Should I buy Arcanum????

I just played the demo, and well I really wanna like this game but the demo didnt impress me, I mean the battles was so darn fast that eather you die instantly or you kill instantly, all things happens so fast, you can cast the spell "harm" like 10 times within 1 sec!
I dont know if I have played Baldurs Gate II to much but I think BGII has a better feeling to it, better graphic, more detail, better sound, easier interface, more spells, funnier NPC, and much much funnier, better, harder, longer battles!!!
So what do you say guys does Arcanum get better a bit further in the game or is it just a pale copy of BGII all the way???

 

I agree to the faults you pointed out except arcanum is not supposed to impress anyone with its battle system. definetly or graphics
to me actually they are laughable. It's the freedom that is denied in BG. That is the thing which you are missing. Play it's worth it. Since I think so and I had the same impression like you when I started

 

Buy the game and play in turn-based like everyone else. I have not heard of anyone who can play in real time unless you are fighting an sewer rat or somthing.

 

It's totally worth it.

Hey, you can go to check any reviews of these websites for reviews:
pc.ign.com
http://www.voodooextreme.com
http://www.gamesvision.com
http://www.gamespy.com
and many more I can't think right now. They all rate it around 89-95% which is excellent.

Arcanum combat is not that bad (for ME) because I (unlike many people) have patience for the turn-based combat. It's fairly unbalanced (ie a high dex half-orc goes around killing everyone in one turn) but it's not that bad. So many good things in this game, you'll have to scroll all over the BG2 vs Arcanum post reading all the things Saint_Proverbius mentioned. Question is not whether it's good, it's whether you will be looking for the flaws of the game or the beauty of it. There are plenty of both, but once you are on the good side of the game, there's no going back.

 

Is this the same question I answered a while ago?

 

I playd 90% of the game in realtime, since I could shoot alot more before someone runs to me with an axe. In turn based the meele fighters always run to me like marathon runners getting the entire screen. In realtime they were dead before they could get to me

 

Always with realtime.

 

hmmm

Yes, realtime does have its moments, especially with fireflash.

 

hmmm

But if your opponent is not yet hostile to you, change to turn base, use up all your action points and then switch to realtime. Gives you extra advantage. :wink:

 

*ahem*
To answer the original question - there is a topic created by someone with the same problems as you here.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Vicsun on 2001-10-02 09:35 ]</font>

 

It's not a matter of having patience for turned based combat: Having no reflexes, I sort of prefer it in some ways (except when you're fighting a bunch of short, easy, pointless battles). It's just that:

1. There are all sorts of stupid little quirks/bugs in turn-based combat, like melee fighters moving too fast or throwing not taking any APs. A gunslinger is a hundred times more effective in realtime than turn based but, without any pause feature in realtime, it's an exercise in frustration.

2. Even if turnbased or realtime combat worked perfectly, the fact that you're only controlling one character robs the game of any real strategic depth. Whether or not you succeed in combat is almost entirely a matter of how well you've built your character. In BG and similair games, skilled play could make up for a substandard character or party and putzy play could get you killed no matter how badassed your broadsword was.

That's not at all to say Arcanum is a bad game. It's simply that the game is fun *despite* its combat system rather than at all because of it.

 

hmmmm

You're right. I have the feeling that real-time is what Arcanum battle was meant to be and turnbased is something they put in for allowing turn-based battle. Realtime is much more balanced.

 

Turn-base, IMO, is just a waste of time.