Arx Fatalis, for PC
Rating: 8.3/10; Great
Played 2020
Highly recommended; a classic despite some jank
Arx is a first person action rpg very similar to the Elder Scrolls series but delivering a more focused experience. The entire game takes place in a large interconnected dungeon in a world where nuclear winter has forced everyone underground and racial tensions between the humans, trolls, goblins and ratmen run high. The game lore paints a picture of an entire city moving underground and each race setting up on a different floor, with the ratmen and dwarves already being there, but the actual experience is slightly underwhelming because the game areas are small with only a handful of npcs. There is not much suspension of disbelief that there are actually 100s or 1000s of people there, such as having panoramic backgrounds and inaccessible paths to give the indication of a much larger world. But this is only a minor atmospheric nitpick. The rest of the game is great.
The game starts with character creation where you allocate points to 4 base attributes that roughly correspond to: warrior, thief, mage and survival. Most weapons and armor have minimum strength requirements to use, while only 1 or 2 weapons require dexterity and there are no intelligence requirements for magic. Points are also allocated to the skills, which again are divided into warrior, thief and mage. You will not get enough skill points to master everything but you can mix and match to create the character you want. The skills may not be the most balanced as some are far more useful than others, but the game is not so difficult that you need an optimized build. Afterwards you start off in a goblin jail cell and must scrape your way out using bones as improvised clubs, slowly working your way up from nothing to being a legendary hero. The game ran mostly fine for me on windows 10 with default settings, but the framerate dropped significantly when both the inventory and character sheet were open. Not a big deal but it does suck that the game does not pause when you look at your sheets; stats, spellbook, map or journal. The inventory shows at the bottom of the screen with a backpack of slots, where items with variable size and stacking are placed. The inventory can be expanded but items cannot be rotated to fit sideways and everything has to be picked up and moved around with the mouse; a carpal tunnel inducing control scheme that is almost as bad as Ultima Online. This is used to creative effect though with you able to move objects to find hidden things, drop or throw items to trigger pressure plates and dropping meat near a fire to cook. Thankfully there are keyboard hotkeys for putting items into the inventory, equipping, and using common items like torches and potions. The other way of interacting with the world is double clicking on an item or world object and then clicking on another. This can be used for things like: lighting things on fire, poisoning weapons, carving wooden stakes, mixing potions, digging with the pickaxes (the shovel uses the equip button for some reason) and tying rope.
The character moves along at a plodding pace, which can be annoying when you are backtracking or shopping in town. He can crouch, jump and sneak, and yes there is some platforming. Stealth seems to be based on your stealth skill, line of sight, darkness level and sound you make, but I cannot be sure because I did not play a sneaky character. Combat is simple but fun with clicking the mouse to attack. Hold the button to charge up a more powerful attack and move around to try to avoid attacks, but beware that enemies are not stupid and will hold attacks to strike you the next time you get close. They will also flee when hurt and scream for help, potentially getting you overwhelmed. You can do a stab, slash or chop depending on the way you are moving when you press the attack button. The main significance seems to be whether you hit the walls or other objects, which can quickly wear down the durability of your weapons. I would have preferred a more intuitive way to control attack type because stabs and chops are far superior in the tight quarters you will most often be fighting. Equipment is deleted from the game upon reaching 0 durability so be sure to repair at the blacksmith or use the object knowledge skill to repair on your own. The smith fixes things perfectly for gold while you will degrade the maximum durability each time you fix something yourself, and the value of an item depends on both current and max durability. There are more than enough weapons to get through the game, it is fairly simple to enchant an item with indestructible and there is plenty of money, so you can choose how you want to deal with durability.
The technical skill allows you to use tool kits to pick locks. Important locks have keys to be found, which can all be stored on a key ring item to save inventory space. I was disappointed that I could not smash wooden chests and most wooden doors, and that a couple chests looked small enough to pick up and lug back to town, yet of course you can't pick them up. I felt I was being ripped off for not investing in lockpicking but can accept that it is just for optional loot. At least there is no silly minigame! The minigame comes with the magic system, which is intriguing. You have to collect rune items that form a kind of alphabet for magic. Combinations of 2 to 4 runes make up specific spells. The spellbook lists most spells you can currently cast while some are hidden. The kicker is you have to draw each rune on the screen to cast spells. The spellbook shows how to draw each rune and can put a single recipe on the top of the screen to help you cast. Needless to say, spell casting requires player memory and drawing skills, which can make pulling off magic under the duress of combat very difficult. To help with this there are 3 slots where you can store already casted spells to unleash with a simple button press. The magic system is the most interesting aspect of the game but it can be a handicap for players who lack the specific skillset, especially when compared with the simplicity of melee combat.
Outside combat there are story and side missions with fully voiced dialogue, simple and intricate puzzles, metroidvania style goodies to come back for (the pickaxe, telekinesis and levitation are examples), and systems for brewing potions and baking. The game does not hold your hand for any of this and it can be difficult to figure out what to do; especially with the more intricate puzzles. An important hint is that anything that can be clicked on to use, be an initiator or target for double clicking, or be picked up, will glow and display a name when moused over. There are books to read with obscure details that you may be expected to know, and one hidden spell for fast travel is mentioned in a conversation that is not repeated.
Arx is a moderate length game that lacks the vastness of Daggerfall or Morrowind, or the sheer number of battles found in Jrpgs, but makes up for it with incredible detail and immersion. The melee combat could have been more interactive with blocks, parries and dodges, and archery could have played like a first person shooter, but there are plenty of other innovative mechanics to keep you enthralled. A fascinating setting that I would absolutely love to further explore with the almost physics based magic and item manipulation systems. There is just something highly satisfying about dropping a piece of meat on a fire to roast or dropping a rock on a pressure plate to safely disable a trap. Here's a wish for future Arx games to be made!
