Arx Fatalis Review

Arx Fatalis is an underrated immersive sim game from Arkane Studios buried beneath RPGs like Morrowind and Neverwinter. It deserves the recognition of being Ultima Underworld 3 and more.
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Twitter: / lord_mandalore
#ArxFatalis #ArxFatalisReview #Arx #ArxLibertatis #ArxFatalisPC
00:00 - Intro
00:27 - Issues & Fixes
00:47 - Game Premise
2:03 - Character Creation & Skills
4:09 - Visuals
4:55 - Music & Sound Design
7:19 - Gameplay Mechanics
9:38 - The Magic System
13:47 - Story
14:03 - Story (SPOILERS)
15:38 - Conclusions
16:31 - Credits

[@MandaloreGaming]

Arx Fatalis on GOG - gog.la/IHaveSeenTheDevil Arx Libertatis (The build at the very bottom is your best bet)- arx-libertatis.org/files/snapshots/ THE LIST - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_K3ziSxT9zcUUGCddS4sF1uNJTWHSbOwB1CQX2Rx4Uo Arx really deserved more attention in its day but it’s still a great experience now!

[@quentinedge1698]

MandaloreGaming so many games so little time

[@averagegecko6145]

Have you ever played blade of darkness?? It's really good.

[@weirdo3116]

Think you would play Armies of Exigo at some point?

[@MrDrCthulhu]

Oh boy, looking forward to CoC: Dark Corners of the Earth. It's a pretty interesting attempt to bring Lovecraft to FPS. I never actually managed to finish it, due to a graphics (I think?) bug near the end on the ship ride. Hope things aren't as calamitous for you.

[@SpecShadow]

Arx Libertatis is mandatory, game was made when mouses got ball inside not lasers.

[@Meitti]

"Anti-hunger spell"- is a fancy name for metamphetamine.

[@magosexploratoradeon6409]

We can't let the feds know our magic.

[@fornalotta8767]

Really any amphetamine will do the same thing. Even the legal ones like adderall

[@vimtheprotogen2855]

Vyvanse too.

[@eviljesus84]

I suppose it's only fair that a chemical that makes you lose your teeth, should at least get rid of hunger.

[@ayyyyylmao]

@@eviljesus84 based

[@POLE7645]

Heads up: Arx Liberitatis finally has a new version that has the new spell detection set up by default. No need to hunt down the development builds.

[@loganroberts1582]

how do i find this version?

[@cc1093]

@stemma can you be more specific? i'm not an expert .. i'm actually having problems dowloading arx libertatis for windows, either my pc says it's a spooky file or "it doe'nt run on this version of windows"

[@zennistrad]

@@cc1093 If you're referring to your browser's antivirus software blocking the download, that's been confirmed by the author of the mod to be a false positive, most likely stemming from the mod's version of arx.exe being unsigned. The actual file that's triggering the response is just a very small executable that detects whether you're running a 32 bit or 64 bit software, it should actually be harmless to run.

[@MrLoneWoof]

@@cc1093 For whatever reason the arx-portable.exe is sometimes marked as a trojan, but it's a false positive. It should not happen anymore with 1.3 snapshots.

[@Hell_O7]

So is the spellcasting error not a problem anymore?

[@velis9495]

I remember randomly baking pizzas in a torture chamber and enjoying it quite a lot. Haven’t experienced anything as immersive in a game ever before or since

[@Marcusianery]

Try Dark Messiah, its not as deeply immersive but a more casual Arx Fatalis.

[@SavolX]

@@Marcusianery and done by the same people

[@Marcusianery]

@@SavolX Yes indeed!

[@liamzakhaev]

@@Marcusianery It is called Lothric, where the transitory lands of the Lords of Cinder converge. In venturing north, the pilgrims discovered the truth of the old words: "The fire fades and the lords go without thrones." When the link of the fire is threatened, the bell tolls, unearthing the old Lords of Cinders from their graves. Aldrich, Saint of the Deep. Farron's Undead Legion, the Abyss Watchers. The reclusive lord of the Profaned Captial, Yhorm the Giant. Only, in truth... the Lords will abandon their thrones... And the Unkindled will rise - Nameless, accursed Undead, unfit even to be cinder. And so it is, that ash seeketh embers.

[@Marcusianery]

@@liamzakhaev Dark Souls time!

[@zeta970]

“... died of a broken heart or some other stupid elf shit.” He did it! Someone finally found words for how I feel about elves!

[@HazyJ28]

I never liked Elves until The Witcher 2

[@jakechinn6561]

@@HazyJ28 I do like how elves are portrayed in that game. They generally lack the typical Elven superiority complex and have a lot more nuance to them. Most elves just want to get by and they're rebelling more for just being second class citizens then their stupid thousand year old dead empire. I suppose to sum it up (I originally wrote a massive rant about City Vs Dalish elves in Dragon age: Origins.) You can't both go on about how superior your race is while taking revenge for the destruction of your race. You're either a superior race or an oppressed people you can't have it both ways.

