Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Because I've never finished it, I can't say whether or not there's any bugs or anything that make it unfinishable. My reason for never finishing it has to do with life, and not the game. Beautifully written, especially for when it was released. Great art, for when it was released. Creative magic and technology system. An amazing world to explore. If you enjoy Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Neverwinter Nights, Pillars of Eternity, Divinity, and similar games, you'll probably enjoy this game. It's magic & steam punk. A bit like Shadowrun and Numenera.

Be warned: this game is LONG and SLOW. This is because the major complaints people had with Fallout 1 and 2 (this game was made with the same engine and the same devs) was the low repeatability. So they artifically inflated the game life in the worse possible way: long winded and tedious quests. Everytime you think you've made a breakthrough in the story, they send you to another filler island. The world feels progressively emptier (you can see the end areas are quite barren and unfinished, the starter areas are well done however), until eventually you grind to the end of the game. If you can stomach that and have the patience and time, this is a very unique game with some great mechanics. One of the first game to introduce crafting, and the system still holds decently to this day. Magic is also awesome and arguably superior to crafting. The possibilities are huge and the game has a lot of replay potential, if you can deal with the grindy slow sections every time you do another run. Highly recommend the community patch to clear the many many bugs the original game has.

It's just perfect! It's something much more than a game. After a few months I still remember the plot, the game's world (unique!), the characters and, well, I'm kind of missing all of that... It is definitely one of the most impressive game experiences I ever had.

I cannot believe I missed this gem growing up! Think classic fallout meets steampunk meets oblivion (if it were in classic fallout style), and you get gun-toting knights, or a Doc Holiday type, or a classic Mage character, or even a Gnomish merchant if you want. I absolutely love the character creation and the leveling up. It is the type of game where I can keep starting new characters, spend hours and hours on each and still not even finish 1% of the main story, there is just that much to do. I recommend this to any RPG fan. There is simply not enough space given for these reviews for me to list all the things I enjoy about this truly underrated and amazing game. I really wonder what Fallout 3 would've been like if these guys won the rights over Bethesda, and Bethesda has released some of my all time favorites, which this game Arcanum, is now one of.

This game has been produced by the same team as the first Fallout games, and it shows in many ways, good and bad. If you enjoyed these games, there is a good chance you will enjoy this one too, if you manage to pass the first ten levels. The steampunk universe of Arcanum is based on the opposition between magic and technology – each interfering with the working of the other. You can learn spells, and/or you can learn how to make technological items like weapons, guns, pharmaceuticals, traps and other electrical wonders, but the more you learn in one way, the less effective you will be the other way. The NPCs themselves will react to you according to past deeds, your magic/tech bias, and also to your race: that’s right, a good number of NPCs are complete bigoted racists, and you can play along if you don’t mind getting in fights with everybody (and getting evil in the process). Some of the social interactions are actually quite unsettling (like the Orcs and Ogres races being literally enslaved by humans and gnomes), hitting too close to home. But it’s OK: I don’t mind a game addressing real-life social topics, pushing me outside of my comfort zone. In short, there is a well-done steampunk background, quests for all tastes and plenty of NPCs to talk to, with an emphasis on realistic interactions. There seem to be a plethora of options for your character, from character build to ethical choices. All of these were why I bought this game. However, the game is quite difficult (even on Easy mode), the interface does its job but needs some time to get used to. Most importantly, the character level-up system is very, very frustrating, especially during the first levels, because you only get one point per level and you need it everywhere, and there is a level-up cap of 50, so it’s not as if you have a limitless supply – you have to plan well in advance. By level 15, your start getting more comfortable, but then you realized you will have to specialize in a single tech line, or in one or two spell schools, if you want to unlock one of the highest tech or spells. Or give up on both magic and tech altogether because you need these points in your basic skills. Frankly, if it was not for all the other positive reviews and the fact I paid for this game, I would have given up on it.