Arx Fatalis Reviews

Dark souls, but with less fighting and a lot of riddles. Game shows you almost 0 off what you are supposed to do and how things works, but there is all stuff you need to know online, if you don't want to spend hours trying to figure it on your own. Overall if you are fan of puzzle/riddle + dark souls games you will not regret playing this game too.

Purchased here and then played using Arx Libertatis. Out of the box here on steam the gameplay experience isn't good and the Libertatis experience was excellent. The game itself is really unique. Combining items is really cool but it takes a very long time before you figure it out and it shows everything its capable of. Spellcasting is really interesting, you get a sense for what some of the symbols mean which is really awesome, it clearly had a massive amount of thought put into it. Combat is fine-ish. Its either too easy or too challenging. The real pleasure of Arx Fatalis is delving deeper and deeper into the earth, through twisting corridors and unearthing a world that seems to be collapsing in on itself. There are elements of the game that seem mostly to exist to be an inconvenience to you, but the [b]feeling[/b] of Arx is something remarkable. Dated in many ways, but its genuinely a lot of fun. The game is cumulatively a truly exceptional dungeon delve. Even as a dungeon within a dungeon, the crypt is a masterful experience in and of itself.

Get the Arx Libertatis addon for this game, it makes the experience much more enjoyable. Very solid game quintessential of the style of RPG for its time. Don't fear looking through walkthroughs older than most people playing this game.

If you're interested in this genre, this game is really good though it has its quirks. There is a point or two where you end up feeling a bit aimless. I recommend using the fan made engine for it called Arx Libertatis.

I've found myself enjoying this even more than expected and it's becoming a comfort game to just sit and play for myself. It's a fantasy immersive sim from back when devs experimented with genres and worlds so it's a weird game that takes time to figure out. Spell casting is unusual with it being done by drawing the spell components in the air. Puzzles, interacting with the world and the inventory are halfway between elder scrolls and a point and click game. There's secrets everywhere, a stealth system and a game that's sprawling. Playing this is giving me a sense of mystery and exploration I've not had with a game in a long time! I already want to do more play throughs to see how stealth changes the outcome of a few things and one with a strength build to see the effect it has on a few mechanics. If you're not willing to install a community patch or you're not interested in old experimental games with a fantasy plot that isn't realistic then it's maybe not for you. If you're impatient and just want a fast paced game or you hate having to use menus and a mouse cursor mode then it's definitely not for you. If you like old experimental and weird games that make you think and take a little getting used to then you'll love it. This is a game for exploring, thinking and getting comfy with. I'm having a great time so far and even though you need to download the Arx Libertatis community patch to run it on modern systems, it's at least a painless process and the game is worth the extra 2 mins it takes. If you like old dungeon crawlers or immersive sims then it's well worth trying.

This is a toughie. There's a lot to like about Arx Fatalis, and the price is right. However, the things I loved most about the game in the first half really fell away, and the things that were most frustrating about the game really increased in the second half. As an immersive sim, this feels a bit like a prototype. There are a few open-ended puzzles (moreso in the early half), but there aren't that many options and there isn't that many interactions in the game's sub-systems. That said, the sense of exploration and finding your own way is really strong... until the plot just falls off the rails. After about the halfway point the game just feels sort of unfinished. The plot is half-baked and not well-articulated. And, I get that fans of this genre don't like to have their hands held, but it gets to the point where there's only one obscure, nonsensical solution for you to basically just guess at. I stopped playing when I had to re-explore the entire map in search of anything slightly that might have changed, and what I found was a plot nonsequitur that had nothing to do with player agency or open-ended design. The quests are increasingly like that as you progress, the difficulty spikes without warning, exploration becomes less and less worthwhile, many of the things you probably should have been able to explore are gated off for plot reasons, and most of the content is actually just hack and slash rather than immersive sim. Not to mention it gets progressively glitchier the longer you play. Arx had a lot of potential, but didn't follow through. I don't regret buying it per se, and it was interesting as a retrospective, but forced too choose between 'recommend' or 'non,' I'm afraid I have to say that most people won't find this very fun for very long, even if you like immersive sims.

Easily one of, if not THE best game I've ever played. For 5 dollars this cannot be beat. You can feel in every part of this game just how much love was put into it. The world, the factions, the people, the NPCs, the story. Everything. Games are rarely made like this nowadays. I won't lie, the game gets HARD the more you go through but if you persevere you will not regret it. I recommend downloading the mod "Arx Libertatis" I believe it only fixes issues with the game. Doesn't add anything new content and its darn easy to get running. Good luck! And may the Gnoden Guide you, Am Shaegar!

Played this on the OG Xbox over and over when it first came out. I can't explain why I like this game so much. The atmosphere? That's probably it.

Arx Fatalis walked so Dishonored could run. On a more serious note the game aged very well and with the Arx Libertatis is even playable at decent standard. Any negative thing I could point out would fall in the big bucket of "they didn't have the tech/budget/whatever back then" so all in all a very well crafted immersive sim and the genesis of the Arkane saga.

This was a cracking game when I played it back in the early 2000s. Unfortunately its not actually runnable on modern operating systems. If you purchase from steam, there exists a patch that can be applied. This did not work for me. I personally don't believe that steam should be selling unpatched games that do not work.