[@getthegoons]

@@jakechinn6561 elves usually just end up being a mouthpiece for the writers to complain about how humans suck. At least in Skyrim elves don't get preachy. The closest are the Nazi elves, and you're stabbing those.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

I prefer the lethargic-because-immortal elves over the superiority complex elves.

[@FullMetalChains]

@@jakechinn6561 also slaver elves.

[@WTFisTingispingis]

These devs did the smartest thing ever: Not work for EA.

[@ComissarYarrick]

It's like choseing pneumonia over cancer. Sure, it's much better, but you are still sick ;)

[@williehawaii9967]

Tyunre look on the bright side. They are now blessed with basking in the Todd

[@janiksla334]

Also murdering all elves (fucking knife-eared bastards!), making world a better place one genocide at the time.

[@r3d0c]

yet their game was shit

[@Fickji]

It was Arkane? Well that explains why I was getting Thief flashbacks.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

*Using Baldur's Gate music while explaining Arx magic* Mandalore's break was finally worth it.

[@AkThatFiresCats]

is it not from Stronghold?

[@PeterFlash]

AkThatFiresCats First track is definitely from Stronghold.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Isn't this Baldur's Gate 9:45?

[@eldarlrd]

@@hemangchauhan2864 It is, Main Theme of the Shadows of Amn.

[@mikhailprosnikov5928]

The track close to 5:00 seems like Sunless Sea one.

[@RmFrZQ]

[12:14] Your problems with the rune drawing probably because your mouse is insanely high in DPI by game's age standards, and also probably because of USB bus rate is set to 1000hz. This is why they appear torn apart and not contiguous on your screen. I don't remember any problems with ArxFatalis in that regard while I was playing it years ago.

[@zefyrisd69]

That sounds like a probable explanation indeed! I was wondering why he had so much problem as I didn't have any back then when I went through the game multiple times.

[@czarkowskipawelyt]

Just finished the game playing at 1000 Hz, 144 fps and 2400 DPI with no issues. /shruggie

[@shala_shashka]

@@czarkowskipawelyt probably just one of those mysterious retro game bugs then

[@joescannoli7660]

@@czarkowskipawelyt but did you play vanilla or with the latest Libertatis patch? The patch mandalore had didn’t include the casting fix by default and now it does, because well, that was 3 years ago.

[@JustBuyTheWaywardsRealms]

@@shala_shashka no the game have problem for everyone in vanilla with rune detection but it make the game funnier in some part like when you try to cast a spell while moving against an enemy and you can't cast so you die.

[@egoitorralba4538]

All I say is, I'm 41 and being playing video games for 30 years. Without any doubt Arx Fatalis and Gothic 2 are the best game experiences I had in my life. When you play the game and suddenly stop noticing the real world but only feel the game atmosphere 100% on my senses.

[@hiddenleafguy4576]

I HAVE SEEN THE LORD, AND HE HATH SAID “Let there be a new Mandalore Gaming review.”

[@BearOldcastle]

Amen

[@jurassic420]

Amen

[@StrikeWarlock]

Amen

[@DJ3947]

Amen

[@thezucc2927]

Amen

[@jaywingate187]

God I love these early Arkane games...they're just so strange and interesting in all the minute details

[@arenkai]

Fun Fact: The two founders of the studio worked on the Smurf game with a handful of guys, but when it was time to make other cartoonish games they were like "Fuck this ! We wanna make games where you kill people like a ninja, we're out !" And so Arkane was born.

[@AintPopular]

Was one of the founders name raphael?

[@arenkai]

Raphael Colantonio, yes.

[@mignonthon]

Jay Wingate playing dishinored 2 , when you talk about details.... arkane is one of the most talented studio today

[@arenkai]

Yeah, it's a shame part of the studio might be in trouble because of Dishonored 2's somewhat disapointing sales to Bethesda's standards.

[@softcatsocks9618]

The bread rising in real time is amazing. and feeding mice cheese in real time. I don't know why, but I LOVE small things like that.

[@fullchicken4469]

"Strangely enough, the main character sounds like he couldn't give a damn what's happening" *smacks lips* "What a shame."

[@barnicskobalazs]

what a rotten way to die

[@jcrosenkreuz5213]

He was a good man

[@necfreon6259]

@@jcrosenkreuz5213 I hope he wasn’t because that’s the only justification he isn’t caring right now

[@HackionSTx]

@@jcrosenkreuz5213 in what language Rosenkreuz means Denton?

