Story Issue

[ududy]

Hi, new here, so forgive me if this has been discussed in length before.
I've purchased and enjoyed Eschalon 1.
I did, however, find the last third of the game much weaker than the rest of it.
The desert area was more empty sand than anything else, with the Goblin citadel feeling underwhelming and rushed, and the plot cut off in a perfect example of anti-climax.
The plot also became somewhat of a letdown midway through, as the interesting initial premise became a very standard goblin-invasion scenario.

How are the plot and pacing for book 2 developing? Does the sequel seriously develop the story or just use it, and will it cater for exploration throughout full play?

[BasiliskWrangler]

Welcome to the forums, ududy.

The desert area was more empty sand than anything else, with the Goblin citadel feeling underwhelming and rushed...

Well, deserts are mostly barren expanses of sand so it is fitting that there was not much there. As for the citadel feeling underwhelming- we were doing our best to balance the end part of the game without over taxing the player. It turns out we could have (should have) expanded the citadel's size and difficulty a bit. Game design 101 tells us not to add "busy work" on to a game just to make it longer for the player, and while we could have gave the citadel 5 levels loaded with hordes of goblins, we wanted to avoid this end-game grind scenario.

The plot also became somewhat of a letdown midway through, as the interesting initial premise became a very standard goblin-invasion scenario. How are the plot and pacing for book 2 developing? Does the sequel seriously develop the story or just use it, and will it cater for exploration throughout full play?

Oh, but it that all it is, just a simple goblin invasion? At the end of Star Wars, did we know everything the next two films would bring? Our policy is to not elaborate on plot lines before our games are released, so you'll need to wait for Book 2 to see where the story is heading. Book I is really just a prologue to the real storyline. I can say that we've strived to not make your character the "chosen one" any more than Luke is the chosen one in the original Star Wars trilogy, but like Luke, your character has an integral part in the plot. Book II's storyline starts off with some major revelations (no long, drawn out trickle of clues) so you'll have a better understanding of what is going almost immediately.

[Evnissyen]

I also thought that the Goblin Citadel should've been better defended, in the absence of any sort of reason for us thinking that our character had obtained superpowers this far beyond that of any giant or human warrior.

Of course, obviously the latter is a staple in adventure games, so suspension of disbelief in that area is pretty automatic, but still... the Citadel shouldn't've been such a cakewalk. I wanted a better fight toward the end. The end really does feel sort of abrupt and I think that this is one of the reasons why.

[IJBall]

I don't want to be seen as "trashing" Book I by any means, but there are aspects of the game that make me feel like the last third (roughly) of Book I does seem a little "rushed", IMO.

It's not just the Goblin Citadel either. It's the little details. Things like - all of the corpses earlier in the game got basically unique descriptions (e.g. things like "You see a cold, stiff corpse." (my personal fave!) or "You see a mangled body.") but I think none of the later corpses do (not the one by the archery range in the desert, and none of the ones in the torture chamber in the Goblin Citadel). Also, the little text area descriptions that you've gotten up that point are pretty much absent in the last part of the game too (save for the ones you get at the entrance of the Citadel).

I guess I do feel like the game gets a little less involving, and a little more 'rote', post-Vela quest. Now that maybe because there are basically no new NPCs to interact with beyond that point. (It would have been cool if there had been, say, a NPC to rescue from the Goblin Citadel, for example...) But, like I said, it's the little things like the corpse blurbs past that point that go noticeably missing.

But, believe me, I'm not complaining - I imagine when you're putting out a game, there comes a point when you just have to get it out(!) and stop fussing over every little detail. And I've got no problem with that!

[Evnissyen]

My thinking has been that now that Book I is (1.) out there and (2.) graphically so well-done: then it's time to start concentrating on everything other than the graphics. I think that considering that no more work needs to be done (in my opinion) in the graphical department means that you are now free to concentrate on the story and characters. Eschalon really does have enormous potential to be an extraordinary game.

The game mechanics get a lot of attention on these boards, and I have a tendency to get carried away with my opinions, but I'm really not nearly so interested in modifications of the game mechanics as I am in the expansion and filling-out of the story and characters.