Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

After owning this for 8 years on GoG, I finally sat down for a 50 hour marathon that took me two weeks, but I finally beat Arcanum tonight. Despite the steep learning curve for new players, I must say that the journey is well worth it. This game requires your full attention. Have a real pen and notebook ready, because the in-game journal doesn't hold your hand at all. I constantly had to look up where an NPC was to get back to them. The main quest is intelligent, the lore behind the world is thought-out, and the constant struggle between Magick vs Technology creates palpable tension in the world visible during your journey. Every dialog with an NPC feels natural, and your choices reflect the type of character you want to be. Tired of talking to this person? Pick an agressive line, such as: "Uh, that would be the sound of ME descreating your pathetic remains!" kill them, and loot their pockets for the knowledge you seek. Or, with enough charisma, you might convince them to tell you what you need to know, willingly, without any confrontation. OR you might discover they have a rival who will help you instead. The game gives you the tools. The choice is yours. Your INT affects your dialog, so if you're drunk, your responses will be slurred until you sober up. I haven't seen dialog this dynamic since playing as a Malkavian in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. It feels like you're having actual conversations. With the latest Unofficial Patch, you no longer have to hunt down for all the graphic and sound mods, however there are some areas' framerates that still run like hot garbage due to the way the engine is rendering the sprites on the screen, which is the only reason it gets a 4/5 stars. It can be frustrating debugging the game if you run into a problem. I wish we could go back to days like this where we can be so much more immersed, where your options affect the world, and the game actually treats you like an adult who can solve problems. Good stuff.

I've played all of them - all the golden age RPGs (Baldurs Gate 1&2, Fallout 1&2, Planescape Torment , Icevind Dale, temple of elemental Evil, etc etc) and also many of the new ones (Torment Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity). If you look on how the game is on the surface Arcanum is probably the worst of all: "so many bugs", "such a terrible combat balance and AI system", "how clunky", "what an outdated graphics"... But if you scratch below the surface just a little bit Arcanum is second only to Planescape Torment no doubt. Some of the unique aspects that makes it so great: - incredible variety of dialogue options and choices/implications dynamic giving an amazing sense of freedom and strong replay value - very good story, great cast of charachters and a large and amazing world (without spoilering too much there are steampunk cities, fallen reigns, remote wild islands, hidden towns of various nature, lots of totally optional locations) - very original (altought not very simple) technological vs magickal system, with broader implications than one may think initially Like Torment, there are no other games like this, and maybe there will never be... Just save often (some of the bugs are really annoying) and have fun...

My new favorite game -Excellent story -Godlike soundtrack -Well aged graphics -Great voice acting -Virgil my beloved Also Thanks for the free Banana Bread recipe.

Say what you will but you will never forget your time in Arcanum. Indescribable charm, magic vs pistols or hand grenades what? Orcs on the assembly line? Flamethrowers? It was far more fun to play as a techie as the list of things you could craft was ambitious, want a robot follower? You got it! How about a flamethrower? Sure just bring enough fuel. What if you can make your armor heal you? Why not! The list goes on and on. But being a cool mage was possible too. Oh who am I kidding, I cannot give justice to this game, you have to play and see for yourself, but... you have to love isometric games, I understand that graphics can greatly enhance the immersion into your character i.e. Bioshock, but then it is a thinking man's type of immersive story driven game, reflexes play a minor role in here.

This is really good RPG but it's "little bit" unfinished, hehe. It's, as people already pointed out, unfinished gem. Maybe you'll like it, maybe not - but you really want to try it. Please, for the first time just play it as a mage - it's easiest that way. Or pure melee fighter. Yes, I know that you want to play as gunslinger - it's logical (this is steampunk game). But as I said, this is unfinished and unbalanced game... gunslinger is just much much harder for inexperienced player. Play that way 3rd time :) And of course do not play the game without Unofficial Arcanum Patch by Drog Black Tooth (Current Version: 2.0.2 (June 11, 2020))