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

FeelTheRads

Arcane
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
13,716
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. The writing is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of roleplaying mechanics most of the features will go over a typical player's head. There's also Virgil's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The Codex understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these characters, to realise that they're not just interesting- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Arcanum truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Virgil's combat bark "That's the way to show these bastards-I mean GOOD HIT, SIR" which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenevs Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Tim Cain's genius wit unfolds itself on their CRT monitors. What fools.. how I pity them.

And yes, by the way, i DO have an Arcanum tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.

Trying too hard, teenager.

Everything you said was already discussed million of times here, you're not some amazing gaming critic with original insights.

Most people are aware of Arcanum's flaws, be we just like Tim Cain's dick too much. So, sorry if that butthurts you terribly, go back to playing those millions of great RPGs you played in the meantime.
 
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Jacob

Pronouns: Nick/Her
Patron
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Messages
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Location
Hatington
Grab the Codex by the pussy
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. The writing is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of roleplaying mechanics most of the features will go over a typical player's head. There's also Virgil's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Narodnaya Volya literature, for instance. The Codex understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these characters, to realise that they're not just interesting- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Arcanum truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the humour in Virgil's combat bark "That's the way to show these bastards-I mean GOOD HIT, SIR" which itself is a cryptic reference to Turgenevs Russian epic Fathers and Sons. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Tim Cain's genius wit unfolds itself on their CRT monitors. What fools.. how I pity them.

And yes, by the way, i DO have an Arcanum tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It's for the ladies' eyes only- and even then they have to demonstrate that they're within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.
Whoa, this is the Codex, and you are free to write your opinions here, no matter how shitty/worthless it might be, but please leave the 4chan memes at the front door.
 

Trashos

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,413
I think it's more along the lines of "Troika couldn't make a good game to save their lives".

Considering they went the way of the dodo, I don't think I'm too far off from it.

Look, man, while I am a big fan of Arcanum and disagree with you, I do not believe you are a retard. You raised a couple of decent points. And I actually think that in the future you are going to be missing Arcanum's touch in the other games you pllay, like we do. While the implementation is lacking at places in Arcanum (you are right about that), you can sense Troika's love for their product at every step. You are going to be missing that, when you play games made by soldier ants who just follow orders and checklists.

So let's just say that your above post should have never been written.
 

DJOGamer PT

Arcane
Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
8,080
Location
Lusitânia
Oh wow. Arcanum is actually a weak and overrated game. Who saw that one coming?

What's next will we realise that maybe Fallout just has a cool setting and some interesting quests but is a complete broken mess from a gameplay perspective?

Oh and that Planescape Torment is nothing more than a interactive visual novel?
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,732
Look, man, while I am a big fan of Arcanum and disagree with you, I do not believe you are a retard. You raised a couple of decent points. And I actually think that in the future you are going to be missing Arcanum's touch in the other games you pllay, like we do. While the implementation is lacking at places in Arcanum (you are right about that), you can sense Troika's love for their product at every step. You are going to be missing that, when you play games made by soldier ants who just follow orders and checklists.

So let's just say that your above post should have never been written.

I respond with the same nonsense and aggresiveness thrown my way, to be honest. I like Arcanum as an idea, I do not like it as a game (which is what we got, in the end). It could have been much better, definitely, does it make sense to criticize it nowadays? Probably not, but I'm tired of people ("people" as in "everyone who has ever played a videogame") treating some games like they are impeccable despite their huge amount of flaws. It's what semi-casuals do with Skyrim, "well but if Bethesda fixed [hundreds of issues] then Skyrim would be the GREATEST RPG EVEEER!".
No shit, every game would be the greatest ever with all its flaws ironed out. I simply think Arcanum has too many in many different levels: combat, content, interface, sound & music, among others. And while New Vegas also has tons of flaws (pretty much the same flaws Arcanum has), it doesn't really get in the way of my enjoyment, because while New Vegas' flaws are "annoying, mediocre", Arcanum's flaws are "frustrating, infuriating".

Of course this upsets some people because they think what I'm saying is "ARCANUM SHOULD NOT BE ENJOYED BY ANYONE", whereas what I'm saying is "I don't find it fun and I think it's poorly done in many aspects that get in the way of my enjoyment". At the end of the day, the difference between enjoying Arcanum and not enjoying Arcanum are: 1) Patience, and 2) Something else, which I don't know what it is. I have to ask, since I'm at it: when people play Arcanum, what exactly makes the game so fun for them? What makes it worth their time? Maybe I'm just not getting it.

