New Arc Line - Early Access Release

[HiddenX]

The Steampunk RPG New Arc Line will be released into Early Access today - here are some previews:

ACG: DISCO Meets Arcanum in THE SHOCKING New Arc Line! - Preview | Impressions

Mortismal Gaming: Check Out: New Arc Line (Early Access Impressions)

WolfheartFPS: New Arc Line Early Access Gameplay (RPG Inspired by BG3 & Arcanum?)

More information.

 

[num4!vr34umu5t4r!]

The chromatic aberration is strong in this one, just looking at those steam pics, my eyes hurt.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

Looks pretty interesting! Been following it for a while.

 

[Vaelith]

Shame it's Early Access, I was looking forward to an actual release for this.

I'll check back in a year or two.

 

[Stingray]

Shame it's Early Access, I was looking forward to an actual release for this.

I'll check back in a year or two.

They said that the release will be "late 2025", but then again, they once said that the release was going to be this year too...

 

[Couchpotato]

Well we all know how Early Access is treated as full release nowadays.

So technically they kept their promise of a 2024 release.

 

[Carnifex]

Any game that references Arcanum is going to grab and nab my attention!!

 

[JDR13]

I hope it's better than the demo was.

 

[booboo]

Yeah, tried the demo and bounced off it - I like the concept and world, but it needs more time in the oven. I'll also check back in a year or so.

 

[Couchpotato]

Demo was indeed rough but it showed potential. Still I preferred the older prototypes of the game that were isometric, and was at one time TB and RTwP. That's just me though.

 

[purpleblob]

I've read some impressions and thinking of picking it up while its on 15% off EA price.

 

[mbpopolano24]

I got it and played 5 hours so far (going very slowly and testing stuff). For the price, is really a no brainer if you like "arcanum like" games.

The main story is promising, as it is the combat (I wish there was much more combat but maybe later).

The essential, quality of life stuff are MIA. Inventory management, camera control, character customization, UI options... they all need so much more work.

The only real red flag is side quest design. We are back at find a boy who is literally 10 yards from the mother or kill 3 rats, so to speak. So shallow. Hopefully they will improve / get better later.

 

[Carnifex]

The price is more than reasonable yet it sounds like lots of work still needs sussing out. I'll keep an eye on both the product and thoughts put to text from those braver than I.

 

[JDR13]

The essential, quality of life stuff are MIA. Inventory management, camera control, character customization, UI options... they all need so much more work.

What about NPC interactions? In the demo, only 1 out of every 20 or so NPCs could even be talked to. Are most of the NPCs still just background clutter?

 

[mbpopolano24]

Unfortunately, yes. Not only most NPCs are just background, but of the fraction you can talk with they have absolutely nothing interesting to say. The only one you should click are highlighted in blue when you have the mouse over them, so just a few. This is a problem when you want to simulate a large city. Even BG 3 has a similar problem when you finally get to the city, with a major difference: NPCs are scripted to say different things and the density of the useful / interesting ones is higher. But I bet NAL operates with a very low budget, so I doubt this will be fixed. In my feedback to them, I just asked to have different lines for the NPC you can interact with even if this is just filler.

 

[purpleblob]

I bought the EA and tried it out for 30mins. I think it has potential to be a decent RPG but right now, its just missing too much QoL for me to play anymore. I might even refund if Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy turns out more fun than New Arc Line. I can always buy the release version later if NAL receives good reception.