Only dead people and Eastern Europeans play this kind of game. The rest of us just watched sseth's review, bought it, and realized it's shit.

It's really just fucking terrible all around. Everybody is praising exactly one quest line and the fact that you can tell the end boss to just die lole.

I had fun with it as a kid
I tried reinstalling it recently and I uninstalled after the first fight with the wolves at the crash site
Just didn’t age gracefully at all

>>4128690
It's somehow even more primitive Fallout 1 with worse writing. But you do get a huge pointless world map with rpg maker tier quests.

>>4128678
>>4128690
Any suggestions for a CRPG that's unique/stands out with its own identity but actually good?

>>4128699
no, that's the joke

>>4128636
Install the unofficial patch from here, the game is super broken otherwise, it's just like VtMB:
https://terra-arcanum.com/drog/uap.html

That said, it's the same style of CRPG as Fallout 1/2 (especially 2), a big world with a meh main quest but lots of sidequests that you can tackle in different ways depending on your build. Don't follow any guides, just experiment, you can't mess up, even if you kill all the story critical NPC's there will still be a way to progress the story.

>>4128830
>the game is super broken otherwise, it's just like VtMB
This would make me not want to install it. The vtmb unofficial patch is full of stupid garbage he added for no reason.
>t. beat vtmb retail 1.0, somehow

>>4128636
It's carried by the setting and playstyle variety. The story and characters are just okay, and the combat is either a very basic turn based punching, or a bad Diablo clone.

The eternal Gnome must be destroyed before more breeding experiments are conducted.

>>4128636
I might be alone to say that Arcanum is my favorite CRPG

>sandbox type gameplay that allows you full freedom to do what you want
>can go full melee, full tech, full magick, or a mix of the 3
>can be stealthy or charming
>i don't recall NPCs being important so you can kill pretty much anyone
>use real time for weak enemies (random encounters), use turn-based normally
>multiple ways to do quests, i once ignored the necromancers and just stole the info to Bates so I didn't have to kill them
>story starts generic then gets some twists of its own

I thought it was one of the best games I ever played. On my first playthrough, that is, after that I couldn't play it again. Just can't seem to get back into it. So make sure you're thorough the first time through. I got lost in the world, it was immersive and just fun to play. I was a mage though, don't know about industry.

>>4128636
IMO, it's poor-man's Fallout. Similar gameplay, but none of the soul or charm. In fact, everything about the game is kind of bland and uncompelling.

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>>4128636
>Interesting setting and premise
>Fucking awful gameplay mechanics and design
>Became popular because purely because of the times
Arcanum is every useless retard idea-guy's wet dream.

people hating this game are weird, it oozes soul and the gameplay and rpg mechanics are really fun.
Its basically the true Fallout spiritual successor.

>>4128973
haven't you noticed how most hater posts on vrpg are vague and not really saying anything about the game's shortcomings nor bringing up any personal views
it's just shitposting by zoomers who haven't played the games in question but have learned from twatter that the point of internet discourse is drumming up fake outrage

>>4128979
i have a pretty good idea where they come from stars with r and ends in x

>>4128994
tf you on about? if you're talking about the codex, they literally have Arcanum ranked third or fourth as best RPG

>>4128636
kill [[[gnomes]]]

>>4128636
The story and world building are top tier. Quest design and level design is a step up from Fallout 1&2, but I still wouldn't consider it good yet.
The same could be said for combat. I like how the AP system feels like it actually has a point now with most characters being melee, and getting more points for more movement in general. It definitely needed more development time to refine, or perhaps another game iterating on it, but it works pretty well for what it's meant to be.
The levelup mechanic was surprisingly clean and effective. I really enjoyed the magic system as a pure mage. I need another CRPG without vancian magic, pls.
It's a good game, but I really wish there were more games in this same style being made later. From what I heard, Temple of Elemental Evil, and VTM: Bloodlines don't really fit the same style of gameplay.

And I didn't harp on about it, but the quest design is genuinely annoying to deal with at times. The journal is next to useless nine times out of ten, and any direction you're given is probably not even going to be written down, if you even get any direction that is. Sucks if you only play this game hour by hour because you're not ten any more.

>>4128636
Great game, played it from start to finish without ever using the combat system, always had a horde of companions beating people for me. I can't fathom the awefulness of actually playing the combats, like why?

Charisma builds are fun because there are speech options that will fail the interaction if selected, so even with high speech you need to know the setting's lore to succeed (or just use trial and error).

