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Background
I found Arcanum right around the time I discovered Grim Dawn. I was desperately looking for Diablo II clones after experiencing the disappointing that was D3. In my desperation, I started looking for pretty much any isometric RPG. This allowed me to discover several ARPGs, a few of which I have already talked about such as Inquisitor, Heretic Kingdoms and Sacred. But, it allowed me to also discover titles that werenât mechanically similar to Diablo II in the slightest. One of these titles was Arcanum, a game that I didnât get a chance to play until now.
Premise
The game takes place in a fantasy world inhabited by fantasy races such as dwarves, elves and orcs. The twist is that the world is experiencing an industrial revolution, in which magic competes against technology. Your player character is a zeppelin crash survivor seeking to unravel the mystery behind the zeppelin attack.
Good
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Setting - A very unique setting that blends magic and steampunk. The steampunk elements are well implemented and are nothing like the unimaginative approach of âadd a steam engine to random location or body partâ employed by other games. The steampunk elements draws inspiration from the Industrial Revolution era, and therefore represent the natural progression of society at large and the consequences of industrialization.
Furthermore, this isnât a power fantasy. Magic and technology are truly at odds with one another. For example, as a high tier mage seeking to use the train to travel between locations, you wonât be allowed on the front coach of the train this is because your mere presence would cause the engine to not work. Therefore, youâll be seated in the coach farthest from the engine. Using tech weapons on a mage can lead to failure of attacks. -
Writing - Incredibly well written without being overly verbose. The lore is presented using dialogue options, tomes, notes and newspapers. Also, reading certain tomes or books unlocks additional dialogue options. Conversing with characters is very endearing. Heck, you can have philosophical discussions with even the main antagonist.
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Stats & Skills - Amazingly detailed stat and skill system. Stats & skills share the points that can be allocated. This means that you canât be a jack-of-all-trades. Being a classless system, your role-playing comes from how you decided to allocate your stat & skill points. You can make a lobotomized half-elf who is too stupid to do most quests, a very well educated half-ogre etc. For example, I was a thieving mage that could talk his way out of anything.
On the topic of skills, I only played as a mage and in my experience almost all the schools of magic were useful. Despite not playing a tech focused character, just one look at the tech tree is enough to tell me what I will pick on my next playthrough. -
World Design - The world is vast and features some level of environmental storytelling. For example, in the industrial city of Tarant, the Panarii temple looks indistinguishable from a warehouse, clearly indicating neglect and underfunding. Additionally, Tarantâs sole magic shop houses all the key magic item clerks in one place, suggesting a possible truce among them against a common enemy, the industrial city itself.
That being said, the lack of diversity in many non-settlement locations really bothered me. It felt like every square inch of the world was covered in trees. The limited variety of encounters made this issue even more noticeable, but Iâll get to that later. With a bigger budget, Iâm confident they could have done justice to these areas. For example, The Bog, Old Lagoon, and Strange Pond all look nearly identical. Regarding the cities and towns, thereâs a clear logic in their design. Most are divided into a commercial district, a residential area, and a slum area. The smaller settlements donât follow this pattern but even they feel like quaint small towns. All-in-all, the locations feel like real places. Other locations, such as The Void and the various dwarven caverns you explore, also feature rich environmental storytelling. Although, delving into them would spoil an excellent plot. -
World Reactivity - An extension of the previous point. The world is incredibly reactive. For example, if youâre not part of the Thieves Guild, you remain vulnerable to pickpockets; shops follow schedules and actually close at night; and the crowd in pubs thins out after dark. In Tarant, your deeds can even make the papers. Itâs amazing.
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Quest Design - The quest system is amazing, with many quests offering multiple solutions. While there are some standard fetch quests, theyâre presented so well that youâll enjoy them too. Unfortunately, I canât elaborate without spoiling the marvelous quests youâll encounter, so Iâll keep this section brief.
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Sound Design - The soundtracks are amazing and really set the mood. Some sound effects are great as well, but they donât quite reach the iconic level of Diablo II. Diablo II sounds like its potions and gold jingles remain instantly recognizable to fans even after all these years. Arcanumâs soundtracks undoubtedly deserve the same level of reverence, but its action sounds do not.
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Screw Around - A big reason why my playthrough stretched longer than a normal one was because of how much I was screwing around. To give some context, if you leave an item on the ground, NPCs will pick it up. If the item is a piece of clothing better than what the NPC is currently wearing, they may equip it. In my playthrough, all the Tulla residents ended up looking like barbarians because I replaced their Mystic and Arcane Robes with Barbarian Armor and Dread Armor. Similarly, the Caladon Dwarven Smith no longer carries his unique Dwarven Hammer and Machined Platemail, I stole those. Now, he wields an Inferno Hammer and wears a Dwarven Platemail instead. I stole everything that I could get my hands on, even stole stuff that I didnât need.
