Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

...but this game have awesome atmosphere and it is worth to complete it many times with various character builds and choices. Gameplay could be very hard or awesome easy (my magician just go trough and kill everything thats stands in his way). I remember I tried this game about 15 years ago, with technic character and it has rejected me back then but now it is still a very good game. It would be nice to have a continuation or game with similar fight/craft system (magic vs technology).

Considering the Fallout developers helped make this game was insane! The game play has been really great so far. I got it and played the game the game play is good so far. You can either go and do side-quests or stick with the main storyline. The fact you can pick from lets say...2 factions or types of...I don't know this is hard to explain without spoiling. Well if you pick to use guns you can only go to merchants that sell guns/armor you'd become a "tech fan" if you decide to use magic/armor you'd become a "magic fan" and the fact that some stores are limited to what type of technology/magic you use just makes this game one of my top 10's!

arcanum features a delightful & imaginative setting. the plot (at least it's first few acts) is also terrific. there's so much to love about this game. it's a shame that the final product was rushed to market. the endgame clearly lacks the polish of the opening. the combat veers between imbalanced and completely broken. many skills and spells are utterly worthless, but you won't realize this until you reach level 20 or so, when you encounter enemies that are absolutely unlike anything previously encountered. they just suddenly show up and kill you (most likely) or (less likely) just ruin all of your hard-earned equipment. enemies will traverse the entire map in one turn, rendering ranged attacks of limited value. the waypoint system is awful. invest in an ergonomic mousepad, because a ridiculous number of clicks will be required to traverse impressively large areas. the only person who can identify magic items lives on the outskirts of town, because lulz. you will want to cry the 30th time you have to walk there by creating FIVE WAYPOINTS that aren't enough. you'll have to create more once you get to the fifth waypoint. i still rated this game 3 stars on the strength of the imagined world. it's that good. many of the characters are fascinating. you may be (as i am) the sort of person who finds the punishing gameplay experience worth the pain, just to explore the world and dig on the lore. but don't be fooled. it really is that bad. you have been warned.

I'm a bit surprised at how well this game is reviewed here. Nostalgia, I guess. Good: The truth is that Arcanum really does have a lot to offer. Foremost, it is set in a unique, fantasy leaning steampunk world that sure is a lot of fun to inhabit. It feels enjoyably expansive to the point where you could do little plot wise and just enjoy being an insignificant member of the world and be happy. Rather than let you do everything, Arcanum skillfully limits you so that each character that you create feels extremely different than the last. There are a lot of ways to explore this world whether you are a brawler, gun toter, thief, technologist, mage, or dozens of different nuanced twists on those types of things. If you like to play creative characters that really feel like the world is embracing the archetype you've created, you'll like these things. Bad: This is why it's hard to understand why Arcanum goes so wrong. With such attention to creating a wonderful sandbox world, it is baffling that the plot elements and major character goals are so unyielding. Clearly, the developers had an axe to grind about conventional fantasy tropes, which starts out feeling refreshing. The plots don't go as you expect. Often, you are forced into moral choices that Arcanum forces you to live with. This is somewhat interesting .. until EVERYTHING you do is forced into that same situation over and over again. What's worse is that you could probably easily come up with compromises or other solutions to these plot lines but that is never an option. I mean that word "never". Constantly you are in a situation where you could improve your characters gear or talents or finish a quest only to find that your sole option to do so requires you to be a tool. Why allow so much freedom only to never provide alternate ways to achieve character goals that are morally acceptable to whatever character you make? I gave up about 50 hours in realizing I wasn't having fun anymore.

This is the Gothic of isometric RPG:s. Use the unofficial patch and the increased resolution mod.