[@michaelandreipalon359]

"What a rotten way to die."

[@CynicalReviews]

0.01 That guy looks like he's seen the devil alright. Welcome back, Mandalore. This was worth the wait.

[@gattsu9368]

What the hell you brit go review kissing booth or something

[@dardanik]

0:01

[@Gaze73]

Top-notch voice acting.

[@Hamieee]

"NBA goblins"

[@ES21007]

@E115 *Goblin Slayer nods approvingly*.

[@lukestover2207]

@@kenetickups6146 "thinks a troll comment is real" bruh

[@ragoxdr6384]

​@@lukestover2207 “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

[@Karatys]

@@ragoxdr6384 Pussy mentality and slippery slope fallacy, all in one.

[@Robocopnik]

@@wulfocrow5549 Why do you bother waking up in the morning? Nobody'd miss you.

[@FeinryelRavenclaw]

I feel like this game would deserve a remake. The setting sounds pretty cool, and the magic system could see some improvements.

[@ProkopfDreams]

Yes i would die for that. To this day arx and to a lesser degree dark messiah are still the best rpgs i played. I love dungeon crawling.

[@shaunenwright7872]

I read about one dude remaking it in unreal engine. Don’t know where it’s going atm. If they could agree not to ruin it I’d really like to see what could be done with a AAA team and budget

[@Leitosssssss]

One of the problems would be that game developers these days do not care about details. The level of detail and interactions he mentioned in game mechanics part would probably be overlooked in a remake. Every game these days is focused on graphics what sells the game, and then gameplay as sutiable for audience as wide as possible. But clever details, interaction with environment and world, AI, physics...they pay little to no attention to that anymore, that is why the most games these days do not even feel like improvements, they look like that but they just feel somehow empty and simple. Even Mafia from 2002 has more details and realism than its remake from 2020.

[@BP-dn9nv]

Well, Bethesda does own the rights to the game so maybe if Arkane starts doing a bit better sales wise they can convince them to release a game in the same vein.

[@Sammo212]

I’d rather a sequel about Arx right as people are moving above ground but still super hesitant about it. They can just have you be a person (or other race) and not worry about chosen one stuff.

[@anthonycampbell97]

15:10 I didn't see anyone else comment about it. This shows the "fortress cities" on the surface, with the Guild of Travellers wandering between them. This is mentioned at the beginning of the game by the guy you break out of the goblin prison with.

[@thiccbirb1096]

Why dont we take the city of Arx... *and* *push* *it* *somewhere* *else?* -Patrick St-Arx

[@plutarchvonpluto6439]

That idea may just be crazy enough... *...TO GET US ALL KILLED!* - Squidward Arxentacles

[@titanjakob1056]

Thicc Birb maybe we can ask the help from THE GREAT ALASKAN BULL WORM- SpongBob Arxpants

[@Dartigan]

It's been years since I've even thought about this game. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

[@sigilbreaker2628]

I'm surprised he didn't mention that dwarf-eating werewolf, I was never able to get past that part even with a walkthrough.

[@haraldtopfer5732]

played the game together with a friend (which means watching him back then, and it was totally fine). Never got past anything because we were so lost.

[@kasragharibiegavifekr5941]

@@sigilbreaker2628 there is a dwarf eating werewolf?! Its time for iron forge to sound the alarm...

[@Eunostos]

"The Wizards" is a VR game that does use gesture spell summoning. It's as amazing as you expected, even though it's mostly just combat magic instead of the fun utility of Arx.

[@T4lyX]

I randomly stumbled upon this video in my recommended and was instantly captivated by your review. I immediately went and bought the game and just now finished it after sinking in 33 hours over the span of 5 days. This really is an amazing RPG that stands the test of time, thank you for letting me experience this amazing game.

[@Aboveup]

Finally a fantasy game where elves are where they belong. Dead.

[@DCXanatos]

Knife-eared bastards!

[@Fourtytwo4242]

who do you think was living on the surface.....

[@adenowirus]

42 42 Phagors?

[@TheTeKaDon]

Everytime a elf dies, a child gets his wings...so lets grab our weapons and kill every elf we see :D

[@robn2171]

Whoa whoa whoa. What's with all the elf hating here?

[@CovertFlobert]

Arx was one of my favorite games back then, and it has held up incredibly well. It's ironic how this claustrophobic world offered so much more freedom than the competition. Between the incredibly deep gameplay mechanics and it treating the player like an adult instead of holding our hands through countless tutorial screens, this gem was severely underrated. And yep, the magic system was very... particular in what runes it chose to detect, but to this day there's nothing quite like it.