>>4129085
>And I didn't harp on about it, but the quest design is genuinely annoying to deal with at times. The journal is next to useless nine times out of ten, and any direction you're given is probably not even going to be written down, if you even get any direction that is. Sucks if you only play this game hour by hour because you're not ten any more.
Eh, I beat it many times as a kid with 0 guides (no internet access at home at all), it's pretty straightforward, each quest has only 1 entry in the journal and it updates as you progress the quest. I'm sorry if you need quest markers and yellow paint, those weren't invented yet.

>>4129101
Yeah, in newer games like Fallout New Vegas or whatever you just get a special dialog option clearly marked with a tag (e.g. "[Charisma] Let's be friends."), so it's like press here to win the talking. In Arcanum CHA and INT checks aren't marked at all, you're supposed to pick whatever makes sense within the context, and there would be red herrings as well. E.g. you pretend to be a thief and the NPC would ask you to prove it and you need to pick the correct line.

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>>4129826

>>4129085
>Quest design
>step up from Fallout 1&2
No game ever has surpassed Fallout 2's quest reactivity so I presume you are thinking of some other aspect.

>>4129811
>No game ever has surpassed Fallout 2's quest reactivity
*Alpha Protocol blocks your path*

>>4129826
*walks over it*
Phew, almost stepped on a turd there.

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>>4129863

I installed the adult mod. It was kind of okay but a part of it made me uninstall quickly.

First off, the mod is pretty extensive and female centric. Basically you are whoring yourself out throughout Arcanum and I haven't got to the part where there's apparently a radiant quest mod where you prostitute yourself weekly. It makes use of your beauty stat so it's no longer 'useless'. (without the mod, beauty affects prices and how other people treat you, so you needed a minimum of 8 or 10 just so people don't attack you on sight and still give you quests)

Anyway, the reason I uninstalled it is because I feel like the dialogue is AI made and might have ruined the characterization of some people .For example: Lukan the witless, he's supposed to keep misusing words, but in the mod he speaks mostly fine with the pattern being that he only misuses words at the end of his sentences, so it took my immersion out quickly.

>>4129861
literal mental illness

>>4129863
He's spamming that screenshot in every CRPG thread both here and on /v/, this is some form of voyeurism.

>>4128678
>Everybody is praising exactly one quest line
Which one are you talking about?
My personal favourite is hooker with a heart:
>Play ugly+retard (/orc)
>Everybody hates you on site, no room at the inn
>Hooker takes pity and offers you shelter for the night (no funny buisness)
>Befriends you and tells you she has saving and is planning on leaving this life
>Her pimp disagrees, you kill him
>She thanks you for saving her and disappears to her new life.
Great thing is it's basically free accomodation until you resolve things with the pimp, or you can screw her over in one of several ways (i.e steal her savings/side with the pimp)

>>4128668
It's weird that games like these that are overall pretty approachable are considered like arcane relics meant only for the truest of slavs. If we were talking about Nethack or something I would get it but completely middle of the road, accessible rpgs like Arcanum are getting a reputation for being "too hardcore." I'm gonna blame the phones.

>>4130029
The ones liking these games are the actual weirdos.

So is the consensus that Arcanum is nowhere near titles like Baldur's Gate or Fallout or Planescape in quality?

>>4128636
It's the best game I've ever played. I don't think anything will ever come close to it. It's a shame that instead of building upon arcanums design philosophy retards continued making baldurs tier garbage which offers no roleplaying, freedom of choice or anything besides mindless combatslop

>>4128636
Cool ideas. Mediocre game.

>>4131457
I've played all three and they go in order
>Baldur's Gate (Unless we are bundling in 2, then maybe it goes lower)
>Planescape
>Fallout (unless we are bundling 2 in, then maybe it goes higher)

Fallout 1 was utter dogshit that was saved by good aesthetics, intriguing setting and a memorable BBEG

Planescape is literature parsed out within the dialogue options of an RPG, but the writing was actually really good despite the gameplay jank and cliche overload.

Baldur's gate was peak No-Friends traditional gaming brought to the computer, and I'm not going to let any underage retards try to argue that fact.

>>4131457
Arcanum release version was still the alpha. The other games you mentioned shipped when they were ready for the market.

>>4131457
>So is the consensus that Arcanum is nowhere near titles like Baldur's Gate or Fallout or Planescape in quality?
No, the consensus is Arcanum has the better writing, plot and worldbuilding but the actual gameplay is janked and buggy because it was shipped too early.

>>4132383
>Arcanum has better writing, plot and worldbuilding than Planet Escape Tournament
maybe on planet retard

>>4129000
Theres lots of noisy idiots on that site that hate it for the combat, nit being turnbased or whatever super narrow definition they have for acceptable "crpg"
Even a search on that site finds just loads of threads hate bombing arcanum, over things like the combat.

>>4128636
Genuinely the worst fucking gameplay I've dealt with in a CRPG.

