Arx Fatalis
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Notiz
Über das Spiel
Ziel des Spiels ist, den Geheimkult von Akbaa, den Gott der Zerstörung, zu zerschlagen. Ihre Aufgabe ist es, die Rückkehr dieser grausamen Kreatur in die Welt von Arx zu verhindern. Wenn Sie scheitern, wird der Dämon seine Schreckensherrschaft unweigerlich über Arx ausbreiten.
Sie werden zum Helden einer unterirdischen Welt. Mit Waffen, Zaubersprüchen und magischen Gegenständen wehren Sie Kobolde, Trolle, Rattenmenschen und andere bösartige Kreaturen ab.
Neben roher Gewalt kann der Spieler auch mit Taktik und dem „bildschirmbasierten System magischer Gesten“ den Sieg erringen. Schreiben Sie mit der Maus brennende Runen in die Luft. Mit einer Kombination dieser Gesten können Sie sich durch mächtige Zauber schützen oder Gegner bezwingen und Ihre Mission erfüllen.
Systemanforderungen
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39 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 19.01.22 19:39
---[Grafik]---
[_] Realitätsnah
[_] Sehr schön
[x] Gut
[_] In Ordnung
[_] Schlecht
[_] Sehr schlecht
[_] 5 Jähriger mit Kreide an Hauswand
---[Gameplay]---
[_] Sehr gut
[_] Gut
[x] Genre Standard
[_] Nicht so gut
[_] Langweilig
[_] Nasse Farbe an der Wand beim trocknen
---[Audio/Musik]---
[_] Wunderbar
[_] Sehr gut
[x] Gut
[_] Ganz ok
[_] Schlecht
[_] Kratzen an der Tafel
---[Zielgruppe]---
[_] Kinder
[x] Heranwachsende
[x] Erwachsene
[_] Jeder
---[Systemvoraussetzungen]---
[_] DoS Niveau
[x] Schrottkiste
[_] Standard
[_] Leistungsstark
[_]Extrem Leistungsstark
---[Schwierigkeitsgrad]---
[_]Walking simulator
[_]Einfach
[_]Normal
[x]Schwer
[_]Sehr Schwer
[_]Extrem
---[Story]---
[_]Nicht vorhanden
[_]Uninteressant oder schlecht
[_]Durchschnitt
[x]Gut
[_]Sehr Gut
[_]Literatur Nobelpreis
---[Spieldauer]---
[_]Frühstückspause
[_]Kurz (5>)
[_]Durchschnitt (15>)
[x] Lang (30<)
[_]Lebenslänglich (100<)
---[Preis/Leistung]---
[_]Gratis
[x]Den Preis mehr als wert
[_]Normales Verhältnis zur Leistung
[_]Überteuert
[_]Absolut nicht wert
---[Bugs etc.]---
[_]Praktisch nicht vorhanden
[x]Kleinigkeiten
[_]Kann das Spielgefühl stören
[_]Wie ein Ameisenhaufen
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390 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 09.02.21 09:51
If you missed this Game back in 2002 because you were too busy playing Morrowind nobody judges you.
But maybe these Days its Time to give this hidden Gem a try.
I recommend playing it with Arx Liberatis Mod and Arx Neuralis for HD Textures
German Soundfiles are now also in the Game,and the German Voiceacting isnt that bad.
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2363 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 18.11.20 21:37
Was mich geärgert hat: Die Runen zu zaubern funktioniert nicht gut. Am Anfang habe ich es überhaupt nicht geschafft. Einige Lösungen sind so unlogisch, dass ich ohne Googlen nicht weitergekommen bin (z.B. funktionieren einige Zauber nicht wenn man sie spricht, aber über die Spruchrolle funktionieren sie). Den Endkampf habe ich nicht mehr gemacht, ich verstehe gar nicht wie man das schaffen soll ohne bugs (?). Ich hab die Geschichte mit Alia und dem Orden nicht verstanden, bzw. ich hätte gerne gewusst was daraus geworden ist.
Trotzdem ein tolles Spiel.
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9 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 29.09.19 19:09
, die Steuerung nicht daneben wäre.
, das Hexen nicht fehlerhaft wäre.
, die Feinde nicht direkt neben einer ruhigen Bar alle abgeschlachtet hätten.
, meine Spielzeit richtig berechnet werden würde.
