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txiabxyooj
Fox Spirit
Joined: 06 Dec 2001
Posts: 971
Location: here, there & everywhere |
i am feeling a little frustrated. from a number of my posts people have probably figured out that i wasn't exactly pleased with arx. maybe my expectations were too high, maybe this just wasn't my "style" of game, or maybe the sun just wasn't shining the days that i played. who knows? the point is that there are a number of aspects of arx that i found enthralling at the beginning of the game, but over time these aspects turned into disappointing frustrations. like the magic system--it was a new and innovative approach to rpg spell casting. but, for a number of reasons the system just didn't pan out in the end. i am wondering what other people are feeling about arx in general. having played it once would you play it again? what did you like? what did you dislike? what could have been better? what was great? please be specific and provide examples.
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"The origin of things, if things have an origin, cannot be revealed to me, if revealed at all, until I have travelled very far from it, and many revolutions of the sun must precede my first dawn. The light as it appears hides the candle." --Santayana
=member of the worshippers of the written word=
=member of the Non-flamers' guild= |
Tue Jan 14, 2003 5:49 pm |
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TribalMan
Conflict Within
Joined: 04 Jan 2002
Posts: 681
Location: Neither Here Nor There |
I really enjoyed the game play, but I will mention my main complaint about the game. Aside from everything else, the main problem I have is the story development, or better yet, a lack of direction. So many times in this game I was lost without a clue as to what needed to be done. What did I do? I read the extensive walkthrough quite often to keep me going on the right path. I didn't print it out or anything, but I found myself opening it up quite often to figure out what to do here or what to do next. Maybe I missed the main point of the game by doing this, but if I had not turned to this resource I would have given up on the game pretty early.
Actually I did start the game and got confused, lost, or overwhelmed by it. I then uninstalled it and later reinstalled it after aquiring the walkthrough.
To answer one more question, I seriously doubt I will play through the entire game again. I have uninstalled it and reinstalled it a few times, but only because I kept my save games. I have played my save games and finished additional quest and explored more areas that I missed the first time through. I think that is pretty much it for Arx and I.
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  T®îßã£Måñ
"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'."
-= Member of The Nonflamers' Guild =- |
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Tue Jan 14, 2003 6:13 pm |
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Ammon777
Warrior for Heaven
Joined: 20 Apr 2002
Posts: 2011
Location: United States |
quote:
Originally posted by TribalMan
I really enjoyed the game play, but I will mention my main complaint about the game. Aside from everything else, the main problem I have is the story development, or better yet, a lack of direction. So many times in this game I was lost without a clue as to what needed to be done. What did I do? I read the extensive walkthrough quite often to keep me going on the right path. I didn't print it out or anything, but I found myself opening it up quite often to figure out what to do here or what to do next. Maybe I missed the main point of the game by doing this, but if I had not turned to this resource I would have given up on the game pretty early.
I did exactly the same thing, referring to the walkthrough and stuff, although i think Arx is excellent. I really really like the artificial intelligence stuff they did in Arx. Cool stuff. I think it is a pretty cool game, although i will never replay it. Not enough replay value in it imho. |
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Tue Jan 14, 2003 7:34 pm |
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Red
Tempered Warlord
Joined: 15 Dec 2002
Posts: 282
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One of my main disapointments were the loading times and the "walking" times...
I've spend WAY too much time runnig back and forth between levels and just waiting for the game to load (or running from place A to B without anythign exciting happen).
If loading was faster (and running) it would have aliveated the main reason I haven't even finished the game yet!
I often find myself casting Speed all over the place just to get to locations faster... I mean it's fun to have a spell used as a tactical element but it being imposed for the game not to get too boring seems rather weird. |
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Tue Jan 14, 2003 10:14 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
Yes, this game has flaws, but which game hasn't. For a first effort from a small team, this game is brilliant. Have you ever seen support like Julien gives? I think too, that the developers have learn't a lot from people's comments in the last few weeks, and can only improve with their next venture. Like most people, the walkthru from this site was a blessing for me and really helped, but I remember needing one for other games I've played over many years. There were only 2 sections where I was totally lost. When I needed to find the snakewomen (there were no clues to that as far as I can remember) and the classic black beast confrontation which I hated. I loved the magic system. If an Arx2 is produced, I'll be buying it.
