Grimbeard - Arx Fatalis (PC) - Review

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

I can’t wrap my head around that weird bait and switch EA pulled with the competition. You’re opening up a new location, not finding an heir for the chocolate factory.

[@hungryhedgehog4201]

Did they just assume everyone who would win could code or....

[@davidmcdavidson999]

That might be the most EA way to hire a person. Unnecessary lies

[@noanswer1864]

@@hungryhedgehog4201 That's what I'm thinking. These aren't people likely to know how to make a game. At best you've just recruited a bunch of new testers that still require training on how to play-to-test.

[@paulunga]

I know, right? That's a straight-up insane hiring strategy. Imagine someone winning a cruise and when they arrive for their vacation they get offered a job as the ship's captain.

[@elicichocki4924]

@@hungryhedgehog4201To be fair this was like 20 years ago when all of this stuff was a lot more niche, so chances are if someone was enough of a nerd to win an Ultima trivia competition then they probably could code lol.

[@charlesdexterward7781]

he... he didn't ask "What's up Goth Gamer Nation?"

[@outsider344]

This one was targeted at an international audience

[@SweetPeteInTheBackSeat]

I'll cry ill do it

[@marlondemello8582]

That must have been an EA demand, you know, to pander to a more general audience.

[@danny.nedelk0]

:( he sold out

[@wind2536]

Gothic king cobra is more goth anyway! You don't even know youtube

[@GabrielOnuris]

"I'm hungry" "You... you do that?!" Man, things like this brighten my day, seriously.

[@Naidisbus]

Love you, Grim. This world wouldn't be as interesting without you.

[@gagaplex]

The ambient sound design in this game is so good, I kept being reminded of it in the real world. I swear the Rat Men tunnels sound like the staircase and cellars in my old institute.

[@xBINARYGODx]

nah, that wasn't the game reminding you of anything in real life, that was just early onset dementia.

[@HonkeyKong54]

Mental institute?

[@AC-hj9tv]

@@xBINARYGODx true

[@AC-hj9tv]

@@HonkeyKong54 I got accepted to the mental institute. I'm going to university

[@outsider344]

"suckin mushrooms straight of the dirt, dude" is one of those things that's gonna be stuck in my head for days. And someone around me is going to use a vacuum cleaner or something and I'm going to giggle and when they ask me why I will have no hope of explaining.

[@dranyth]

There's a great open source implementation of the engine called Arx Libertatis, makes the game run much better on modern Windows, natively on Linux and I think MacOSX as well. I believe it also lets you scale the UI so your inventory isn't ridiculously tiny on current display sizes as well.

[@robinmattheussen2395]

It's based on the original source code, because Arkane released it under the GPL. But yeah, definitely the best way to play it today, you can play it on a bunch of platforms this way.

[@BarackLesnar]

That's awesome

[@AC-hj9tv]

Oh wow

[@stephanemignot100]

Works on Macs indeed, Apple Silicon ones included

[@numskul]

Gonna scoop it up for my steam deck

[@jackiemoon7073]

I was just about to run dangerously low on goth juice and gamer fuel. Thanks for the pick me up grimdaddy

[@LowlyMerkit]

Same

[@masstv9052]

Grimdaddy? Thanks, now thats gonna be stuck in my head every time I watch one of his videos. Appreciate that. Now I'm waiting for people to ask him to "Notice me Grimpai"

[@Sleepysunsetz]

@@masstv9052 grimpai ..... 👏

[@therandomdickhead5744]

@@masstv9052 the pain never ends

[@littlebaron5573]

One of my favorite games by my favorite goth gamer. Bro, you’re well on your way to big things. And the quality of your content... as long as you upload, you will have my undivided attention.

[@three_seashells]

"Arkane is seemingly doing quite well for themselves, as of late." Ahhhhh, I genuinely long for my own death 😂

[@EinherjarV]

Redfall was...a thing that was made. But the new Blade game they're making looks good.

[@planescaped]

An now Ubisoft themselves are dying. Who'd have thought.

