Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

"Magic or Technology? Your choice..."

Arcanum is a rather unique RPG created by Troika games. It isn't very widely known today, excepting a relatively small number of fans, which is rather unfortunate as it's quite an excellent RPG. It does so many things so very well, and it's really a pity that it didn't garner more attention in its prime. But this is understandable, as Arcanum isn't the type of game that appeals to the average, mainstream gamer.

Arcanum is set a high fantasy setting, with the usual abundance of fantasy races that one has come to expect from such a setting. Orcs, Ogres, Humans, Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves all make their appearances, and even play very influential roles in creating a very believable game world. What makes Arcanum notably different from other fantasy RPGs it that this world is not only magical, but also influenced by technology. The setting is more or less a normal fantasy setting that has undergone an industrial revolution, leaving technology and magic as polar opposites of one another. Your choice to play a magical or technological character affects many facets of the game. It's difficult to discuss the story too much without giving away critical plot details, but I can assure you it's very good. One of the better RPG stories I've had the pleasure to experience in a while. It starts off seeming like nothing too exciting, but over time it unfolds into something much more complex and involving. The game opens as your character finds himself/herself the sole survivor of a blimp crash, and is approached by a man who thinks your character to be the reincarnation of a god, and it goes from there. Your path is your own; Arcanum makes for a very open ended RPG experience.

Arcanum's greatest strengths lie in its gameplay, but unfortunately, that's also where almost all of its shortcomings lie as well. As I said, Arcanum is very open ended. But unlike many RPGs that claim to be open ended...well, Arcanum actually is open ended. You can take any path you choose, and go with it. There are just so many character types that one could create, leaving the game with a great abundance of replay value.. The character system is very flexible and freeform...you need not choose a class when you begin; you determine your skills and abilities as you level up throughout the game. The basic gameplay involves traveling to different towns, talking to people, fighting monsters, and completing quests. The combat is generally fun, and can be played either in a real time or a turn based mode. The real time mode plays somewhat like Diablo, whereas the turn based mode is more like a tactical RPG. And, if you like, you can switch between either mode on the fly by pressing the spacebar. The gameplay gets a bit more detailed when technology and magic (or “magick” as Troika seems to prefer) are brought into the picture. If you choose to play a magical character, then the game shouldn't fall too far from a normal RPG in terms of abilities. There are total of 16 magical colleges you can choose from, and you'll likely invest your abilities into more than one. Unlike some games, the grand majority of the game's spells actually seem useful, which is definitely refreshing. If you choose to play a technological character, however, you gain the abilities to build new items from various parts. You can choose to specialize in one of eight different technology disciplines (or more than one, if you wish), granting you the ability to make a great breadth of items. For example, if you choose to study electricity, you can make things like electric lights and Tesla Rods, or if you choose gun smithing, you can make various assortments of firearms. But that's not all, as during your journey you'll find other schematics that you can't learn from studying the various disciplines, many of which incorporate aspects of multiple disciplines. Your Looking Glass Rifle not powerful enough for you? Modify it with a Tesla Rod and enjoy your new Tesla Gun. This is not to say you can combine ANYTHING that you want; there are a limited number of schematics. But, they're so plentiful and imaginative that you'll likely be quite satisfied with the options presented to you. In addition to gaining abilities related to technology or magic, there are also various general skills you can achieve, including various fighting skills, thieving skills, social skills, and secondary technological skills which aren't associated with learning new schematics. Taking all of these various abilities into consideration, and given the fact that you can combine any of them in any way you like, you can make a truly unique character.

