Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura - Impressions After Playing For The First Time

[@TybudX]

Troika is one of those old studios that always punched above their weight. The games they made were buggy but the systems were amazing and the stories were really good.

[@bakuiel1901]

Yeah Temple of Elemental Evil was like this, loved the system but withiut the Circle of Eight MOD the game was pretty much unplayable.

[@krimhorn]

Yeah, all of the former Interplay RPG developers went on to continue to make some of the best (and buggiest) RPGs of the past two decades. Whether it's Arcanum, TOEE or Bloodlines at Troika or KotOR2, Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity (and 2) or Mask of the Betrayer (NWN2 was fine but the Mask expansion was top-notch) at Obsidian they're buggy, they're often janky but they're always memorable.

[@Rig0r_M0rtis]

Yeah, it's called Troika because of the three founding members and three thousand modders needed to make their games playable after release 🤣🤣

[@miguelgomes6849]

This game is a Masterpiece to me is one of the best asthetic in any rpg ever

[@scottycheesecake]

The UI is terrible but if you can get past that the game is one of my favorite crpgs

[@RonOnTheWay]

I wouldn't go that far, but it's an interesting set up.

[@lukaskubinec9608]

It is definitely not a masterpiece, original Fallout from creators (that also worked on this) is a masterpiece. If this would be masterpiece don't you think there would have been tries to make sequels same as with Fallout franchise and Baldur's Gate? On the other hand sequels might not turn out well, Planescape Torment didn't deserve the continuation it got in my opinion. Baldur's Gate 3 is a very good continuation despite that I have some major complaints on some aspects of it - although it is as good as it gets sadly, not many other studios willing to reinvent the genre of cRPGs while adding new gameplay mechanics, graphics and interesting storyline.

[@JB-xw1zq]

This would be the ideal target for a remastered edition (same with Vampire the Mascarade)

[@JockoJonson17]

Yes. 👍

[@TheRelen222]

The closest we will get is probably the multiverse edition (unofficial of course). I couldn't get the gog or steam edition to work without huge timing problems, but at least the multiverse edition allows it to work on modern machines.

[@Pedone_Rosso]

Why not a number 2, making it into a series, expanding the lore and so on? Unfortunately I don't think this title's copyrights are available to be developed on by anybody with the competence or interest in doing so. The best we could hope for is most likely of the "spiritual successor" kind, but it would be great nonetheless if some of the Larians or Owlcats of the gaming world would manage to recover some of the original and genius ideas this classic is based on.

[@Darkholow]

Now there's a title I haven't heard of in a very long time. It's one of my favorite old school CRPG's of all time. Really happy you decided to give this one a try..I hope you will enjoy the journey!

[@robcampion9917]

Got my old disk version still installed.

[@Heffalord]

One of my favorite games of all time. Arcanum still has the best sound track of any game ever made.

[@xenoslave4224]

Absolutely love this game and have given it vast amounts of time over the years. I highly recommend doing a deep dive into the tech side of character building as it gave me three very different playthrus of the game. 1) Mr. Smyth, a stealth based gunslinger who used everything from flamethrowers, to acid guns, and ultimately towards the end of the game a magitech revolver 2) Professor Carrington, a minion master that commanded a legion of mechanical arachnids and humanoid robots 3) Mad Harriette, an explosives and thrown weapons expert who used various grenades (mustard gas, incendiary, knockout gas, etc.), plastic explosives that could be place and detonated remotely, and The Aerial Decapitator; the best tech based thrown weapon in the game which must be pried from the cold dead hands of the Old Blind Master (an extremely tough hidden boss at an unmarked location in the north of the world map)

[@MortalReaver]

I remember my first character was Elf Charisma build + Harm spell (just to get Conjure spirit). And as Ssethtzeentach said "First time I played this game many years back, I had no idea what I was doing, but it turned out I knew exactly what I was doing."

