Arcanum

[True_Moose]

What did you guys think of this game? I recently found all my old savegames and stuff. It seemed to be a love-hate thing with critics.

I personally loved it. It was deep, somewhat original storyline, completely nonlinear, a sweet premise and cool character development. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

So what do you guys think?

[flibulzbuth]

Hey, it's one of my all-time favorites

The tiles were ugly (it really couldn't be worst), and i didn't like the combat system. BUT, the scenario was excellent and the world was very rich. I played the game as an half-elf nymphette/thief , low on combat and high on conversation and puzzles, so it was pretty much an excellent adventure game.

There's stuff to do for every type of player, either good or evil, basher, explorer, scoundrel or diplomat... from the begining to the end. No other game has been so far on this aspect, not even Fallout 2.

IM not so HO, it should appeal to all the old-school gamers who put gameplay and a good storyline way before graphics and power trips.

Two thumbs up!!!

(guess you're right with the love-hate thingy [img]smile.gif[/img] )

[Warhammer]

Thumbs up here too.

I played with an Elven Warrior-Mage. He was a min/maxed munchkin, so he was so ugly that NPC went KOS on him unless he casted some spell to enhance his beauty, that was fun [img]smile.gif[/img] .

The RPCs (Recrutable NPC) gave me trouble though, once I discarded them and started playing solo, I had a great time.

The levelcap at 50 was a pain too, since I reached it when I was 75% through the game, luckily it was easy to remove.

I stayed away from technology, but I heard that people who played dwarven techies had a lot more trouble with the game than my Magic-Sword-wielding D-and-Dish Fighter-Mage. So the game is not so balanced with regards to that.

[Angelousss]

i've had alot of trouble getting into this game and never made it past the 2nd town. just had trouble getting into the story and devolping my characters. Maybe i'll try a solo.

[Luvian]

Originally posted by Angelousss: i've had alot of trouble getting into this game and never made it past the 2nd town. just had trouble getting into the story and devolping my characters. Maybe i'll try a solo.

I felt exactly like the first time I tried the game, I played a while, and then I stoped. I just came back to the game 3 days ago, and the last time I had played before that was the day the game came out.

I have mixed feelings about this game, but right now I don't have the time to make a big post. I'll try to come back tonight so that I can write it.

[flibulzbuth]

Originally posted by Warhammer: The levelcap at 50 was a pain too, since I reached it when I was 75% through the game, luckily it was easy to remove. I stayed away from technology, but I heard that people who played dwarven techies had a lot more trouble with the game than my Magic-Sword-wielding D-and-Dish Fighter-Mage. So the game is not so balanced with regards to that.

Wohow! I think i finished the game at level 38. Never hit 40 for sure. The fact that i missed a lot of side-quest locations and that i had the max number of NPCs (charisma 20) must have something to do with it. Needless to say, it took me a score of reloads before killing Mr. Big Boss (name witheld to preserve mystery).

Technology is much weaker in combat, especially in the begining when you're so frail, but there's a lot to do that does not require combat. Also, there's a few mods out there that increase the power of technologies. I wouldn't try a solo techie though.

Luvian,
one of the major pain in the capital is to orient oneself, it took me a while to remember the location of each street. The fact that i hadn't much clue what to do or where to look didn't help either. The pace of action is very slow at first, but it gets really cool once you get out of Tarant (the ugliest city in computer gaming history), and it keeps getting better and better as your purpose becomes clearer.

[True_Moose]

Originally posted by Angelousss: i've had alot of trouble getting into this game and never made it past the 2nd town. just had trouble getting into the story and devolping my characters. Maybe i'll try a solo.

LOL, the first time I beat it was a solo

[Luvian]

What I don't like about this game is that it is VERY linear, but try not to be, so the story elements are not that good, and the sidequest are almost all fed-ex type quest, where you have to go fetch things for people.

The first time around. I created mage, and got in the first city, then I went to the old kingdom and got bored with my mage and tried a gunner. The non-existent storyline bored me very fast, As I had nothing to do beside fetching tings for people for a few coins, and that's pretty boring.

In my latest game, I created a thief, and I had lots of fun stealing everything in the world. But eventually that got boring too, so I thought I would do more quests. But there is no big quest at all. That's all "go kill that guy", "go give/get that" or "go kill those monsters in that small dungeons". I solved most quests in advance because everytime I got in a new city, I went in at night at stole everybody. Then all I had to do was try to find who wanted what items.

The game try not to be linear so there is no big story element, or big plots or npc interaction. The main quests are few and very boring. The problem is that the main quests are all there is to do, beside kiling a few random monsters in some small dungeon all over the map or fetching tings.

If you want to make a non-linear game, then give me plenty of fun FUN and DIFFERENT things to do!!

