Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Arcanum is, in many ways, the archetypal Troika game: Brilliantly conceived but sloppily executed. Bugs, combat that vacillates between tolerable and awful, unbalanced gameplay and an at times obtuse plot mar the experience. Still, the fact that Arcanum is among the finest RPGs ever created speaks volumes to the creative clout wielded by the now-defunct Troika. The game's weakest point is the combat. It is unbalanced, boring, repetitive, illogical (monsters are a mishmash of fantasy tropes that frequently have little or nothing to do with their respective environments) and is most often merely used as a barrier to player progress. The last point in particular is frustrating to me. In good game design, combat should enhance story progression, not hinder it. I don't want every combat area to merely be a grinding slog between plot points. The game's strongest point is the character creation and realization. You really can create and play a huge variety of characters (though the viability of characters varies wildly due to balance issues). Even if a technologist with an allergy to magicka is at a huge disadvantage compared to a pure mage, you can still play one consistently throughout--and the game will recognize and respond to your choices. That is not true with a great many RPGs that funnel different characters into one path or don't respond to unique character builds. Arcanum knows the difference between a suave human swashbuckler, a haughty elven mage, a brilliant dwarven tecnologist, a nimble halfling thief, and a half-ogre with a stunted IQ but an overgrown fist, and will respond accordingly. That, in and of itself, is probably worth the purchase price at $6. In conclusion, this is an outstanding game that could have been truly remarkable if only the flaws had been ironed out before release. If you like story-driven games with deep character choices and real role playing, there are few games before or since that are better. If you like great combat and high production values, however, you will likely be disappointed.

I love this game. I love its attention to detail, the way how it represents the world, lore, the story, the choices you make, the reputation you build, great sidequests, how the story gives the player two main quests in the same moment and the way it lets the player to decide what to do and where to go. The game respects the player and his ability to think. I definitely consider the RPG system the best RPG system amongst class-free RPGs. I love how technology affects magick and vice versa. I cannot 100% say that there is a perfect balance between these paths, since I have to play as a 100% mage yet. I love lvl 50 cap and that you are given just 1 point after leveling (2 points every 5 levels). This forces the player to choose the path immediately from the beginning and hold to it. There are tons of skills and just 1 point when you get a level. When you do not plan, you just may end up being a very poor character. There are problems: 1. the difficulty balance - It is just not good when a game forces you to fight lvl 1-10 monsters in "story" areas even close to the end of the game. You just constantly fight much lower enemies during the whole game (except the beginning). 2. the battle system - the game can be played as a turn-based RPG and a real-time RPG and neither of the two is good. The real-time is very fast-paced and it's nearly impossible to control anything at such a speed, turn-based's just basic, bare boned and does not require almost any strategical planning or playing. 3. the ending - NO SPOILERS (just to be sure) While I love the plot, all the plot twists and how the game ends - meaning the main point, I just did not like the final battle, it was just laughable. After it a couple of short videos are shown, the short ending and you appear in the main menu. 4. the bugs - Due to them I do not know what summary at the end I actually got. I killed the main boss three times with all my characters alive and every time I saw a different summary.

Obscura: Not clearly expressed or easily understood. (Oxford Dictionary.) George Lucas once said a motion picture is never finished, it just escapes or words similar. This could also apply to games and could be fairly suppositioned that Arcanum must have escaped well prior to completion. A huge vast portmanteau sandbox of a game with no tutorials, this is no “my first cRPG”. Perhaps prescribe “three-wheeler” Fall Out 1 for non-RPG playing friends and family as a fun trainer and introduction to the world of role-playing. Patience is a virtue, a virtue much needed if you are to get into this RPG. If, up to now, your main supply of fun in gaming was strategy or adventure or shooters, run, run away now! This is an RPGer’s RPG of the save frequently, die frequently variety. Unlike most RPGs you start out as an individual protagonist on your own and gradually build up your collection of NPC followers. Be warned, accumulation of NPCs can take a while with the possible exception of the first. One of the more innovative features provides opportunity for evolution thru out the game of Good and Evil alignments depending on your actions (as in real life). Voice “acting” is mercifully sparse, as are game options regarding graphics, sound etc. If you enjoy running back and forth fetching items and executing various tasks for strangers and getting killed frequently (save, die, reload, die, reload etc) then Arcanum is your game. If you like wolves, wolves and more wolves and killing rats as big as overfed chihuahuas you’re gonna love it. If you like having to talk to every single character met to get info that should just be readily available, like locations on a map for example, you’re gonna love it! Tedious chores are something you can find in 9/10 typical fields of employment so why oh why would anyone want to play a game filled with tedious chores? And yet paradoxically, altho this game has a long list of defects, this does not stop Arcanum from being loads of fun! Rating: 60%

