Dear readers,
How many of you know Steampunk? No, it ain't a rock band. Neither is it a genre of music. You can click on the link I provided you for very detailed information. My definition for it, is just a type of science fiction where technology evolved in a way where steam engines, clockworks and the rest of the scientific advancement during the industrial age is exaggerated to a proportion where it becomes ridiculously fantastical.
I love things that are ridiculous. I love fantasy. Therefore, I love Steampunk. :D
How was I introduced to Steampunk? During the period where Diablo 2 reigned king, there's this company called Troika Games who came out with a game that is based on the Steampunk genre. A game that I thoroughly enjoyed, and remembered up to this date - Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.
It contributed to the love of RPGs in me. This game may not beat Baldur's Gate at that moment, but it has an excellent setting, IMHO, where technology and magic exists together in the same world, albeit in a contrasting manner. Technological items react badly to magical items, and vice versa.
The game begins with you as a passenger aboard an airship that was later shot down by ogres on flying contraptions. How many games have ogres flying little flying machines? Well, as you crawl out from the wreckage, you begin your quest to search for the truth behind the matter, as in the game, your Character assumes no previous attachments that was from before you board that blasted airship. No pun intended.
As every standard RPGs, you get to create your character. There are 8 races to choose from, for playing male characters. Female characters get to choose from only 4 races. It kind of simulates the female oppression during the industrial age, but that's not the reason the remaining 4 weren't there. There's actually explanation for the missing female counterpart for some of the races, which contributed of part of the Arcanum universe, but for the rest, it's just because it's not normal to have a female counterpart. You don't often find female dwarves being referred to much in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings. The same reason might apply to Arcanum, but it's just my opinion.
Each race and gender have their strengths and weaknesses, and depending on what kind of character you would like to play, you can make the best out of the racial bonuses, as well and the gender bonuses. For example, Half-Ogres have more strength, but stunted Intelligence, while Gnomes have more Willpower but relatively less Strength than most races. Then you get 8 attributes that contributes to your character's development. Strength, Beauty, Dexterity, Charisma, Intelligence, Willpower, Constitution, and Perception. Each attribute will affect the effectiveness of some skills that your character might develop.
Then the main focus of Arcanum come into play when it comes to skill selection. You have magical spells to learn, technological schematics to learn, and abilities to obtain that contributes to the gameplay experience (combat, etc.) in the game. Every new spell that you learn will heighten your magical aptitude, while every new schematic you learn will heighten your technological aptitude. Both magical and technological aptitude will bring you away from the the other, so when your mage tries to wield a gun, the gun may critically fail on usage and damaging your character, while if your gunsmith tries to cast heal on himself/herself, the heal spell will fizzle all the time.
There is also a moral meter, which changes according to the decisions you make in the game, but it has no significant weight to gameplay, as it act as only a prerequisite for recruiting certain followers, and only to wield a certain powerful two handed sword that you can use in the game. No big deal, but it helps with the character development in your head.
What I love about Arcanum at that time is that you can build your character any way you want. You can make a gun totting ogre, or a magic wielding dwarf, or even an elf medic, in contrast to an elf healer. Arcanum may not have really good combat mechanics, when compared to Fallout and Baldur's Gate, which was godlike during that time. What Arcanum manages to do is that the game created a premise in my mind where I can be what I want in a world where it is bound by technological advances and also magical prowess.
Once you are done with creating a character that you want to throw into Arcanum, you begin the journey of uncovering the truth behind the attack on the airship your boarded, and becoming stronger in the process. I was always the technological adept that can create marvelous items from junk. Killing foes from a distance with guns and grenades, while my followers charge in with technologically enhanced melee weapons of my creation.
That was Arcanum. That was the game that let my imagination have lots of fun, as I plan my character's development, and searching through garbage dumps and stores for items that I can use to create technological marvels. Arcanum is the game that proves to me when you love something, or someone, and when the impact is strong enough for your mind to keep the item fresh, no matter the flaws, you will continue your loving of the same object, or person, even when time claims whatever remains of the glory that was used to be.