[@catbert7]

There is something like it; in VR, no less! Like the magic, that is. Check out OrbusVR. It has the same drawing runes to make spells and adding on additional runes to make the spells more powerful, only drawing it in 3D space. It also has the same issues with spell recognition =P

[@leongotget4157]

sunless sea soundtrack cuts in as he says "making your setting underground can be very restricting" lmao

[@villings]

*4 years later I just bought this game. thanks to your review. yay!

[@owlsyndrome2647]

I know you probably wont see this but Arx Fatalis was one of the first games I ever played. My father had a copy. It has huge emotional value to me and Im really glad you decided to review it.

[@EyeTry203]

Nobody asked for your life story.

[@kevinajjenkins]

Rexels Tom thats cold, I love it

[@FLy1nRabBit]

Rexels Tom Nobody asked for your existence.

[@kevinajjenkins]

FLy1nRabBit savage

[@pollenskins]

awh

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Behold the power that can be unleashed with TWO monitors! Welcome back, man.

[@axfn93]

Nice try Indigo, we all know you and Mandalore are the same guy

[@assaultspoon4925]

@@axfn93 Mandalor and sseth are also the same person. Really, this entire website is just 2 or 3 creators pretending to be multiple people.

[@gabrielnieves3972]

This would be the biggest plot twist in history

[@Advancedgod]

FYI, the Arx Libertatis mod now also includes an algorithm that is WAYYY better at interpreting your spell runes. Seriously, it works like a charm now.

[@onedeadsaint]

holy shit! you went back and *added* timestamps?! now I'm gonna have to go back and check even older videos!

[@robertnewman4854]

13:36... wait, is this a Logan Paul suicide forest joke?

[@redabfrha3016]

Striking the iron while its glacial.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

Still more tasteful and humorous. Spinning body and all.

[@kanalkucker14]

I was already wondering what that stuff meant... I see it was a reference joke :DD

[@Intestine_Ballin-ism]

The seinfeld bass had me doubling

[@benjaminwinnie4626]

Yes

[@HongKongPhooey89]

"Welcome to Wendy's, sir. How can I help you?" "Can I get... 11:48 "

[@WatchMysh]

Lol. nominated for the best comment on KZbin 2018

[@MK-xm2nh]

Just to let you know, when I first watched the video I died laughing at your comment. That repeated today. gg man

[@sean8102]

I'm sorry, I'm a idiot and can't hear anything relevant to Wendys there to get the joke. I can't make out what the voice is saying, so what is the joke?

[@muadzm9496]

@@sean8102 basically you keep saying umm...thinking what to order

[@ArvelDreth]

@@muadzm9496 That isn't nearly as funny people said it was supposed to be.

[@normanred9212]

THIS is what a true Immersive Sim is, an RPG mixed with FP and Point-n-Click Adventures

[@hazukichanx408]

Naaaah, a game is only an Immersive Sim if you make it a shooter, add a vending machine or some crap, then cram in a metric crapton of pretentious baloney that doesn't make any sense! All this "simulate an immersive, believable world you can interact with" stuff has nothing to do with it.

[@GreenEyedDazzler]

@@hazukichanx408okay

[@sewerentropy5217]

​@@hazukichanx408 somebody doesn't like bioshock i guess

[@asterixobelix20]

Ahh Arx, one of my favorite games. Loved everything about it especially how memorable some parts were and even years after it came out I discovered new things. Also funny thing, that I never realized there is a tab for learned spells so I pretty much experimented most of the spells out on my own. After a while I realized there is some kind of pattern and I later figured out how most spells work (Aam, yok is create fire, but when you add Tar as in projectile it creates fire ball, just Aam and Tar creates projectiles, changing yok to the reversed rune makes ice, etc. it was so much fun). 7:08 Not memorable? I well damn remember the catacombs theme because they creeped me out. Also the dwarven level theme because it made me piss my pants thanks to that fcking beast. Also the town theme is nice.

[@Jimbo55151]

What are these “Skaven” you speak of? Everyone knows rat man don’t exist!

[@daruhorblackwater5023]

_...Yes-yes..._

[@Jimbo55151]

Daruhor Blackwater Friend are you alright? You appear to be stuttering...and be quite hairy. By Sigmar are you alright?

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

Jimbo55151 H-horrible illness we have, o-only cure cure is *WwWwwArpsToooone*

[@uristboatmurdered6051]

SerNoddicusTheGallant Only cure is *AXE TO THE FACE*

[@ManCheat2]

*runs in background*

[@johndayguy3051]

There is something i always loved about these old games. Not the best graphics, story etc. but the devs always tried new stuff and actually cared.

[@The_Order_Of_William_Marshal]

You wouldn't get a game like this nowadays outside of the indie market, even then its a bit too big of a game for most indies.

