Arcanum - Aged Well @ Bitmob

[woges]

Another 'Aged Well' article at Bitmob. This article on Arcanum (http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/youve-aged-well-arcanum.html) is, of course, very positive.
I had gotten hooked at the meticulous webwork of Arcanum's Victorian-esque society; I was reeled in by the clashing ideals of ancient magick and progressive technology, befitting of the steampunk genre; I was awestruck at the sheer multitudes of items and monsters that populated the game world, without being too overbearing; I was dumbfounded as to how Troika managed to pull it off.

Tying in to Cosmo's earlier writeup (http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/diverging-paths-and-game-design.html) on the often fickle process of choice within video games, Arcanum continued the happy tradition set by Fallout that placed you in a game world in which you can practically do whatever the hell you want. That was another alluring element of the game -- if I wanted to strip off all of my armor and streak through the town while drunk, nothing could stop me! Well, except maybe the local constabulary, of course. Still, the freedom to actually pull off a stunt like that was a refreshing take on stuffy video game parameters that typically shunted you from linearity to linearity.
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=13874)

[Badesumofu]

I was playing a bit of Arcanum after I gave up on Risen, but before DA came out. It has aged well, if you like top-down isometric games. I quite like the combat, I tend to real time it on trash fights, then hit space to switch to turn-based for the more serious fights. It's quite a good compromise. One thing I didn't like about Fallout was the game going into turn based mode any time you encounter a single trash mob. It could get tedious. In Arcanum, I can just Harm them dead, bam. It's good for the pacing of the game. I really feel like I can just do whatever in that game. Your character can actually show initiative instead of just going from quest-giver to quest-giver and doing what the game tells you to. That spell that allows you bind the spirit of a dead person is brilliant. If someone simply refuses to tell you what you want to know, you can just kill them and bind their spirit until they tell you. Gold. In theory you could then Res the victim, so it's sort of like the ultimate torture. I'm going to make an evil Necromancer next time I play that game.

Top 5 RPG for me, easy.

Edit: also, there is no excuse to not play this game. If anyone would like to be pointed in the right direction, PM me.

[mbuddha]

When the game first came out I played as a gnome who specialized in explosives. I remember I chose a gnome to take the opportunity to role play something unique in a game that would acknowledge my choices. The explosives were cool, but after a while I felt silly playing as a gnome that was dwarfed (gnomed?) by the other party members and I lost interest around the dwarven mountains. Even though I really like that area. I finally got around to replaying it this year and completed the game as a human who specialized in electronics, which allowed for some really neat items to be created. The choices were great and you do feel a sense of freedom when conversing with NPCs. It was a very good gaming experience. I started another replay where I intended to murder everyone but then I got busy with Risen and Dragon Age. Might go back when things dry up although I might be satisfied as I rarely replay games.

[jhwisner]

I liked this game but I really wish they could have budgeted 3 more months to polish out the kinks before the initial release.

I really liked this game but the areas I visited in the latter half of the game, particularly Caladon and Dernholm, felt so empty and unfinished. While I understand Dernholm was a dying kingdom, it felt like they spent about the same time fleshing it out as Shrouded Hills. I suppose part of the problem was that they did such good detail work and packed relatively many sidequests into that small town - which you never really need to revisit- that it leaves some of the latter cities feeling sparse and rushed.

I would still recommend it, though only with the latest community patches, to people who liked Fallout. I just wish they could have spent more time on it before releasing it so it wouldn't have been so incredibly disappointing. Let me be clear though- it was disappointing not because it was bad but because it was so obvious that it was intended to be far better.

[BillSeurer]

As jhwisner points out the early parts of the game are best and towards the middle it just feels empty. There's that HUGE map with nothing in it.

[JemyM]

Finished Arcanum last year I think, and it was the best RPG experience I had in ages. Tells you a bit about the RPG's released the recent years I think. "They don't do games like these anymore" is an expression that comes to mind.

[Maylander]

Replayed it a few months back. Several times. Yes, it's still *that* good. One of the best ever made, no doubt.

[txa1265]

Another typical Troika game - absolute brilliance with some serious flaws. Definitely one of my top 10 RpGs.

[DArtagnan]

Yup, agree here.

To be fair, it has serious flaws that I can't ignore - such as the meaty stuff thinning out towards the latter part of the game.

But it has a tremendously satisfying character system, with tons of replay value and great choices.

[BillSeurer]

Yup, agree here.

To be fair, it has serious flaws that I can't ignore - such as the meaty stuff thinning out towards the latter part of the game.

But it has a tremendously satisfying character system, with tons of replay value and great choices.

Oh yeah, there are the problems with the character system too. While there are many choices they are horribly unbalanced. And the combat system is fundamentally broken, too.

[DogInARocket]

I've started this game 3 times or so since its release, and love the setting, vibe etc, but for whatever reason I've lost interest and have stopped playing. Each time I've started the game, I catch myself loving the character creation and early bits, and I say to myself, "why on earth didn't I finish this game?". I've forgotten why I can't seem to keep at it. What jhwisner said about places feeling empty rings a bell now though. It's probably been a year since I last tried it so maybe it's time to give it another shot.

[Zaleukos]

I had a hard time getting going with Arcanum, but it was rewarding once I got into the game.

Arcanum would be a superb game if ported to a better engine. The dumb combat and some pretty stupid design decisions make some dungeons (the first dwarven clan being the main culprit) rather painful. As things stand it is a flawed gem at best. Setting and replayability/non-linearity are great, but the UI and the combat just stink.