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If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Tue Jan 14, 2003 10:46 pm |
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Merz
Protector of the Realm
Joined: 22 Oct 2002
Posts: 260
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I like most of Arx's elements (when considered separately): skills, NPC, levels, attention to details etc.. However I feel that relationship between some of these elements, and elements themselfs when combined, could have been better balanced:
e.g. alchemistry or lockpicking, are fine in itself, but have high requirements to be useful straight away. To develope them one has to level up, but there is not enuf XP in the game. Close to the games finish, the skills are finally high, but Arx's world is small and there is nothing left to explore: no uknown territoty, no extra side quests to keep you going on (I certainly would not like to re-explore the many times crossed levels in search of chests I missed). At the ends, a player misses out imo one of the game's best features: interaction with world, object combination, etc,,
I wish the skill requirements (at least for lockpicking and alchemistry) were lower, or to compensate for high requirements, there were more possibilities to get XP, or the world were bigger with more monsters and sidequests.
Finally, Arx seem to expect a player to play in a certain way, deviation from which (which certainly can happen whenplaying the game for the 1st time) are pregnant with possible frustration.
That said, Arx is a very good game and I don't mind playing it one more time.
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Tue Jan 14, 2003 10:55 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
I'm not quite finished yet but I have quite enjoyed playing it. There are certainly some limitations that restricted it from being a classic, which is a pity because the engine, setting and interactivity are excellent.
As I see it:
- No dialogue tree; I was quite surprised by this. I don't mind linear but not having any input was a drawback.
- Lack of direction. Like txia, I must have missed the clues. I say this because early in the game I explored out of the "intended" area and broke things and got my butt whipped - which discouraged me from further general exploration. The journal needed a lot more entries, I think.
- Spells. Good fun but not practical with only three slots. And fireball is really the only attack spell you need.
- Levels/XP. I wanted to make my own potions but didn't really know how high the object knowledge needed to be. As it turned out it wasn't high enough and the low number of levels made it hard to catch up. Now I'm in the end-game I can just make potions but it's too late to be of a lot of use.
That all sounds negative but I've still had fun and I agree with corwin that it was a great first effort. In particular (apart from the protagonist), I found some of voice acting such as the goblins and trolls to be outstanding. |
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Tue Jan 14, 2003 11:57 pm |
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soltys
Magister of the Light
Joined: 12 Jan 2002
Posts: 386
Location: Poland, Warsaw |
I'm still at the beginning (level 5 at the moment, just saved that little girl - shopkeeper's daughter and tried to destroy the stone), but so far I like it pretty much.
good:
- magic system - great, though not the first game with it (b&w was before). mastering runes & spells takes time, yet it's rewarding and funny. more slots could be useful though. and rune pattern recognition could be a little improved as well.
- very good ai
- excellent graphics and sound
bad:
- more dialogue options !
- story could be a little more immersive (I still assume I'm nearer the beginning, so maybe I'll change my mind later)
- I don't quite like all that guardian stuff. I would really like to be casual human 
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Wed Jan 15, 2003 1:26 am |
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RAVENAL
Village Leader
Joined: 04 Jan 2003
Posts: 86
Location: NEW YORK |
There isn't much new I can add to what's already been said ...my gaming experience has been limited to only 2 other games for comparison...Arx seems to be going way too fast though...seems I just started and I'm at least 2/3 thru...I really would have liked to see more character choices available ...female...and some non-humans...and the JUMPING ABILITY of the character was awful...and very awkward on the keyboard...my fingers had quite a stretch...fighting seemed awkward, limited, and not very effective also...I'd like to see more and better interactions with the enviornment...what about being able to assign unused keys too...OVERALL it was more enjoyable than not...but replay value for me is probably a no(anticlimactic...been there done that)I'd love to play an ArxII... are those just rumors? ...especially if the developers read this thread first and use these suggestions...
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The Seven of Wands fortells success...
achieved by courage and determination...
profit and gain...
