Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

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is probably the worst of all: "so many bugs", "such a terrible combat balance and AI system", "how clunky", "what an outdated graphics"...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.

难以想象即便在距离发售后二十多年的今天，粉丝不断修补bug的情况下，我一周目还是遇到了主线相关人物消失导致无法继续主线的恶性bug。再加上别出心裁（扔背包里的物体可以造成伤害，可以对敌方身体部位造成伤害，攻击时有可能武器损坏或者掉落，存在掩体，战斗时可移动物体 etc.）但体验过于狗屎的战斗系统；一拉到底到最后都要对弦乐器的声音ptsd了的单调BGM；所有人都一模一样带着一队人根本不分彼此的外观；后期城市集体缩水，俩精灵城市和图拉几乎啥都没，完全体会不到异域风情...... 但我就是被这个背景设定吃得死死的，蒸汽朋克x西幻，爽死了。而且还不是仅仅把这俩元素搁一块儿，也不去想它们放一起会发生什么——不是这样的，这游戏主题就这个！游戏前半段所有任务都围绕科技魔法的二元对立展开，图书馆里令人大饱眼福的文献，街上每日一换的报纸，甚至街边路人几句对主角种族和科技魔法倾向的抱怨，火车站“魔法师与狗不得入内”的规矩，所有东西都在全力向我描绘一个同时存在科技和魔法的世界里，人们的生活究竟是怎样的，又是如何变成这样的，他们的未来又会通往哪里。 奥秘大陆正在因为科技与魔法的巨大分歧而四分五裂，但是，时代交替之际蒸汽和魔法之间孰优孰劣的矛盾和各自引发的问题是表象：塔伦特与其他城市的争端只是为了利益，侏儒制造半食人魔根科技或魔法都无关，至于兽人受到的歧视也并不是工厂出现之后才有的，矛盾真正的源头是不论身处的时代属于蒸汽还是魔法，不论外形进化成了怎样，都在热衷于自我毁灭的凡人本身。一旦意识到这件事便很难不去像寇刚一样拥抱虚无，成全自己的同类也结束自己受到的的折磨，这一点我其实非常同意寇刚，大家伙何必继续自己为难自己，不过也能明白就这样判所有人死刑也绝非正义。但维吉尔非常不幸的在这种没完没了的折磨中找到了支撑自己活下去的希望，并决定履行自己在与获生者初次相遇时如同玩笑一般的誓言“我自此将我的一生交予伟大的‘获生者’，在下，维吉尔，愿意为您效劳”。（其实维吉尔后期的转变在我看来有点牵强，除非我理解为他在被获生者复活后爱上了获生者.......）说真的这种明知道生活本质上并没有希望，却依旧抓紧一丝哪怕可能只是虚构的希望的故事意外的还挺戳我，因为这就是生活本身嘛。至于我们的获生者嘛，从被命运裹挟，到脱离命运，最后试图改写所有人的命运，总之是个挺王道的展开啦。 感觉维吉尔的小混混变修士的设定很像《莱博维兹的赞歌》里的弗朗西斯修士，而且性格也很像，图拉就挺“沙漠里的大图书馆”的，至于历史不断循环的主题就更是完全一致。 当然《神曲》梗也没少，维吉尔教玩家用大地图后如果玩家执意要继续往前走，就会遇到一大群非常厉害的野狗，或许是对应神曲开头但丁被三只野兽堵住前进的道路，维吉尔出现为但丁指明另一条路的桥段；维吉尔个人任务里的突然离队，也对应着《神曲》里终于带着但丁见到他心上人后的维吉尔在转瞬间消失：“我的身体里面没有一滴血是不剧烈震动的；我认出了旧情复燃的征象！”（感恩三驾马车给了我们一个将维吉尔从地狱带回的结局，消除了一点点我对另一个维吉尔的遗憾）；至于那个但丁的支线就不说了，基本就是在捏他历史上的但丁，你还能送他回老家呢，这不好吗？ 辐射梗就更多了，还有直接来自疯狂的麦克斯的狗肉本狗，各种历史梗流行元素梗都玩到停不下来。 总之我算是被这个游戏几乎完美的故事深深吸引了，即便它肉眼可见的删减了大量剧情，依旧算是一个可圈可点的故事：足够新奇有趣且详实的背景设定，足够丰富并且在结尾都会一一回收的伏笔，主角只是凡人也并不无所不能，也有着相当不错的队友塑造。其中我还是最喜欢自己第一个打出来的，善良的获生者跟着寇刚一起毁灭大陆，所有人都会得到获生者追求的安息，除了获生者本人之外的结局——完美符合我的想法——这是正确的行为，但这么做也必须得到惩罚。

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))