[@heyhey641]

3:14 that music gave me such a nostalgia trip, bug's life was the first game I played on ps1

[@AtemiRaven]

I like your channel because you bring up games that I never knew existed or had any prior interest in, and make an entertaining video out of it. I have actually added a few games to my collection as a result and I am starting to realize that there was in fact a period in gaming that games actually stood out from one another. Not chasing the latest, greatest fads.

[@legoking101]

Wow notifications really do work. Happy this guy didn’t die in the storm.

[@vax3onn]

ludwig amadeus Irak

[@90maducc]

Iowa

[@DegraBebs]

Oh yes

[@4i4ero57]

Хотел написать про тебя, а тут ты собственной бешамельской персоной ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@melissa_tea]

Хмм, действительно, мир тесен

[@eduardvainraukh5642]

Прошел игру. Сначала посмотрел твое "Кратко про Arx Fatalis", а потом обзор Мандалора. Так сказать, Ultimate Experience

[@igormaryshev2579]

Ох уж это рутуб коммунити, просто как миньоны из оверлорда:)

[@Rajoovi1]

5:06 okay, I know I'm 2 years late and this makes me sound like a weird audiophile but jesus christ those footstep sound effects are so fucking pleasing to listen to it's like auditory euphoria.

[@passingrando6457]

Arkane had great sound designers, a remnant of the staff from Looking Glass. If you've never played the old Thief games, do so. More importantly, download the Creative EAX sound plugin. Sound engineering quite literally more advanced than most modern games done two decades ago. Dynamic echo modulation based on surface hardness in 1998. Crazy shit.

[@Kijinn]

@@passingrando6457 Or take a deeper step, buy a 2nd hand Aureal 3D sound card, install it on a PC with Win95 and experience *Thief* with precise positional audio via stereo headphones. You'll even be able to hear whether a sound is coming from above or below you. And all of those great sound options disappeared over the past 20 years. Creative Labs is at least partially responsible for that.

[@ascendedchairmanofthelemur9711]

@@Kijinn Creative is *very* responsible for that. They deserved everything that happened to them after the buyout.

[@danieledicesare6628]

this is by far my favorite video of mandalore, video came out 3 years and I still watch this video from time to time

[@Jimbo55151]

Oh damn! Fantasy Metro 2023 one of my all time fave gems!

[@planescaped]

It really is like a fantasy Metro 2033... I would love to see a revival/sequel of this game.

[@lewisconnor9572]

planescaped Sadly that will probably never happen. I doubt Bethesda would be willing to publish a Competitor to Elder Scrolls.

[@williamroeben]

I LOVE this game!!!

[@Nanakoglasgow]

I'm surprised you never mentioned that wierd cult of knights who all wear super-speed platemail. That stuff was the strongest memory of this game for me, especially once you get your hands on your own suit of it and start blitzing around

[@evropaheart]

great content. Thanks for making these and I hope they can support you comfortably one day.

[@micahgmiranda]

My life revolves around your video releases.

[@Afterburn7]

I just love the way you review games. Your reviews are brutally honest and I love that. You give credit where credit is due and lash where slacking took place.

[@bensanders3076]

Hey Mandalore, keep doing what you are doing! This is like at least my third time watching this video alone and every time it makes me laugh especially after playing the game myself. All your videos have great humor and make me want to play what looks great or even what looks stupid. Thank you for the hours of fun.

[@unironicallydel7527]

Why do some 90's games have way better mechanics than ANY AAA game today?

[@517342]

Because games were designed by nerds and enthusiasts who wanted to push the medium forward, not by board-room businessmen and company stooges that only care about how much they sell to the lowest common denominator.

[@rixgaming9989]

because todays' games are accessible for every potato. Back in the day pc gaming was an obscure hobby. People were reading actual manuals for their games. Impossible now.

[@PhyreI3ird]

@@rixgaming9989 That argument makes no damn sense "every potato" now can run games from the 90s no problem. That has no impact on the gameplay that gets made today. Neither does reading manuals, since most of the material in manuals fits in the games themselves now.

[@SinaelDOverom]

@@PhyreI3ird That was about mentality, not computing power. When games were an obscure hobby, figuring out the kinks and intricacies of the game was part of the fun for the playing nerds.. Average player today expects to be able to see every bit of content game has to offer for their money, even if they can't put in much effort into learning the game. As such, less complex games became more profitable to make.

[@MonstertruckBadass]

this game is from 2002

[@JAKX091]

Imagine if instead of saying *"om"* the game just says *"It's quiet"*

[@igooog]

I like how i search for "sseth" and this appears

[@ProkopfDreams]

The ambient sound is so amazing. Really makes the game. Also quite scary as a kid, some undead spells and noises also sound terrifying.