[@EinherjarV]

@@planescaped To toot my own horn me. I've been gaming for over 30 years. I was a big fan of AC until the Desmond Miles incident. For almost (or over) a decade Ubisoft has been a joke. Sad b/c Rayman1-2 were great. so was Prince of Persia.

[@garrick3727]

Arx Fatalis was a really good game. It seems like one of the last RPGs which were closed-world in nature, where each area required some form of puzzle solving to progress, similar to an adventure game. This style dropped out of favor, with the more open-world Elder Scrolls style becoming the norm. It was a very different experience than modern RPGs. For example, there were a fixed number of enemies in the world and when you cleared an area it remained empty. This made sense since the entire adventure is underground. It also meant that every combat was more involved, difficult and meaningful, unlike modern RPGs where you fight hordes of respawning enemies. The downside of this style of the game is that it was easy to get stuck, where you did not know what to do next to progress, and you end up wandering around talking to NPCs and searching for hidden passages that you might have missed. I guess the closest game in style that many people are familiar with is Dark Souls, where you progress through increasingly difficult areas, except Arx Fatalis focused more on general RPG elements rather than just combat. The best thing about Arx was probably the atmosphere, with many interesting unique rooms and NPCs - none of the generic repeated stuff like in open world games.

[@trickycheat3570]

I do miss that kind of design in rpg games, problem is these types of games experimented a lot and that often led to huge flaws in their systems but still i do miss em.

[@Langtw]

The newer Deus Ex games are still very much in this style. In a *sense*, Divinity: Original Sin, is as well, at least in terms of having a well defined progression through the game, region by region. There are other examples too, but the modern Deus Ex games are probably the best example

[@bizznick444joe7]

These types of games were better. It made more sense to have a limited number of enemies but each of them were hard to fight, took a while and didn't respawn. It made sense in a real world kind of way. How many times do you think you would have to fight walking around anyway. Only time respawning enemies make sense is if it's part of the lore like they replace the soldier/guards or its some mutant monster that clones itself. Certain episodes would respawn the enemies so you wouldn't be stalled on xp and level gain but also made it made sense why they respawned like new soldiers arrived as reinforcements. Also some enemies couldn't even be defeated in Arx so sneaking around was important and that stat came useful for once. Also should try out Gothic 1 which used the same kind of rules but was more third person. Arx and Gothic both made sense that your choices matter, how you tackled the problem, who you sided with, who you talked to will determine the outcome, your rewards and how well you can bribe NPCs.

[@TheMadAfrican1]

Hooooo boy. That "Arkane is doing well for themselves" hasn't aged very well...

[@oj3730]

RIP Arkane, yet another great studio taken out by a big corp and its policies

[@planescaped]

Suits: Make this shit! Arkane: uhh... do we have to? Suits: Yes! Arkane: fine... _makes it_ Suits: This is shit. Arkane: You got what you asked for. Suits: Yes, but you're also fired. Could you clean up and make me a sandwich on the way out?

[@TheMadAfrican1]

@@planescaped basically. Corporate scuzzbuckets should not have control over artistic endeavours. And having been in the corporate world, it is increasingly clear that they don't actually know what they're talking about. They THINK they do. And that's what makes them dangerous for anyone with a brain, the need to create, and actual human empathy and talent.

[@alicelirette4380]

​@@oj3730Arkane isn't dead. What died was Arkane Austin, a spin off studio.

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

Damn, Fatal fortress was that pen and paper RPG personnel on Talos 1 played in Prey..

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

And there was Yellow Tulip restaurant on Talos as well!

[@VoidSmoker97]

Good that they still acknowledge Arx Fatalis, watch them say “arx Fatalis and prey are in the same universe”

[@MidnightMedium]

Grim, youre easily the funniest KZbin game reviewer out there but what doesnt get enough cred is how well you write. Kudos on your scripts, my dude+

[@Mrityugata]

About hunger mechanic, I had a similar experience. I didn't realize hunger is a thing until I discovered a spell for satiating it. And I think it was largely because of how immersive the game was. Eating something every now and just came naturally, even after I no longer needed it for healing (similarly to you I started as a thief, ended up using magic for pretty much anything). Incidentally, I knew I'm in love with the game, when I baked my first loaf of bread.

