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So, Arx Fatalis...

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,235
It is one of the worst games ever. The spell casting gimmick is not only badly made but it starts being annoying quickly. It stifles the gameplay, that and the fact that there are only a few spells anyway. And besides the crappy spell casting gimmick, the rest of the game is terrible too. Level design, items, character building, story, etc.. Really bad.
You should literally be shot for this moronic post.

When I think of something along the lines of a "my top ten underrated games list", Arx Fatalis would definitely be near or maybe even at the top.
 

anvi

Prophet
Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
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Kelethin
It is one of the worst games ever. The spell casting gimmick is not only badly made but it starts being annoying quickly. It stifles the gameplay, that and the fact that there are only a few spells anyway. And besides the crappy spell casting gimmick, the rest of the game is terrible too. Level design, items, character building, story, etc.. Really bad.
You should literally be shot for this moronic post.
i mean he likes oblivion . . .

Should be a telling sign of mental deficiency

Oblivion is one of the worst games ever made. Learn to read you fucking mong.
 

anvi

Prophet
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Messages
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Kelethin
It is one of the worst games ever. The spell casting gimmick is not only badly made but it starts being annoying quickly. It stifles the gameplay, that and the fact that there are only a few spells anyway. And besides the crappy spell casting gimmick, the rest of the game is terrible too. Level design, items, character building, story, etc.. Really bad.
You should literally be shot for this moronic post.
Mad cuz you know I'm right. Aspie.
 

thesheeep

Arcane
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Mar 16, 2007
Messages
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Tampere, Finland
Codex 2012 Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
It is one of the worst games ever. The spell casting gimmick is not only badly made but it starts being annoying quickly. It stifles the gameplay, that and the fact that there are only a few spells anyway. And besides the crappy spell casting gimmick, the rest of the game is terrible too. Level design, items, character building, story, etc.. Really bad.
You should literally be shot for this moronic post.

When I think of something along the lines of a "my top ten underrated games list", Arx Fatalis would definitely be near or maybe even at the top.
True.
But it is so despite the fucked up spellcasting. The Arx Libertatis (really the only way to play the game nowadays) mod improves this, but it's still an extreme hassle.
I do like the idea of more intricate spellcasting, but drawing symbols in the air manually just isn't it, even if it came with a good detection.
 

Darth Canoli

Arcane
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
5,687
Location
Perched on a tree
But it is so despite the fucked up spellcasting. The Arx Libertatis (really the only way to play the game nowadays) mod improves this, but it's still an extreme hassle.
I do like the idea of more intricate spellcasting, but drawing symbols in the air manually just isn't it, even if it came with a good detection.

That's the appeal, among with the ambient, feeling like you're doing "real" magic drawing the runes and better, doing so under pressure while monsters are coming at you, this isn't the average mindless action clicker hitch-hiking simulator.
 

thesheeep

Arcane
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Codex 2012 Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
But it is so despite the fucked up spellcasting. The Arx Libertatis (really the only way to play the game nowadays) mod improves this, but it's still an extreme hassle.
I do like the idea of more intricate spellcasting, but drawing symbols in the air manually just isn't it, even if it came with a good detection.

That's the appeal, among with the ambient, feeling like you're doing "real" magic drawing the runes and better, doing so under pressure while monsters are coming at you, this isn't the average mindless action clicker hitch-hiking simulator.
That was obviously the intent, but it failed twofold. One, because it just doesn't detect stuff well enough. And second, because there is no feeling like you do real magic in the game, instead you feel like you're playing Mario Paint on top of an RPG.
It is not the character that is doing the casting, as it should be in an RPG, it is instead you drawing a symbol. It is arcadey and actiony (in the sense that the player does the action, not the character). It is awkward, at best.

It is on the same level as disarming/unlocking minigames, which should die a fiery death, at least in RPGs. Doesn't improve immersion one bit - actually takes me actively out of the game -, but tends to go on your nerves after the second time you do it.
I don't want gimmicks without any depth whatsoever in my RPGs...
 