[@5AETH]

@Mortismal Gaming I would strongly recommend you to try out a playthrough as a black necromancer - raising fallen enemies and talking with dead NPCs (!) + combining it with a high CHA build. With high charisma you can have an army of minions running around and doing battles for you, as they quickly clear every random encounters you engage on the longer trips (they'll can become a pain in the ass, as they'll become more often with your progress). You can even try to expand this idea using mechanical companions in the late game. Hint: Dog ( also mechanicals, summons and some of the NPC characters) do not count to the party limit - assuming of course, that you can save the poor canine before it'll be kicked to death by the gnome, the moment you arrive to the town. The game is beautiful, but it's still very bugged to this day. I would also recommend save scamming, bc you can sometimes become trapped in the open (mostly empty) world, without any access to the map. I'm glad I could provide some hints in exchange for your helpful guides. Have fun, it's a perfect nostalgia trip to early 00's RPGs, on which we grew on.

[@ravelitschimo]

It’s a very underrated game. I love it and I have a Box and a cd of it

[@XYZ-em5vu]

Hands down the most thought-through rpg, so ahead of it's time.

[@TheRelen222]

I love this game. I still have the guide that came in the PC box and it's something like 100 pages, mostly filled with background information and lore. Not even the strategy guide had some of that. You can tell that Troika cared about their products and loved what they were doing.

[@Haan22]

They were the best kind of crazy, shame they couldn't get the funding they needed to deliver more polish.

[@rooneytutoring]

molotov cocktails, easy to make, cheap to make, AP cheap to throw in turn based, and has push back. All the characters I made for this game always invested a little in the explosives tree. It's just that good.

[@Keeper963]

I am a simple man. I see Arcanum, I click Like.

[@joemccarthy57]

Arcanum may have a lot of skills and spells but all you need is just one: Harm, the level 1 necromancy spell. That will carry you through the whole game.

[@MichaelBlanchardII]

Thank you so much for finally reviewing this!! This game is my favorite old school crpg. The last great effort by the original fallout team before they broke into peices. So much love put into this game's story and while it has one of the heftiest learning curves of a CRPG, I found it to be the most rewarding with just how much you could do and how many times I played through it just to try different things out.

[@mfo6892]

Oh boy. What a ride this game was. The story and characters are just amazing.

[@dempa3]

Seems very interesting! Another game to put on my list of games to try out sometime in the future. This made me remember a question, on which I'd like to hear your opinion (maybe something for a future video?), namely if you like when games have their own unique rule systems.

[@MortismalGaming]

It's touch and go, but generally yes

[@GarretAsh]

That was one of the first rpg that is ever played!

[@ArawnNox]

Glad you're enjoying the game. Looking forward to the reivew.

[@rhade2k]

Surprised you haven't played it before! It was the game that got me into crpgs as a kid. It really is fantastic. Enjoy!

[@quipildor7]

This is a game I adore, got me into steampunk and I love how it twists the trope of the ‘chosen one’ on its head.

[@Pedone_Rosso]

Glad you like it. I did post one of those requests about this game, so, even more than usual: THANKS for your videos!

[@revengeofthesynth5430]

I found this game to be so much more accessible than Baldurs Gate for players who never played cRPGs when they were in their primitive UI form. The world is really unique feeling as well.

[@magicthetraveling8685]

This game was great. Hope it gets a good reboot/remake some time

[@FraterPerdurabo]

Glad you eventually found this - one of the all time greats.

[@JimJim...]

I played through it in 2001 or 2002; easily one of the coolest games I've ever played.

[@GermLoc]

This game is way less known than it should be. I got introduced to it LONG after it had originally been released and even that was a looooong time ago the game has a ton of well written depth.

[@molliethomas2585]

I have so many good memories of the game. Must have played through it at least a dozen times.

[@Skysoldier505]

Wow... talk about a blast from the past! Haven't even thought about this game in forever.

[@fantazjo]

one of my favorite parts (outside of story and characters and war between magic and tech (iron man vs mandarin)) was crafting and i don't recall any game ever being near of making things so interesting

[@cacuinwildstar]

I remember when this first came out I played it twice. First time I was a bow wielding destruction mage. Second time I was a talker/thief. Both were very rewarding

[@MuppetLord1]

One of my fav RPG´s of all time. ^^

[@1PorscheCaymanS]

I'll chime in...this game was amazing back in the day and definitely deserves a reboot. I would pay to be able to do this again in high res on a modern system.

[@homeostasis1103]

I absolutely loved this game. I've spent lots of hours while playing it few years ago because for some reason I've founded 10 y. o. PC that worked fine. The game seemed unbalanced for me and weird at some point, but i absolutely love the worldbuilding. I can't wait for your review about Arcanum.