[@zhhsshhhd5949]

I love getting updated on all the intriguing games I passed on in years gone by.

[@cazikman]

That Legacy of Kain callout got me in the feels. Here's hoping it's recent acquisition can produce something interesting.

[@victorfroes6650]

Good news for you mate 😁

[@alexanderdiogenes8067]

YO I came home from work, made a cup of coffee, then fell asleep until midnight without drinking the coffee, and I wake up to a new Grim Beard video?! Hell yes.

[@Juwce_86]

My god how I wish coffee did anything at all to my dead adrenal function...

[@SpecShadow]

@@Juwce_86 are you me? Back then coffee gave me energy, then it tries to ressurect my body every morning with various results. These days? Nothing...

[@versebuchanan512]

I know it's been a long time but, did you ever get around to drinking the coffee? Fucking cliffhangers

[@persianheir5218]

Oh shit New Grim, should I save it for tonight? Na I'll watch it now AND tonight!

[@LeftMouseButton961]

This is what we in the business call, a pro gamer move

[@Captain1nsaneo]

"EA usually ends up being the monster" Yep.

[@SpecShadow]

EA and Activision, which was created because they had enough of Atari's greed. Same story - good folks turns into villians.

[@theguardian8317]

It's so sad and depressing that EA ended re-using Origin as the name of their online service.

[@planescaped]

I always like when I see that one person in comments sections complaining about people shitting all over EA. There's no surer way of ousting oneself as an ignorant child or just plain uninformed fuckwit.

[@xBINARYGODx]

Ubisoft kept sex perverts (not the good kind, either) and then moved them around instead of fire them, just like church. Sorry, that is worse - unless you want to whine more about things done to a game vs a human being.

[@Captain1nsaneo]

@@xBINARYGODx Doing a bad thing is not negated by someone else doing something worse. If it were, then Blizzard's actions would have sainted the rest of the industry.

[@necrovarius225]

I had to watch it twice, couldnt stop staring at the shadowplay indicator.

[@VilleSarmiola]

I remember the moment Arx got to me... there was a tower of astronomy or some sort and it had a tiny window you could see outside to the mountainside covered with snow. You could hear the wind howling and feel the coldness. It made the game for me.

[@MusicalPixels22]

Maybe the real Arx Fatalis were the friends we killed along the way

[@wind2536]

20 fuckin years

[@gamemast15r]

He had to make grilled cheese off of the radiator!

[@aidonger42069]

@@wind2536 lol

[@SmokeyBCN]

Charles Schwab over here

[@AC-hj9tv]

True

[@ItalianoMobzter7]

Did you mention King’s Field: The Ancient City? You know what that means.

[@roguishhh]

I could imagine a version of this games magic being cool in VR

[@snares187]

OrbisVR (VR mmo) has this mechanic, it's neat. Works rather well, you actually need to take some time to practice and learn your spells when playing as a mage. Not for everyone, but interesting.

[@holysparkbatman]

@@snares187 awesome rec dude it looks kooky but kind of cool

[@markusmellert5421]

Phone goblin should be a recurring character

[@SweetPeteInTheBackSeat]

Phone is the recurring character with multiple personalities i like phone I liked when the phone asked grim if grim wanted them to take care of a guy and they took care of him yknowwhatImean and grim just thought they were dropping off pizza

[@chillhour6155]

Sounds a like it's a gundam

[@jakers141]

it's Stacy's mom.

[@ken-dog]

You really get across confusion and surprise with your camera control in-game. It's endlessly enjoyable to watch.

[@Cpt.PickHard]

My man your Videos caried me through this years ramadan, thank you so much, I hope that you'll be granted paradise for that

[@ariskiin8814]

Yay! Grimbeard, your depression makes me happy.

[@Valshiirs]

Now thats a good-ass video. I am glad that this Supernatural channel is doing game reviews too.

