Arx Fatalis

I played this on Windows 11, so the original version works, but I encountered a graphic bug that made some textures completely black or includes black frames around many textures. So, install Arx libertatis and enjoy, wish I'd known about this before I spent some hours playing the original version. The best part of the game is the magic casting system and also it's the worst part of the game to me, because it's very cumbersome to try and draw runes in the middle of the fight. Also, this game doesn't hold your hand like games these days, which is a good or a bad thing depending on the player. I had to check how to pre-cast spells, because the game does awful job explaining it -or leaves these kind of details completely out, including many mission related details. Thank Akbaa for the quick-save and quick load. But if you loved Morrowind, you'll probably love this game too. I know I did.

Most skills are useless. Ranged combat is absolutely useless. Melee fighters are cool at the very beginning, when escaping from the goblin's prison, and weak everywhere else. First battle with demon as a melee still haunts me in nightmares. Magic is overpowered to such degree it becomes laughable. The fireball spell destroys almost any danger in one cast in the first half of the game. Life drain kills everyone else. There are some more combat spells, but why bother with them if you have these two? Puzzles are... well... Most puzzles are "go to the room, pull a lever. Now go to the room at another side of the level and pull the lever there. Maybe a door will open somewhere in the level. If not, try to pull some more levers. Or search for a small key on the floor". The crypt level is one of the worst examples of game design ever. It's absolutely safe, if you play as a mage, but you have to scan the entire level for levers and keys, find 6 small stones on different floors and solve a really weird puzzle at the end where you must put these stones on pedestals. Skipped even 1 stone? Go back, start the crypt from the very beginning, search this freaking stone". Some people call Arx Fatalis an "immersive sim", but it's an illusion. It looks immersive during first 1-2 hours, but after this time it transforms into a very linear RPG.

Great game but be ready for a few design flaws. Some puzzles are too difficult, quests will sometimes expect you to find random plot triggers without guidance, and combat difficulty spikes are very stupid. It feels pretty bad when you play a pure melee character for most of the game with no issues, and then suddenly you're as weak as a Hobbit trying to 1v1 a Ringwraith.

If you dont mind old graphics then I suggest this game for intresting mechanics and gameplay

very immersive rich game, playing it again after years :)