Arcanum: Let's Try Again Please!

Itchi_da_killa

New member
Jun 5, 2012
252
0
0
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura had a really ambitious, and exciting concept. I played that game over from the beginning more times than I can recall. It had a lot of serious problems though; from the technical side of things. The graphics, and animation were crap too. However, we now have the power to really make good on all of the wonderful innovations and ideas Troika had. What does the Escapist community think?


Here is a link for people that don't know this game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcanum:_Of_Steamworks_and_Magick_Obscura
 

shrekfan246

Not actually a Japanese pop star
May 26, 2011
6,374
0
0
I've yet to actually get far into the game myself, though that's not because the game has put me off; I simply get distracted by other shiny things far too easily.

That being said, I would love to see another RPG with the same sort of setting. We're long overdue for another proper steampunk fantasy world that isn't a first-person shooter.
 

DoPo

"You're not cleared for that."
Jan 30, 2012
8,665
0
0
The game is 100% awesome. I played it for the first time last year - got it on a GOG sale and the reason was more or less "It's made by Troika", since I wanted to see more stuff they've done, and "you can disintegrate doors" which somebod mentioned somewhere as a possibility for the player to use magic to influence the world. Yeah, that's it really.

So I got Arcanum on GOG, decided to boot it up just to see what is it about and immediately fell in love with it - you can friggin' raise the souls of corpses to answer your questions. Yeah, that's a thing too - this means that if somebody wants you to do some quest for them in order to give you some information, you can just off them and extract the information from their ghost. It's really cool.

The world itself is well done, too - you get ogres on airplanes from the very get-go, then steam trains, robots and stuff that mingle with necromancers and sorcerers.

The story is engaging and not without some twists. I'll mention some without spoiling much - you are called "the chosen one" from the first minute of the game - a title you can embrace or throughout the game claim to be wrong. It's actually really funny - there are some random encounters with bandits that go something like this "So, you're the chosen one, eh?" and you can just tell them "Yes" or "I'll kill you" which results in a fight, or you can say "No, you're mistaken" and they just leave you alone. Other than that, you can just join the dark side about...I think 2/3 or 3/4 of the game. And in the end, regardless of choice of side, you can chat with the big bad. Who is actually reasonable as he explains why he wants to wipe the world. And it makes sense. Though with high enough persuasion, you can talk him out of it and...that's that - you win.

I really love the type of choices you can do. I really love the world, too. I love the game - when I played it, it immediately became one of my favourite games ever.
 

The Madman

New member
Dec 7, 2007
4,404
0
0
I like Arcanum, warts and all. Sure it's got problems but in other respects it blows most of its competition out of the water. For example it's great in giving player choice, not even just in how you play the game but how you solve problems, complete quests, build your character, and how you effect the world. Having played the game twice now there are a lot of parts in that game where unless you've played it more than once, you'd never even realize how big of a difference you're making and more much the world is changing due to your actions.

Gameplay is mediocre at best and I really don't like the visuals, but I've found the other elements are strong enough to hold my interest especially seeing as there aren't exactly many other games out there quite like it.
 

Savagezion

New member
Mar 28, 2010
2,455
0
0
Hell yes. Sign me up. I have been waiting for some company to see what Troika did and adapt/evolve it. I thought it would be Bioware but they have currently been barking up the wrong tree. I would love for Bethesda to stumble into it but honestly Obsidian is closest right now. Although if I remember right, Obsidian houses part of old Troika. A co-owner, I think. Lets hope Project Eternity does well.
 

DoPo

"You're not cleared for that."
Jan 30, 2012
8,665
0
0
Savagezion said:
but honestly Obsidian is closest right now. Although if I remember right, Obsidian houses part of old Troika.
Indeed they do. They are also of the same beggining as Troika themselves - Black Isle Studios[footnote]which reminded me of a joke in Arcanum itself - you can ask some people about "Black Isle" and they'll tell you that they haven't heard of it and it doesn't exist.[/footnote].
 

Savagezion

New member
Mar 28, 2010
2,455
0
0
Stop making me want to boot up the game again, I'm trying to work through a backlog while on an overtime schedule as it is. :p That game is an easy way for me to lose 100 hours before I can put it down again.
 

Itchi_da_killa

New member
Jun 5, 2012
252
0
0
Savagezion said:
Stop making me want to boot up the game again, I'm trying to work through a backlog while on an overtime schedule as it is. :p That game is an easy way for me to lose 100 hours before I can put it down again.
What got me so Nostalgic was playing Skyrim actually. When I was going through the Dwarven ruins to find the elder scroll. The atmosphere started making me think of the Vendigroth Ruins in the wastelands.
 