, das Spiel funktionieren würde. ( Das Spiel hat einen Error beim Starten, welcher nicht zu beheben ist ohne weitere Umstände)
Die Rätsel sind wirklich toll.
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60 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 14.03.22 06:03
Did you know, you can unlock main gate to the surface in Arx...path to freedom is waiting for you :D
UNOFFICIAL PATCH: ARX LIBERTATIS |
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Community patch named ARX LIBERTATIS, that modernises game to play on higher (widescren) resolution, enables UI scaling, fixes bugs and much, much more. Check it out on Arx Libertatis webpage |
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BETTER GRAPHICS: ARX NEURALIS |
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4.5 GB texture pack named ARX NEURALIS, that it's true to the origin by upscaling game textures to higher resolution. So you can play Arx Fatalis with the same textures as in original game, but with more sharper and detailed textures. Check it out on Arx Neuralis ModDB webpage |
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2751 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 07.02.22 17:37
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19 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 30.01.22 04:33
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957 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 17.01.22 15:22
also PSA, if you're having issues with spell recognition, draw the same shape really small (smaller than you can actually see the full shape). I suspect it's an issue that game has with higher resolutions.
I recommend the Arx Libertatis mod for playing this (It's just a compatibility / bug fixing mod)
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1135 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 14.01.22 23:20
Use the steam community walkthrough when you get stuck (which you will), but when the game is not unplayable it is very fun. You can clearly see the design progress that games have made when you go back to these older games.
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1968 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 13.01.22 18:55
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1715 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 08.01.22 20:30
The various character builds become extremely unbalanced.
I just don't have the time anymore to look for cheese strategies to kill enemies.
Quit the game after too much frustration unfortunately.
Credit to the Libertatis team for their great mod.
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242 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 26.12.21 06:14
Also, you can pet the dogs.
Yes its true: some puzzles are confusing, and some mechanics may be if this is your first time playing (i have played this several times already!). But, it's kinda cool when you discover new things you didn't know you needed to progress? xD I actually managed to finish it without walktroughs. So, good luck. Dont let the bugs distract you too much.
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41 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 02.12.21 19:20
I don't have Nostalgia for this game due to my age so i have to say that they really don't make them like they used to. As clunky and undercooked this game is, there's so much to like about it. The unique setting, the magic, the pacing, and the immersion has made me rather disappointed in Arkane's output since as the closest they've come to a game like this was Prey. The focus on details over action and the more varied magic makes me want to see Arkane take another crack at this setting and make a true sequel to Arx.
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3837 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 29.11.21 15:13
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1335 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 10.10.21 18:38
Other then that, don't do a ranged build unless having two weapons for the whole game makes you happy.
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1261 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 02.10.21 23:50
It's a dungeon crawler at it's core and an RPG second. Drawing runes on the screen for magic is neat at first but remembering all the combinations and trying to get the right rune to work is frustrating. Magic/Melee build is almost necessary to beat the game. Melee only or thief-type characters wouldn't fare well unless they were REALLY skilled. Like I mentioned earlier, the walking is agonizingly slow, most of my hours is easily from walking and backtracking from point A to point B to point C to point A again. A lot of the puzzles are confusing or easily missed. You can tell this game was made in the Video Game Magazine-era. You NEED a walkthrough for this game. You won't think you do at first, but you WILL get lost and have no idea where to go next.
Why am I recommending it despite my complaints? Because it's a product of it's time and deserves to be respected. Not to mention that I know older RPG fans will love it!
Only buy it if you're an absolute hardcore dungeon crawler fan. Get a pencil and some paper out, open up a walkthrough and get ready to play.
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1945 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 26.09.21 00:21
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1022 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 25.09.21 20:09
The game: amazing, of course it does have its flaws being and older pc game. I used the Libertatis mod which fixes a bunch of glitches running the game on newer hardware.
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2137 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 24.08.21 06:33
The best thing though is the melancholic mood of being forced underground on a slowly dying world with only a few brief (and indirect) glimpses of the world outside. It's Metro 2033 before Metro 2033 but with magic and goblins!
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1129 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 22.08.21 18:09
¤ Sun is no longer shining, only ice is covering planet's surface. All the action is taking place underground.
¤ Goblins, trolls, snake-people, demons and protagonist without his memory.
¤ Exploration, side quests, puzzles, some humour here and there + amazing but also kinda annoying magic system, where you have to draw runes with your mouse.
