Just finished ... some thoughts (spoilers)

[txa1265]

OK, so I really finished on Monday, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down and think about it ...

What I bought as just an afterthought, along with Lionheart and Pool of Radiance 2 for a total of $11, really just as a 'completist' thing picking up RPG's I missed all of those years ignoring them, has turned out to be an excellent RPG gaming experience.

What I loved:
- The pacing - a great mix of action and questing. Too often (Lionheart, Temple of Elemental Evil) you get all quests, followed by endless dungeon crawls. Boring. I like both, but mix it up a bit!
- Thinking and reading. Most games load you up with crap. Some is valuable, some is just junk, some is nice info but little else. Arcanum gives you lots of side-quest info help, which is a nice treat.
- Romance: me and Raven I wasn't expecting it because of the PC-centric gaming (I liken it to NWN in that regard). So I'm talking to her thinking it would be a great opportunity for romance, and *bam* there it is!
- Moral ambiguity - you can often get two conflicting quests, or ways of doing things. Like the assassination of the King vs. negotiating the treaty. I knew that assassination was inherently evil and the game would hit my alignment for it, but I was wondering if in the long term it was be better for the overall world than the treaty, which was full of self-serving special interest influences. Having a game where you actually think this stuff is amazing. I ended up using my high persuade and charisma to greatly influence the proceedings for the most overall freedom and stability, and ignored the assassination.

What I didn't love:
- Bugs / glitches - sometimes things didn't work, so I kept save-games circulating ... I hate the feeling when you get stuck and are trying to figure out if it is you , or a game bug. In the larger scheme the bugs were small and infrequent, but they did mar an otherwise excellent game for me.
- Selling stuff - OK, I ended up with >100,000 in gold, plus loads of gems, etc that I could have sold - but never needed to. On the other hand, when I started the game I got loaded up with lots of stuff I couldn't tell if it was important or not, and was rarely lucky enough to actually sell it! And, as usual in RPG's, *that* was when you needed the cash and good stuff the most ...

In general - I can see myself replaying this - I don't know when, but someday I will. That in itself says a lot for this game. I'll probably go technologist the next time, maybe even with guns.

I'd give it a 4/5 for a 'score'. Excellent!

Mike

[Crunchy in milk]

I never really noticed many bugs in the game my first time through, coming to the game late myself I've never played a version other than the latest patched version. If they could have nailed down the memory leak it would have been one of the smoothest rpgs I've experienced.

The setting and story really impressed me, in fact It had so much promise I was a bit upset it didn't go deeper. I would have liked to see more conflict and consequences when magic and technology collided, but there is enough in the game to give the imagination something to latch onto.

My first time through I played a half-ogre persuasion/mage. I didn't spend a lot on IN, just enough for two 'maintains'. Everything else went to CH and WP. It kept battles very interesting and I chose spells from a lot of the colleges for variety (Morph is good fun).

I was especially impressed with the origin of half-ogres quest. Playing as one at the time It seemed to have that much more impact and truly earned the game a mature rating. I was left wanting more of that nitty-gritty technology exploiting the traditional fantasy setting.

My second time through I tried to play a technologist but it was significantly harder and seemed less balanced. 90% of the inventions could do with tweaking. Most noticeably was the issue of weight, it leaves very little room for varied technologists. You are almost mandated to put points into ST because all of the high tech weapons and armor weigh a tonne, and they eat inventory space like nothing else. As an inventor your major statistic investment is IN, if you're going for firearms then you're also pouring points into PE. If you skip firearms and instead go for melee, that means points in DX which is a little handier with explosives requiring throwing (DX) to work anyway. Forget the image of a meek inventor taking on the world with his inventions, either you beef up or you're encumbered. The steam engine powered armor you can make quite late in the game doesn't have the supposed strenght/carry weight bonus. You can get a mod that fixes this but its too little too late really.

I got as far as Caladon as another half-ogre, an Idiot savant (for high IN/STR). They look pretty cool in the featherweight chain and higher tech armors, a bit like an ork from Warhammer 40k. Unfortunately the idiot savant background appears to have never been meant to finish the game. Even with the latest patches its practically impossible to get Caladon on the world map, and if you go the extreme of finding/travelling to it manually most of the quests there won't activate.

If you felt the game had problematic bugs as a mage, playing a technologist will amplify that impression, just avoid the idiot savant background all together.

When I came back to the game a third time I had the best of 3 experiences. Having tried my hand at magic and technology I figured it was worth trying out a skill focused character. I'd tried firearms (dull, bang bang bang...) and melee (dull, hack hack hack...). So this time I made a Half-Elf thief. A Little melee, a little backstab, some prowling, spot and disarm trap etc etc... The game really came to life. Virgil took a dirt nap in the Bessie Toone mine and I was about to reload when it occurred to me I had the heal spell, he was useless at using heal during combat and he hardly hit anything anyway... so screw him!. Playing solo increased the impact of my actions. Npcs weren't going to save my bacon this time.

Stun + backstab = own. So long as you make frequent and passionate love to the quick save key. Early on I regularly amputated my own legs while trying to stab a monster in the back. One of those stupid things but it evens out as your skills develop. Battles become tactical as you're forced to split groups up, stay behind your target and keep them unaware. Its a wet dream for turn based enthusiasts but not at all practical for real time.

I got to try out the many skill based mastery quests and there are some great goodies at the end of some of them. Especially if you've no qualms in robbing or killing your mastery trainer. The thieves underground quests in Tarant and Caladon are a little simplistic but they're fun to test your skills against.

Arcanum is definitely a great rpg for gamers who like building characters. Its my major passion in rpgs (and also why I hate most hack-&-slashers). There's ample variety in character builds and quests which make use of that variety.

[txa1265]

[QUOTE=Crunchy in milk]If you felt the game had problematic bugs as a mage, playing a technologist will amplify that impression, just avoid the idiot savant background all together.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't say that the bugs were a major issue for me - it is just that in a game that was so overwhelmingly - and unexpectedly - good, there were a few sticking points and they just stood out.

Thanks for your synopsis - I can't say whether it was encouraging or discouraging

Mike