[@Lambunctious]

Reviews like yours and Avalanche Reviews are what gets me through the graveyard shift. I love the passion you, even for games that are a pain to review. Thanks for all you do man. I like learning about games I've never heard of.

[@AC-hj9tv]

Great channels

[@AC-hj9tv]

Mortismal is good too

[@TX10X10]

a grim bread review yay :) makes my day better

[@GustavoSousas]

A Grimbeard new video right in my birthday. Best gift so far!

[@kalacs32]

Huge part of my childhood, can't wait to watch this later.

[@genuineculter5640]

Phone Goblin is my favorite character.

[@Sammo212]

Arx Fatalis is amazing. Literally went through it again earlier this year and its still very fun. Lots of great stuff in there.

[@KatalistProductionsKozzySasha]

One of my favorites! Love Arx Fatalis! I remember buying a copy at the store.

[@BarackLesnar]

I remember buying games at stores. It was a different time, a simpler time

[@brandonthomas6602]

You could buy games at a store? Like a download code?

[@KatalistProductionsKozzySasha]

@@brandonthomas6602 A disc and a box, how many PC games where purchased before digital downloads lol

[@thesummerofmark]

Great video on one of my favorite games of all time. What I liked about Arx the most is its DIY feel. It’s a textbook case of cleverly and creatively using minimal assets and resources and frankensteining them into something special that stands out

[@karry299]

It's a good thing there are so few arrows in this game, as the entire second half is designed to show you that archery is utterly useless. With the armored cultists you can either a: try and shoot them with 50 arrows, b: fight them in melee if you manage to live long enough, or c: just shoot 3 fireballs with minimal allowed magic stats. Yeah, game balance.

[@Geeler]

To be fair, magic would be super overpowered in every case realistically

[@AC-hj9tv]

Dang

[@AC-hj9tv]

@@Geeler magic is real

[@raulvito6246]

My favorite reviewer is on a roll babay! Stalker and now Arx Fatalis?! If you do Gothic and New Vegas that is like perfection Wassaaaa Goth Gamer Nation

[@MajorPhilGraves]

My favorite Arkane game, even if that side quest to save that missing kid from the cultists is still janky as hell two decades later.

[@alexsm3882]

It could hardly get less janky hahaha

[@VoidSmoker97]

I legit saved before that quest cuz it would keep breaking for me even if I kill all the cultists

[@NechroDark741]

I can't believe i have never heard about this game before, it looks fantastic, i'll def add it to the "to-play" list

[@bechtholdillustrator9378]

Ok,finally 2 of my Favorit Things come together.Waited so long for this.

[@vietgrove]

Delving down through the levels of catacombs beneath the town was an amazing experience I remember. I played through it late at night when I was errr a bit "suggestible" and I got the fear real bad a few times.

[@JosephAlanMeador]

I remember the magic system with the gestures was super cool, if a bit unwieldy. The memories are good. Good caves.

[@HazyJ28]

For anyone interested, Arx is currently on PC Game Pass, which can be had for $1.

[@williamwallace234]

Elderscrolls: Rips off ultima underworld Arx Fatalis: Rips off ultima underworld g@MeRz: Oh you ripped off Elderscrolls!

[@maiqtheliar4347]

i just came across your channel tonight and i love your content and style, will probably watch every video. good job dude keep up the great work.

[@maiqtheliar4347]

in 2002 i walked into a Game Stop to preorder Fable for my new Xbox, while i was in there i remember picking up and looking at two games (Morrowind and Arx Fatalis). i ended up buying Morrowind, and completely forgot about Fable, and ended up playing Morrowind for the next 4 years until i mastered it. i still love Morrowind, but i always wondered what could have been when i put down Arx. So now I'm playing thru my GOG copy and wanted to look up some gameplay. I've watched Mandalores review half a dozen times and thought I'd check yours out and i wasn't disappointed.

[@NicolasF.Costoglou]

I really love your videos man. You're style of comedy paired with the impeccable skill to form a cohesive narrative and getting your point across is outstanding, i wish you the best and keep up the great work.