! Definitely not for people with claustrophobia !
My recommended package is:
• Arx Libertatis - an improved, cross-platform and open source engine,
• Arx Extended Mod - new items, crafting, some NPC changes, nothing heavy.
• Arx Neuralis - HD texture pack. Original textures upscaled with AI.
All available on Moddb.
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2252 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 19.08.21 06:01
All I know is that if I'd have played this when I was younger I mightn't have enjoyed it as much as I did, it's interface is clunky, the interaction system is awkward and the sneaking system is... odd. Yet I bloody loved it.
The environments, the spell system, the enemy variation, messing around for hours trying to find new spells, it's brilliant, all of it, I mean yes it's old so quality of life stuff is rare and generally kinda ugly, there are issues with framerate, crashing and the like, I had to use Arx Libertatis in the end, I run this in the background so it tracks my time but I'm more than willing to do that just to play this game more, it's a crying shame there isn't a sequel and I can only hope for a remake, an actual remake, like a 1 to 1 remake, because anything else would be a travesty.
Overall this game has a good story, interesting characters and is just incredible.
5/5 - Definitely in my top 10 games of all time now
A big thank you to the Arx Libertatis guys, what absolute heroes for keeping this game patched and running smoothly on modern machines.
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1515 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 01.07.21 21:07
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663 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 13.06.21 17:01
U get to poison a goblin king, make him power shit then corner him on the toilet while he shattering the bowl.
Befirend a troll,
and become friends with all the trolls
Helped organize as troll strike that to them overthrowing their capitalist opressors(the goblins) and establish Troll Socialist Utopia
Save a troll from Goblins
Rescue a Troll from Jail
Befriend some goblins
Kill some goblins
U can do a lot of fun things with Goblins and Trolls
and thats barely scratchign the surface of this great game.
The world feels so tangible and lived in the ambient soundscape is masterful
and kinda a horror game at times to with its atmosphere.
feed cheese to mice watch bread rise make potions
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2142 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 25.05.21 12:40
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468 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 09.04.21 07:11
Only real hurdles you'll have to contend with are two things,
1. Magic system is gimmicky and only works half the time, if you're lucky.
2. Sometimes the solution to problems are cryptic as fuck, and you might be stumped on where to go next.
It should be noted that I never played this game until more recently, just to ensure you that I don't have nostalgia goggles on.
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3228 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 08.04.21 04:11
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2041 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 07.03.21 19:16
Arx Fatalis is quite the fun little RPG. It is a dated game and it was clearly quite ambitious for the time, and it doesn't fall through. The spell system feels similar to the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's system, and the game has the charm of releases of that era. My only minor complaint with the game, is that some things are too cryptic and require online guide usage.
That aside, this is a well crafted and neat little game which will suck fans of older RPGs in quickly once you learn how to play!
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2180 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 01.03.21 02:36
Harbinger of things to come.
In retrospect, it is stunning how much this debut project is an 'Arkane game' to the bone and how much of the design philosophy has become a pillar for all titles to this day for this once little studio from Texas.
Due to its age, lack of continuation and the huge popularity of flagship brands such as 'Dishonored' or revived 'PREY', thanks to which Arkane Studios became famous in the minds of players all over the world, fpp rpg 'Arx Fatalis' released in 2002 despite treading seemingly known paths remains one of the more underrated innovative games from the beginning of the 21st century.
The enormous ambition behind the visionaries at Arkane, the relative inexperience of the entire team working on the first major project, combined with the typical financial problems of a start-up company, reflected the quality of some key areas of the game, such as uneven length and pacing of various locations, depth and complexity of quest and dialogue mechanics, (lack of) proper intuitiveness and refinement of (still- highly original and innovative!) spell-casting system or lack of sufficient thought and consistency in the design of the player skills.
Keep this in mind before plunging into the fantastic, dark and inscrutable world of Arx, but mentioning these more or less obvious issues of the game at the very beginning is by no means an attempt to discourage and lower your expectations.
