Arx Fatalis

Mediocre "immersive sim" (read: Ultima Underworld clone - what's more, the game was originally intended to be a third entry in the series). The world is EXTREMELY tiny and the main character CAN'T RUN to mask this (yes you can acquire a "speed" magic spell about 1/3 into the game but it simply makes Am Sugar walk faster). As an example, the "goblin kingdom" consists of about 20 goblins in total. Yes you can tediously bake apple pies but this is more of a novelty than a necessity as you can simply go in people's houses and eat their food in front of them with no repercussions. You can also sell a blacksmith his own tools. Not very "immersive". The much lauded magic system is better in theory than practice and casting spells with more than 2 runes in combat requires constant kiting or running (walking) away. Yes, you can "pre-cast" up to 3 spells but that's a very small number and offers little tactical depth and rather invites "metagaming" (to wit: savescumming). It would have been nice if the number of spells you can "memorize" increased with level or points put in magic, like in, say, Baldur's Gate, but that would probably make the already overpowered magic even more overpowered. Melee combat boils down to "smacking" and "charging to smack harder". Shields simply reduce damage and you can't use them to block. Bows are worthless as arrows are limited. Enemies drop little XP and don't respawn and most leveling is done by way of quests. Obtuse puzzles and a general lack of direction practically require the use of a walkthrough. To sum it up, you're better off skipping Arx Fatalis and going straight to the great Dark Messiah of M&M or the excellent Dishonored series (by the same developer) both of which abandoned superficial RPG trappings of Ultima and are simply fun action games with progression elements.

What is there to say about this game? I could start out by saying it is AWESOME! But that wouldn't help much would it? So let me start out with some pros and cons ok? Pros: Easy to start and play right away Looks and sounds great Large undergound to explore Many items Enemies are smart they use tactics to take you down Plenty of replay value to keep you coming back Cons: To many items All characters are able to die (so don't try and kill any impotent ones) Enemies are tough to kill (like really tough) Confusing to know what to do and how to do it And there you have some of the pros and cons of the game though I have not said much about it. Any RPG fan should get this game I highly recommend it.

the game is too short if you don't bother to do all the optional quests. it's more like a proper 3D version of underworld 1(by looking glass) , except smaller and more stupid jumping "puzzles", rather than a sequel to underworld 2. the weapon and armor enchanting spell is a nice feature... too bad they nerfed it in most patched versions because it get madly overpowered if you combine all possible ingredients into your final weapon or the easter egg weapon. remember to save often for AFAIK the lastest patch doesn't fix some game-breaking bugs that will stop you from winning the game unless you use an FAQ and kill everyone for mission critical stuff. lastest patch does however nerf the unbalanced overpower fireball spell. however just like the underworld games, creating a magic-user right from the beginning is far superior than creating a musclehead or a "thief" character.

Very Fun game one of lot reason why i love Arkane games

I like such kind of games, however little bit annoying interaction with the things when it opens also the inventory etc. Also the map is very poor, you don't really know where you are. Howvever the game is still very good and interesting untill you come to the part of the game, where Ylsides attack you. They are disproportionately strong and that was the time, when I immediately uninstalled the game without finishing it. I didn't want to cheat and this part made the game almost unplayable.