“Hey wait, where are my reviews!? You promised reviews!”
Yeah, yeah I did. But I’ve grown bored. Reviews just don’t seem fulfilling for some reason.
The blog may die for a little while while I figure out what else to put up, but be patient!
Content it will eventually have!
Jumble, end post.
Well, finally, here it is. What was I doing in the mean time? Thats a looong story.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura was released in 2001 by Troika Games and Sierra Entertainment. Initial reponse was good, but somewhat critical.
Story: Lets talk briefly about Arcanum’s story. In all honesty, the story is what made the game so amazing for me. Winding and meandering, and sometimes slow, the plot has slowly grows, deepening the mystery of Arcanum. Although predictable in some parts, there are some major plot twists that end up throwing you off towards the end of the game. What really astonished me is that the story is so inevitable and fluid that killing several of the important NPCs that play crucial roles in the plot does not stop you from finishing the game. In fact, there are several points in which you could choose any of 3 or 4 completely different paths through major plot points, taking place in different cities, with different people. Of course, the “main” path is the most obvious, but they provide interesting finds to vetrans. In addition to the main plot, Arcanum has more possible side quests, and much deeper stories for their side quests then any other game on the market, including recent games such as Mass Effect.
Arcanum’s Story easily scores a 10/10, and I don’t give that lightly.
Visual Appeal: This is a place where Arcanum falls a little short. Admittedly, as a game that premiered in 2001, we cannot expect it to place too well among the beautified realm of modern games. Beyond even this, some of the particle effects, and a lot of the sprites, are unnecessarily pixelated. This is something they should have shored up a little before releasing the game.
Never the less, the graphics aren’t bad for their time, so I’m giving it a 6/10.
Interface: The Arcanum interface is largely intuitive. Sadly, a few short comings show up here and again, involving the fact that the hotbar does not actually allow you to use hotkeys to use potions (something that will cost in combat). Magic, which potentially plays a very powerful role in the game, is sometimes hard to use in combat without hitting two or three buttons that could have just been streamlined out. The Interface design itself is pretty with a steampunk tune to it; even before steampunk was popular.
For interface, Arcanum earns itself a 7/10.
Gameplay: Arcanum’s gameplay is a little choppy too. While the roleplay and speaking parts you play have a huge effect on the plot that is unraveling, as well as the final outcome of the game, the combat is lacking. Because of the annoying feature of having to click buttons over and over, I eventually lowered myself to turn-based combat from the default non-turn-based. Never the less, the combat ends up playing a relatively minor role in the game to the story-oriented mindset of most rpgers.
For Gameplay, Arcanum scores a 6/10.
Difficulty: Arcanum’s difficulty can be changed by simply toggling through the options on the options menu. The difficulty setting simply adjusts how much experience you get and how often you suffer a critical failure. As a result, the change has a resounding effect through the entire game that can have completely unexpected consequences later on. It does allow you to toggle up the difficulty, and even toggle it down if you eventually decide you set it too high. In the end, it gives you a nice scale that allows newbies access to the game, as well as grizzled vetrans.
Arcanum scores a 7/10 for difficulty.
Replay Value: Arcanum has a massive amount of replay value. Despite the fact it essentially follows one basic plot, there are about a thousand different ways to get there, tons of different character designs to try, and a good sized pool of different followers you can attract. Most people I know who play Arcanum end up playing it through 2 or 3 times before they are done.
For Replay Value, Arcanum scores a 9/10.
Overall: Arcanum is one of my favorite RPGs of all time. A definite must get despite its score of 6/10. Maybe I’m rating these games too harshly?
Screenshots:
Thats all for now. Expect a Review for Dungeon Keeper 2 to pop up in the next couple of weeks.
Jumble, End Post.
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