Game:

Ecstatica (1994)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 10:56

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13

«Ečstatica: A State of Mind» is one of my favorite survival horror games for DOS. Even though the term «survival horror» wasn't there at that time (this game was released in 1994). The first survival horror (let's stay with this term, OK?) I've played on my old DOS machine was «Alone in the Dark» and I've played the whole classical trilogy before I got myself «Ečstatica: A State of Mind», but it was love at first sight for me. This game is absolutely unique, so, if you like the genre, don't you dare miss it! It was developed by Andrew Spencer Studios (if you haven't heard about them, it's OK, since they've developed only «Ečstatica» and the sequel to it) and it uses very interesting ellipsoid graphics, which look absolutely awesome. (Next to polygon-based games that were very angular back then, «Ečstatica» looks incredibly great). Like in «Alone in the Dark» series, the game has deep atmosphere (even though there are some humor elements in it), but unlike «Alone in the Dark», it's completely random. Everything in the game is random. So, every new playthrough will be different. The goals will stay the same, but you'll never be able to know where and when monsters will attack you. And that's why I love it THAT much. It's like real experience. As a nameless male or female traveler, you've arrived at the village to get yourself some water, but the bridge that leads to the village has collapsed and now... Now it's all about surviving for you. The monsters will hunt you in real time, so, you'll need to hide, run, or fight for your life.

Gameplay notes: Here's my complete playthrough of this amazing game. I wasn't after complete longplay (it's not possible anyway, since, as I've said, many things in this game are random and it's impossible to show everything in a single playthrough), but I tried to show you the most interesting stuff. I tried to make these videos interesting to watch, so, yes, I'll turn myself into a frog without any reason to do so, etc. I hope you'll like the videos. Also, note that it's a no-deaths playthrough; there are many funny scenes when you get yourself killed, so, if you decide to play the game by yourself, save often and die from time to time -- there are many things to see.

Technical notes: Sound may glitch on me from time to time (sound is the biggest technical problem in this game: it won't work at all if you try to run this game from Windows 95 or higher; the only way to get it to work is to run this game from DOS). Not a big deal, it'll be OK most of the time, but still, I thought I'd mention this.

Also, as you can see, I decided to play as a female character. First of all, I love her very much and play as a female character every time I want to replay the game. Also, most video playthroughs of this game include a male character. So, I decided that the female one deserves more attention.

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Ečstatica: A State of Mind (Female Playthrough) - Part 1of4: The Girl and Her Teddy Bear

Welcome to Tirich, a peaceful village with friendly people! But wait... Something is terribly wrong here... The smell of dead bodies everywhere and that silence... Let's take our first steps into the frightening unknown and learn about the destiny of Tirich.

In this chapter, our hero will meet the strange girl who isn't afraid of werewolves and wants to find her Teddy Bear at any cost.

Gameplay notes: Let me remind you that all monster encounters in this game are completely random. You have two kinds of attack and you can dodge, but it may be much smarter to run most of the time. The monsters won't let you have a second chance and that werewolf is impossible to kill at all, so, don't be ashamed to run where you can. Monsters will follow you in real time though, so, try to hide somewhere, or make a circle run to get rid of them. The first thing you need to learn in this game is how to survive in any type of encounter. And you'll absolutely need to know the village for it. So, try to remember the paths.

The girl in the dungeon is Ečstatica herself. You don't need to visit her in this part of the game, but since this chapter is all about her, I've decided to show her to you. Our hero will feel a very strong presence of the dark powers there, so, she'll escape.

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