Just bought this game and my first impression is how much it goes for that classic Fallout feel. Can't believe I have never heard of this game before, I went so long without knowing that some of the creators of the first two classic games made this. I am not knocking Bethesda's newer Fallout games but they definitely miss some of the charm of the originals and lets admit it, they are in a different sub genre of RPGs. Arcanum to me is just as much a valid follow up to Fallout 1 and 2 as is FO3. Looking forward to plunging lots of game time into this.

Yes, Arcanum is quite a great game. The sheer amount of replayability makes the game even better.

Personally, though, I think the game is even better than Fallout 1 and 2. I think that even though the game is slightly rough around the edges, it did a lot of things better than Fallout.

There are definitely elements of Arcanum that harken back to Fallout 1 & 2, and there's also some innovation & creativity that's unique to Arcanum. Its just a fantastic game, with so much room for customizing your character.

I finished my 1st playthrough a couple of days ago...I honestly lost track of my total playtime, but it had to be very near 100 hours and I didn't even do all the possible side-quests!
From what you've posted I think you're going to have a LOT of fun!
Gameworld's massive and just so you know ahead of time: there are Areas you will see on your Worldmap that you won't be able to access until someone (NPC's) show you how.
Enjoy!