>>4132713
Give me one reason to not shit on a game I didn't enjoy at all because the combat was complete shit One.

>>4132757
>Give me one reason to not shit on a game I didn't enjoy at all because the combat was complete shit One.
Because it's beneath you and you're a better man than that...

>>4132763
No.

>>4128636
It's OK. I've done a full playthrough in the last couple of years and enjoyed it. It's fun to do gamey things like robbing store inventories in a setting that still takes itself seriously and has some verisimilitude.

>>4128636
I like the story
I like the nusic
I ilriek blah bleghrg i shoot gun yeah

>>4130029
I can't relate, Nethack is unironically my favorite game.

>>4128636
>The Good
-Rich setting
-Has some more freedom compared to IE CRPGs

>The Bad
-Combat is shit
-Buggy as fuck and barely works
-Generic side quests

>The Ugly
-Looks hideous
-Story has unfinished parts.
-Half-assed characters
-Forgettable soundtrack


Overall verdict: I'd give Arcanum a solid 4/10 thanks to its rich setting and some unique ideas in its gameplay, but it falls flat with its poor execution, horrible coding and generally bad combat & progression balance.

>>4133761
Agree with basically everything except the soundtrack. I thought it was pretty good overall although it can get quite repetitive.

>>4128636
kept memory leaking after playing the game for like 1 hour.making it unplayable except in short sessions... or i guess i could check the walkthrough and "speedrun" it.
yes, even with the fan patch it leaks and lags. the music at the main menu also seems to lag out the menu too. horrible. had to turn it off .

maybe i should make a single core WinXP rig just to play buggy 2000s games like this. if i even had the extra money. but i also said that about making a proper gaming Win98 rig too but gave up after seeing how rusted up my old P2 rig was.

>>4128699
Tower of the Archmage, a Flash game.

Arcanum is a weird case of a game that is actively anti-player. It is not incompetent, bugged, or hard, it just hates (You).

Mana is stamina and you need to wait in real time before it SLOWLY regenerates before you can play the game again. This happens in every combat sequence. All your weapons have a durability bar and like 70% of all the enemies that you encounter are made of metal and hitting them damages your weapon's durability. Oh by the way MAGICAL WEAPONS CANNOT BE EASILY REPAIRED!!!

And these are just some example but the whole game is like this...

>>4134649
>how to make this annoying to play?
That's how RPG devs designed their games back in the day. Good riddance.

>>4134649
Use mana pots or (pro strat) buy multiple magic staves and cycle through them, their mana reserves regenerate over time. Once you get 3 Arcane Staves you basically have infinite mana. And in the mean time the pots are cheap, just stock up on them.

Only golems, fire elementals and robots damage weapons (fire elementals and fire golems also damage your armor), just use ranged attacks or throwaway weapons for them. Personally I just use gauntlets (which hurts your HP instead) and just heal it up.

>>4134649
The stamina thing isn't a problem for me.
How is it not immersive that a magic user gets too exhausted from casting too many spells or maintaining them that he/she passes out?
If you don't like it, just buy potions. Don't you pot spam while playing Diablo? same thing, you just pass out in Arcanum if it reaches 0.

As for durability, not all enemies do it, only golems which aren't that many. The better complaint is why they put a most of them in the BMC mines when you're just starting out, which filters most Arcanum players who didn't think or have the patience to just go back out, back to Tarant, heal up and go back again.
Seriously, after BMC mines, there's barely that much golems anymore.

>>4128690
Sounds like you just made a shitty character. Lack of weapon skill will make the early game very annoying to play.

>>4128636
poser game, if someone has it in their favorites you know they're a tryhard loser from rpg codex

>>4135009
>Sounds like you just made a shitty character. Lack of weapon skill will make the early game very annoying to play.
I made a swordsman specialist. I didn't say the combat was hard, it just felt like shit.

>>4134949
>>4134649
only time i had trouble with stamina was when i tried to make a summoner mage. a "regular" harm spamming mage should have no trouble with stamina. IIRC you can also sleep it off? you can also make a swordmage.

>>4135258
and no, it is definitely buggy on duo/quad-core PCs.

>>4135174
True

>>4128636
Best Diablo 2 killer around

>>4131457
it's literally the true spiritual successor to Fallout. Its basically Fallout +.
Anyone that says otherwise is trolling

>>4128636
New bread, time to mig:
>>4137393

>>4132231
Hacker here. This post was made from "Bandalore, Kundahar, India".

Why are Indians always so critical over the best Fallout game, the Fallout successor, and the best RPG ever made (PST)?

I think it's because they're brown, shitskins who stink like shit, and they just parrot opinions on games they never played. This guy is probably OP too.

>>4135174
>>4135298
More Indian posts identified.