[@aidenbunker6260]

I love your content, most other popularized game reviewers only review newer games, and don't review older games or indie titles, but you review whatever you want basically, or whatever your community would like you to try, and not only that, but you tell us how to make it run better if it has issues. I've found plenty of gems I'd have never even heard of had it not been for you. Keep up the great work my man

[@ilyamuromets5188]

Not only is that Goblin dead, but most of those laugh track voice actors are dead. You are listening to dead people laugh.

[@starwars385]

At a dead person... I mean goblin, you get the idea

[@gabrielnieves3972]

holy crap that is spooky

[@swolie]

You're funny. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGPOoKl_a9mjiKc

[@janiksla334]

Skulls are always smiling.

[@oleksandrsvirin7393]

Hey vsause, Michael here

[@ToyokaX]

Welcome back! Always glad to see your videos of old gems. The magic system in this game reminds me of the way the main character creates magic in Nox with hand signs and such. I wonder what other games out there have a similar system to this?

[@Andlekin]

I remember playing the demo of this when I was little. Thanks for encouraging me to go back and play this to completion.

[@christopherwright4001]

Thank you for making my day with this vid. When ever I see your name pop up on my phone I get super excited

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

So Call of Cthulu is next? Nice. Bring on my loose Shadow over Innsmouth adaptation.

[@ExtermicideN7]

Could be Darkest Dungeon as well.

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

@@ExtermicideN7 It could as well. Its either an old game, or an Indy Steam game. Either or is fun.

[@assaultspoon4925]

When in doubt, consult the list

[@douglewis7946]

Oh you're going to be getting a lot of that soon. *glances at E3*

[@LadyTylerBioRodriguez]

@@douglewis7946 Bring it all on!

[@gochadc]

I've been playing this game for a few weeks and man it is gooood. Yes, it has a few problems like the magic being a little hard to cast, but if you like first person RPGs this is one of the most fun you can find. I miss having the option to make more decisions about what to say to npcs and things like that but overall it's a very good experience and I recommend it without doubt.

[@m3divh]

I love your videos man :) Thank you very much for the work. You have this dry but amazing thought out humor. Amazing :)

[@anonymousviewer7020]

I love that you review such interesting games that I haven't heard of!

[@safeextract5024]

Stronghold soundtrack? the nostalgia dude...

[@8Nifon8]

Was about to comment about that.

[@jojomarojo]

STONE NEEDED

[@darkomihajlovski3135]

@@jojomarojo normal rations my lord

[@DarkFoxOfAMVs]

wood needed

[@TaengJr]

Can't go there mylord!

[@spider00x]

Dude what a surprise! Thank you for reviewing this!

[@seeinred]

That black beast at the end. I played this game back in the day, this creature still haunts my dreams.

[@AssBlaster]

As a veteran of Arx Fatalis I dont see how bows cant be viable, the chicken guy from catacoms can give you best bow in game, and I found bows to be better when fighting with end game enemies, especially with super speed spell. Nonetheless magic should always be your priority.I find the part when you say that game wont hold your hand and tell you everything the best, especially that you missed on enchanting weapons with veggies (and bones), just apply garlic to your weapon and it will give you bonus DEX, etc. Thanks for your video, I always get kick out of watching your reviews. Cheers :)

[@orkokts]

I steamrolled this game with bow + speed spell. Also, I did not have problem when drawing runes, but I had to get used to it. One of best RPGs ever. Only Ultima Underworld is better but it is a "mother" game to most of RPGs anyway.

[@RKNELIAS]

Wow this game looks nuts thanks for the info, I wanted to check it out for a long time now

[@MaitreMechant]

I'm just starting the game, 4h in now reading your comment "apply garlic to the weapon" this is genius

[@karry299]

I call bullshit. I was doing very well with the bow...until the Ylsids appeared. They arent difficult to kill with the bow, they are IMPOSSIBLE to kill with the bow ! In the city i was kiting one Ylsid for 20 minutes and he refused to die. Most of the time you meet them in narrow corridors and they murder you very quick. But they die very easy to just two fireballs. Two. Fireballs. Two. Fireballs.

[@ProkopfDreams]

@@karry299 hmm i managed it, did you hit the head properly? Hittung the body prob did way less dmg. Also in most stages you could aggro whole stages, finde a ledge and float off with the flot scroll. Since you never stop floating, you can just shoot everyone while chilling.

[@SinaelDOverom]

7:48 You can flatten the dough to make a round bread. You can stick apple slices into flattened dough to make apple pie. Also strangely, I never had any problem with the rune detection like you having. Maybe it's an issue with Libertatis patch.

[@Telhias]

I also played without Libertatis and had no problems with rune detection. I went into the game expecting them, but the most I did was miss a rune like thrice in a row.