Last edited:

HoboForEternity

sunset tequila
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Disco Elysium
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I dont have any problems with the drawing. It is not so horrible that put me off the game, no it is a brilliant feature to be enjoyed. It's just is for me.

Though the shape scan thing should be more lenient
 

ToddMcF2002

Educated
Joined
Dec 4, 2012
Messages
47
Great innovative ideas and cool setting but the game is broken as hell. That was my impression playing it some 10 years back. The opening few hours were really good though.
 

ShaggyMoose

Savant
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
590
Location
Australia
I dont have any problems with the drawing. It is not so horrible that put me off the game, no it is a brilliant feature to be enjoyed.
The fact that you could save one or two spells to be cast immediately without redrawing was the saving card here. So you could plan which spells you would need, do the casting in advance and then use as required. If you planned badly, you could still swap spells, but it involved intricate drawing under pressure. Sounds like a perfect system with appropriate consequences to me.
 

HoboForEternity

sunset tequila
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Disco Elysium
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
I dont have any problems with the drawing. It is not so horrible that put me off the game, no it is a brilliant feature to be enjoyed.
The fact that you could save one or two spells to be cast immediately without redrawing was the saving card here. So you could plan which spells you would need, do the casting in advance and then use as required. If you planned badly, you could still swap spells, but it involved intricate drawing under pressure. Sounds like a perfect system with appropriate consequences to me.
that is what i literally wrote in the original necro post
 

deama

Prophet
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
4,352
Location
UK
I wonder if the spell casting would have turned out better if they made the drawing detection better the higher your spellcasting stat was.
 

thesheeep

Arcane
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Joined
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Messages
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Codex 2012 Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I dont have any problems with the drawing. It is not so horrible that put me off the game, nor it is a brilliant feature to be enjoyed.
The fact that you could save one or two spells to be cast immediately without redrawing was the saving card here. So you could plan which spells you would need, do the casting in advance and then use as required.
True, that you could save quickcast spells made the whole system bearable.
Still doesn't change that "pretend your mouse is a finger" just isn't ever going to work well and be in stark gameplay contrast to the rest of the game. But that's just a matter of if you prefer a more action approach or RPG approach to spellcasting.
This gimmicky stuff takes me right out of the game, while obviously it takes some people deeper into it.

If you planned badly, you could still swap spells, but it involved intricate drawing under pressure. Sounds like a perfect system with appropriate consequences to me.
The problem about that is that you can only really plan well if you know ahead of time what will be coming. So that either facilitates massive save scumming or leads to significant advantages on repeated playthroughs (not something I am too fond of).
In all other cases, it will be panic casting, which really "shines" with the broken detection. :lol:

I'd also prefer if casting became harder not if the player is in panic (action approach), but if the character is (RPG approach) - but that is more a general criticism of almost all RPGs. Almost never, your character's state of mind is taken into consideration. Might be interesting.
 

Metro

Arcane
Beg Auditor
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
27,792
Ignoring the awkward casting, the ambience and level designs are amazing for a game of that time period.
 

Maggot

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Mar 31, 2016
Messages
1,243
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
1,783
I enjoyed Arx the most when I started it and my enjoyment began to decline when I got to the human city. I'm not sure why - maybe it's that I was charmed by the Thief-like atmosphere of the early game which went away later, or perhaps it's that the feeling of isolation and exploration was replaced by a quest to save the world. I don't know. I did enjoy the whole game and it was one of the better experiences of "being a mage" I've had in video games. But I liked the early game best.

Would have preferred if there was no mana system but also no pre-casting spells, since the mana system was largely just resource management or waiting foe recharge but pre-casting made magic far too powerful, you didn't have near as much risk of fucking up a critical rune drawing in combat.
 

anvi

Prophet
Village Idiot
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
7,530
Location
Kelethin
It is because you finally noticed how boring and shallow the game is.
 

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