Nitpick (Contains Spoilers)
- The Art Direction is good but its charm quickly wears off once the absurd amount of asset reuse becomes apparent. Tarant, Void and Ashbury are beautifully designed. Dernholm looks like a dilapidated city that accurately reflects the hardships of the Kingdom. However, it couldâve used more unique buildings. Black Root and Caladon arenât that greatly designed imo. All-in-all, good art direction that is held back by bad graphics and obviously low budget.
- The Stillwater Giant is real! The bloody thing never spawned for me. I thought it was a joke quest but when I tried looking it up, it turned out to be a real enemy.
- I had maxed out the Necromantic White tree. I used the revive spell on Professor James in the Elven Ruins and the entire bloody Black Mountain Clan in the Kerghanâs castle. The game didnât react to it properly. I wouldâve preferred to have seen James back in Tarant, and have an ending slide for the BMC getting revived.
- Some stuff that you steal for the Thieves Guild couldâve had other uses for your character. Sword of Derian Ka clearly relates to the Derian Ka, youâd expect such an item to have other uses considering the importance of the organization in the lore, blueprints for Schreck Multi-Barreled Pistol canât be used to craft the weapon despite your character being able to craft Vendigrothian stuff that is far more advanced than any current technology.
- Expanding the previous point, I wouldâve preferred to be able to use Grunwaldeâs Poison to create a powerful weapon. The bloody thing has no use outside of being a quest item.
- I liked playing dress-up with the NPCs. It pissed me off that in Shrouded Hills, the NPCs couldnât equip the suit and armor that I was giving them. They kept adding my âgiftsâ to their inventory instead of equipping them.
- I expected for the Kree to get unlocked as a faction after rescuing Torian Kel. I can understand them being hostile from the get-go but they shouldâve been available as a faction after we rescued their oldest living warrior.
- Wouldâve nice if other companions also got fleshed out. While I didnât get to try all companions, I did go and read about them after completing my playthrough. In my own experience, there simply wasnât enough banter between companions. Youâd think that Zâan Alâurin and Raven would argue when theyâre both in the same party but that didnât happen. Other characters simply donât do much in their spare time, I wouldâve preferred if Jayna had quests in Dernholm that allowed her to apply her medicinal knowledge to help the citizens.
- Perriman barely has any dialogue in Tulla. It pissed me off. I couldnât recruit Geoffrey unfortunately, so I know for a fact that I missed a great deal of dialogue.
- Jormund might as well not exist. He has no dialogue after his quest. He doesnât comment on being able to finally see Tulla, despite him being a dwarf seeking to learn magic. Loghaire doesnât even acknowledge his existence when addressing the dwarves in your party but acknowledges Magnus.
- Randver disappears after you convince Loghaire to return. Thatâs very disappointing.
- When you wipe out both the gangs in the Boil, I expected a little nod of appreciation from Lloyd. I know that thereâs an ending slide for the Boil but an immediate nod of appreciation wouldâve been nice.
- One or two additional quests for the Bedokaan wouldâve been good.
- An orc camp or settlement wouldâve been a welcome thing to stumble upon in the wild. I know all races live together but Orcs are said to be a tad too blood-thirsty. So, Iâd have loved to see their camp.
- Tullaâs design isnât great. I wouldâve preferred if the different schools of magic had different buildings with us being able to interact with students from each school and not just the masters. It wouldâve required Tulla to be way bigger than it currently is, but it wouldâve required way more effort. Tulla looks very empty in its current form.
- The half-ogre conspiracy quest line has a very unsatisfying end. Itâs a marvelous quest but I hated how it ended. After finishing the game, I looked up how to ruin Tarant. In my next playthrough, Iâll either get Cedric to reveal Batesâ secret to the world, or just let Bane of Kree to lay waste to the world. The quest taught me that the only good gnome is a dead one.
- Kryggirdâs Falchion being able to kill Kerghan is a fascinating thing. I wouldâve liked for the lore on this item to be expanded upon.
- Halfling companions are trash. I imagine a halfling companion would also be mediocre.
- No female half-ogres despite one of the best quests confirming their existence.
- No way to genocide the Gnomes.
- The Caladon serial killer quest couldâve used some improvements. I think the demon that requires a special weapon to be killed shouldâve been a separate one-off boss unrelated to the quest. While the actual Caladon serial killer quest shouldâve been a quest chain with a proper investigation and at least 3-4 suspects.
- After you retrieve the painting for the Garringsburgs, the quest NPC keeps it in her inventory. Obviously a tech limitation, but I wouldâve loved to see it get hanged on one of the walls.
- How we can operate a bloody ship is beyond me. I wouldâve preferred to have either Edward Teach turn into a recruitable companion or at least wouldâve preferred for him to be captain of whatever ship we secured. Letting him captain only his own ship sort of disappointed me.
- Wouldâve nice to be able to stack potions and some crafting components.
- I personally wouldâve loved if the companions helped us pass some skill checks. Also, wouldâve helped if companions commented on the constant pickpocketing and stealing that I did.
