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By flotsam
Eselmir
and the Five Magical Gifts
Stelex
Software
There is a lot to like in this game, and some stuff you mightnt
like so much. Lots of reading, side quests that arent
really, scavenger hunts that seem a little tacked on. Dragging
occasionally or well measured? Or perhaps more like a rich and steady
paced 700 page book. You will need to be the judge.
The fact that it is based on a fantasy trilogy called Pirin might
explain some things. We all know how elaborate those can be.
Eselmir is a priest, on a mission from (a) goddess to find the lost
treasures of a king. It s
a game with an almost endless depth of lore, but one which relies on
text-heavy exposition to such an extent that it will require as much
patience from the player as it does from its protagonist. Lucky for
Eselmir he is practiced (or soon will be) in the relevant virtues.
You start to get a sense early on of the extent to which you will
need to delve into the lore. Everyone knows the treasures have been
buried with King Theoson. What isn t
known is where the king was buried. Eselmirs
first stop is the library to do some research. As your reading goes on,
clues will be revealed as to what comes next, other areas will open up,
and you will begin to develop an understanding of who Eselmir is and
where he came from.
I enjoyed the hand drawn graphics, and the visual world they created,
and the limited (and underwhelming) animations didn t
really matter. There was a lot of hunter-gathering, and much of it needs
to be found, or points in the story have to be reached, before other
things can be obtained (even if you know where they are). The same
applies to various locations. Secondary quests also played a role, some
optional according to the journal, but seemingly less so.
You and Eselmir will read a lot. There is a lot to discern, which
adds to the bookish detail of things. You get spoken word in the
cutscenes but not otherwise.
As well as Eselmir, many of the characters are well rounded in
themselves, no mere adjuncts to the narrative. While you could argue
they are not essential to the task at hand, they provide yet another
layer to Eselmir s
exploits. They provide much to do, and like an RPG, you would miss a lot
of what is on offer if you ignored them.
Conversations are important. So too is praying and making offerings
and paying attention. A journal will keep track of your main tasks, but
it lacks detail. Err on the side of caution and write things down if you
think they might be important.
The score was nicely done, varied and suitably pious (or not) as
needed.
You collect items, and can examine them in an inventory ribbon at top
of screen. It is there you will also read your books and scrolls. If you
have an inventory item that is needed in a particular place, it will
show up when you right click through your available cursors (look,
speak, take, etc). Just select that cursor and the item is used.
Hotspots seem generous, and can be revealed via the space key once
you learn the appropriate virtue. That can happen early on, if paying
attention. Virtues continue to be learnt as you go, some
straightforward, some more convoluted.
While much puzzling
is questing based, there are some out and out puzzles. None are terribly
hard, and generally felt part and parcel of the events. Two levels of
hints are available, the second being more akin to a next
step in
the solution.
This is not a quick game, literally or figuratively. While Eselmir
can run,
he will at times be told to show respect by walking. Such is the nature
of things. All up, it took me about 20 hours to complete, over an
extended period of time. I kept coming back to it, reading some more and
moving on.
Overall, I did think the construct restrained the flow of the
adventuring somewhat, but it was in keeping with the methodical nature
of everything else. Perhaps if I had moved through it a bit more quickly
(in terms of the time spent playing on any particular occasion) it would
have helped. Regardless, if a grand tapestry is your thing, the threads
here have much to offer.
GameBoomers Review Guidelines
July
2018
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