Arkane Studios was founded with a dream: to create a sequel to the highly revered grandfather of immersive sims Ultima Underworld. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t quite secure the rights to the IP, and instead decided to make a game that was evocative of the original in every way. Enter Arx Fatalis, a game that was released to widespread critical acclaim, but unfortunately for Arkane suffered commercially. It wasn’t until the far more action orientated release of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic that Arkane started to see more widespread appeal.
But did the original Arx Fatalis deserve to go under the radar? It features an unusual magic system where players have to inscribe runes on their screen to create spells. Its level design is a complicated web of caverns layered on top of one another with secrets galore connecting them together. And its quest design is almost puzzle-like in structure, requiring players to have their wits about them to actually progress through the game. Does this all add up to a dream game for immersive sim purists, or is it just a messy and janky homage to a much greater game?
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On this episode, we discuss:
Level Design.
How easy is it to navigate the labyrinthian caverns that make up most of the world of Arx Fatalis? Is it easy to get lost in the web, or are objectives always clear despite the lack of quest markers?
Combat.
How enjoyable is the combat in Arx Fatalis? How does melee combat stack up against other first person fantasy RPGs like Skyrim? Does spellcasting give you a different approach to combat like in Dark Messiah?
Puzzles.
Arx Fatalis features some fairly involved puzzles in its dungeons, like the crypt or mysterious Hall of Illusions. How well are these puzzles integrated into the regular gameplay and interface? Does the game make full use of your utility spellcasting options to create the most interesting puzzles possible?
We answer these questions and many more on the 104th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!
Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K
Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another
Arx Fatalis OST: Kemal Amarasingham, Simon Amarasingham
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