[@asterixobelix20]

I never had problem even with Liberatis but maybe because by the time I first played the game with Liberatis I already played the shit out of the game without it so drawing runes was easy at that point.

[@Horvath_Gabor]

Just looking at the footage, it looks like he sometimes lets go of the button instead of writing them out in a single stroke. For example, when he is trying to do "TAR" at 11:40, it look like he draws a separate horizontal line, then a vertical one, then another horizontal one, and since the vertical line is so short, the game only registers the two horizontal ones as two "AAM"s.

[@doommaker4000]

@@Horvath_Gabor It's weird because I seem to have the same issue, but Im definitely not releasing M1. Though Mandy seems to have had much worse than I did.

[@skycat1820]

Love your videos dude. I get the feeling that most of these games would frustrate me to no end, but it’s fun to watch you go through them. I’d probably never hear about things like this or space station 13 if it weren’t for this channel.

[@fattony75]

great review - awesome quality from you as always!

[@That_One_Xatu]

For such an old game that I've never heard of before until now, the detail of the mechanics is seriously impressive! As much as games have progressed since then, it still makes me wish that the majority of newer games would spend just a little more time on that achieving that level of detail.

[@Jesse__H]

"Ironically, there's no point to the arrows..." c o m i c g e n i u s 😂

[@doobasaurus]

I'm very happy you did this review as I actually got this game mid august along with Call of Cthulu so the timing could not be better. This is one of my favourite games of all time

[@darkranger116]

I gotta say, the fact that you use stronghold music in the background is absolutely perfect, and set a nice ambiance for your analysis and voice.

[@Csumbi]

i just started playing this, and so far im loving it, love the environments, and some of the character designs are amazing, the librarian lady in the castle especially.

[@vatacoctoi]

It always leaves me surprised when you review these type of games, and they do things that some modern games still don't do, like the cheese with the rats or the food growing in the fire, never saw an rpg pay attention to something so minor

[@InternetHydra]

I vaguely recall a game covered by Iron pineapple's series doing a lot of the cooking and ingredients stuff. Sorry can't remember what game or which vid..

[@Pawn2e4]

​@@InternetHydrawell nowadays you could play breath of the wild which has a similar system

[@Irraptured]

Love your reviews, and I just remembered I picked this game up on Steam years ago. Now I'm playing it and around halfway through, loving it. It's similar to a game I love called Underrail, except this is way more medieval

[@Villevmv]

Just found out about this game on my local games-magazine (Pelit-lehti) article and since I am a big Dark Messiah fan I started to investigate about this forgotten gem Arx Fatalis. I ended up watching your video and man I'm glad I watched it. Very enjoyable, funny and excellent rewiev. Just by watching your rewiev made me feel like I played it myself. Also the spoilers were very good to include, since the stepping stone for me to start playing Arx by my self is too big. Cheers from Finland.

[@White_Tiger93]

the replay value in this old game is amazing, the huge dungeon & it denizens is interesting but the most important thing; exploration is top notch, it rewarded you for explore. since arx fatalis is made by Dishonored creators, the arkanae studio, hoping for Arx Fatalis 2 could be awesome!!

[@MadeinHell2]

Hmmm... Dark corners of the earth? Or Simulator? I wonder what the next game will be. Great review as always

[@40kfanatics]

I enjoy Mandalore's videos so much that whenever I see that he's posted a new review, I always wait until I can sit down with a bunch of snacks and watch it without any distractions.

[@milczyciel]

Played it for the first time just few years ago, when GOG put it on sale. Despite all it's flaws and shortcomings, game have it's heart in the right place as I had tons of fun for something that must have been already 15 year old when I finally played it. I also beat it without being distracted by other titles, which is quite an achievement when you take into consideration my gaming habits and just how easy it is to distract me. Not to mention that watching your review, seeing familiar places, hearing familiar sounds and ambient music made me feel nostalgic and craving to play it again, which in my case is almost entirely reserved for grand titles that I played in the 90s like Black Isle rpgs, or few Amiga titles from my formative years, that got carved forever in the stone tablets of my memory. Definitely worth trying, if just for the atmosphere and world building alone.

[@Blechhower]

I played without the Libertatis patch and i had quite the learning curve, but as i really understood how it ticks i could even cast infight. Amazing feeling of achievment. Amazing game.