[@gawaniwhitecrow2731]

Not heard of this title, how did this pass me by, darn. Good work as usual sir 🙏🏾

[@Pedone_Rosso]

@@tzarkolbaska2746 Also it got the wrong timing, if I remember it right. Didn't it come out near, maybe just after, the Diablo craze? When a single videogame made A-RPGs into the ONLY kind of RPGs available, almost overnight? It is possible that this game has realtime with pause combat into it, and it's not just pure turn based, just because of Diablo, I think.

[@grey_wulf]

Arcanum is a true classic. I would love a new crpg like this.

[@Mattznick]

I dream of having this game remastered and optimized for modern systems. Can't think of any other game that has done steampunk with a classic fantasy setting wish more games did

[@robcampion9917]

This is definitely a game that needs a remake/remaster or a sequel. Plus with the magic/tech thing if a tech person tries to use a magic item it's just a normal item to them and if a mage tries to use a gun it can explode in their hand.

[@YiotisTheGnome]

Don't know how or why YT recommended to me this video, but a video of Arcanum always earns a like and subscribe from me. This game was the first game i ever saw that came in a 2 disc install package.

[@skjefull8786]

Really gotta try this game soon. It has been sitting in my library forever.

[@f0ul0u]

this is old school fallout with other elements borrowed from games like might and magic. i rlly wish they do a remake or a new arcanum

[@bigwig8657]

A game I tried to play like 8 years ago on GoG and could not get to work past the opening area because bugs. This could be my message to retry.

[@nonexistent4177]

I just want to say... Excellent choice in a game.

[@michalzaprt5602]

Ah, Arcanum broken masterpiece, completed this game several times and I love it still. Hope you will like it, story and world are great. Enjoy.

[@fistimusmaximus6576]

Enjoyed it but damn it was buggy. Still one of the few games that did steam punk right! also loved how magic effected tech and vise versa

[@stephenreader2049]

I put so many hours into this game (boxed version) but I don't think I had any idea what I was doing.

[@bigwig8657]

Wow old pc rpg feel of finding and paying trainers to skill up. That sure is something that fell out of favor outside Tyranny in terms of games I've played in the last decade.

[@amateurpwn4182]

This was my favourite game in high school. Needs a sequel.

[@frankfowler3270]

I remember playing this at a LAN party years ago and I was the only one who made a fighter type tank. Well I dumped most of my stats to get high STR/CON and ended with 1 INT. It turns out if you have 1 INT your character can only speak gibberish, so I couldn't buy any gear or get quests cause the shop keepers didn't understand what I wanted. So I fully had to rely on my party to do those things, while me go SMASH!

[@Nalier]

I loved this game. still have a manual somewhere, and a soundtrack cd. this music was haunting

[@blanchiplanchi]

You said it Mortis, magic and technology a good combo, waiting for this 👌 since you said that on upcoming rugs!

[@okagisama]

There are quite a few things to know before builing a proper end-game character too. One of them being the shrine boons: each god has a specific shrine, where you can make a specific donation, granting you a bonus. The thing is, there are 3 tiers of gods, and if you do it right you may access more bonuses (higher tiers grant better overall rewards, but some specific builds may not go all the way to the higher tier). Oh and racial bonuses also change the atttribute cap (human can never get higher than 20 in any attribute, but a half-orc may reach 21 in both strength and constitution for instance) Also i hope you'll try to play with a dimwit half-ogre, just for the fun of dialogues!

[@okagisama]

Oh and don't even try using bows. They are awful, apart from some very high-level tech bows.

[@CytokinesisMD]

Doing a low int half ogre imbecile run in this is one of my most memorable runs in all of gaming. I've never been able to do anything like that in any other game.

[@T3CHN0M4D]

did the same. the dialogue is sooo funny if you are dumb as a rock.

[@f0ul0u]

i tried it and i missed a lot of quests. good times

[@5AETH]

Yes, this is another good idea for a playthrough xD

[@ArantyrDarkhand]

This game its GREAT, in every aspect.

[@Theodore5of5]

Such a special game, Troika forever!

[@andrewhegstrom2187]

From what I recall, and it has been awhile, if you go magic, stick to turn based. If you go firearms or melee, stick to real time. Especially with firearms, you'll stop things dead in their tracks a lot.