[@EQW-c4m]

I really don’t know what I’d do without your videos grim

[@gronndar]

Next Dark Messiah and dedicate half of the video to Xana

[@MelonMan666]

Oh boy! I really should play this game! I missed out on it but it looks pretty dang fun! I mean, as fun as a post apocalyptic fantasy story can get. Great review as always, Mr. Beard!

[@VoidSmoker97]

Good news about Legacy of Kain, the IP got acquired by a new publisher so now there’s hope for that series

[@sandertu8366]

@7:17 a perfect British peasant accent.

[@ripvanwinkle6940]

I played the Arx Fatalis demo so many goddamn times it was my own little immersive sim, I knew the ins and outs of every corner of that demo.

[@Jesterzero138]

I was having a shitty day, I couldn't find my compass, and my hammer was too small. Luckily Grim-daddy had a new video up, so its a good day. Keep up the great work!

[@darthjesus7959]

clicked on your new album link to see your album/page art at the top. Glad to know you are a true man of culture, Kino is just fucking priceless man

[@Abszilla51]

Man, the sound design and music in this game is so cool.

[@wurm4676]

On a roll. Don't stop creating! Whatever it is neighbor.

[@MrSirHenryMF]

This game has the best bread mechanics. Imagine it combined with Yakuza 7 bread graphics.

[@bizznick444joe7]

You can bake pie too which grants more health the more stuff you add into it.

[@NodenGaming]

That phone conversation with the goblin is genious!

[@Geeler]

Always enjoyable finding you on an Arx video lol

[@Ghorum]

Man when I saw this title pop up on your channel I had a real and visceral rush. Arx Fatalis rocked my pagoda but it kicked my ass too.

[@legion999]

I love settings like in this game, where the Sun has gone or some other incomprehensible catastrophe that forces people to live underground

[@PatrickSmart-o9n]

Another amazing vid Grimbo, love it 💕

[@firebuggy]

Hey, loving the content. Been really pumping them out recently! Just be sure you aren’t burning the candle at both ends bud. Get your rest and don’t burn yourself out!

[@samuelmanship908]

you rock Grimbeard

[@JHarlow329]

Also a huge fan of caves! And I appreciate you as well, stay safe Grim.

[@FairyRat]

Loved Arx Fatalis. By the way, the majority of the old guard of Arkane, including the founder, has left the studio after Prey because Bethesda was interfering with their work so much demanding safe AAA streamlined crap, so don't count on Deathloop being as awesome as Dishonored or Prey, as it's not the same Arkane we used to love that is developing it. However, they founded WolfEye Studios and are currently working on an incredibly promising isometric immersive sim/CRPG hybrid by the lovely name of Weird West, independently (well, published by Devolver).

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

That's a shame, Prey is awesome and I hoped in more similar games in this style. It was more of a Bioshock sequel than Bioshock infinite and better System shock sequel than System shock 2.

[@johnnybensonitis7853]

So, I think I follow. Octo-Bachto, McGatto-Barako, and Cerebrus Reebus Jesus are after an artifact called the Theatmaximum Overdrive. The Snake Lady is there. So are rats, and this is very deep. UmChigar Zenon the Dark Marcus is the hero and he can bake a mean nut bread, or as the game calls it, Yeastavious breavely doughmeevy. I'm right there with ya, too easy.

[@matman000000]

But we still don't know who killed Jimmy Fallon Panoramix, the greatest meth cook in all of Undergroundia.

[@planescaped]

"Smelly boy games" I like that and am going to start using it. It perfectly describes a certain classification of games...

[@wolvus553]

Dude, rat is my favourite theme. Rad video man

[@AceofSpades511]

When you said all those weird words during the info dump I felt my brain powering down.

[@HiCZoK]

Love that game. Love your style and reviews. Great vid

[@PuttyGod]

"We have shortages of reshources" Not gonna lie, that got me good

[@mistahbeardo]

"spoiler warning" proceeds to throw a lot of weird names and in game jargon at me for 10 minutes. Me: struggles to comprehend what the hell was spoiled 😅

[@bl0ndi550]

awesome review. wish you mentioned more of the weirdness in the mechanics, like being able to watch bread rise in real time or buy stocks in the goblin market etc., also all the sequence breaks

[@zebadiahganjabutter]

Your intros make me feel so nostalgic for something I dont know even exists

[@Ghostie.]