'Arx Fatalis' is an extremely intriguing, ambience experience that will surely remain in your memory for a long time after completion. From the first seconds, the game charms with its dense atmosphere, original and interesting history of the world and, above all, it draws you with gameplay, which after so many years and so many great immerisive sims still seems fresh and original. Breaking down individual systems (such as the design of the sound setting or the construction of the stealth system) into prime factors, although helpful, does not seem to be the best way to approach the analysis of this game. Like the other creations of this developer, as well as most of the deserved immersive sim titles, 'Arx Fatalis' combines a multitude of classic genres and although most of them, left alone, do not seem to be impressive enough, their selection and combination is the right foundation to start the analysis and evaluation of the final effect. Just like Bethesda's games, creations from this developer in many places escape classifications and remain in a class of their own, offering the player a unique experience that is much more than the sum of its components.
Despite sharing so many similarities with the rest of Arkane Studios' catalog to this day 'Arx Fatalis' remains familiar yet a very unique and intriguing experience, deserving both remake and a follow up that would allow creators to fully develop and polish vision they had for this world almost 20 years ago.
Delving into this world is highly recommended for anyone with at least a bit of forbearance, patience and sympathy for older computrer games.
P.S.
Just don't forget that there is a free open-source port of the game called 'Arx Libertatis'. The original, official version is generally playable, but taking into account all the improvements and amenities, there is frankly no reason to stick with it for the full playthrough. Installation and configuration is extremely simple and fast. Go for it!
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1384 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 30.11.20 05:06
All jokes aside, fun game if you are looking for a dungeon romp that has a form of immersion like dropping rat ribs near a fireplace to let it cook. Magic can be a pain to cast until you get a hang of it and using the sourceport, Arx Libertatis, is a must have if you don't want your game to break from high frame rates that lets your character walk faster than anything else among other things.
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1961 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 08.11.20 19:51
The first time I played it, the casting system and some of the UI interactivity threw me off. But, all those years later, I'm really glad I gave this game another chance. You can really see a lot of Ultima Underworld in Arkane's mix for Arx, down to the way you combine objects to solve puzzles, and you can see how they (eventually) made their way to having Dark Messiah's combat for that game.
Now, this game does not have that combat system. Instead, it boils down to a simple choose right direction, hold mouse button, dance around the foe type of a thing. With that, the magic system, to pardon the expression, is a tad Arc(k)ane. However, once you get to grips with how you interpret the runes to actual vertical and horizontal line you make with your mouse while in casting mode, you'll find it to be enjoyable and more tactile than your usual RPG's spellcasting system.
Time is something you need to give this game, especially in the first hour or so, until you get to the central hub of the City of Arx proper. From there, the game really opens up: you get better equipment, more spells, more XP under your proverbial belt. The biggest seller of the game is the atmosphere, and the dungeony feel that you get in a modern day heir to Ultima Underworld. I mean, what fantasy-loving nerd wouldn't like to spend a dozen or so hours in the mines of Moria?
So, the game is now two decades old, as it clear in the graphics department, and there is some of that two bygone decades' worth of hard-to-read design that shows up from time to time. So, time -- it takes some of it to get into the game, and you should give the game that time, so that in turn it can give you some time of entertainment.
Ultimately, as a wise wizard once said, the only thing we can do is to decide how we will use the time given to us.
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2080 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 22.10.20 09:48
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16 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 12.10.20 10:12
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1425 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 09.10.20 13:06
offers a great magic system, a very large
area to explore and challenging puzzles.
The story is too linear, not a lot of side-quests.
All of the characters are missing personality.
8/10
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700 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 27.09.20 00:26
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1359 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 15.08.20 06:42
Retro Review
When I initially saw this game, I dismissed it as some annoying dungeon crawler that pestered the late 90s and early 2000. I don’t really like these games as those tend to feel low budget, tedious and repetitive. When I played the game, I’m surprised to say that this is rather an action-adventure with a story that is a mix between really good stuff and lots of clichés.
Gameplay
I call this game an action-adventure rather than an RPG because of the main characters snappy personality, low amount of valid class choices and a low amount of equipment. This isn’t bad, its just not what I initially expected.
Class wise, there are only one optimal choice, skilling on magic and some on strength to get the minimum number of stats to wield the weapons you find. The reason for that being that the spell system is one of the most complex and well-made systems I have seen so far in any game.
Instead of quick mapping spells or finding them, you instead find runes that you can use to make spells with by drawing these runes onto the screen. Some spells will be told to you, others you have to figure out yourself. This system in theory is really neat but I mostly avoided magic to how tedious it is to always keep drawing those spells over and over again. You can remember/quickslot 3 spells but only for one usage. This means if you want to use a magic missile spell you got to keep drawing them over and over again, most spells having you need to draw 2-3 runes. Ontop of that the recognition, even with fan patch , is one of the most tedious and broken things I’ve seen. Sometimes you try to draw one spell over 20 times and it still won’t work.