Bad
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Combat - Combat in Arcanum can be either turn-based or real-time with pause. There is also something called âFast Turn-Basedâ which is essentially just turn-based without any animation. All of the options are downright atrocious.
I personally dislike RTwP in general. Therefore, I stuck to fast turn-based and it was very painful to deal with due to the general slowness of combat. Worse of all, the combat is boring. Combat in Arcanum lacks the strategic depth that Troika eventually implemented in one of its later titles - Temple of Elemental Evil. -
Encounter Design - The enemy AI and just the general design for several encounter is very lackluster. For example, I can understand wild animal encounters feeling bland but why do are all encounters with thieves in Tarant the exact same that is just 3 orcs/half-orcs with knives/swords? Why doesnât one band of thieves comprise of half-ogres or halflings with guns? Why donât more enemies use guns? Why am I not ambushed by the denizens of Tâsen-Ang as I approach their hideout? Why donât I get ambused by archers in the wild? Why do none of the automatons in dwarven caves or in the Vendigroth ruins apply status effects? I donât get debuffed or stunned (except by the weak lizard enemies), I donât get to fight on disadvantageous terrain that forces me to strategize, I can simply whack my enemies with a stick until they die.
This is just few of the many problems that I can think of when talking about the bad encounter design of Arcanum. Even unique âboss fightsâ feel lackluster as the bosses seldom do anything interesting. An example of a good encounter design is Knights of the Chalice 2, walking on webbed terrain is detrimental to your party. If you cast trap on an enemy, the enemy might first try to free itself before proceeding to attack you in the following turn. -
Itemization - The diversity of tech items both in terms of utility and design is marvelous. Magic items while competent lack behind in terms of style sometimes. Oftentimes, an insanely good magic item would look like the lamest thing. Also, several unique items use the same sprite as a normal item. Why are we the only competent smith in the world, why donât more smiths sell Envenomed Sword or Pyrotechnic Axe? I donât expect them to sell Vendigrothian tech but a little advanced than basic weapons wouldâve been nice.
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Companion Level-up - The worst thing in the game. Your companions level up by âstealingâ XP from you. Basically, they can level only until you are able to receive XP. The moment you hit the level cap of 50, your companions will loose the ability to gain XP. This system is the definition of retarded design. This system makes it very hard to shuffle companions and would make you hesitate from picking up late-game companions.
Do I need to use community patches?
Yes.
I played vanilla and encountered only one bug with a closed door. That wasnât a problem because I just destroyed the door.
After finishing the game, I read up on what the community patches changed and it seems like they address several bugs (that I didnât encounter thankfully), add QoL features and even some new stuff without altering the core game. For example, the Schreckâs Multi-Barreled Pistol can now be crafted into a real weapon. In my next playthrough, Iâll definitely use community patches.
My Thoughts
It took me a long time to finish this game due to my work getting in the way. During a heavy work month, I placed Arcanum on hold and ended up finishing a different game.
Finally, I completed Arcanum about 1.5 weeks ago but I had to collect my thoughts before writing this review. This is easily one of the best role-playing experiences that one can have. No CRPG that I have played thus far ticks as many boxes are Arcanum. The world is believable, your surroundings react to a decent amount of things that you do and the choices you make, the writing is intelligent, the story is told in a very interesting fashion, the quest design is impeccable, and so on. As I mentioned in the flaws section, the game is far from perfect, but itâs still a great game nonetheless.
Furthermore, I donât expect Arcanum to be replicated anytime soon. Future games that might use the âArcanum-inspiredâ tagline in their marketing would be nothing more than cheap knock-offs. These knock-offs would most certainly lack the believable world, the intelligent writing, and wonât show restraint in implementing âsteampunkâ elements. It might sound harsh but Arcanum is essentially lightning in a bottle as far as the current industry is concerned. Even games contemporary to Arcanum might not deliver the same experience, theyâll have some elements but would ultimately not be the complete package that is Arcanum.
Not many games can stimulate your imagination as much as Arcanum. A good chunk of the âNitpickâ section is just me wanting more.
I love this game which is precisely why I donât want this game to be remade or even remastered. A lot of the current popular RPG devs conflate thesaurus vomit with intelligent writing, and others try to appeal to horny teenagers and fans of YA fiction with the level of drivel they label as âwritingâ. A remaster would work so long as it focuses on only bug fixes and the writing is left untouched, even clearly unfinished content can remain unfinished. I simply donât trust most devs to be intelligent enough to make a meaningful contribution to the world of Arcanum. Quite frankly, devs these days donât need to have a lot of intelligence considering the modern audience for CRPGs praises anything that manages to rise slightly above the sea of mediocrity. Heck, several of these âCRPG fansâ would probably think that any fantasy setting with a bit of cogs and stream is basically Arcanum. I am tempted to name-drop the devs and the games but I want to avoid a flame war.
In closing, good game.