[@mitthjarta5]

Arx Libertatis isn't really a "mod" per se, the developer (Arkane) released the source code in 2011, and Arx Libertatis is a re-implementation and extension of the game-engine based on that source code (Even making it cross platform with Linux and Mac). The story is basically a remix of Ultima, as they were actively attempting to make Ultima Underworld 3 (but that ambition was murdered by EA who at that point owned Origin Systems and all their properties). The "space agent" style protagonist is extremely analogous to the "Avatar" in Ultima (being a complete stranger to the world and lore within the game, as a contrivance to mirror the player's blank slate relationship with the game-world.). Strong evidence is present within the files and with some elements remaining within the game, that Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, was actually a prototype for Arx 2, but was transformed into a M&M tie-in at the behest of Ubisoft (who at the time had not long acquired New World Computing and the M&M franchise, and thus wanted to flex it's newly owned IP). And the major reason it was Source engine, was because Arkane were working closely with Valve for a short while, on both The Crossing, and Half Life 2: Return To Ravenholm. Funny how for awhile their projects were malleably changing from one thing to another. They broke that tradition with Dishonored, but then went and returned to it with Prey (terrible namesake/IP tie-in, should have just been called Talos-1 imho, would have avoided the controversy from the vast swath of people excited for and frustrated by the cancellation of Prey 2)

[@bizznick444joe7]

Game developers should take a lot of notes on Arx Fatalis and Gothic. The Crypt dungeon in particular is a wealth of knowledge on how to make a game enjoyable.

[@clonerstive]

I've been waiting my whole life for your review on this. Best day ever. Time to grab a chair leg!

[@ash12181987]

Question: Will you be reviewing Stronghold at some point, since you use the Stronghold music so much in openings?

[@VikingFyre]

I wish like Hell Bethesda would remake this game since they own Arkane studios now. Tighten the magic system, give more to explore, make archery a viable option and it would be amazing. Hell, include the stuff from Dark Messiah to further flesh it out

[@ciceroissad4821]

Oh boy, dont.

[@VikingFyre]

@@ciceroissad4821 why not?

[@ciceroissad4821]

@@VikingFyre Fallout 4, Fallout76, and expect many DLCS.

[@VikingFyre]

@@ciceroissad4821 I don’t think that portion of Bethesda would handle a project like this. At best I have a feeling that they would just do a graphical overhaul remaster as opposed to a proper remake, which I would be perfectly fine with if he could fix some of the more infamous bugs of the game and balance issues, but I do agree I would be fairly upset as a fan if they used it as another platform to Push micro transactions and other bullshit like that

[@Vermbraunt]

You find some really interesting old school games. I love this channel so much

[@lalolanda8458]

Bro, the list of games you review are all hidden gems. Besides, your critique is on point. I'm glad I found your channel. Cheers.

[@salokin3087]

“Another day in paradise” especially when you upload again

[@scouter1789]

Ooooh neat new video

[@dazzanai560]

I just started watching your videos and you have covered two of my Fav games so far that I have seen, arx and Gothic, subscribed

[@Joomp]

Hahaha I just noticed the David Lynch at 1:06! Always very pleased to find one of your subtle jokes like that :]

[@Guile_The_Exile]

7:14 gets me every time lol

[@meris8486]

Hmmm this comment section it's quiet

[@Felix-ru7qj]

Too quiet

[@y1751]

ITS QUIET

[@Soldier3856]

*NO ACTIVITY*

[@sernoddicusthegallant6986]

you know any moment when a psyker isnt screaming "WITNESSSS YAR DOOOOOOOOOM!!!" probably is quiet to a guardsman

[@teecee1827]

ALIEN!!!

[@battleboo4u]

Your alive! I was bringing your hubby, Joseph anderson vids until you came back...missed you mahn

[@gilgamesh7055]

perfect timing. i put this on wishlist when i found it like 3 weeks ago. Nice!

[@locust7135]

In this game you can literally overthrow capitalists (goblins) by giving workers (trolls) Das Kapital.

[@IntrusiveThot420]

Locust can you return and see the inevitable mass famine afterward?

[@locust7135]

Warcrimes incarnate An Shigar did notihnig wrong, goblins deserved it

[@JohnSavant]

@@IntrusiveThot420 You return and see they were the first species to put an artificial satellite into space and developed proper industrialization ... all of that with human interference and invasions.

[@MudHut67]

@@JohnSavant it's easy to get things done when you can force people to do it

[@TheDissident]

@@MudHut67 and take scientists from Berlin

[@Deapcrash101]

This game combined with dark messiah's combat would be legendary

[@EagleBreasts]

Same studio.

[@Sunny_Haven]

13:33 Really loved that bit. Not even the spinning body joke, just the suddenness of a dead body in contrast to all the great things you were saying you can be. It's amazing!

[@madsclausen4028]

Seems like you missed the reference to the logan paul suicide forest video scandal.

[@Sunny_Haven]

@@madsclausen4028 yeah, I never watched the actual video when that was a thing.

[@WikkeSchrandt]

I have been playing this game at least twice a year since 2002, and this is the first time I've heard of Arx Libertatis' dev build actually having better rune recognition! Top notch tip! I'd just been using the regular build forever