Other features on the other hand fall flat, combat is dull making you able to do only a light and a heavy attack. Ranged combat is useless and should be ignored mainly due to the game having almost no bows. If you add sneaking/agility/archery atleast the game should try to make it seem like they invested some time in it, otherwise just scrap it.
Exploring the map in itself is incredible fun and in contrast to lots of dungeon crawlers, despite the game being solely in caves which I usually despite, this one nailed the exploring part pretty good. Strangely tough, the game introduces you to repairing machinery and smaller hidden switch riddles in the tutorial, but those are never seen again making the game solely a explore, kill and sell items repeat adventure
Questing is also strange, I apparently accidently ignored or avoided the main quest, making my way to the last floor on the cave system just to go back to the first because I didn’t do some cryptic backtrack to the first area in the game to talk to some person to activate a script thing. Lots of the main quests are rather cryptic.
Money also can be almost completely ignored. As soon as the trader opened, I already had enough money to buy myself the best armor with money.
Story
The background story of the game is neat, making some sort of dying earth scenario that I just loved. After playing most of the game is just as cliché as it gets, except the main character who has a set personality that is rather fun to listen to. The ending aswell is satisfying and could potentially teaser for a second game but also in itself is closed which is the kind of ending I like the most.
Aesthetics
If you’re into good atmospheric tracks and levels this game is definitely for you, especially how every cave feels completely distinct from each other making exploring a complete joy. I loved how they made the oppressing nature and loneliness of a cave clear by yourself making the most noise out there, with the occasional scream or animal running past by.
Conclusion/TL;DR
While I somewhat to a certain extend enjoyed the unique experience the game gave to me I wouldn’t really recommend it to other people due to the only thing the game has really going is the exploring, atmosphere and somewhat the story but the rest felt rather underdeveloped especially the combat was, atleast for me, not really fun making it a rather mediocre experience.
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2654 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 09.08.20 09:14
The game is an RPG Dungeon Crawler with first person prespective. The progression system tied to your skills and attributes, which is beneficial for combat, magic, crafting, and stealth. However some skills may not be useful as the other skills such as Archery (Lack of Weapons), Intuition (Skills for finding stuff, which most of the time you could find it your self).
Making a pure melee build is a mess because you'll meet overpowered enemy with magic uses later in the game that could quickly kills you, and making pure mage build is also a mess because you need runes to use spells and in the early game you only had a few runes, also you need to draw the runes on your screen first before use it, making it kinda hard to use it during combat, however this can be solved with precasting the spells or use scrolls. But the magic system is also unique and kinda cool, i can't find any other game that uses magic system similar to this game yet.
The visual and the sound is very atmospheric and believeable, considering this game takes place in underground caves. The voice acting is a mixbag, it's neither good nor bad which leads to unintentionally funny dialog sometimes.
The story and lore is not great, but well told and quite easy to follow. Typical fantasy world-esque but people moves to underground caves due to the sun dissapearing from the sky. Also no elves i guess in this world, it's never mentioned in the story nor books. The story progression is sometimes tied to talking to one person, and your map very rarely will be marked so you need to explore and talk to everyone.
As for 28th May 2020, you could play this game on modern systems (Windows 10). Back then you need to use unofficial patch for even launching the game, so there's no excuse for skipping this game.
TL;DR
I recommend Arx Fatalis, it's fun, unique and charming game but it's also a flawed one. I had a great times with this game. Thanks for reading.
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4683 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 23.07.20 19:07
A very good game, and an early one from a celebrated game studio.
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881 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 18.07.20 22:16
Unlike Morrowind, Arx is more linear, less complicated, and takes place entirely underground. The dialogue is voiced, but the voice acting sounds like the devs did it themselves. I normally get depressed if I spend too much time playing a game where you can't go outside, but there's something about Arx that makes its underground world compelling and interesting to explore.
Magic is the best part of Arx Fatalis - you cast spells by using the mouse to draw runes on your screen, and there's a wide range of different spells you can have that really gives you the feeling of being able to do anything with magic.
This game has always held a certain mystique for me that I can't quite put my finger on. It was the first game made by Arkane Studios (the guys who made Dishonored), and you can see a little bit of its influence in their newer titles.
