I'm a gamer who is very interested in older RPGs. I'm currently playing through Fallout and Fallout 2 and thoroughly enjoying it. I'm also a hardcore fan of the Steampunk genre. I've heard that this game was made by some former members of the Fallout team and I was wondering how the games compare. I've heard that Arcanum has some balance issues with items and combat but is it game-breaking? Are there also a lot of bugs in this game or is there an unofficial patch that fixes up a lot of things? Does it also run fine on Windows 7 64-bit? Just the fact that this game has a steampunk influence and is made by former members of the Fallout team is definitely making me want to buy it.

If you like Fallout, you'd probably like Arcanum.
Regarding balance, there are a few powerful weapons and spells that might make the game too easy, but you don't have to use them. In combat, some consider real time action to be broken, but a few others (like me) enjoy the sheer chaos of it. Turn-based is akin to Fallout's system.
There were lots of bugs (mostly minor) and some other irregularities in the game, but the Unofficial Arcanum Patch fixes most of the problems and activates some unused content.
I don't use Windows 7, but there's a thread here that deals with it. Looks like several users run it on 64-bit Win7 without much trouble.
If you're still uncertain, give the demo a try. It lets you play up until the end of the first village, which should be enough to decide if you like it or not.

You can't lose with this rpg. The story line is great. If you liked fallout you will love this, it's like fallout but a LOT more open ended and you can do a LOT more with your character. In my opinion it's better than fallout. I owned both the CD version when it first came out and also the GOG version and never applied any patches. Whatever bugs there were were minor and I still thoroughly enjoyed the game. I've played the game 10+ times through and never needed a patch.
There are balance issues with items, but that's just part of the game. Since it's not a multiplayer game "balance issues" shouldn't be a big deal. Generally going the technical route is a little bit harder than going magickal but it's all in the eye of the beholder. Some magic trees will make the game cake and some will be harder to use while some are just a waste of time. Some NPCs (ok well maybe 1 NPC) will basically beat the game for you. That's the fun of the game it's all about how you play through but you can choose to make it easier or harder. There are so many ways to beat the game and so many diverse options that supposing they could balance it all perfectly is absurd. You think you have found the best way, until you find a new best way to do it.

Not to mention great replay value, playing tech based character is totally different than playing mage. Also many quests have alternative ways of doing them. you can basically even just make Half-ogre and kill every single being on arcanum and still beat the game.

Every time I read a review, though, I have problems reconciling what everyone says about the game with the fact that many, many reviewers say the combat is severely problematic and many possible builds are dead ends.

I also have trouble figuring out if any of the patches actually address those combat issues.

The world and the story, at least for male main characters, seems great. I've heard if you pick a female it changes, which is neat, but you get so boxed-in by anachronisms that it becomes really difficult to advance.

The game sadly isn't perfect. As mentioned combat is unnecessarily difficult, however if you manage to build the right character, it's not quite so bad. My own experience with game has actually been a love/hate. I absolutely love the music, setting, and the story, and for that stuff I think its worth the money alone. And the combat is not unplayable, just tedious. If you have played through Fallout 1 and 2 then you should be fine. In fact I prefer this game to those two

I heard that this game can be won without any combat at all. Just for that I'd like to try it.

I like Fallout's combat, and its flexibility. I don't think the tone of criticism of Fallout's system, which I guess some people don't like because it's turn-based and heavily incremented through action points, reaches quite the level of what people say about Arcanum. I get the feeling that it wasn't optimized. I get why some people might prefer it to Fallout, but I don't think I'm one of those people.

As for non-combat wins, I'm all for that, although I wonder if it's a function of having a very specific build that gives you a pass on dialog choices (sort of like what I've seen with Mass Effect 2, where people max out Renegade or Paragon and breeze through everything). Are the dialog choices here more like puzzles?

In the end, if you like Fallout 1 and 2 and are looking for a similar game...this is it.

It isn't F1 and F2, but you can tell the same people worked on the game.

I haven't had an issue with the turn based combat. I try to take each game individually and just deal with it on it's own terms. I think Arcanum is in the same league as the first two Fallout games. Some may disagree with me, others may not...however it is a great game that really should be experienced.

I must mention that the music to Arcanum is some of my favorite in the history of video games. I really is special and fits the world perfectly.

You'll feel right at home in Arcanum if you like the play style of Fallout. Combat is made easier with certain choices when you level, and there's also a particular dog that'll really help a lot. Check earlier in this forum and you'll find another discussion about certain character types being more difficult but that the game is still winnable with those characters.

Crafting is a nice addition to this game, where even trivial junk can be made useful or sold for profit. Also, there is also a balance between magic and tech and a resulting variation in effectiveness of those from one character type to another.

I have either very high or very weird standards, depending on who you ask and the only games I've ever enjoyed were Planescape:Torment and Arcanum, so, yes. It's really, really good.

The game is only $2.99 this weekend, so now seems like the time to go for it if anyone is still on the fence about buying it...as I was, hence the reason I'm reading this thread now. I loved Fallout 1 & 2, so I'm gonna go ahead & buy it. Its only $3...how can I go wrong?!

3 bucks for some 40 hours of awesome entertainment is probably the best bang for buck ever.

I guess there was a price that would win me over. I'll likely give it a shot now.

Let me put it this way. If you enjoy the original Fallouts, you will enjoy Arcanum. They are from the same developers, more or less, and Arcanum is pretty much the only truly "Fallout-like" RPG made aside from the Fallout series itself. It's got excellent music, writing and so on to boot, and the only real issue with the game is balance, which can be quirky at times, so you should probably read a guide going into it. For three dollars (THREE DOLLARS, dammit) it's silly to pass up on one of the last great CRPGs.