Arcanum - Retrospective Review

[HiddenX]

MandaloreGaming looks back at the Steampunk RPG Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura:

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Review

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[borcanu]

puzzles me how i could play this and be an atheist )
brainwashign machieneshard at work

 

[Hastar]

Great game with bad combat. If the combat was as good as Fallout 2, it would have been an all-time favorite.

 

[ikbenrichard]

Great game with bad combat. If the combat was as good as Fallout 2, it would have been an all-time favorite.

Indeed. now it is just top3 game of all time ;-)

 

[Couchpotato]

Yep great game but just like the older fallout's it needs a full remaster not HD mods.

 

[JFarrell71]

Zero interest in a remaster from me. But if someone talented wanted to make another game in this setting, or even completely remake this one with brand new combat and such, I'd be into it.

As is, this game is and has always been tremendously overrated. The combat is mindless and dull. A lot of dialogue choices lead nowhere. If you try to play as a bad guy, you often aggro entire towns, which is no choice at all. The score is lovely... all 10 minutes of it. You don't gain skill points fast enough, which makes it unlikely that you'll choose a lot of the skills. Tons and tons of flaws that slightly sharper textures will go no way toward fixing.

 

[Couchpotato]

A new game or spiritual inspired sequel works for me as well. As my point is mods are just putting lipstick on a pig at this point in time. Nothing will improve twenty year old games.

To bad there are two such games in development but they are open world RPGs. One is a rumored inXile game, the other a small game that looks like a cross of DA/Witcher.

 

[Carnifex]

I'll take a remaster or spiritual successor or, heck, how about both? Make it so!

 

[JFarrell71]

I'll take a remaster or spiritual successor or, heck, how about both? Make it so!

Let us know when you've finished them.

 

[pibbuR]

One of the games I consider to be good, but didn't like.

pibbuR

 

[JDR13]

It's a great game despite the flaws or what the wannabe edgy people say.

And it's massive. You can easily drop 150-200 hours in a single playthrough if you're the completionist type.

I'd love to see some kind of enhanced edition released someday, but it really needs to be rebalanced as well, and I don't know if it would be worth the effort for a developer.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

My last attempt to complete the game stopped around meeting the elves, after going to the island prison. I keep wanting to give it another attempt, but there's so many other things to play. I'd also love a remaster in which they also fix existing issues and complete whatever else is unfinished.

It's a fantastic setting and such a shame they couldn't put more into it. The IP is owned by Activision, right? So if MS ends up purchasing Acti-Blizzard the ex troika people will again have it within reach? They're at Obsidian or Inexile, right?

 

[JFarrell71]

Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky are at Obsidian, making Outer Worlds games.

Brian Matsuda was kicked off the (un)dead Vampire Bloodlines project.

Jason Anderson is at InXile.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky are at Obsidian, making Outer Worlds games.

Brian Matsuda was kicked off the (un)dead Vampire Bloodlines project.

Jason Anderson is at InXile.

Yeah, and I guess it's more likely they'd work on a fallout game before working on an Arcanum.

 

[Stingray]

Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky are at Obsidian, making Outer Worlds games.

Brian Matsuda was kicked off the (un)dead Vampire Bloodlines project.

Jason Anderson is at InXile.

I don't think Mitsoda had anything to do with Arcanum?

Besides the big 3 you mentioned, the main writer credited for Arcanum is Edward Mortimer. Last I heard (was discussed on the Codex if I recall correctly), he's homeless these days. https://www.linkedin.com/in/edmortimer/

 

[JFarrell71]

I don't think Mitsoda had anything to do with Arcanum?

He didn't. He's just one of those "ex-Troika people", so I included him.

 

[JFarrell71]

Yeah, and I guess it's more likely they'd work on a fallout game before working on an Arcanum.

There's probably a zero percent chance they'd work on a Fallout game considering that IP is owned by Bethesda these days.

They might have an interest in reviving Arcanum. I don't know.

 

[Stingray]

There's probably a zero percent chance they'd work on a Fallout game considering that IP is owned by Bethesda these days.

Unless I'm missing something, atm it's actually more likely they'd work on a Fallout game because Microsoft owns Obsidian, inXile, and Bethesda. Microsoft doesn't own Activision (we're assuming they own the Arcanum IP right?), but they will next year if the deal goes through.

 

[JFarrell71]

Unless I'm missing something, atm it's actually more likely they'd work on a Fallout game because Microsoft owns Obsidian, inXile, and Bethesda. Microsoft doesn't own Activision (we're assuming they own the Arcanum IP right?), but they will next year if the deal goes through.

I didn't think of that, actually. Microsoft owning BGS hasn't entirely sunk in, I guess.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Obsidian Founder Says He Would 'Love To Make A New Fallout Game'

"I hung around at Interplay for probably an extra year because I wanted to work on Fallout more."

www.dualshockers.com