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541 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 19.06.20 18:27
This game presents your adventure. Do what you want how you want to do it.
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451 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 31.05.20 16:34
As of May 28th 2020, Arx Fatalis is available for modern computers. Prior to this update, many people had to download a mod called Arx Libertatis, which was made by fans so that the game could be available for modern systems.
No doubt some interest in the game that has seen some resurgence as of recently, has convinced Arkane Studios to come back to their first game and give it some of the love it deserves.
Along with a solvent for compatibility issues, some bug fixes were introduced as well! Meaning this game is now available for all to enjoy, at a low, low cost of £2.99!
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1458 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 27.05.20 05:02
I played this game because I wanted to see the first product of Arkane Studios, a company that I adore. I also heard that it's a good RPG in its own right. I've played plenty of RPGs in my life, but never tried anything dungeon-crawler-esque other than the Elder Scrolls: Arena. Below is a pros/cons list of my most important observations.
PROS
- Interesting underground setting, with 8 levels of mines that can be accessed pretty much whenever you wish. Exploring these levels will lead you to be very familiar with certain areas, which makes exploration of new areas very exciting.
- Well written story that seems cliche at times, but provides twists and interesting story arcs when you least expect it.
- The lore isn't fully fleshed out but is well written in what is explained. This leaves a sense of mystery for some things that contribute to the atmosphere of the game.
- Voice acting is surprisingly good.
- Very atmospheric, with a dark and creepy tone (however there is some humour in some notes and dialogue you encounter).
- Interactivity, such as picking up, throwing, and using items with other things.
- You have to have a very high attention to detail in this game. This could be a bad thing for some people, but I enjoyed making sure that I read every note, looked under every pillow, and talked to every NPC I could. The game rewards you for paying attention.
- Drawing runes is a really interesting concept, and is really satisfying when you get it right.
- Wide array of spells.
- Some clever puzzles and quests that make you feel real smart when doing it without help.
CONS
- Combat isn't great. It's pretty simple and there isn't much feedback when you hit an enemy.
- Horrendous user interface.
- Drawing runes was pretty unreliable (at least for me), especially during combat.
- Many puzzles and quests make me question how people could possibly play this without a walkthrough. The game expects you to know what to do and where to go next, despite there being absolutely no clues.
- The game throws some really tough enemies at you. I spent over an hour fighting a certain enemy that broke two of my swords. This was an encounter that I couldn't walk away from, as you can with most encounters. The fact that I was grateful that the final boss, who is supposed to be really hard, bugged out for me and didn't attack, is a sign that the combat system just isn't fun, and fighting enemies that are tough makes for great stress.
- You can only level up 10 times, which sucks because when starting the game, you will probably choose skills that you would in any other RPG, like stealth and ranged combat, yet are in reality quite useless. You have to know which skills are most useful, and be really careful in how you spend your XP, as you risk playing an underlevelled character.
- Steam should be ashamed for selling this game in its current state, as it simply does not run. You HAVE to download the Arx Libertatis mod for it to work.
My overall takeaway from this game is that I'm super impressed that this is Arkane's first game, and how good it is for a really small team of devs. A modern return to this IP would truly be amazing, given how Arkane has excelled in creating immersive simulator games. Although this game is really rough around the edges, it features innovative design and an immersive experience.
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1885 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 20.05.20 08:57
The game does feel special though, like it had a lot of potential. I think it still has lot to offer and probably deserves multiple playthroughs to really get a grasp for it, and to find all the secrets and side quests - but that's pretty annoying if you're just casually playing it. The game doesn't tell you essential things like how to repair your items. Casting spells takes about 5 tries each time because you have to draw runes on the screen exactly perfect or else it doesn't recognize the symbol. I would recommend it if you like these older RPGs types that have you walking in circles checking every corner to solve a riddle.
I'd also recommend being a caster, since that's kinda the talking point of this game. My melee char was pretty boring and I wish I put more points in magic to try higher level spells.
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564 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 13.04.20 07:33
So is this game good? Sure it's pretty nice, but it definitely has some pretty glaring flaws here and there. Lets start off with a few things to note.
In order to play this game you will need to download something called the 'arx liberatis' mod. I wasn't able to get it running through steam so I manually ran it from my pc. So the '9 hours played' is pretty inaccurate. Probably closer to 20-30 or so. A lot of that time though was walking around confused as hell.
