Ecstatica II

"A good game, unique in its genre"

I generally appreciate the games affiliated with Psygnosis, a company famous for its gothic style medieval adventure and action games.

Ecstatica I & II from Andrew Spencer Studios are two unique games and nothing like it has appeared in the game's market ever since. Especially in the graphics department. Ecstatica I appeared at 1994 and II in 1997. They're old for today's standards but didnt have much appeal back then and they certainly dont have any appeal now. I played the game back in 1998 a little but rediscovered it recently and managed to finish it after many frustrating moments. THough the game didnt get too much publicity it didnt enter in oblivion either. I'll try to mention its good parts as well as its flaws but have in mind that this is an old game for today's standards and that it appeared at a time when game developers decided to scrap MS-DOS games development. It was one of the many games at that time that could run both in Windows and MS-DOS. With that in mind lets start:

Installation:

Straightforward both under DOS and WIndows. But there are problems with the sound configuration under Windows. Sometimes the MIDI device wont be recognized during the installation and in that case there will be sound effects but no music during the game. You'll need to reinstall the sound card drivers and then the game to solve the problem. But if your card still isnt initialized I recommend installation under DOS or else under Windows. Also on my PC the game's graphics are strangely slower under DOS, though I think this is the correct speed. You'll need to download a patch for the game after installation to correct a graphics bug later in the game.

GAMEPLAY

if you have played the original Ecstatica you more or less recognize some similarity. You control a character in a 3D environment that consists of a medieval castle with multiple stages and various levels (from down deep in the dungeons and torture chambers to tower peaks and surroundings like a forest, a cemetery and a nearby village). Of course the character is not alone. Various monsters accompany him to his quest. And they're coming from all directions. And are infinite too like the monster generators in Gauntlet. Only this time there isnt any monster generator to destroy! Thankfully once you kill all the monsters in a screen they disappear and reappear once you re-enter the screen. So take care and avoid re-entering as much as possible! That can be a bit tedious at first but once you get stronger weapons the monsters should not be a problem. It has its positive aspects too, like health and magic potions.

At your aid against the monsters you'll find many weapons like swords, axes, magic sticks, treasure items and special items that are required in order to progress further and finish the game. You can carry up to two items in your hands, one weapon for fight and one item for helping you opening doors or secret passageways. The rest (special and treasure items) are stored automatically in your inventory. If you leave an item (key or weapon) mark its place or else you'll have to search the whole game to find it! Because another frustrating thing is this: you carry a small key and are low on energy. You kill a monster and a potion appears. You drink the health potion, fill your energy a little and after a long walk you reach a door that is supposed to need the key. You try to enter the door, but where's the key? Its at the place you drank the potion! Back again to grab it (IF you remember where you drank the potion)!

Of course if you're very low on energy you can press F12 and refill it at the cost of 30.000 treasure points. Collect as much treasure as possible.

GRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT AND GAMEPLAY:
The graphic environment is split in many screens and ankles like in Resident Evil, but that creates a lot of difficulties in terms of orientation. Some times climbing a staircase without saving first is impossible. Once you fall off a high staircase, just like in real life, its game over! I did not mind about the ankle difficulties when facing the monsters but climbing staircases up and down, especially when monsters were chasing you, was the most annoying thing in the game. And the fact that they were designed like a Dali painting makes things even more difficult.
Also the environment is very extensive:over 1100 different ankles. You'll get lost but in most cases you'll need to examine only a part of the castle each time so you do not have to wander aimlessly. Except if you want to explore many hidden areas of the game that are not required to finish it.But feel free to explore!

CONTROLS:
The controls are not difficult to master but aiming monsters can be a difficult and a frustrating thing. There's no way to parry, neither for you or the monsters. You'll have to roll right or left by pressing Crtl and Shift keys and arrow keys together.But in this game offence can be the best defense. Hitting and using magic consists of pressing Ctrl and arrow keys at the same time. I did not find any serious problems with the control. The character always runs and never walks so you should react quickly both in offence and defense.

EXTRAS: The game package should include a map but in my version there wasn't any. Didn't bother me though as I generally got used to the environment.

Story:

the game continues where the previous game ended. On the way to their home castle the prince and his newly acquired spouse Ecstatica, riding on their horse meet an unpleasant surprise. The whole castle's population has been decimated or abandoned it. Monsters, demons and undead became the new inhabitants. All this thanks to the Sorcerer's blunder to decrypt a cursed scroll that transformed him into the evil Archmage and endowed him with evil powers too. He split the scroll in seven pieces and gave some of them to his four guards (a sorceress, a wizard, a necromancer and a warlock) while the others were well kept. He plans to glue them in the wrong order and this would mean the end of the world! Something must be done or the world is doomed. Not only that but Ecstatica is kidnapped right in front of you, while you're captured and bound, ready for execution. Fortunately a good priestess helps you escape through magic. When you find and release her she'll help you and tell what to do. Which is basically: get the scroll pieces together to avoid and face the Archmage. Oh, and rescue Ecstatica, but you have to save the world first!

Graphics:

One word: Ecstatic! Psychedelic! Even for today's standards. They are more dark than the previous Ecstatica and are the most impressive part of the game. they can be characterized as a piece of computer art.They contribute more than 70 % to the atmosphere of the game. The graphics are violent in some cases, like cut heads and pierced bodies but are less violent than Ecstatica I. Its like your character enters suddenly into a surrealist painting without knowing how to escape. This is the only game that used a special ellipsoid technology that makes the graphics unique. The motion is also very fluid and gives the game pace, while the graphics give it flavor. And it proves that it doesnt require a high-end 3D card to create spectacular 3D computer graphics. But that belongs to another topic.

Sound:
Not anything special. Sound effects are average. The only source of speech is the priestess. You feel that her words are needless and repetitive. It would be better to hear the Archmage or one of his guards talk. But CD-ROM voices were used sparingly here. Music is in MIDI format, so you better have a General MIDI Dos sound card, or Soundblaster AWE 32 for its full potential. On normal soundblaster cards it can be very eerie but since it is a DOS game dont expect more than that.


Play Time/Replayability: Unlike the original Ecstatica where without any help it could be finished in 1-2 days, here you'll probably wander forever if you dont get any help. The most difficult enemy in this game is the frustration you'll experience. This game requires patience. It can make you regret for having bought it, but once you explore the various areas and get the items one by one something new will be available for exploration. It is up to you. But I know that if you're interested in that old game now you'll certainly want to finish it for good. So you'll want to replay it and explore all the areas. That will take time.

Final Recommendation: As I said earlier, this is an old game and hasnt any appeal anymore. Even in its release date it didnt have much appeal, but there are still many people that want to buy old MS-DOS games. If you belong to that category like me, then give it a try. It belongs to the classics of its generation.

General mark: 8/10
Gameplay:7/10
Controls: 7/10
Graphics:9/10
Sound Music:7/10
Sound Effects:6/10
Story:6/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/03