I'm about one-third, or halfway, or so through EftP (a little past finding the Tower of the Magi -- just did a quest to kill some basilisks) But, the battles are getting a bit tedious -- I haven't found any really great equipment for a while, nor any new magic, and I definitely don't have enough cash for purchasing upgrades (even with hoarding everything I find and the 10%x4 bonus for selling items).
So, I was thinking about skipping ahead to chapters 4-6. But I'm curious whether the gameplay is much different? The leveling screen looks similar to Geneforge.