[@P9124]

Just remember that the only good gnome is a dead one.

[@ThwartAbyss54]

Ive played like an hour of this, i really need to play more. And planescape torment

[@Mravenrocks]

For me this is the kind of game that every few years I reinstall and do at least 1 or 2 playthroughs. And funnily enough I tend to after all of these years still find something new in most playthroughts. This is a flawed gem of a game.

[@peterwor9825]

One of the best version of Arcanum is Multiverse Edition. This is repaired version of original game, created by team of fans.

[@royalrugby4869]

It's a great game if you give it the time to explore the world. That said between the bugs, a character system that confuses a lot of people, and the extremely dated graphics, I do understand why this is a game new people never get into really.

[@T3CHN0M4D]

I played this game as a very stupid ogre. it was tons of fun because if you're very stupid dialogue is very different :D ... plus I didn't use magic or tech and just went full strength and punched everything to dust. made the game quite easy... especially if you have dog in your team.

[@doomsdayng]

One of the best games for playing a high Charisma speech character. Especially the end of the game!

[@drearmouse9510]

Bah! I've restarted this game like 5 times due to long stretches of not bein able to decide what stats to run with and damn it, prolly gonna start my 6th run later today. Heres to not burning ten to twenty hours n starting over again!~

[@jasonsoh79]

Its a great game. I didn't get to complete it due to bugs though.

[@davincisama]

Arcanum was too "arcane" (heh) for 16 years old me back in 2001 after playing BG2 and IWD, wish I had played it longer. Good thing is that I can play the GoG version and it's a brand new game for me even 20 years later.

[@davidleehuynh1108]

One of my favorites.

[@Lashrath]

I am really surprised you haven't played this one yet.

[@JoeSmith-mx1sr]

This is a great game, but as you pointed out, it is buggy and you do need to read the manual and you will have to restart as you learn the game.

[@MichaelGalt]

There are SOOOO many ways to play this game. I have played as a "Doc Holiday" character who had terrible health but was great at gambling and with guns, I played an arrogant half-elf mage who teleported around the world and shocked things to death and disintegrated things, I played an elven warrior who was basically a ranger, I played a half-ogre genius who was a master of melee while also building robots and tech armor, I played a human technologist who specialized in big game hunting and medicine. They all played different. Try an ugly half-orc or half-ogre if you really want a different experience. My half-ogre genius had a simple rule - if someone was rude or hostile to him, he would politely ask for them to repeat what they had said to him, but to be civilized. If they said anything racist, he would kill them... I had to kill lots of people. My Doc Holiday character got rich very early and got banned from gambling lots of different places. My idiot character... he had a rough time of it.

[@aristonmain]

he really did it!!!

[@Dracobyte]

Let's goo!!

[@emmathepony1992]

i would LOVE a temple of elemental evil review !!

[@bigwig8657]

Ooc have you reviewed Torment Tides of Legally distinct Planescape?

[@MortismalGaming]

Yeah

[@bigjoncash4297]

Bro how is your channel going to grow if you are reviewing 30 year old games? Lol idc about your channel growing, keep these gems coming!

[@MortismalGaming]

Hey, Hey, Hey. Twenty year old games, thank you very much.

[@michaelmiller3012]

I'm currently playing through Might & Magic III: Isles of Terra... Have you ever played any of the classic old-skool DOS RPGs?

[@erichansen2860]

This is a game I bought when it came out and I have most wanted to love but just can't. The world, the music, the themes, characters, the look and feel, is all on point. Even the manual is the best I've ever read, and it's one I've actually read just to read. The gameplay...eh. I bought it again on GOG and the patch does make it better, but I feel disconnected from the game when I play it and I don't know why.

[@anangrycucco]

I liked this game but there are only a few lps of this game

[@chik2602]

I have a trauma with this game, I usually pickpocket every remotely important looking NPC and I stole a book that I later discarded god knows where. Turns out that book was required for the main quest, I was about 50 hours in and I had to start a new playthrough because of that fucking book. There was absolutely no indication it was a quest item lol.

[@Pedone_Rosso]

That's why old gamers are always complaining about modern games holding your hand too much: no wonder, if they grew up playing games like this one. Treat your gamer grandpas/mas well, don't dismiss them when they rant. It's just the way they tell you the history of what you love: videogames. ... And too much coffee, not good at their age you know? (LOL! I'm more than 4 decades old, btw...)

