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Arcanum Arcanum is, by far, one of the worst *games* I've ever played... emphasis on "game" and not "RPG"

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Irenaeus III

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I never complained of Arcanum, friend.
 

AwesomeButton

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Arcanum is a game for people of taste, who can appreciate the ideas, forgive the execution, and place the game in the context in which it was released, instead of just being a bunch of crybabies. Irenaeus played vanilla PoE and liked it, so seeing him complain of Arcanum is a bit of a paradox.

However, I find Arcanum to be fitting the description of "a classic" - a game I like to praise, but I would have a hard time convincing myself to sit down and actually play it.

I like the aesthetic of the game and how it is more than just an aesthetic: the world is believable, I especially like that part of the main quest where you learn about the steam engine. It's such a shame the game has so god awful mechanics, because other than that, it actually managed to grab my attention even more than the original Fallout (which granted I play mostly because I feel I have to, given my love for New Vegas9. Rate my RPGs to play list btw.
BTW, I've often imagined what it would have been like if Arcanum could have a complete remake that just fixes all of its interface-, and mechanics-related issues. So I guess on the whole I agree with you. But I'd never bash it.

I never complained of Arcanum, friend.
Yes, sorry. I even edited my post before you said that.

I still have hopes for a kickstarter someday - "Arcanum 2 - The Jazz Era".
 
Last edited:

gestalt11

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A large number of these criticisms are true for many RPGs from that era and earlier. Primitive grid-based inventories were all over the place. Older games are even worse with stuff like Bard's Tale just having a numbered list. Dumb AI companions are not only standard from that era but still common today.
 

thesoup

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Arcanum is a game for people of taste, who can appreciate the ideas, forgive the execution, and place the game in the context in which it was released, instead of just being a bunch of crybabies. Irenaeus played vanilla PoE and liked it, so seeing him complain of Arcanum is a bit of a paradox. -- well I saw he just quotes some guy.

Seeing that guy's complaints, they are exactly what I expected, and what I imagined when I said "crybabies". Sheesh, I almost expected to see "lacks romances".

However, I find Arcanum to be fitting the description of "a classic" - a game I like to praise, but I would have a hard time convincing myself to sit down and actually play it.
Yeah, no, friend. Context is irrelevant, what matters is how fun it is. The whole post is you just tragically masturbating to your own awesomeness and patting yourself on the back.

My response
http://pastebin.com/pvtn8RHZ

edit
forgot to say that from what I've seen witcher 2 seems like console garbage, but i didn't play it yet because i haven't finished the first one
 
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Kalin

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:nocountryforshitposters:

This thread is like the Mecca of bad taste, bunch of frothing faggets all in the same place. Fuck you all to death!

Arcanum is a great game and only sub-humans think otherwise. Turn in your fists, you're OFF the brolist.
 

Diggfinger

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Bethesda loverS: Go suck cow tits.

Arcanum is 2nd best game of all time after Fallout 1. Jason Anderson should rule teh universe.

Thread clozed.
 

thesoup

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lmao, troika drones on life support

Bethesda loverS: Go suck cow tits.

Arcanum is 2nd best game of all time after Fallout 1. Jason Anderson should rule teh universe.

Thread clozed.
Yes, not liking arcanum means you like bethesda games. Great logic.
 

Crichton

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tumblr_lol1z7PS8U1qhslato1_1280.jpg


Well, well, well. It appears some purging is in order...
 

Ash

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Excidium II: one more point in favor of grid inventories: icons alone better represent a physical object than text, plus the way grid-inventories are usually presented (such as in Arx Fatalis where your inventory is a bag) it all better represents real world objects and interactions than selecting text, even if it is abstract. Not a point of great significance, but most cRPGs try to be immersive so it matters. Forget a lot of the old implementations of grid-inventories, I'm talking the Ultima Underworld breed, or even Resident Evil 4 at that. That's how it's done.
 

Ash

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hell bovine

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No, the combat does not work like in Fallout at all. You had to keep your finger over the "start turn-based combat" button, that was terrible. Also everyone had a million movement points, so only very crude tactics were meaningful.

But let's talk about the things that were done well for a moment:

- the World is immersive. Tarant feels very much alive. The feud between magic and technology feels alive and makes sense.
- the Quest Design is diverse and intelligent. I still remember the feeling when I was entering the negotiation room in Caladon after spending half an hour studying the relative material and keeping notes. The best quests in other games usually remind me of Arcanum quests.
- Character Customization is mind blowing. Arcanum is probably the best game ever in that department. Drop your boring mages and play a gunslinger.
- Crafting is excellent.
- All the little things. Newspapers, reactivity, little secrets dispersed throughout. To be frank, I also liked the inventory.

Yes, it is lacking in some departments (importantly in combat), but are you going to just throw away all the above advantages? I won't, I love it. Nobody has been able to recreate some of its best parts.
Yeah, I loved reading those newspapers. And there were other little things, like the content of that first magic chest, or Virgil's reaction to dumb dialogue, or the fact that you could make a disabled intelligent character who would get dumb dialogue, while secretly being a genius... Arcanum is one of those games where I'm willing to overlook the combat, because of the story and the world. (SitS is another one)
 
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Excidium II

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The icons inside represent physical objects better than text would.
No, they don't. Nothing represents items better than text since it's what the icon is actually representing. The icon is just something you associate with the text after you memorized it.
 

Ash

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Messages
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Nothing describes them and conveys necessary gameplay info better than text. This is why grid inventories usually have text descriptions too. To represent the objects in a visual but abstract way, grid inventories with icons do it well. They also usually do it while fitting with the theme/setting (Underworld = visual bag, Resident Evil = visual attache case).
 

AwesomeButton

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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
Arcanum is a game for people of taste, who can appreciate the ideas, forgive the execution, and place the game in the context in which it was released, instead of just being a bunch of crybabies. Irenaeus played vanilla PoE and liked it, so seeing him complain of Arcanum is a bit of a paradox. -- well I saw he just quotes some guy.

Seeing that guy's complaints, they are exactly what I expected, and what I imagined when I said "crybabies". Sheesh, I almost expected to see "lacks romances".

However, I find Arcanum to be fitting the description of "a classic" - a game I like to praise, but I would have a hard time convincing myself to sit down and actually play it.
Yeah, no, friend. Context is irrelevant, what matters is how fun it is. The whole post is you just tragically masturbating to your own awesomeness and patting yourself on the back.

My response
http://pastebin.com/pvtn8RHZ

edit
forgot to say that from what I've seen witcher 2 seems like console garbage, but i didn't play it yet because i haven't finished the first one
It's ok, I can see you were just itching to use the word "mastrubate".
 

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