Let me start by saying that for me, Arcanum is in the TOP 5 list, if it is not THE most favourite game of my life. Despite this I will try to make this review fair. Let's start with things that were not as great. First thing was relatively low resolution for it's time and interface taking up large portion of the screen. For Fallout veterans not much of a problem, plus some of the unofficial patches can add higher resolution, but still... With this is connected another feature not so well made - waypoint system and pathfinding. If you've gotten to a larger location, camera restriction did not allow you to wander too far from your character, so you've had to use waypoints on area map your character then followed. Or did not... Sometimes he would get stuck which was getting rather frustrating, especially in Tarant. Combat system was sufficiently mastered for me, but I could see how others would gond confusin (in realtime mode) or slow and not as complex as it could be (turn based). You have option to choose to aim for head or limbs, but I wouldn't mind seeing more complexity there. But despite it's flaws, Arcanum found a soft spot in my heart and claimed it. Why? One of the reasons is music. Nowhere did I hear as perfect and atmospheric steampunk music as I did here. Each melody will stay in my memory and I'll be humming them whenever I'm in a mood. I have always thought that good music is important for a proper game atmosphere, and this proves me right. And the main reason to play this game is storyline and world that it's set in. This us probably the best portrait of Fantasy world being changed by industrial revolution. You can run around in tuxedo with magic sword in one hand and electric light in the other. Immersing yoursel into the world of Arcanum is absolutely worth of overcoming that few flaws this game has. Listen do Dwarf life philosophy, see the Ancient Elven forest cut for wood to feed technological progress and choose your own inclination...

First time player and just finished my first run. Arcanum is a masterclass in worldbuilding. Its fleshed-out world allows a compelling conflict between magic and technology. Expect familiar fantasy tropes, but because of its premise, there are aspects that are explored deeply such as race and class in transitioning times. Its strongest suit is the character building. You can choose either of the two routes and experiment with the vast possibilities character creation — and there's so much to tinker around with. You can go down a path of good or evil, or somewhere in between. All of these eventually affect your engagement with the people, the world, and the story. For the music, scoring helps build the immersion and experience of the gameplay, and Arcanum does this very well. Caladon, Tarant, and Dernholm are a delight to visit because of their beautiful BGM, while the eerie and dark ambient music really create the spookiness of caves and dungeons. Voice-acting is another area where Arcanum excels. Many followers and NPC have so much personality because of the excellent VO work. As an open-world RPG, Arcanum is immersive but has its limitations. There are areas that can be explored immediately but a lot have to be marked after completing a quest. Combat is its weakest point and, perhaps, its biggest flaw. It's a major slog even though you can switch from turn-based to real time. This can also easily throw off the game balance, from mind-numbingly easy to impossibly hard. Lastly, though it has a compelling story with its fair share of twists and turns, I can't deny that I was disappointed with the ending (or how it was presented, at least). It's not terrible but I wish it was done better. I had many issues running Arcanum (the Steam version didn't work in my PC and I only got to launch game with GoG). And as mentioned in other reviews, it's not for everyone. Despite its flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed it and, perhaps, even revisit it in the future.