THE TAROT |
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Wed Jan 15, 2003 3:07 am |
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RAVENAL
Village Leader
Joined: 04 Jan 2003
Posts: 86
Location: NEW YORK |
I felt it was a much more enjoyable game when the patch eliminated the necessity to eat every 10 min or so...found that very distracting...I'd rather be involved in active gameplay like exploring or talking to NPC's or fighting than cooking or fishing or searching for food...I thought the graphics and art were very good too...would have liked more puzzles and finding items the walkthru doesn't mention...I found only a few of those and read on the forum of some others...but it was always such an unexpected pleasure to come across something new, that I'd like to have it happen more often...like searching the rafters...or looking up high on the top of a canopied bed...or roof of a building, which you must jump or levitate to...or climbing and jumping over rubble to discover something extra...more secret walls and passages to interconnect to other areas...with changes in what you may encounter each time you accessed them...something scary with a struggle involved to up experience points...or xp's given when you found some of the secret items not mentioned in the walkthru...
_________________
The Seven of Wands fortells success...
achieved by courage and determination...
profit and gain...
THE TAROT |
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Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:04 pm |
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txiabxyooj
Fox Spirit
Joined: 06 Dec 2001
Posts: 971
Location: here, there & everywhere |
there has been a good response so far to my initial question, thanks! many of my frustrations seem to be fairly common. the lack of XP throughout the game being one of them. ravenal hit it right on the head when she pointed out our heroes pathetic jump; it would have been nice to have a selection of charcters from the outset of the game (a female, goblin, or maybe even a troll!). only having three pre-saved spell slots turned into something of a frustration. i was also disappointed with the selection of spells. between fireball, levitate (in order to solve puzzles) and the occational night vision spell there didn't seem to be much point to the other spells.
arx also has many good points. i felt that the world had great possibilities. i loved the voices of the goblins & trolls. a favorite moment was sneaking out of the initial jail cell and pausing for a moment in a hall to listen to a goblin attempt to tell a bad joke to one of his mates. i thought arx had a compelling story and a cast of characters (except for the silly thing that was supposed to be a half man half god thing at the end). it is hard to seriously respect any oponant that looks like sushi before the battle has started. i also liked the feel of the tunnels. the low ambiant light that seemed to be dispersed throughout arx.
with a few changes arx could have been one of my favorite games. it will bein interesting to see what the developers do with arx 2 (if there is to be an second edition).
_________________
"The origin of things, if things have an origin, cannot be revealed to me, if revealed at all, until I have travelled very far from it, and many revolutions of the sun must precede my first dawn. The light as it appears hides the candle." --Santayana
=member of the worshippers of the written word=
=member of the Non-flamers' guild= |
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Wed Jan 15, 2003 5:56 pm |
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Danicek
The Old One
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic |
I really enjoy this game. It is too hard for me, but I like it. There are ofcourse not only strong sides, but also weaknesses.
But Arx is very special game and I know many players who do not like it at all. |
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Wed Jan 15, 2003 6:50 pm |
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Merz
Protector of the Realm
Joined: 22 Oct 2002
Posts: 260
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I really enjoyed the amount of detail that went into the environments, characters and atmosphear (exept for the human kingdom).
Loved that earth goblin hunting a rat at level 5 
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- Merz |
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Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:37 pm |
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randy3099
Head Merchant
Joined: 09 Jan 2003
Posts: 57
Location: columbus ohio |
ties with diablo II for my favorite. we have come a long way, baby, since myst, which i gave up on early due to the need to some puzzles created for stephen hawking.
arx is fantastic, am playing it a second time just killing everything.
the only drawback i see is the xp system and the massive need for side quests or additional monsters to kill. come on. yslid bunker sucked as far a s guards. he couldnt afford to employ more guards? the temple had more priests. but... i am convinced that if you did the inut side quest, maybe others too, the game automatically took on a new level. after inut, the monsters seemed much smarter. whoever has worked on the AI is brilliant.
ill buy Arx2. we should be able to keep our items to start the next game with though. and hopefully arx2 will have more character choices.
of course i think arx2 has to have Shany as a grown woman or something. i know she had something to do with bringing akbaa here.
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Those who can, do; those who cannot, teach. |
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Thu Jan 16, 2003 4:31 am |
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k'tav
Village Dweller
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Posts: 16
Location: arx |
i think arx is a great game!
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aam morte vitae |
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Thu Jan 16, 2003 8:18 pm |
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