Ecstatica and Ecstatica II, the 90s horror adventures built from ellipsoids, are back on Steam and GOG

SNEG has re-released Andrew Spencer's 1994 survival-horror adventure and its 1997 sequel for Windows, with switchable DOS, Windows 95 and high-resolution graphics modes, controller support and a CP...

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Ecstatica, the 1994 horror adventure that drew its people, monsters and stone walls out of ellipsoids rather than polygons, is on sale again. SNEG released it on Steam and GOG on 26 October, alongside its 1997 sequel, Ecstatica II. Both are listed under Andrew Spencer Studios, and the Steam pages say this is the first time either game has been sold digitally.

The look is the reason people still talk about it. Everything in Tirich, the medieval village where the first game is set, is built from rounded blobs, so characters look like jointed wooden dolls and the cobbles bulge like pebbles. Rock Paper Shotgun calls it a glimpse of a timeline where polygonal 3D never won.

Three ways to see it

The first game now has three graphics modes. DOS matches the 1994 original, Windows 95 is based on the 1997 re-release, and Software is a new real-time render at high resolution. You can flip between them while you play to compare. The renderer runs on the CPU alone, so the store page says no graphics card is needed.

The rest of the work is about making it playable now: modern controls and full controller support. There are options for purists too. Shaking Legs brings back the jittery legs of the DOS version, and DOS Ceilings restores that release's lower door frames and ceilings. There are three versions of the soundtrack, and the same tracks sound different depending on which you choose.

The games themselves

In Ecstatica you stop in Tirich for some water and find that everything there wants you dead, from goblins and a minotaur to a werewolf that will not stay down. There is no health bar, no map and no quest log. You play as a man or a woman, the camera is fixed for each scene, and puzzles, not fights, move you forward. The Steam page counts more than 200 animated sequences.

Ecstatica II puts you in the boots of a prince who brings Ecstatica home and finds demons in the castle, the land in ruins, the Archmage on the throne and Ecstatica gone again. This one leans on melee fighting, spells and potions, with enemies and encounters randomised between runs. It gets the Windows 95 and Software modes, the controller support and the Shaking Legs option, but not the DOS mode.

Both games are Windows only, at £12.49 each on Steam in the UK. GamingOnLinux lists them for Linux players through Proton and Wine, with no native build.

Sources

Image: Image: Andrew Spencer Studios / SNEG

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