Posted on: October 5, 2009

hyperhop

Games: 432 Reviews: 5

Old School Appeal Only

I've played and finished Arx Fatalis and I have to say that it is only an average game. Unlike sprawling environments of RPGs like Oblivion the level design is very tight and there's always something interesting. The environments are also fairly different. Sound is also well done and feels very appropriate. Unfortunately, many aspects of the game that try and make it immersive such as combining raw ingredients to make food come off as unnecessary or repetitive after a while. For example, there is no short cut to making food even after discovering the ingredients. So to make more apple pies, you have to manually mix dough and water over and over again. There is also no place to store items so I ended chucking everything in an empty room and making a huge mess. The same problems go with spell casting, you have to manually draw runes in the air to cast spells. Again, this is suppose to be immersive but just ends up annoying when you do it for the 50th time. Sword fighting is extremely simplistic but normal attacks are pointless and you have to always charge your attacks to deal any real damage. And most goblins and humans take at least 3 or 4 fully charged attacks before dying. It came to the point where I wondered why the developers even bothered letting you attack without charging up. I am perhaps judging it harshly and overall the gameplay and atmosphere is fairly well done considering the limited resources of the studio. If you play the second game by the studio "Dark Messiah - Might and Magic" you'll notice some of these criticisms have been addressed. For example, learnt spells can simply equipped and can be cast with a single click and you no longer need to cook food so Arkane have obviously taken on board the criticism.

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Posted on: May 16, 2010

Garenth

Verified owner

Games: 56 Reviews: 17

Atmospheric, immersive and very buggy!

"Arx Fatalis" has so many qualities - everything from the atmosphere, storyline, gameplay and overall design is top-notch. Unfortunately, it suffers from a lot of bugs and it's more or less impossible to get it to run well on a modern computer. You will either get a really low frame rate or the game will keep crashing on you (most likely you'll experience both!). I thought I got it working well this last time I played it, but eventually I started getting the "fatal memory error" bug and various other, smaller issues. It is somewhat playable if you have A LOT of patience, though. This game truly deserves 5 stars, but as it is, I can only give it 3. :(

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Posted on: December 28, 2016

Mr.Magniloquent

Games: 149 Reviews: 9

Superb Spelunking with Unbridled Freedom

I first played this game in 2013. If you like exploration, discovering secrets, negotiating traps, and robbing vaults (abandoned & in use) in an entirely unrestricted manner, this game is for you. There are no contrived restrictions on accessing any part of the game or tackling any quest. The level design is incredibly well done and rewards those who take the time to discover secrets and short cuts through the interlocking labrynths. I had basically explored the entire game before I really even began the "crticial path". Mixing rogue skills and magic is the way to go. This is not to say going anywhere you want in the game will be easy. Traps are lethal, locks are difficult to pick, monsters are simply stronger than you, and the magic system--while admirable--is difficult to use. It is possible to prepare a spell in advance for 1-click casting. utilize this wisely. That being said, the magic system is incredibly useful and will let you do all manner of things that modern conventions would consider game breaking. Some gamers may find themsevles frustrated by the lack of direction, map notes, and vague quests. This game was among the last of the RPGs before "stream-lining" became an industry standard. Difficulty is real, and you will not be able to rambo your way through this game. The graphics are dated, but I feel that they hold up. The sound is mostly ambient. It builds the cold and isolated atmosphere, but contains no remarkable music. I experienced next to no bugs. If you enjoy this genre for adventure, and have the time to methodically plump the depths of a truely elaborate labrynth, then this game is for you. If you're looking for something casual or plot driven, I would keep moving. It will be your loss though.

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Posted on: June 29, 2015

nitrogenfingers

Verified owner

Games: 330 Reviews: 48

Almost bafflingly engaging

The interesting thing playing Arx Fatalis long after the ho-hum reception to it's original release is that as a game that has aged terribly, it also remains an interesting and captivating game for reasons that are difficult to state explicitly. This one was released for PC and Xbox, and it doesn't look any better now than it did back then; the textures are harsh and muddy, the models are too simple and feel deformed, and the visual effects are distracting. Gameplay is nothing to crow about either. Combat is extremely tedious; it uses a similar system to Morrowind but lacks the gear customization or in-depth player stats that made that model bearable; the pattern of hit then run backwards never changes. Ranged combat works almost the same way, and for a game set underground you unsurprisingly don't get a lot of changes to refine your marksmanship. Magic uses a 'rune' system with symbol recognition which is a nice feature but the certainty thresholds are too high and I found with some gestures 4 out of 5 were unrecognized. Not good in combat situations. So why is this game recommended? It's hard to say; the world of Arx Fatalis is certainly very cleverly designed, and the relationship between the various kingdoms and the many levels of story intrigue do keep things quite fresh. Arx is a believable place and the difficulties of underground life do come into the story; a setting I found particularly engaging. I also found the dungeon crawling very enjoyable; exploring the old cave systems, mining gems and finding artefacts amidst the varied ruins and lairs is engaging. I suppose like Ultima Underworld (from which this game takes many queues) there's a simple satisfaction in not only making sense of the winding environment but mastering it. Maybe it's the setting, or sense of exploration, or the surprisingly competent puzzles. I can't say why I liked it so much, or that anyone else will to the same extent, but for what it's worth, I found it worth the asking price.

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Posted on: April 27, 2020

RedTechKnight

Verified owner

Games: 378 Reviews: 32

Mega Stregum Vitae-ed

A first person fantasy RPG. Help your protagonist recover his lost memory and uncover the secret of the dastardly plot afoot in the subterranean city of Arx. Plot gets the job done, sidequests aren't fantastically written but give you interesting enough things to do, combat is basic and there is a decent number of combat encounters so it won't become pain. Once you get over slightly tricky magic controls, the system is pretty interesting. Spells are made of runes that are logically combined, have a wide array of uses and are very powerful. Easily the best part of the game. Exploration is useful as always, but also mandatory in some places, clues and critical items can be kinda hard to find if you're not careful. Ditches any kind of soundtrack in favour of ambient sounds, which work as good mood setters and backdrops to your activities. Voice acting can be a mixed bag but is decent overall. It’s a pretty interesting game with some flaws overall, and would definitely recommend it to those into older RPGs, immersive sims, or fantasy games in general.

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