[@jamesthrice2253]

So you finally got around to the best crpg of all time.

[@mattrg320]

they need to remaster this game

[@chik2602]

As far as I remember, the combat in real time is completely broken. Your character will shoot arrows/fire spells as fast as you press the corresponding key (never played a melee character but I assume it's the same).

[@logananderon9693]

I played it for hundreds of hours but only beat it once.

[@onatgz]

if you like the world of arcanum (who doesn't?) you should check out lionheart too. game may not be as good, but the world is cool. also this comment's free.

[@elischrock5356]

I wish this IP would get a modern game.

[@Cruor34]

How do i put this.... Arcanums Charisma score would be 20/20 but it's other stats are pretty mediocre. I love the setting, I love the atmosphere, I love the IDEAS in place, but the presentation is mediocre - poor. The game is exceedingly easy, (I beat it without much effort in 2001 as a gun build, not a mage or melee) the combat as a whole is poor, it's super unbalanced (mage can have over 50 AP, compare that to 12 ap in Fallout 2 and attacks cost about the same amount) the random encounters are terrible and weak (constant wolfs and spiders) and the game is honestly pretty short, I don't feel like there is enough to do as Fallout 2. All that said, I really liked the game, it just deserved more, yet another sad tale of rushed and underbudgeted. I am currently trying to make a mod the the game to improve it. This game is super deserving of a remaster with improved gameplay mechanics, graphics, and cut content added back in.

[@EerieV23]

Wow, those graphics... I cannot believe we used to think this was great 😕

[@MortismalGaming]

That's the improvement too, unpatched is worse lol

[@rochin76123]

Do Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

[@Elgar337]

I had this game on my list for years. A few months ago I finally booted up all excited, watched the intro and almost gave up then and there. The story's premise is duller than Paris Hilton and the old man's cough almost gave me cancer. I made a character (which I enjoyed) and then 5 minutes into the game I alt+f4'd. Looking out of my rainy window I thought: These are the guys who made fucking Bloodlines?

[@Pedone_Rosso]

To each their own. I liked it a lot, while on the other hand I cannot stomach the looks of Bloodlines. To my taste this classic isometric cRPG looks way more appealing. I'm not pooping on your opinion, to be clear. Just glimpsing at how personal taste differences are beautifully varied: indeed a good thing, in my humble opinion.

[@Elgar337]

@@Pedone_Rosso Yes, you're absoluely right. All of this is subjective. A lot of the time I crap on other people's opinions (something I wasn't going for with this particular comment), but it's in the spirit of banter. You know, shooting the shit. When I truly don't respect someone's opinion because I find it especially moronic, I just don't (or try to not) say anything.

[@adeternitamn2859]

This game has shit graphics, Absolutely horrendous UI and a shit ton of bugs ( this last part makes it modern as fck btw lol). However once you get past these deal breaking issues, then whats left is one of the best cRPGs ever made. Pro point to this game; you dont have to be afraid the opening act will be great and the rest will be shit. There is actual replayability value. It actually has a story ( gasp) They actually did make them better back in the day.

[@MarcZakharia]

I honestly had such a hard time getting into this. 51 hours in a gave up. Combat was just jank and silly on real time mode and horrifically tedious in turn-based. The leveling system is also interesting at first until you realize how broken point allocation is. The fact that the same point can be used across different skills makes it hard to gauge how to develop your character. I feel like people play this to experience the moments of potential this game has rather than for the quality it actually is. The UI is also just easily the absolute worst across any game - funnily enough the same devs did temple of elemental evil and it really doesn’t seem like they learned a thing. The UI just makes a tedious game into an absolute chore to play. I’m glad people enjoy it, I’m even inclined to replay it fresh again and see if it clicks second time round but first impression was rough and I gave it plenty of time, again 51 hours.

[@TheRelen222]

Playing a mage can work if you don't like the combat. It's not really balanced but a high level mage with disintegrate annihilates everything.

[@-Kailinn-]

That's one old looking 15 year old

[@MortismalGaming]

Yeah the game just auto assigns you an age based on the race you're playing, which doesn't even change as time passes in game.

[@megamike15]

arcanum was the game that made me even more disappointed in pillar's of eternity. as alot of it's lore it did better.