Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

I had never heard of this game until I came to GOG. It then caught my attention that it was one of the most recommended games on the forums, and that it had similarities to Fallout, being made by some of it's developers. The background also seemed very interesting: a high-fantasy world reaching a technological industrial age, with magick (with a k) and technology in constant conflict. Still, I had no idea of the epicness that I was about to experience. But first, let's begin with the game's flaws. First and foremost, the combat. There is a Fallout style turn-based mode, which uses Action Points, and a real-time mode. None of them really succeeds, and each has it's flaws. First, on both, you have basically no control over your NPC allies, so you can just forget about any type of tactic, and the blindly aggressive AI will lead to many frustrating situations. I ended up playing the game on real-time mode, just so the fights would end faster. Problem is, it's like playing Baldur's Gate without being able to pause. It's very hard, for example, to use a healing salve or potion during battle. You have to right click the item, and then click on the character you're trying to heal, or his/her portrait, but the battles play so fast that by the time you do it, the character (or the player) might be already dead, or the battle over. You can give these items for other characters to use, but they usually spend them really fast. Also, I don't think archers are supposed to use bows as arrow-shooting machine guns. Another problem problem would be, at first, the interface, which is not very newbie friendly, although you will eventually get used to it, considering this can be a very long game. As usual with most open ended RPG's (and Troika repeated this problem in each of their games), the game shipped with an immense amount of bugs. Some were corrected in later patches and, thankfully, there's a fan-made patch that fixes a ton of them, and though there are still some left and the patch is no longer being developed, it left the game in a comfortable enough state to be played. Then, there's the overall balance. The good thing is, character creation and development in this game is a really great feature, and you have lots of freedom. But for all this freedom, the game ended up being poorly balanced. For instance, it's usually said that it's much easier to play with magick-based characters, and yet, overpowered character's can be achieved with both magickal and technological configurations, through powers and unbalanced items or NPCs. Also, enemies that can destroy your armor, or worse, break your weapons when you hit them, are really annoying. As for the plot, the only real flaw are your allies. Only a handful of them have more detailed stories and react to events throughout the game. Most have no plot-related dialog, and only really say something when you recruit them. Other than that, this game is a wonderful experience. The background is really creative and well made, and you can't help but try to explore every detail of the world just to find out more about it. The lengthy manual gives a pretty good introduction, using university paper-like texts to explain things such as the (not just ideological, but practical) conflict between magick and technology, and the characteristics of each race. The main plot begins looking a little cliché, with you being a "chosen one", a ring, etc., though you can tell that it's not so by the odd (and funny) reaction of the first character you meet. And indeed, the plot gets better, surprising you all the way to the end. Also, the game has a very large amount of side quests, and though not all of them are very interesting, you will be inclined to complete many of them just to see everything in the world. The graphics in this game are functional, but nothing too fancy. It won't blow your mind, but there's not much to complain, so you just won't mind them most of the time. As for the music, the string-based soundtrack superbly fits the mood of the game, though you may find it a little repetitive later. Still, it's been months since I beat this game, and I still use the main theme as my wake-up alarm. This review might make it look like a game with a lot of story and no gameplay, but even with these criticisms, most of it is actually functional enough, though short of allowing me to give this game 5 stars. In the end, though, it's the scenery and plot that will make you stick to this game. I have travelled through most of Arcanum and back, and while the credits rolled, I could only wish we still had Troika, so that I could continue that journey. And what a wonderful journey that was!

I first became aware of this game when it came out and PC Gamer wrote on it and included a demo on the CD that month. After playing through the demo a dozen times or so, I went and bought the game. I still go back and play it from time to time. The occasional voice parts make me smile. The main story is decently fun, but as with many RPGs, so much is found outside of the main questline, helping mothers chase down errant sons, interfering in gang wars, inciting riots, and dealing with necromancers. There is a morality gauge between evil and good -- standard, if a bit annoying. But, unlike many games I've played, there are a LOT of places where you get to make decisions. More than just two or three places, you see common method choices, righteous fights or brutal brawls. Arcanum is one of the few games I feel that actually supported and added in significantly interesting evil quests, where it is more than the good quests with just different dialog. And the universe! As others have mentioned, it's pretty awesome! Dwarves with guns, elves throwing spells, and surly sea captains. So it's fun. But there's a lot wrong with it too. Railroady at points, and there's one agonzingly annoying dungeon that is absolutely mandantory to progress. You can't rest inside, a multilevel maze, with traps, and creatures that can destroy your weapons and armor, and you have to go in there. That dungeon, and one very similar later (albeit the latter is bypassable through a couple ways) are pretty hateful. And while the magic and tech systems are fun, magic is waaaay easier. Don't play tech the first time through. And since part of tech is fixing things, you can't fix things well or fix completely broken items until the last 1/3rd of the game. The part where going tech makes your companion healer unable to heal you, while interesting initially, goes bummerzone quick. Melee and summoning are pretty OP. Beauty worthless. Overall, give it a try!

Great steampunk atmosphere with nice artwork and excellent attention to detail. I liked the choice of tech and magic, and the character development is amongst the best I've played. Choices have actual consequences, so unethical behaviour really will come back to bite you! It's not perfect, and it's not for everyone - the combat is flawed and too many of the quests are glorified errand running. But if you like a detailed, immersive RPG where you develop a tight and powerful team that makes sense, it's worth your time.

Please, add Ukrainian localization.

Wow I have some great memories of this game! Best character i rolled on here had the Savant trait.... I remember lol'ing at almost every dialogue option that my character was presented with. Remember on Fallout when your Int and Charisma would drop after drug use, then your dialogue options would only be grunts.... Well they took things to an even more hillarious level in this game. Great characters, great atmosphere, OK plot direction. Just great fun! I remember it being a lot more unforgiving in the beginning, but get past the steep difficulty at first and its a great game.