I was so excited to find this game! I used to play it years ago. But, I just purchased this from GOG and it started with a totally different storyline. Why is it so different? Is there a walkthrough for this new version?

I am not a power gamer by any means, but there are a handful that I really like. This is one of my favorites. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ruth

Purchasing suggests you spent money on it, but Eschalon: Book 1 is free?

Sorry, yes it is free from GOG. I have purchased or gotten several free games over this Winter Sale.

Are you sure you're not confusing it with something else? I'm thinking of maybe a Spiderweb Software game like Avernum or Avadon?

Yeah, uh, Eschalon 1's story wasn't anything special, and in fact, Eschalon 2's only twist is that. A weird twist at the end.

Probably thinking it was Gene series.

You don't give any details on what the old or new intros are like, so I agree with others it's possible you've mixed up two different games in your mind.

Watch a let's play of E1 and see if it differs from your version.

At least for Eschalon it is a very good idea to at least know what trainers teach and up to which point, because there's this nasty design that trainers only teach the first X points of their chosen skill, so if you spend skill points, which are really precious, on any skill for which there is a trainer before finding the trainer and using them for all they're worth, those points are wasted.

Yeah, that was why I stopped playing Eschalon 2. Some discussion at the time had the opinion that it didn't really matter that much as far as beating the game goes, but it still bugged me. I was going to go back and re-start but that was quite a few years ago....

Anyway, there's no "new version" of Eschalon 1 with a different storyline or anything. OP is probably confusing the Eschalon games.

I agree you don't need to min/max for the game, but sorry it bugged you. I see it as a kind of reward for vets of the game... if you play a second time, you can optimize your skills.

If you do ever play again and are still irritated over 'mainstream' play, you might consider playing an alternate kind of class to spice it up. I had fun playing a merchant mage and felt THAT was OP.

I don't understand. I had always thought that all games on GOG were free. In fact I download all my games from Pirate bay and pay nothing.

Very strange...