dragonbeast: i was looking for a good tbs on gog and when i read the page about arcanum, i got interested
i really liked fallout 1 & 2 and now my questions were:
1) is the gameplay closely related?
2) if i like fallout 1 & 2, are chance very high i will like this game?
3) are there some form of firearms? (i know, strange question)
thanks already
1)Turn-based combat is pretty much the same (you have even these green lights indicating amount of action points left) and quest system has the similar feeling ; instead of perks you have a schematics+tech schools OR magic schools system that allow you to build your character in the way that's interesting for you (some of the schematics are really cool and some quests or locations have that Fallout-like feeling of exploring something old yet very advanced).
Skill system is simplified and is connected with character stats in Arcanum (for example, you cannot max the persuasion without raising a charisma).
Followers system is similar, but some of them have their small story arcs and some are voiced. There's also one female follower that's interested in romancing PC.
You can add a dog to your party as well, just like in Fallout, except here Dog is much more useful :)
Tbh, this game feels like a steam-punk Fallout. If you're going to play a tech character, you will even have the possibility to wear a Machined Plate which is pretty much an Arcanum version of Power Armour...
If you are aiming for an easy run and if you prefer a fantasy setting, just go with magic-oriented character. It's a more boring way to play it tho'.
2)I'm a Fallout series fan myself and I consider this game closely related to F1&F2. It's much longer tho' and can be considered as hard especially if you want to play a tech character (it's somewhat weak at the beginning of the game and has to rely on melee but exceels in the late game with advanced weapons, armour and tech toys and tricks)
3)At the beginning you will feel a bit like a poor cowboy in a western and you may pass large part of the game with just a Fine Revolver but after a while you will rain destruction with Tesla Gun, Looking Glass Rifle, Blade Thrower, Elephant Gun, Hand Cannon etc.
You might want to consider a different path - for example a Constructor/Engineer (you might just create an army of automatons, mechanized arachnids and clockwork devices that will do most of the killing for you) or you might play a Grenadier and Chemist etc. it's entirely up to you.
It's not an easy game and requires some time to get into it, but after a while you will like it and after few hours you will love it and you will wonder why haven't you played it before :)
Azilut: EDIT: If you want another game that
does use the SPECIAL system, check out
Lionheart. I haven't played it yet, so I can't vouch for how good it is, but consensus seems to be that it's really good up until about the half-way mark, at which point they ran out of money.
Yeah, unfortunately, Lionheart is a game of average quality. First part/act of it is nice but after that, quality of the game drops down and it starts to be boring and annoying. Melee oriented character seems to be the only reasonable choice in it too.