Arcanum Newb Quality Question

[nuke assassin]

I have been playing Fallout and its sequel for quite a while now and absolutely love depth based non-linear CRPG's (Character Role Playing Games) with lots of player choice. So my question is, do you hard-core RPG fans recommend that I buy Aracanum?

I've heard a lot about it, it has gotten mixed reviews, I can't find anyone on the Yahoo chat rooms who has played it, and I know from personal experience that you can't always trust game site reviews. That's exactly why I'm asking the average RPG fans their opinions. Thanks, and if you want to give long break downs or critiques, go for it.

[Lonelypilgrim]

Yes,i think you should definately buy it!I have had it for year and i still can´t have enough of it,but ofcourse i play something else for a while too.Oh and by the way...Fallout 1 and 2 are really cool too.But if you want to get the really best gaming experience then you should buy Baldurs Gate(unless you have it).I think they are selling it together with expancion now.First get BG1 and Tales Of The Sword Coast and then get BG2.After that BG2-Throne Of Baal and then download BG tutu pack from net.Months of gameplay and different places to loot.And it is different every time.Well,that is the best RPG i know.

But now a little more about Arcanum.What i like about Arcanum is that you can craft your own items as a techno or enjoy 1-hit-kill-magics as a mage.Then i like the story of Arcanum and the different possibilites that you can choose.One of the best things is,different to Fallout,that you can choose if you want to have the combat turn-based or normal.Then you can kill the lesser mobs really quickly without it.There is a huge number of quests just waiting to be made and dozens of interesting and unique charecters to take with you on your adventures.And the conversations that you have between the main charecters can never be boring because thay talk with a voice.
I can`t even think of the bad things after telling so much good.

For a rate with max 10 i would give it 9,4.
Buy the game before someone else gets it first!It is worth it!

[kams]

I have this game and I can say that I don't like it.
It has far too many bugs and I don't like its graphics. And it looks really stupid when elves can put on hats from 18 century or ogres use pistols and bombs...

It is not the "first-look decision" - I have played this game for about two weeks and even got to the place where I met the "games big-bad boss".

But, it is only my humble opinion - perhaps you will like it. But you would better to see this game on your friend's comp or something. Just in case.

And I think even LonelyPilgrim would not argue, that Arcanum is nothing compared to Planescape or Baldur's Gate 2.

[fable]

There are some very good things about Arcanum, and some that are very bad, as well. On the positive side, it's got a healthy mix of physical and magical skills, so you can configure your PC in many ways. The quests are varied, though most quest givers lack any reason whatever to trust you (a real problem in many CRPGs). You can also pursue a good or bad agenda, with separate and very differing quests.

Graphics were competent for the time, and the game runs well. However, the interface is a cluttered mess, and you can't control your party in combat: the game AI takes over, and frankly, it's awful. The last is the biggest difficulty in the game, IMO. But for $10 or so? Yes, I think it's definitely worth it.

[Darkstone]

If you liked FO & FO2 you should like Arcanum. First, it is a character building game. Though you get only 1, sometimes 2 points a level, you should be level 50 (more if you download the cap remover) by the time you get to the end, so you can really mold your character. Second, like the FOs, you can opt to play a fighter, a diplomat, or a thief, only with the addition of magic or technology subsets. Third, you can play good or evil. Fourth, even though it's linear there's plenty of side things to explore along the way. Fifth, with all the different character types and options there is a very large capacity for replay. Sixth, with high charisma you can amass a nice set of followers who can either act as mules for your fighter or bodyguards for your diplomat/thief. And seventh, there's an option for turn based play if you don't like frantic point and click affairs.

With the patch I didn't find a problem with the game. (Just save early and often like with every game.) The music is okay if you like violin chamber music. It's like D&D set in Victorian times, so it's pretty unique. After many replays I still find playing the technologist an interesting puzzle.

But just like with FO2, you really really really have to download the patch.

Buy it and I think you'll be replaying it as much as FO and FO2.

[nuke assassin]

Well basically in terms of a purchase, the only way I can buy this game, brand new is to buy it for 20 dollars of http://www.amazon.com the same site I bought Fallout and FO2 off.

I love Fallout, it's one of the best CRPG's I've ever played, so I don't think I'll have much of a problem with the graphics or the interface. Anyway judging from the screenshots Arcanum looks better than Fallout in terms of visuals and anyone who adores RPG's knows that graphics aren't the most important thing to anticipate.

P.S. I never installed the patch for Fallout 2 and this might just be me but I never encountered much of any problem, the only thing that ever happened was I can't save in combat or loading that saved game causes the computer to freeze. Other than that though I never experienced any bugs, glitches, or issues of any kind. Regardless though, thanks very much for your opinions, if anyone else has an opinion they'd like to post, go ahead I'm still looking for personal ideas of this game.

[fable]

If you enjoyed Fallout, I suspect you'd enjoy Arcanum. The interface is still a problem and the skill sets are very uneven, but it's a fun game with a lot of challenge. There are also a few mods out there that change the balance or add new content; so once you've played it, you can go back and find new things to do.

[Deadalready]

To tell the truth when I compared Arcanum to Fallout I was pretty dissapointed, where as Fallout had a huge amount of freedom and you actually wanted to save your people, Arcanum for me did kind of drag it's backside plot wise.

To me it felt really clunky and railroaded to play out the story of Arcanum and unless you're careful with stat distribution Arcanum doesn't quite offer the kind of experimentation that's so much fun in Fallout.

With that said if you don't compare it to Arcanum and play it as it is, it can be a very rewarding game. Arcanum contains numerous quests upon quests and you simply can't make a dent in the number of them.

The world on offer is also one that's quite diverse and interesting offering an unique flavour that I've yet to see still.


Overall though I have to say it's a fair game, I personally wouldn't have brought it full price, though in the bargin bin it's not a bad catch.

[Darkstone]

Originally Posted by nuke assassin

P.S. I never installed the patch for Fallout 2 and this might just be me but I never encountered much of any problem...

No car suddenly vanishing in the middle of nowhere leaving only the trunk, or the ghouls in Gecko opening fire on you for no reason, or having your teammates automatically turn on you when you accidentally wing them?

On the plus side, in the unpatched version you get +4 charisma when The Masticator bites off your ear, so you *can* build a character to eventually get all 10s. If you're willing to play that long.

For me playing FO2 unpatched was... interesting.

[nuke assassin]

I only played around with the automobile, it wasn't something I had depended on. I'm a loner never cared much for NPC's, and in general nothing bad ever really happened to me when I played the unpatched version of Fallout 2.