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[Let's Play] Arx Fatalis
Fenton
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Roughly six years ago, in November 2002, Arkane Studios released this little gem of a game that apparently flew under most everyone's radar. Based in Lyon, France, Arkane are better known today as the developers of Dark Messiah, a great game in its own right.
Designed as a spiritual successor to Looking Glass Studios' Ultima Underworld series (they were unable to obtain a license for the UW name), Arx Fatalis is a first-person roleplaying game set entirely underground.
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FOLLOW ALONG:
Interval 01: Escape!
Interval 02: Reunion
Interval 03: Instigator
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WHERE CAN I GET A COPY?
For those of you interested, the game is available on Steam for the low price of $10! Go get it now!
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Here we have the character generation screen.
- Armor Class
- Resistance to Magic
- Resistance to Poison
- Life Energy
- Mana
- Damage
That should all be pretty straightforward.For the right page, starting from the top left and going right:
- Strength
- Intelligence
- Dexterity
- Constitution
These comprise the four base attributes. Following these are the various skills:Determines your damage bonus and your ability to carry and use heavy weapons.
Strength also modifies the skills object knowledge, close combat, and distance weapons.
Determines your total mana and increases your resistance to magic.
Intelligence also modifies the skills ethereal link, magic, technical skills, intuition, and object knowledge.
Determines your accuracy and increases the chance of a critical hit.
Dexterity also modifies the skills technical skills, stealth, close combat, distance weapons, and object knowledge.
Determines your total health and increases your resistance to poison.
In addition, a higher constitution allows you to wear heavier armor while granting you a bonus to your base defense.
Modifies your backstab bonus, overall visibility, and footstep volume.
With a value of 50%, you can pickpocket certain items from other characters. A higher value allows you to steal larger items.
Determines your ability to pick locks and disarm traps.
Helps you detect hidden objects, secret passages, and traps. With a high enough skill, you can even detect invisible enemies.
It also modifies your bartering skills, granting you a bonus when buying or selling.
Allows you to detect nearby hostile creatures and provides information about your opponent's status during a fight.
It also modifies your mana regeneration rate.
Determines the condition to which you can repair weapons, armor, and other items.
It also determines your ability to brew potions, poison weapons, and identify objects.
Constitutes your ability to cast spells; every 10 points grants you access to a new level of spells.
Also, a higher magic increases your resistance to magic.
You receive bonuses to your damage and critical hit rate the more points you place into close combat.
These bonuses are only applicable when you have a melee weapon, such as a sword, equipped.
The same applies here as with the close combat skill, except the bonuses are only attributed to ranged weapons.
Determines your ability to effectively use a shield, as well as granting you bonuses to your base armor class and resistance to poison.
Ugh. I feel stiff all over. What happened? Where am I?
Hey!
This looks like a jail cell, but how did I get here?
Hey! Stranger, we have to get out of here.
It seems, at least, I'm not alone.
I'm not sure who this man is, but he seems to be in the same predicament as I am.
He says there isn't a way out on his side and that I should check on my end. It wouldn't hurt to look I guess.
Not here. This portcullis won't even budge.
Hello. What's this? These bars seem to be loose. Maybe if I just..
Success! Now to deal with that goblin. I should probably arm myself.. Hmm.. this bone could work.
If I manage to get him with his back turned, I may be able to knock him right out.
Okay, not as easy as I would have hoped, but what's done is done. Now to let this other guy out..
Says his name is Kultar and he's a member of the Guild of Travellers. Can't say I've heard of them.
He also suggested that I take on the name Am Shaegar; at least until I can remember who I am.
There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go but down, but Kultar is insisting that I go on alone. That limp gives me the impression that he's seen better days.
From what he tells me, there should be a way back up, so hopefully I can get us both out of here and to someplace safe.
That's assuming I can still walk after this.
This is why I love this website... I find people like .... me
<cough>
Is the sneaking in Arx Fatalis intuitive? I've tried so many games where the sneaking system is either outright hopeless or so unforgiving that you may as well be wearing a vest of cymbals.