Oh wow. Arcanum is actually a weak and overrated game. Who saw that one coming?

What's next will we realise that maybe Fallout just has a cool setting and some interesting quests but is a complete broken mess from a gameplay perspective?

Oh and that Planescape Torment is nothing more than a interactive visual novel?

Fallout and PS:T just have shit combat, but they are amazing otherwise. Plus they have much more predictable combat, which makes it far easier to deal with as opposed to "Dark Individual attacked you five times in a row, two criticals, and drains your fatigue and kills you dead".
 

Jrpgfan

Erudite
Joined
Feb 7, 2016
Messages
2,108
Newfag from Argentina who doesn't like Arcanum. I doubt it can get worse than that.

Atleast Irene is brazilian.
 

Trashos

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
3,413
I have to ask, since I'm at it: when people play Arcanum, what exactly makes the game so fun for them? What makes it worth their time? Maybe I'm just not getting it.

See my post on page 1.
Also, it is designing my gunslinger character. Trying different things with it or optimizing it. I have done 5 full playthroughs of Arcanum (all with gunslingers) and I 'll be certainly doing more in the future.

And while New Vegas also has tons of flaws (pretty much the same flaws Arcanum has), it doesn't really get in the way of my enjoyment, because while New Vegas' flaws are "annoying, mediocre", Arcanum's flaws are "frustrating, infuriating".

I won't argue against New Vegas, I love that one as well.

Fallout and PS:T just have shit combat, but they are amazing otherwise. Plus they have much more predictable combat, which makes it far easier to deal with as opposed to "Dark Individual attacked you five times in a row, two criticals, and drains your fatigue and kills you dead".

I don't think Fallout's combat is shit, it is just a bit unimaginative. But it is very tight (works as expected, as you put it).
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,732
See my post on page 1.
Also, it is designing my gunslinger character. Trying different things with it or optimizing it. I have done 5 full playthroughs of Arcanum (all with gunslingers) and I 'll be certainly doing more in the future.

Hmm. It is possible maybe that Arcanum is just not for me. Maybe because I live in this state of "it's fun, but not it's not fun anymore, but here comes the fun again! Aaaand it's gone". Closest I can compare it to is maybe PS:T whenever I got to very combat-heavy sections. The combat was so crap the "fun" I was having before that simply disappeared and the anger made me unable to enjoy the parts that followed. It could be the same is happening to me in Arcanum. I dunno, at least I'm in the Island of Despair already, so I'm treading new ground.

I don't think Fallout's combat is shit, it is just a bit unimaginative. But it is very tight (works as expected, as you put it).

Yes, I think "shit" is overreacting, I should have said "nothing out of this world".
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,732
what's with the influx of these mouth breathing ultra-retards? is there no elder turds forum somewhere where you fucktards can hang out and analyze how great Skyrim 5 was?

Blame it on the GAFgate. They are refugeeing everywhere without owing up to their former homeland.

Fallout 2 fan (and of the worst character too) AND if that wasn't enough believes Final Fantasy VIII is the best. If there's a retard posting in this thread, it is you.
 

laclongquan

Arcane
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
1,870,184
Location
Searching for my kidnapped sister
So you dont agree that Fallout 2 is top of the world and FF8 is best FF games ever??? Well, that's fine. That's, like, your opinion, man. That's, like, you can take a donkey to the trough but if the donkey refuse to drink what can you do?
 

Sigourn

uooh afficionado
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Messages
5,732
So you dont agree that Fallout 2 is top of the world and FF8 is best FF games ever??? Well, that's fine. That's, like, your opinion, man. That's, like, you can take a donkey to the trough but if the donkey refuse to drink what can you do?

Fallout 2 a shit compared to PS:T and Fallout.
 

FeelTheRads

Arcane
Joined
Apr 18, 2008
Messages
13,716
Hah, FF animu-faggot. Not surprising.

After all, yeah, Arcanum has nothing on FF's... musical score.
And I actually wanted to bother giving an answer to what's to like about Arcanum... even though what he obviously wants is to change people's minds with his amazingly insightful critiques not to actually hear an opposing opinion.

In short:
village_idiot.gif
 

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