These reviews are evergreen youtube content. *thumps up*

[@andersdenkend]

I am not always commenting on your videos, sorry, but I am always enjoying them! Thank you!

[@pgskills]

That "shortages of resources" bit around the 7 min. mark had me dying, dude!

[@zenithquasar9623]

I love that particular aesthetic we don’t have much of nowadays. It is mostly because of the 3D gfx of the time, so, it is understandable but I find comfort in that.

[@gamesgrave9180]

dope review Grim, cant beat your perspectives

[@Nerdink123]

One of my new favorite games! I love dishonored and knew about this for a while, but I kinda thought it wouldn’t be my thing. I love your vids, and this one got me super interested. I’m just absolutely loving it! I dunno what to say, thanks!

[@_Prebound]

I own this game digitally and it's been figuratively collecting dust forever. One day I will play this.

[@shodan6401]

I like and watch a lot of your videos, but this one really got me. Absolute perfection: "that's a great rat right there" - how can anyone top a line like that? I haven't played Arx yet, but I know I will now. And I see a lot of similarities in atmosphere and tone to Thief, particularly the first Thief, which is arguably one of the greatest games ever created (unlike some, I love the horror bits). Thanks, my Grim compadre. Now I must dungeon crawl through your previous videos....

[@yeez13]

Damn Grim-iel Back at it again with the Immersive Sims!

[@wildzeromusic]

A lot to appreciate!

[@Auynix]

Gameplay sounds similar to my lunacid runs🎉. I'm in 👍.

[@IgorWelkenbach]

Not only are your videos great, they serve as a great substitute for watching a 20+ hour playthrough. Thanks!

[@bizznick444joe7]

Once you learn to draw the runes and get the feel of HOW the game wants you to draw it then you can draw them while running and gunning and really feel like Dumbledorf fighting Voldemort

[@ztmsdk5053]

If i remember correctly. You repair quivers with the anvil and that fills them back up

[@corsaircarl9582]

What I like about Am Shegar being some stoic, nonplussed dude is that in lore that's the point, he's some physical deity figure who isn't really human but more or less a homunculus of heroism.

[@CYI3ERPUNK]

dood , legendary review ; subbed

[@CaptainFrankay]

Grimdaddy, you are literally the best video game review channel on youtube.

[@AC-hj9tv]

Yes

[@SqueebPlays]

To your point on "they don't make them like that anymore". I think a lot of it has to do with there being so many standards in place these days. First it was FPS control standards with Halo. Next came 3RD person camera "perfection" with Resident Evil 4. With the next generation combining 3rd person camera and shooting standards with Gears of War. Then the worlds started becoming standard after Assassin's Creed 2 if it was open world, except maybe RPGs. Now, almost everything you see in one game you'll see in the next, leaving so much creativity at the door. With the compromise being "Well they put this world together better than XYZ Game did." I think it's why BOTW gets so much love for certain things, but not really mentioning the fact it does what a lot of other open world games do. The way the world was designed was monumental in the open world setting, but that was it. It's the way it all coincides that makes it great. Yet, 5 years later, we're still stuck in the same cycle.

[@TheVideoGamerStudios]

I've never clicked on a video faster. Am I going to watch this and then also watch Mandalore's video on it as well? You betcha. Am I going to watch this one twice though? Also you betcha.

[@yonos007]

RIP Arkane.

[@Sneakers8b]

I love how it looks like the gauntlet cursor is closing his mouth like: shhh, you beautiful pile of polygons! 30:30

[@Tio_Remi]

Have you seen what happens when you open the Door to the outside World in ARX FATALIS?

[@Geeler]

When that cold brew 𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓼

[@Morraak]

So excited for Monomyth coming out soon, reminds me a lot of Arx Fatalis!