Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura: Difference between revisions

[[File:arcanum_cover_copy.jpg|frame|''[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Exactly what it says in the subtitle...]]'']]

 

 

Much of ''Arcanum'' deals with [[Item Crafting]] and character building: almost everything the player finds can be customized, and [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]. It contains a very detailed setting and a well-designed scenario, as well as ''vast'' amounts of political backstory in the game's libraries, newspapers and legends. The game retains a cult following similar to its cousin ''[[Fallout]]'', and is additionally often very favorably compared to ''[[Baldurs Gate II]]'' and ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', although ''Arcanum'''s detail focuses more on its setting's history and mechanisms than on its playable characters.

''Arcanum'' has a level cap of 50, which encourages players to specialize in very specific types of magic or technology (however, a no-CD-patch combined with a level cap remover patch can quickly fix that). Uniquely, knowledge of technology in ''Arcanum'' disables magical aptitude, and vice versa, so that the player will always have to choose between the two (or find a very, very careful balance) and (eventually) be shunned by the other branch.

 

 

A sequel—titled ''Journey to the Centre of Arcanum'' and using ''[[Half Life]]'''s Source engine -- [[What Could Have Been|was in its initial planning stages]], but Sierra and Valve had disagreements, and Troika's dissolution sealed the game's fate.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: If you have the Bane of Kree in your party at the end of the game and gave him the [[Infinity+1 Sword]] you found in the same area, an ending sequence has him waging war upon all of Arcanum, for which you are blamed. While it would seem obvious what effect bringing him back would have, there's no real dialogue or even a hint as to how to trigger this unless you have a specific follower in your party. Contrast with the half-man, half-dragon Kraka-Tur, who will explicitly threaten to do this should you release him yet won't (no doubt being a coward dissuaded him from causing trouble with you around).

* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: It is more or less disputable what {{spoiler|Kerghan}} is or is only under certain circumstances. Least doubt should be about him being a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], who pulls his conclusions from a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]s point of view. {{spoiler|Kerghan}} does not see a reason to live, which is nihilistic, but on the other hand wants to solve this problem in a constructive way, which would be the characteristic of an [[Anti Nihilist]]. But if he was anti-nihilistic, he would do good after he understands his fallacies. He accepts then to be vanished forever, which is a nihilist action again. The existence of this specific ending also leaves doubt seeing {{spoiler|Kerghan}} as an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] or [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]. The possibility of convincing {{spoiler|Kerghan}} that he is a [[Nietzsche Wannabe]], makes him one, if the player does so.

* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: Shown early on.

** [[The Other Wiki]] states that technology is liked by humans because the effects of machines are permanent.

[[Category:Video Game]]

[[Category:Western RPG]]