Arcanum: of Steamworks & Magick Obscura
Rating:  -
I have been playing RPGs religiously since I first got a computer (Yes I was one of the psycos that couldn't tear herself away from D&D). I have played almost every game on the market and very sadly there are very few that were actually worth my time of day as a woman that loves to roll play (not to mention the money I spent buying them blindly...). However, as all the other reviews stated, this game is fantastic. It easily takes you to a world unlike our own to a time that was really not that long ago. The thousands of side quests are all differant and unique by the character you create. The character database could be a little bit more detailed, however, it is worth it and the character point system for upgrading your character is FABULOUS and VERY unique.
One draw back is that you have very little control of other characters that join your party. They simply run blindly into absolutly ALL battles whether you like it or not! Very irritating if they die in the process!
The game has a few bugs when it comes to my computer but never has been worth quiting over. I have actually NEVER beaten this game I have six characters I play around the clock with, going after side quests and completely forgetting the maine plot to the whole story.
All in All ONLY for die hard RPGers that are willing to give up sleeping and eating for this FABULOUS masterpiece of a game!
Rating:  -
I purchased Arcanum without having any information other than what was on the box; but it sounded like something right up my alley; I really love RPG's, and this looked like a good one.
Getting started with Arcanum was almost intolerable to me, but once I got past the initial troubles trying to read the manual, it became really entertaining. The atrocious manual, though, lacks an index, or even a table of contents!!! It's also written in what's supposed to be a "clever" style of olde tyme, but which is actually just infuriating and annoying. I had a devil of a time finding actual helpful information, and generally just had to figure things out on my own. Once I got the basics down, though, I enjoyed the game tremendously.
Characters are *completely* customizable - every skill, every nuance is able to be changed, and the NPC's in the game react differently to characters having different abilities and appearances. It's a bit difficult getting started this way, because of course you want to become good at something without totally neglecting the other items, so it's an exercise in patience and strategy. Ability points are doled out only one at a time at first, and then at certain intervals, two at a time. Still, it's frustrating to choose which spell or ability to level up, as each affects something else.
I chose a magical path, rather than a technological one, and stuck to it almost exclusively. Hence, I can't comment on the technological aspects of the game. The magic and spellcasting interfaces were quick, intuitive and easy to use, something I really appreciate in this sort of game. Likewise, the combat system is excellent; if you prefer real-time combat, that mode is available. However, if you can't keep up with the computer, then you can easily switch to a turn-based combat system (which is what I preferred, for simplicity's sake.)
Inventories are easily managed, especially given the "clean-up" button that immediately organizes everything into the most compact space, and trading with NPC's is basically a snap. The graphics are very good and diverse in texture and color, and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of technological and magical charaters and cultures. There is a tremendous variety of weapons, armors and sundry other items available for use, and it definitely pays off to get into every single locked chest you come across.
The story line is sufficiently complex, involving twists, turns, mysteries and surprises, and the number of available quests is outstanding. It's a very non-linear game, letting you explore many areas of the world more than once, and oftentimes finding different items in places you've already been. You may be joined by any number of other characters, who add different skills, extra fighting power, and more inventory capacity to the party. Some people will refuse to join you if your reputation is too good or too evil - each act you perform contributes to your overall disposition, and also to how members of your party view you. If you anger your party members, they may choose to leave you.
The land of Arcanum is huge, and I greatly enjoyed the ability to Teleport around in it, thereby saving valuable time and energy. However, the folks at Sierra came up with an innovative long-distance traveling method that's great, too; on the World Map, one is allowed to select waypoints and paths to different "main" areas and dungeons, and shows your progress with a red cross following a path, much like the movies of yore. Not requiring dull, boring first-person travel across the entire land is very refreshing. There are many, many hours of entertaining game play to be had here.
The load times for the game are a bit long, and there were a few bugs in the system, especially in the maps - occasionally, labels for buildings would get mixed up between towns, resulting in buildings with half their name from one town, and half from another town. Further, there were bugs that disallowed completion of certain quests, which is always infuriating. However, there were no bugs that I would call Absolutely Fatal to the game. There were certain quests that were so picky as to what had to happen, that I had to look up a walkthrough site to find the answers. Even then, however, I wasn't able to complete them all, due to bugs or having clicked on the wrong item or something. Further, there were times when I stumbled upon an area or a person in the land that I wasn't "supposed" to bump into until much later - this sometimes caused problems with quests related to that area or person.