All of my complaints lie with the way the game treats NPCs. There are a good number of people who you can have join up with you, though the number of people who can join you at once depends your charisma score. It might be worth noting, too, that the NPCs are hardly developed at all (in the sense of their character/background), except for Virgil, who joins you immediately at the start of the game. What bothers me about NPCs in Arcanum, however, is that you have very little control over them. The only real thing you can control is their inventories, but even that is problematic. I don't have a problem with the inherent idea of a lack of NPC control, but I do have a problem with the flawed implementation that Arcanum uses. The developers seemed to give the NPC some limited AI outside of combat, but it's more annoying that beneficial. Consider this: you find a sword that you want to give to you NPC companion, and you want to dispose of his or her old weapon. So you give them the new sword, and you drop the other weapon on the ground to leave it. Well, don't consider it gone, because if you tarry more than a few seconds, the NPC “helpfully” picks it back up. This might sound like a nitpick, but it can get very annoying when you can't reliable get rid of something by dropping it, and you're forced to seek out a trash can to throw it into or a merchant to sell it to. Unfortunately, if you're not in a city, trash cans and merchants are hard to come by. And, if even if you do come by a merchant, there's a high chance they won't buy it off you. A blacksmith merchant isn't going to buy a magical item off you, for example, and in many cases they won't even buy armor or weapons from you either. This problem is compacted further by the fact that you have both an inventory space and weight limit. Other NPC problems lie in the way the don't always behave intelligently or attack efficiently in combat (though this is most apparent in turn-based combat), usually attacking whatever you're attacking rather than what would be most efficient to attack. There are many situations where you could win a battle if you were able to issue instructions to everyone, but because you can't, you die. Frustrating? You bet. Yet another problem comes in that you can't tell NPCs to use items. They'll use them if they want to, but otherwise, tough luck. And, because if you're a magical character, you can't use tech items, and vice versa, sometimes you'll be unable to use an item even if one of your NPCs is of the correct aptitude to do so, which leads to further annoyance. And finally, another problem lies in that sometimes the NPCs try to equip whatever they want to. I've seen some instances where if an NPC has two weapons in its inventory, it will insist on using the weaker of the two, for some reason, and the only way to get it to use the weapon you want is to remove the weaker weapon from its inventory and put it in yours. All of these problems build upon one another, which can lead to some annoying situations indeed. Fortunately, these are all of the complaints I have with the game, and everything else is pretty well done.

The graphics of Arcanum are dated, but fitting to the game. I'm not too critical of graphics in games usually, and while the game is in 2d, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the game at all, though for some it may be an issue. I wouldn't say that the graphics are “bad”, simply because the style in which they are done is consistent and effective given the context of the game. Other than that, there isn't much to say in regards to them.

Arcanum's music is something very special, in my opinion. It's very atypical of video game music, and it's all performed by a string quartet. Though the game tends to reuse a lot of the same songs in various places, you probably won't get too tired of the music even after a lot of playing, because it's very well done. Most of the music, especially the main theme, seem to have a feeling of genuine sorrow to it, which fits in with the games environments in a very interesting manner. The music may not suit everyone, but it's hard to deny the quality or originality of the music. Sound effects in the game are all pretty good, and the game's voice acting is very well done as well, though there could have been more of it. This isn't too big of an issue, though, as even the dialogue that isn't voice acted is usually well written.


Final thoughts and scores:

Story/Setting/Originality: 9/10 – Excellently crafted and very believable game world with a unique and engaging story. Lack of character development is the only detractor.

Gameplay: 7/10 – Overall, solid and enjoyable gameplay which is riddled with various annoyances, mainly pertaining to NPCs. Note that the 7/10 is an average in my mind drawn from the overall excellent gameplay being dragged down by some annoying issues, rather than the gameplay having a “7/10” feel overall, if that makes sense.

Graphics: 7/10 – 2d and dated, but suitable for the game, not poor enough to detract from enjoyment.

Sound/Music/Voice Acting: 9/10 – Overall, very good. More voice acting would have been nice, though, and hearing a few more unique songs throughout the game would have been nice, despite the quality of what is given.

Length/Replayability:Arcanum will take you probably a minimum of 30-40 hours to complete, making it a decently long RPG. Considering that I played most of the game in the turn-based mode, it probably took me a bit longer to complete than someone who plays in real time, as the turn-based combat is noticeably slower. Despite the length, however, the sheer freedom you have when it comes to developing your character warrants more than one play through, easily.

Final Verdict: If you're a hardcore RPG fan, who likes open ended games with good storylines and fun gameplay, then go ahead and pick it up! If you're just a casual gamer, the game might be a bit much for you, as the game does seem to take a lot of dedication to enjoy, in my opinion. If you were to only play this game casually and not delve into it, it probably wouldn't be worth the time and money. But that's your call to make, not mine.

Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/04/07

Game Release: Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (US, 08/22/01)