To put the whole Arcanum story in a few sentences, you are mistook for a reincarnate of a powerful being, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and meeting the right individual at the right time. As you progress through the story with your mistaken identity, you'll find that Arcanum is a harsh world, almost reflecting the current state of affairs that our world has. Discrimination, oppression, struggle, hope. You will also find out that you're just the coincidental hero that is somehow manages to stop that sinister force that tries to alter the balance in the world of Arcanum.
In the end, you changed a few lives, changed the growth of a few cities, and blasted a few shotgun rounds in the face of an abomination, yet in the end, easily forgotten as any wanderer that crosses the lands few dare to tread, as the people of Arcanum continues their struggles with daily life. You weren't a deity reborn. You weren't a business tycoon. You weren't a gang leader, and you definitely weren't a monarch that was exiled due to political warfare. But the best part is, you played a part in bringing these important people into making those important change in the world.
Arcanum had a good premise. It's unfortunate that Troika Games have to had it's business operations stopped, when they had the sequel in the making. I would love that someday, the sequel may come from the hands of a good production team, and you get a blockbuster game that will last for a while in the heads of people like me.
I will continue my dream of steampunk awesomeness, as I present to you the opening theme of Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. See you next week!
How many of you know Steampunk? No, it ain't a rock band. Neither is it a genre of music. You can click on the link I provided you for very detailed information. My definition for it, is just a type of science fiction where technology evolved in a way where steam engines, clockworks and the rest of the scientific advancement during the industrial age is exaggerated to a proportion where it becomes ridiculously fantastical.
How was I introduced to Steampunk? During the period where Diablo 2 reigned king, there's this company called Troika Games who came out with a game that is based on the Steampunk genre. A game that I thoroughly enjoyed, and remembered up to this date - Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.
The game begins with you as a passenger aboard an airship that was later shot down by ogres on flying contraptions. How many games have ogres flying little flying machines? Well, as you crawl out from the wreckage, you begin your quest to search for the truth behind the matter, as in the game, your Character assumes no previous attachments that was from before you board that blasted airship. No pun intended.
Each race and gender have their strengths and weaknesses, and depending on what kind of character you would like to play, you can make the best out of the racial bonuses, as well and the gender bonuses. For example, Half-Ogres have more strength, but stunted Intelligence, while Gnomes have more Willpower but relatively less Strength than most races. Then you get 8 attributes that contributes to your character's development. Strength, Beauty, Dexterity, Charisma, Intelligence, Willpower, Constitution, and Perception. Each attribute will affect the effectiveness of some skills that your character might develop.
There is also a moral meter, which changes according to the decisions you make in the game, but it has no significant weight to gameplay, as it act as only a prerequisite for recruiting certain followers, and only to wield a certain powerful two handed sword that you can use in the game. No big deal, but it helps with the character development in your head.
Once you are done with creating a character that you want to throw into Arcanum, you begin the journey of uncovering the truth behind the attack on the airship your boarded, and becoming stronger in the process. I was always the technological adept that can create marvelous items from junk. Killing foes from a distance with guns and grenades, while my followers charge in with technologically enhanced melee weapons of my creation.
To put the whole Arcanum story in a few sentences, you are mistook for a reincarnate of a powerful being, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and meeting the right individual at the right time. As you progress through the story with your mistaken identity, you'll find that Arcanum is a harsh world, almost reflecting the current state of affairs that our world has. Discrimination, oppression, struggle, hope. You will also find out that you're just the coincidental hero that is somehow manages to stop that sinister force that tries to alter the balance in the world of Arcanum.
Arcanum had a good premise. It's unfortunate that Troika Games have to had it's business operations stopped, when they had the sequel in the making. I would love that someday, the sequel may come from the hands of a good production team, and you get a blockbuster game that will last for a while in the heads of people like me.