One thing that really honked me off was suddenly being unable to level up any further - I was unaware that once a character attained level 50, that was it. I was increasing my Persuasion skills to finish another quest, and suddenly - POOF! No more level, buh-bye. I had used my level points from 7 levels, and still needed about 3 more to attain the right level to finish the quest, but all of that was wasted - not only did I not get to the Persuasion level I needed, but I had blown those valuable skill points on something I didn't need anymore. ARGH! Still, with the skills I had otherwise acquired, finishing the game wasn't difficult.
The graphics were good, but a bit behind the times, especially given the long load times. This is definitely a game that can be played again and again, because how the story develops will depend entirely upon what sort of character you play, how you react to differing NPC's, and which quests you complete. Even the ending cutscene is customized to tell you what happened because of your actions.
Overall, I give it a thumbs-up, but perhaps I'm just easily-amused. I like the genre, and a game that gives me hours and hours of enjoyable play is just dandy by me. I truly hope they come out with a sequel that will update the graphics, improve upon the manual, and be a tiny bit less clunky overall.
Rating: -
First for the stuff that I did like. Firstly this game is huge! You get alot of hours of play for your dollar. Go to their website just to see how long it take to walk arcoss Arcanum. I like how character creation (reminds me of GURPS) lets you do whatever you want. I also like the fact that there is rarely one way to do anything. This means that you don't have to figure out the soultion that the desiners thought was good, but one that makes sence to you. This is the best that a computer rpg can do. For example, I saw someone accedently lock the only door to a building in such a way that he couldn't unlock it, so he blew up a window with a grenade and climbed in the side. I also like the lack of focus on brute force and inorance so common to many rpgs. (Inflict more pain on the problem until the problem aleviates.) You get points for completing "quests" as well as killing stuff. (and I'm not talking about Diablo type quests where the object IS to kill stuff) Although, you can still play a big dumb ogre if you want. Summoner had a good swing at this non-combat gameplay, but arcanum does it better. Of course, you DO have to fight, but the focus is more on storyline/puzzle solving. Replay value looks to be very high too, because you can't get though the same way with different characters. In fact, you'd be hardpressed to get though the same way with the same character. And there's bound to be a bunch of stuff you missed anyway.
Now for the stuff I didn't like. What you may notice very quickly is that the user manual for this thing is terrible. No table of contents, no index, and very fluffy. What this amounts to is you not being able to find the one thing you want to know. (like what's this big green button on my interface for? or is there anyway to get my whole party to stop fighting?) Now, the gameplay graphics are just fine, but the gameplay animation is bad, and scrolling is a pain. The game window won't follow your character around, YOU have to follow it around everytime they move offscreen. One again, the focus is not so much on combat, so this is ok. I would love to see an Arcanum II with a decent manual and graphics reflective of at least 2 years ago. I couldn't think of any computer game players that wouldn't want it. But if you're all for gameplay over glitz and don't mind reading the manual stait though several times, you won't be able to stop playing!
Rating: -
Pros:Technollagy and magic
Multible game paths and endings
Nearly full charater custimazation
A ton of fun and ingaging side quests and side plots.
You can have many followers based on your charisma
Ultra unlinear
Wonderful main story
Nice interface once you get to know it
Manual is very interesting to read and even includes a halfling recipe that resembles bannana bread.
A fun and rewarding experiance
Cons:Manual has know index.
Maby to unlinear
Occasionaly you might not know what to do
It has bugs in it but I ignored them
You might custimize your character to make them so so strong you can beat the game without a good challenge
Rating: -
Pros:Technollagy and magic
Multible game paths and endings
Nearly full charater custimazation
A ton of fun and ingaging side quests and side plots.
You can have many followers based on your charisma
Ultra unlinear
Wonderful main story
Nice interface once you get to know it
Manual is very interesting to read and even includes a halfling recipe that resembles bannana bread.
A fun and rewarding experiance
Cons:Manual has know index.
Maby to unlinear
Occasionaly you might not know what to do
It has bugs in it but I ignored them
You might custimize your character to make them so so strong you can beat the game without a good challenge
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