I am sorry, but running around in the world distributing and fetching things for people, and killing a few pointless monsters, is hardly my idea of a non-linear game. There is really only one thing you can do, and that is follow the main quest. Too bad it suck.

Really, you get the ring, and then need to learn about it. And all you have to do is go to the city, pickpocket the clerk for the key, open the door in front of him, he won't mind, kill a few monsters, and face 3 mages. Wow! That was so "fun".

Then, you need to go see that inventor. Well... all you have to do is talk to the jealous guy, he propose you to blow up the factory, tell it to the manor guard, and he let you in. Another quest solved!

And what about npd "quest". I have not completed the game, but I can already guess what is magnus's clan just by having talked to the inventor.

I hope I will be able to find some more interest and manage to finish it, but so far it is not very likely. I got my fair share of useless quests, so all I would dois the main quest, but it is not good at all so far either.

[flibulzbuth]

For what i remember (i played the game last year), i don't agree with you.

a)There's tons of side-quest, forcefully that gets repetitive but you don't have to do them. I don't remember doing much quests in the western magical kingdom, for exemple. Just one big thing for the main storyline and another to become a master diplomat. I never bothered about investigating the murders etc...

b)The fact that you don't know much about the menace described by the gnome at the crash site and that you have to LEAD the investigation is one thing that puts this game apart from the others. No more feeding of the scenario with the baby spoon. Events are not triggered after you finish cleaning dungeon a, then dungeon b (with thougher monsters, but you're thougher so it doesn't change a dang thing!)... you have to investigate, explore for hints and follow them until you finally understand what you face and later what you should do to counter it.

c) non-linearity is mostly in the main quest. You can team with whatever side you want (at least 3, as far as i know) and there is almost always more than one way to solve key problems. The way you approached Bill Gates (Gile Bates?) was very different from what i did... it took me a lot more time.

[Luvian]

Originally posted by flibulzbuth: For what i remember (i played the game last year), i don't agree with you. a)There's tons of side-quest, forcefully that gets repetitive but you don't have to do them. I don't remember doing much quests in the western magical kingdom, for exemple. Just one big thing for the main storyline and another to become a master diplomat. I never bothered about investigating the murders etc... b)The fact that you don't know much about the menace described by the gnome at the crash site and that you have to LEAD the investigation is one thing that puts this game apart from the others. No more feeding of the scenario with the baby spoon. Events are not triggered after you finish cleaning dungeon a, then dungeon b (with thougher monsters, but you're thougher so it doesn't change a dang thing!)... you have to investigate, explore for hints and follow them until you finally understand what you face and later what you should do to counter it. c) non-linearity is mostly in the main quest. You can team with whatever side you want (at least 3, as far as i know) and there is almost always more than one way to solve key problems. The way you approached Bill Gates (Gile Bates?) was very different from what i did... it took me a lot more time.

a) There is not that many quests, and they are all fetch type, or go kill that guy type. And there is not tons of them. WHen I got bored with the game I looked at a walkthrought to see if the optional quests would get better, but no, they are all very simple and boring until the end of the game, and there are not that many of them either.

b) The main quest suck. Just take a look at P. Schuyer and Sons. Ok, so they are a 500 years old company. You go there, and the mian room is a dinner table and a clerk... ok, nice shop. The other 2 rooms are a bedroom and a room with another big dinner table. So you go down in the cellar, and there is tons of rats, even thought the guys that "lives" there pass that area many times a day.

You go down another level, and you get in a small crypt with human zombies, even thought it is a dwarf crypt. What? They imported human zombies too? You kill those zombies and go down another level. So far the crypt is not that bad, beside the humans zombies and the rats at the entrance.

But then you get to the "construction room" where apparently dwarf zombie are making fine quality jewerly. yes, zombie are making masterwork stuff. At least that's what I think they are doing, as it only looked like a bunch of zombies where randomly moving in a room with lots of empty tables.

Then you get to the "main room" and encounter the 3 mages. Apparently they live in that building, but there is no beds, chairs, or anything one need to lives somewhere. And the main room is empty beside 3 classer and the body of their father, who has the only chair in the place.

And why are they all standing there like morons? Do they do that all day long? Why don't they have chairs to sit down? Why do they spend their lives holed up down there? For the little money they get out of their shop? What do they do with it?

And then you talk to them, and they offer you to let you go if you shut up. Yes, that's right. Those heartless necromancers who killed any merchants or clients of them who ever saw them, would let you go... ok...

I could do a more realistic dungeon than that. The whole world is like that. You go see the king of that crumbling kingdom, and the first thing he do is send you to get his tax money, wich happen to be gold ingots bars. You are stranger, and he trust you with that. I can understand why his kingdom is like that now...

c) The main quests is linear, there is only one goal and doing the main quest in order is the only way to learn about what need to be done.

Sure, you can do the quest in a good or evil way, and there is usually more than one way to solve a quest, but you still have only one goal in the game.