Arx Fatalis Review

 Man they really did put a reference to this in Prey

The first game from the legendary Arkane Studios. (RIP) Arx Fatalis is basically like if you took Ultima Underworld.... 

...

The game is a very classical style dungeon crawl, down to the interface itself. Mouselook is essentially a toggle and you're free to move the cursor around normally to organize inventory or interact with things the same as you would in something like System Shock. Combat is slow and methodical, the maps are mazey and filled with hidden items, details, and secrets, NPCs are sparse with none being immortal, the RPG mechanics are baseline and you barely even get regular levelups as you go. (I finished the game around level 8)

The magic system is worth praising in particular. You collect runes that function essentially as 'words' you can construct spells out of, though the actual language is up to the player to discover. Spells are unlocked in your spellbook freely as you get the runes for them, with a few hidden for those willing to experiment. For the most part, it functions as an arbitrary item requirement to unlock spells, however the consistent usage of runes for specific themes like fire or healing does allow one to remember them much easier. For example, Fireball is literally Magic Missile with the rune for 'fire' in the middle. You also draw these runes out on the screen to cast, with 3 slots allocated for pre-casting before combat. It makes for a lovely mix of safe casts and hectic scribbles when you're under pressure, though it's not the most accessible of features for those without finer mouse control.

The setting and story are also a highlight, while nothing spectacular it's a wonderful experience and well worth the slightly jankier parts of the design. (I'll get to those in a moment) I wouldn't wish to spoil, reading documents and experiencing reveals is basically the best part of the whole story, I will offer the premise. The sun started slowly disappearing, so every race had to move underground to survive as the surface is a frozen wasteland. Honestly, a badass premise on it's own.

The game however is not without some serious flaws. An obvious one is that given it's a classic dungeon crawl, you are going to be running around lost or key hunting for a significant portion of the adventure. It very much has "you will spend 100 hours playing this game anyway so we can just assume you'll go over it with a fine tooth comb" energy. Honestly if you're playing in modern day, I highly recommend either having a friend on hand to consult for tips, or just not being afraid to google. You might even find some cool threads on the TTLG Forums from back around release, which is always a fun little bonus.

While the story is great, it is also barebones. Most of your time truly is spent wandering the depths and just generically dungeon crawling, and unless I missed a quest several things never truly got a payoff in the end. The balance is also all over the place, to the point where by the endgame I equal parts could instant kill enemies, and also not hold my own in a fight in the slightest. Which I had hoped to remedy by leveling up but idk it was still fun if you keep the fact it's janky as hell in mind.

All in all, Arx Fatalis is a definite recommend! It's probably a good entry point if you want to play the original System Shock or Ultima Underworld, having a fair few modern conveniences while getting your feet wet in that older style. Still, it's probably below something like Prey or the System Shock Remake on some of those fronts. But if you're like me and love everything Arkane ever put out (WHY MICROSOFT WHY REDFALL WHYYYYY) you should absolutely give it a shot to round out the collection.

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