KungFuJazzHands

New member
Mar 31, 2013
309
0
0
I've played Arcanum a dozen times, but I've never finished it. I suppose that could be a testament to the majestic wonderfulness of the first half of the game compared to the map-travel slog it turns into once you hit the second part. The mythology and the music (that sweet, sweet chamber music) always draw me back though.

Damn, now I'm jonesing for another playthrough. Do it, OP, do it for my sake before I lose control and install it once again.
 

Auberon

New member
Aug 29, 2012
467
0
0
I have played through it once, and then I got stuck on BMC (which, I imagine, is the point where most people quit) on my latest try. It's fantastic, but gameplay is honestly, as mentioned, mediocre.

captcha: the tribe has spoken

Tell me the judgement then
 

Imre Csete

Original Character, Do Not Steal
Jul 8, 2010
785
0
0
Don't forget the crazy crafting. From simple swords to healing robots and even steam powered mechanical suits. :D
 

XpressTuning

New member
Dec 21, 2013
2
0
0
The real time combat is, to put it bluntly, horrible. But the turn based combat is good and enjoyable. I don't think the main story is that good, the writing is good on the other hand, and the quest design is very good.

Though the reason why i like Arcanum is its role playing mechanics, they're unbelievably good, and to this day more in depth than anything out there. You can roleplay as almost anything from a persuasive, seductive female to a herbologist, and the game will recognize this. On my last playthrough i liked to play as a powerful, evil fire wizard. Overall, the replayability is off the charts.

I've always held the opinion that the perfect, flawless RPG would be a hybrid between Temple of Elemental Evil's combat system, Planescape: Torment's quest design, plot and writing, and Arcanum's role playing mechanics.
 

Itchi_da_killa

New member
Jun 5, 2012
252
0
0
XpressTuning said:
The real time combat is, to put it bluntly, horrible. But the turn based combat is good and enjoyable. I don't think the main story is that good, the writing is good on the other hand, and the quest design is very good.

Though the reason why i like Arcanum is its role playing mechanics, they're unbelievably good, and to this day more in depth than anything out there. You can roleplay as almost anything from a persuasive, seductive female to a herbologist, and the game will recognize this. On my last playthrough i liked to play as a powerful, evil fire wizard. Overall, the replayability is off the charts.

I've always held the opinion that the perfect, flawless RPG would be a hybrid between Temple of Elemental Evil's combat system, Planescape: Torment's quest design, plot and writing, and Arcanum's role playing mechanics.
I agree with you, those were awesome games. Arcanum had a major imbalance between the Technologist and the Mage when it came to combat though. Spells were always better then bullets...hell swords beat out guns too.
 

GiantRaven

New member
Dec 5, 2010
2,423
0
0
A modernised reboot of Arcanum would be an absolute dream to me. Give it to Obsidian and make it like New Vegas. Fuck yes.
 

Canadamus Prime

Robot in Disguise
Jun 17, 2009
14,334
0
0
The game had an awesome premise, but was severely let down by the fact that the combat system was broken as hell. You could get your ass handed to you fairly easily, but on the other hand you could get a fireball attack fairly early on that would allow you to plow through any battle with ease. Also those supposed legendary assassins were pathetic. What kind of assassin announces himself to his target?
 

otakon17

New member
Jun 21, 2010
1,338
0
0
I've never been able to get past the starting town really, even with focused builds. In combat I'm overwhelmed completely with a suave character or I get to the first real "dungeon" and I'm just whacked until I run out of stamina and then am paralyzed. I think the issue is that your characters starts with NOTHING good in terms of stats. Every character is average when created, it's not like they have strengths and weaknesses, they're just bland all over. At least this is how I remember it. I might try installing it again but I'm kind of afraid how it'll run on a PC nowadays and what other downloads I'll need to make it run right.
 

Spiritmaster

New member
Dec 4, 2012
73
0
0
I played that game a while back. It started out promising enough but after clearing out a cave with some ghost who asked me to track down his wife for whatever, I started to walk through a forested area and kept walking and walking and walking, and it never seemed to end. There was nothing to fight, nothing interesting to explore, just an endless forest/plain. After ten minutes I just moved on. I agree that it could use some modern tech.
 

Product Placement

New member
Jul 16, 2009
475
0
0
I played that game when it was new, got so pissed off when I was trying to follow the path to godhood and discovered 2/3 of the way that I needed a very specific ore that could only be picked up in two places in the entire game. Me being me had already picked those two places clean and had sold the ore, since I had no idea what it could be used for.
Ushiromiya Battler said:
I've never gotten past that stupid bridge in the beginning...
Awesome game though.
The one with the bandits? Well, it was either help them out or fight them. They're pretty tough bunch but it helps if you pick up that follower in the town. Also, turn based combat is your friend, during the tougher fighter.
 

Auberon

New member
Aug 29, 2012
467
0
0
Lukan the Witless is one dot of Persuasion. Persuasion is one of the most useful stats in the entire game though.