(no subject)
Remembering Arcanum
~
Sometime around about 2000, I was reading a copy PC Gamer UK when there there was a four page article covering the then upcoming Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (henceforth abbreviated to Arcanum). It wasn't until the year 2001, the same year when I had my GCE "O" Level exams that I managed to get my hand on the demo (the period between to 2000 to 2001 marked periods when I would try to sneak gaming time in the midst of studying despite the watchful eye of my grandmother, but that is another tale for another time)
The demo mesmerized me. I am not entirely sure what it was that caught my interest, but I do remember the enjoyment I got out of playing the game, enjoyment that was first felt playing and finish Half-Life the year before, and would be later be similarly felt in Morrowind and Deus Ex. I also distinctly remember the time when I finished the demo, itself an experience that felt relatively expansive, and being treated to a plethora of images the final game would promise. Set a month before the "O" Levels, it was that, and other factors, that motivated my examination at the time.
~
And so I did get the game that Christmas 2001, along with Emperor: Battle For Dune (another game I have fond memories of), and it was Arcanum that had a heavy influence on me. Aside from the mere Tolkienesque fantasy that was the background of the game, the setting of the game posited such a background experience an Industrail Revolution akin to the one at the end of the 18th century, resulting in a Victorianesque nature of the game. This influence remains up to this day when I refer to men as "sir".
The number of things that could be done in Arcanum was amazing. As opposed to some of the newer games like Dragon Age or even NWN 2, Arcanum not only had various race options, but various background options, to the extent that one could play as detailed and elaborate a character as possible. Another complexity was the dualism embodied the game, between magic and science (one could only practise one field, as guns would explode upon use by a mage, and a technologist could behead himself if using a magical sword), the old ways of with the new cultures borught about by Industrialization, and so on and so forth.
Looking back, it would be Arcanum that would later lead me to playing Fallout 1 & 2, games which, ironically, I couldn't appreciate as much despite their similarity because, whereas Arcanum was made later, ahd the advantage of real-time combat and portrayed a world filled with possibility, much of the Fallout was that of dystopia.
I played Arcanum a lot in the period between 2002 to to 2005, and I recall my quickest finishing time to be about 24 hours, my longest being a few months, 25 characters that I reached the end with, a lot more I never had a chance to finish with, and character ideas that would later augment my enjoyment of other RPGs later.
Sadly, the company that amde Arcanum died out: Troika filed for bankruptcy a few years back, and any chances of a sequela re slim. This, coupled with the ludicrous belief that most modern games have to be in 3D with good graphics and with a story that is largely narrated as upon to decided upon and experienced by the player means that any chance of playing another game like Arcanum, Deus Ex and Morrowind is very, very slim.
But I still have my copy, and I hope to have another copy in future.
~
Sometime around about 2000, I was reading a copy PC Gamer UK when there there was a four page article covering the then upcoming Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (henceforth abbreviated to Arcanum). It wasn't until the year 2001, the same year when I had my GCE "O" Level exams that I managed to get my hand on the demo (the period between to 2000 to 2001 marked periods when I would try to sneak gaming time in the midst of studying despite the watchful eye of my grandmother, but that is another tale for another time)
The demo mesmerized me. I am not entirely sure what it was that caught my interest, but I do remember the enjoyment I got out of playing the game, enjoyment that was first felt playing and finish Half-Life the year before, and would be later be similarly felt in Morrowind and Deus Ex. I also distinctly remember the time when I finished the demo, itself an experience that felt relatively expansive, and being treated to a plethora of images the final game would promise. Set a month before the "O" Levels, it was that, and other factors, that motivated my examination at the time.
~
And so I did get the game that Christmas 2001, along with Emperor: Battle For Dune (another game I have fond memories of), and it was Arcanum that had a heavy influence on me. Aside from the mere Tolkienesque fantasy that was the background of the game, the setting of the game posited such a background experience an Industrail Revolution akin to the one at the end of the 18th century, resulting in a Victorianesque nature of the game. This influence remains up to this day when I refer to men as "sir".
The number of things that could be done in Arcanum was amazing. As opposed to some of the newer games like Dragon Age or even NWN 2, Arcanum not only had various race options, but various background options, to the extent that one could play as detailed and elaborate a character as possible. Another complexity was the dualism embodied the game, between magic and science (one could only practise one field, as guns would explode upon use by a mage, and a technologist could behead himself if using a magical sword), the old ways of with the new cultures borught about by Industrialization, and so on and so forth.
Looking back, it would be Arcanum that would later lead me to playing Fallout 1 & 2, games which, ironically, I couldn't appreciate as much despite their similarity because, whereas Arcanum was made later, ahd the advantage of real-time combat and portrayed a world filled with possibility, much of the Fallout was that of dystopia.
I played Arcanum a lot in the period between 2002 to to 2005, and I recall my quickest finishing time to be about 24 hours, my longest being a few months, 25 characters that I reached the end with, a lot more I never had a chance to finish with, and character ideas that would later augment my enjoyment of other RPGs later.
Sadly, the company that amde Arcanum died out: Troika filed for bankruptcy a few years back, and any chances of a sequela re slim. This, coupled with the ludicrous belief that most modern games have to be in 3D with good graphics and with a story that is largely narrated as upon to decided upon and experienced by the player means that any chance of playing another game like Arcanum, Deus Ex and Morrowind is very, very slim.
But I still have my copy, and I hope to have another copy in future.