[Relayer]

A brilliant game marred by a permeating "clunkiness".

The fan patches by Drog make the game much better though.

Still, I would kill for a full remake using the TOEE engine!!!!

[LuckyCarbon]

You're all mirroring my thoughts as I read the article. I wish this was redone with a good engine and some serious character re-balancing.

Ya know, the dragon age engine would probably work pretty well to redo this game. A lot of the same map mechanics, no turn-based combat but other than that.... I should look into the DA toolset.

[wolfing]

I tried it and couldn't get into it. Don't remember why, think I just didn't like the 'steam-punk' setting. Might give it another go to see if my 'setting' requirements are more relaxed now.

[Melvil]

So I'm a little off the reservation, but I can never get into this game. It's not the combat, or the repetitive environments, or the skill balance issues...hehe, my least favorite Troika game.

[JDR13]

Oh yeah, there are the problems with the character system too. While there are many choices they are horribly unbalanced .


That's my main complaint, Arcanum is far too biased towards magic use. Trying to play a gun-slinging techie seems at least 2-3X harder than playing a mage.

[rune_74]

It is to bad someone has not gone back and moded the game to fill it out more...

[BillSeurer]

That's my main complaint, Arcanum is far too biased towards magic use. Trying to play a gun-slinging techie seems at least 2-3X harder than playing a mage.

Exactly. A few of the skill grouping are fairly useless and some are awesome. Ranged combat is totally broken for several reasons not the least of which is that combat starts out within melee range almost every time.

The setting and to a lesser extent the story are what makes Arcanum good.

[skavenhorde]

I've heard this before about guns in Arcanum and it's not exactly correct. If you use turn-based mode with a gun slinger then yes, you are in for a world of pain. But if you start out in turnbased and then switch to real-time you will find battles much more managable.

In rt combat your character gets a lot of shots before the enemy reaches you. I never counted, but it could easily be 10 to 15 shots using a revolver that I got from the doc. Using slower guns of course slows this down, but not as much as switching to TB mode would. In tb combat you may have 3 or 4 shots and then you're face to face with the enemy.

If things got too hectic or I was swarmed then I would switch back to TB, do what I needed to do like heal, switch weapons, throw a grenade or two and then I would switch back to real time. It just didn't make any sense to stick with TB when using guns. You recieved way too many more shots in real time than TB and it felt more balanced. The enemies were still tough, but they were not in my face in every single encounter.

Bottom line use both types of combat for a gunslinger. TB for when things get overwhelming or you need to fine tune your strategy like using objects or moving around and then switch back to realtime for the actual fighting with a gun part. Targeting the legs helps a lot if you are halfway decent with a gun.

[JDR13]

In rt combat your character gets a lot of shots before the enemy reaches you. I never counted, but it could easily be 10 to 15 shots using a revolver that I got from the doc. Using slower guns of course slows this down, but not as much as switching to TB mode would. In tb combat you may have 3 or 4 shots and then you're face to face with the enemy.


That only confirms that some aspects of combat are indeed broken. There should be no difference in how many shots you can get off in real-time vs turn-based.

[skavenhorde]

Broken almost definitely. Took me awhile to figure out the best combination of TB with RT.

In the end though, I'll take broken any day of the week vs unplayable. For me it was a little more challenging tactically. As a wizard, I found myself a little bored. I only really needed one spell Tempus Fugit. That spell was way overpowered.

My second run through as a gunslinger was a lot more fun. Only thing I really grumbled about was storing all that stuff. I had a storage bin in the main city where I put all of my stuff. NOT THE TRASHBINS :). I learned the hard way that Troika actually programmed in there that the trash bins would be emptied. Annoyed the heck out of me the first time I found out, but it was such a cool little feature that added a bit of realism to the game. Don't see too many games like that that go into such detail.

In any event, this is Troika we are talking about and none of their games were totally without bugs (some great patches now take care of a lot of them). If you are willing to try out different things and overlook some of the obvious mistakes then playing a gunslinger is one heck of a ride.

[txa1265]

That only confirms that some aspects of combat are indeed broken. There should be no difference in how many shots you can get off in real-time vs turn-based.

Tell that to Fallout 3! ;)

[Relayer]

I've heard this before about guns in Arcanum and it's not exactly correct. If you use turn-based mode with a gun slinger then yes, you are in for a world of pain. But if you start out in turnbased and then switch to real-time you will find battles much more managable.

Yes but if a game offers 2 modes and one method of combat only works in one of those modes it means it's still broken.

I hated RT in Arcanum.
Not that TB is a whole lot better but it's my preferred way of playing.

[Relayer]

Bah, didn't read the replies just above me, basically ditto.

But yeah, possibly the worst thing in Arcanum was the combat system.

[JDR13]

You would think that the ranged attacks would be something that a patch could fix. Oh well.....

[Alrik Fassbauer]

That's my main complaint, Arcanum is far too biased towards magic use. Trying to play a gun-slinging techie seems at least 2-3X harder than playing a mage.

I remember I wanted to play it without having to kill anyone at all ... ;)

[BillSeurer]

That's my main complaint, Arcanum is far too biased towards magic use. Trying to play a gun-slinging techie seems at least 2-3X harder than playing a mage.

I remember I wanted to play it without having to kill anyone at all … ;)

I remember when someone figured out how to do that in Ultima Underworld. His description was really funny.

Oh and if you play Arcanum as a strong melee guy the combat is trivial. A friend did that and had maxed out very early in the game because of how it awards XP to the one who does the most damage (IIRC).