Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

released on Aug 21, 2001

Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

released on Aug 21, 2001

Imagine a place of wonder,where magic and technology hold equal sway, and an adventurer might just as easily wield a flintlock pistol as a flaming sword. A place where great industrial cities house castle keeps and factories, home to Dwarves, Humans, Orcs and Elves alike. A place of ancient runes and steamworks, of magic and machines, of sorcery and science. Arcanum is the first game to come from the development house Troika Games, LLC, started by former Fallout team members Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson. This team takes the depth of gameplay and world-building in role-playing games to entirely new levels of realism and excitement. Arcanum creates a compelling new world where magic and technology coexist in an uneasy balance. As Arcanum opens, the mechanical age has only recently arrived in this ancient land where Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and other races have learned to survive in the new sprawling industrialized cities. But this radical shift from magic to technology has created a potentially explosive situation. As the townspeople and other thinkers begin mass production of light bulbs, batteries, eyeglasses and guns, the Mages grow leery. This tightly wound setting is the starting point from which the character must set out on his quest.


Released on

Genres

RPG


More Info on IGDB


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It is a bit of a glitchy mess at times and was a pain in the ass to get running on modern windows, but there is definitely a good game under all of that. Would love to see a remaster/remake in the future, perhaps with some rebalancing as well.

When I think of video game soundtracks that perfectly exemplify a games' atmosphere and resonance, Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is the first one that comes to mind. This is such a special piece of art that has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years due to it's rich worldbuilding and genuinely fantastic writing (despite the horrifically janky combat and bugs). While all the praise for Arcanum is well deserved and known, I feel as the soundtrack gets overlooked and mentioned mostly as unique but repetitive. However, I feel Ben Houge has composed one of the best pieces of VGM that has perfectly capture the essence of Arcanum

Um mundo muito bem escrito, atmosfera, música. Primeiro e melhor realizado trabalho da Troika. Como os outros trabalhos da Troika não é um trabalho plenamente otimizado, mas eu diria um jogão indspensável para amantes de CRPGs

https://ramonsn.substack.com/p/pensando-arcanum

Um jogo incrível, com uma ótima escrita, uma construção de mundo muito boa e uma atmosfera impecável, o que considero seu ponto mais forte. Sua trilha sonora é absurdamente boa e única e seu sistema é muito amplo e cheio de possibilidades. Um dos CRPGs que merecem ser lembrados para sempre.

Writing is overwhelmingly good but the combat is such unequivocal ass it's hard to get through.

the world

the world if we got an enhanced edition or a sequel

this setting is just too cool to let it go to waste