Review EuroGamer reviews Arx Fatalis

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Arx Fatalis

<a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/">EuroGamer</a> has posted up their <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/content/r_arxfatalis_pc">review</a> of the German made, dungeon crawling, dialogue tree-less CRPG, <a href="http://www.arxfatalis-online.com">Arx Fatalis</a>. It's a fairly short <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/content/r_arxfatalis_pc">review</a>, coming in at eight paragraphs and ending with a score of <b>7/10</b>. Here's the conclusion:
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<blockquote>Arx Fatalis is a huge, sprawling game, with loads of sub-systems to explore and master and a compelling plot to drive you forward. In many ways this game is superior to Morrowind; although it doesn't have the initial appeal offered by that title's graphical splendour, it has a lot more depth and far less time is spent walking from place to place aimlessly. As a dungeon-crawling RPG, it's a lot of fun, so if that's your sort of thing - and you don't mind dealing with the quirks of an occasionally poorly-implemented first person viewpoint - then it's definitely worth checking out.</blockquote>
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I'm not sure how a dungeon crawling CRPG could beat Morrowind. I guess we'll find out when it finally gets to the U.S.
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Spotted this at <a href="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</a>.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

It cant.
The review is obviously a f(ckwit.

 

[chrisbeddoes]

Disclaimer. The following is only my opinion.

QUOTE"I'm not sure how a dungeon crawling CRPG could beat Morrowind. "

The same way that Dungeon Siege could "beat" Morrowind.

If the reviewer is a "Simpleton" or worse is "lubricated" by offers of dinner in expensive restauransts , free games or something else.

 

[Sheriff_Fatman]

Well, the quote has a couple of ways it might "beat" Morrowind on specific issues (for me):

and far less time is spent walking from place to place aimlessly.

it's a lot of fun,

I didn't enjoy the walking in Morrowind and found the game not to be fun (or strongly engaging on any level, except perhaps dogged curiosity for the next piece of real estate).

Any game, whether RP or dungeon crawling, that I found to be fun would be preferable. It doesn't help me that Morrowind is a popular choice for people wanting more depth to their RPGs if some poor features completely put me off playing. It might as well just be a colourful cardboard box. Any game actually warranting a bit of play would beat that.

Having said that, I'm unable to persuade myself that Arx Fatalis is much more than a console style combat fest, so I doubt I would find it more fun that Morrowind. I'm also not likely to find out, since I won't be buying unless all of you buy it and say it's good.

Sorry, I should also point out that this is just my opinion and, given current trends, unlikely to be shared. I appreciate that for players not put off by the walking or a couple of other things, Morrowind was probably a damned fine game not likely to be approached by the Arx Fatalis type of thing.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

How can you say that?
First of all there is immideat transportation to any city, secondly what on earth is wrong with all the "walking" I enjoy the sense of exploration, let alone witnessing all the interesting enviorments!
Just a cradbord box? So, let me get this straight-
An absurdly huge SP gameworld
Innovative, non linear gameplay
Amazing box
makes a game a cradboard box?
Tell me- is there a place where I could get these cardboard boxes in mass?!?

 

[Deathy]

I don't see how Arx Fatalis can even be compared to Morrowind.
They're entirely different games.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

I don't see how Arx Fatalis can even be compared to Morrowind.
They're entirely different games.

Yeah!
Arx Fatalis is a totally unimaginative clched dungeon crawl, while Morrorwind is eligible for game of the year!

 

[Vikjunk]

The guy didn't like the open-ended nature of Morrowind (seems like the guy likes being led around by the hand when playing a game) and he didn't like having to walk around all over the place.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

Wait- when on earth did the vastness of a game's world become a problem?
And if it did, why was I not paged immideatly?!

 

[Sheriff_Fatman]

I did it was just my feeling of the game ...

I don't want an absurdly large gameworld, just so people can say "look how big mine is." I want an appropriately large game world. I also don't want getting around it to entail long periods where I do nothing more than vary the position of my fingers on two or three keys.

You point out how easy it is to get from town to town, which is abolutely true (assuming you're willing to ignore any game content not in a town) but I found the moving around in Morrowind laborious without even leaving town. Walking from one side of town to another took a fair amount of time and was a pretty commonplace activity.

There were a lot of things I liked about Morrowind. I liked the originality of the setting. The character system seemed cool, if in need of a little tweaking for balance. I appreciate that the developers clearly wanted to make a decent RPG. It was, in fact, only spoiled for me by the implementation of movement and conversation. However, those things spoiled it enough for me not to want to play the game.

 

[Constipated Craprunner]

I will not argue with you on the point of conversation, but in my expirience, the larger the game world will always add to the game.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

If you don't like walking, boost your athletics skill. Make it one of your character's main skills, and you're good to go.

As for balance, I tend to agree because there really was no point in using heavy armor when medium and light armors were so good. Heavy armor was just.. heavier.