre is to focus on complicated and intriguing game-play rather then heavy graphics. If you’re in the vein of old games like Ultima, Avernum(Exile series), Castle of the Winds, or other such more free-form low graphic games, then you won’t be disappointed. You get plenty of pretty flashy effects, and of course classic sounds that are chalk full of nostalgia. The sound of something dying, or the pierce of your arrow are all spot-on and will definitely get you grooving in the feel of the game. The music is also really nice, and I didn’t even feel the need to shut it down in the preferences as it wasn’t daunting, monotonous, or irrelevant. It keeps the vibe strong and consistent.

Combat is difficult, and it’s guaranteed you will probably die. Taking on multiple enemies at once can be a problem. If you aren’t familiar with these type of RPG games that, for lack of a better term, lack forgiveness and are out to force you to see the game-over screen then you may want to go for an Archer-type or strong warrior type as you get a feel of the game. As Stealth and Magic can be fun, but it may be hard to get a footing if you’re constantly dying and running out of money and food. Wow, sounds like real life! Well, without the dying repeatedly of course. The battle system is pretty straight-forward, as you increase your weapon skills (swords, piercing, bows, etc) you gain more damage and even abilities that you can use on occasion. Magic increases with your knowledge in that field of magic (Offensive, Healing). It’s straight click and point. But again, the complexity of the mechanics and graphics are not where the praise in this game lies. It’s in the vastness of the world, the choices, exploration, and character progression.

Over-all, Eschalon: Book 2 will not disappoint classic RPG-fans or those that just love character progression, dungeon crawling, exploration, and loot. However if you’re looking for a game with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion-style graphics, this probably isn’t for you. If you aren’t into difficult games, it also may not be for you, as I mentioned earlier it is non-linear and the world of Eschalon is not always the most… Pleasant, as there are many many things that want you dead for one reason or another.

You can pick it up on Steam DRM-free or from their website if you wanna give it a try, they even have a demo!