You will probably need a guide at some point. It's worth noting that some things in the game are either poorly explained or require you to look really, really hard. Just to give an example:
One of the first things you have to do in the game is you have to go to the goblin kingdom. But to get there, you need a gem seller license and written permission from some higher up guy. Well the gem seller license I believe is easy to find, but the other part is...[spoiler]it's a small piece of paper in one of the goblin lord quarters on a shelf. I missed it the first time. You have to get that and you have to free the goblin from prison. Then find him and use the note on him. THEN you can go to the kingdom.[/spoiler] So it's not awful, but the game has a sort of 'manual drive' feel to it.
You don't pick up a key and then now you can open the door it belongs to. You have to use the key on the door. And it can feel super cluttery as your inventory fills with keys and you fumble through them to open one damn door only to figure out none of them work.
Thankfully I randomly stumbled upon a key ring halfway through the game at one of the vendors. I'm not spoilering that though because I think it might be part of the mod and I want anyone on the fence about playing this game to know it exists so they don't get frustrated and quit. Anyway the key ring totally removes a lot of frustration. Or rather, some of it.
See that manual drive feeling permeates the whole game. From using quest items on npcs to alchemy. And I actually find it very charming. The alchemy component had a mild tedium feel to it that would normally annoy me. But the value of HP pots in this game is pretty high so it always felt worth it somehow. Same with all the other pots. I was basically going a 'general' build with more emphasis on magic and physical attacks. It was a stupid idea, but we'll come back to that in a min.
Lets talk about the 3D graphics. They aged only sorta poorly. They have this old, dirty feeling to it that I really actually like quite a bit. Some 3D is horrible, but I personally felt it to be acceptable if not, again, charming. Unlike gothic (which I just couldn't get into for some reason), Arx has decent usability and good environments. I actually find it weird whenever I find someone calling Gothic or Arx a masterpiece online. Like hearing someone say 'X game is a masterpiece...if you can get past Y' is like saying something is one thing yet it's not. Whatever, Arx has nice environments, atmosphere and a nice feel to it. I like it.
Sound design is overall good in some spots and bad in others. It's good because everything fits really well, but bad because some places have monotonous tracks that play. It's still very fitting.
Gameplay is solid for the most part. I feel like the alternate attack patterns are almost meaningless since I couldn't tell if they were having more of an effect or not (again, we'll come back to this). Spell casting is...weird. You hold down a button to start casting and then 'draw' a rune. Draw the runes in the right order and you cast a spell. BUT WOAH not so fast! Because you have to HAVE those runes first. THEN you need to have a high enough casting level. Finally you need to draw them properly otherwise they don't register.
The spellcasting system in this game is frustrating, yet, incredibly satisfying. Arx knows that casting a spell sucks major ass so you're rewarded with the most powerful attacks in the game if you can get it down. Spell casting is OBJECTIVELY the best way to play this game since you can do it all if you're a full on caster. In fact the other play styles suck so bad, that I started to put all my points into casting about midway through once I hit...well...the end game bad guys. Best way to describe them.
But back to spell casting, it's very manual and has a good variety. You don't have to fully 'memorize' spells since your spellbook contains most of the ones you can cast once you get the right runes. In addition, you can store up to 3 spells at a time for quick casting. AND THEN you get scrolls you can use mid combat that go into the cast slot. And these scrolls actually feel useful.
The story to this game is pretty generic fantasy with more of darker tone to it. I think this game made me realize that I don't necessarily hate a bog standard plot line about being the chosen one, but more so that I want more grim, realistic worlds. Arx's story always felt like I should hate it, but was presented in such a way that I didn't mind at all and kept up with it the whole way. I especially like how creepy it can feel at times. Though I think it was too short and didn't go far enough. There was definitely room for more. And it could've been better 100%.
Also I like the puzzles in this game. They were hard and made me think for quite a while, but were ultimately solve-able. I only needed a guide for the unclear objectives which was like two of them throughout the whole game.
All the manual feeling to the game kind of taking away the conveniences of modern gaming is somehow enjoyable for me. For you it might not be though. Make sure you understand what I'm saying. This game is inconvenient, but it feels good to work for the things that take effort...most of the time.
Lets talk about some bad things.
Firstly, even with the patch, jumping seems broken. When I jump in this game, it animates and speeds things up by like 10x. So I will jump forward the right amount of distance, but it occurs super fast. Which is really weird and disconnecting. You may or may not have this issue.
Second, the harder mobs in this game suck ass. They are what most refer to as 'bullet sponges'. If you play purely melee, you're going to have your game halted by this tanky assholes. Supposedly you're supposed to 'stealth' past them until later, but even after the stealth parts, you never manage to reach a point where your melee prowess equals theirs. Trust me. Just roll a spell caster for your first play through. Melee sucks so much ass.
The difficulty of these mobs almost made me rage quit until I started to just spam spells on them. After that point I started dumping points into spell casting and things eased up. These guys are bad game design incarnate. Especially when you consider the final boss is almost easier than fighting three of them at once (thank god for chaos explosion).
Finally, the game is too short. Recently I played druidstone and I gave that game a not recommend. Well this game is similarly too short, but more satisfying and also much, much cheaper. I very much enjoyed my time with arx in spite of it's failings, but I kept saying to myself [spoiler]'I hope I get to see the surface'[/spoiler] and then being disappointed I didn't. The ending to this game is actually a bit bad really. It's a little too short and definitely feels like the devs had a LOT more planned. In fact there are numerous parts of the game that feel unfinished. I really wish they would've finished it all because it's a very nice game.
So final thoughts? If you decide to get this game, go into it ready to be inconvenienced and to work for it. If you don't like that, then you can avoid it, but you might be missing out. I definitely recommend this game.
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11 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 11.01.20 18:01
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600 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 20.12.19 16:25
[ PROS ]
- The magic system is the best I have ever played in any game. It's very simple, but has a very high skill cieling. The hardest part is casting while moving, since you can't move the camera, and you also leave the magic cursor trail behind you, so you can't see what you are drawing as opposed to staying stationary. This is such an amazing RPG element, since if you read/play any fantasy novel/game, all mages are almost always stationary while casting, which means casting while moving must be hard. Cast while moving when you got the hang of most spells and their drawing combinations.
- The story is simple, but well put together with many easter eggs and possibilities (you can influence the outcome of certain sidequests and even the main quest, by for example, not showing up in time at a specific place. In time means you travel and do your other quests and after a certain amount of loading screens, when you would get to the quest, you realize that its gone and the quest objective is failed and you can't redo it.)
- Easter eggs, Side Quest easter eggs. Some sidequests can influence the main quest by either providing extra lore / info or even a different main quest outcome altogether.
- The sounds, atmosphere, etc are amazing. The devs played well with how far you can see in certain areas too.
- Interesting puzzles
[ CONS ]
- Jumping is the most clunky of all the things in this game. The only real use for jumping (outside of 1 mandatory area in the game) is for speedruns (croutch + spam jump and you fly forward really fast :D).
- Bow/stealth builds are nonexistent (not viable at all and there are no good gear/weapon pieces to put together)
- Melee combat is OK, they made different weapon stances, by making your character move in a certain direction and then pressing the attack. Example: Moving sideways + Attack button = side cut with the weapon. Moving backwards + attack (which i found the most effective) = pulling the sword near your head and backwards, then thrusting forwards in a straight line.
- Shields are out of the question, they are the same as the chest armor you are wearing (only for stats)
- They probably spent most of their time developing the magic system, which is indeed amazing.
- There's no Arx Fatalis 2 (No, Dark Messiah is not even close)
If you reached this point in reading: Download Arx Libertalis mod.
Since the game was made for Windows XP and released in 2002, you either have to run the original game in compatibility mode, or on a Virtual PC, or just use Arx Libertalis. The Arx Libertalis source code is up on github, so you can check it for malicious behaviour if you want. I didn't find anything tho.
Arx Libertalis gives quite a few solutions to bugs, widescreen issues, etc. It's basically the maintenance core for Arx Fatalis.
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281 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 29.10.19 12:29
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1460 Std. insgesamt
Verfasst: 12.09.19 05:02
It's like (IMO) a better version of Morrowind but in a much more constrained world, and with no mods.
If you have 30 hours to kill and love RPGs, you can't go wrong picking this up for $10 or less.
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Release:12.11.2002
Genre:
Rollenspiel
Entwickler:
Arkane Studios
Vertrieb:keine Infos
Engine:keine Infos
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Franchise:keine Infos
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Koop
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