It's pretty intuitive I'd say. It's no Thief, but it's acceptable.
That actually sounds really good. I'm looking forward to seeing Am Shaegar stab people in the back of the head.
Out of curiosity, what kind of stats did you assign your aryan ubermensch?
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
That's true. A text-based one is typically so much better edited and cleaned up.
The mental imagery of this is too much
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
Are they not readable?
Strength: 6
Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 8
You're given 16 bonus points at the start to distribute among the four base attributes. The bare minimum for each is 6, which is why the number next to strength is red.
Stealth: 40
Technical skill: 30
Intuition: 24
Ethereal link: 20
Object knowledge: 28
Magic: 20
Close combat: 28
Projectile: 38
Defense: 24
And an additional 18 points to distribute among your skills.
Everything seems intact, though there isn't much I can see in all this darkness.
This is encouraging. It looks like this corpse has been here for some time. There is nothing really of value left, but these leggings look like they might fit.
It's not my first choice, but it beats wandering around in my skivvies.
Sounds like something is moving around in there.
Giant rats? That would explain those bones being picked clean.
Sounds like there are more of them up ahead.
Hmm.. I'm not sure where the path on the left leads, but the one on the right looks promising.
Mining equipment? How far underground am I?
Wait.. what is that? Is that a lift?
Damn. Just my luck; the lift's broken. It looks like the gear belt is missing.
Peculiar..
Someone must have placed these stones here to cover this pressure plate, but near as I can tell, it doesn't actually do anything.
I am not looking forward to meeting whatever made this.
Another fork. There are more of those cobwebs covering the path to the left, so I think I'll stick to the one on the right.
From here, I can hear the faint sound of running water.
A waterfall, albeit a short one. The current doesn't appear to be too strong; I may be able to follow this ravine down a ways and see where it leads.
Looks like a little nook off to the left. Or who knows, maybe it leads further downward.
Another corpse. Can't say I'm surprised considering the abundance of oversized vermin down here. This one looks a little fresher though.
On the body, I find two flasks filled with a strange-colored liquid. One yellow and one purple. There's also a piece of parchment with weird writing on it.
Looks like this is my stop. The water trickles down another cliff just past those metal bars.
Still warm. Someone must have been using this as fishing hole.
Fighting giant rats is one thing, fighting giant spiders is something else entirely.
With just this bone to fight with, I think I would prefer to keep my distance. I check what I have on me, but fail to find anything useful.
All I have is this scroll and I don't even know what it's supposed to do.
That spider doesn't seem to be going anywhere, so I guess I can try to decipher this writing..
What the.. !
That was close. I damn near broke my arm trying to bludgeon this thing to death.
As I try to recompose myself, I notice the writing on the piece of paper is gone. It's completely blank.
More of the little nasties. I hope I'm not walking into some kind of infestation.
Rope. I can maybe substitute this for the missing gear belt for that lift.
Another pressure plate. How did this not catch my eye when I first came in here?
Ah, there we go.
It looks like a hidden room. A study or a storage room of some kind.
Damn it all.
There isn't a whole lot in here, but this key might be good for something. I haven't run into any locked doors, or any doors for that matter, but I'm sure it goes to one somewhere.
Guess I should pocket it for now.
It seems to work, let's give it a shot.
I'm beginning to sense a pattern here.
Both paths seem like they could lead up; maybe I'll try the left for a change.
The view from up here looks familiar. I must have worked my way around to the other side of that waterfall.
There are a couple barrels strewn about, but they all appear to be empty. There's something over on that island though.
One fork leads to another. It looks like there is another room to my left.
Another goblin. This one looks more formidable than the one back in the cell room.
Me bring you back to cell now. . .
You can try.
Much to my surprise, Kultar appears from around the corner just as the goblin begins to shamble my way.
While Kultar had the goblin occupied, I managed to sneak up behind him and..
Kultar snaps me out of my reverie.
I ask him how he managed to escape.
From the way he described it, he caught another guard by surprise right as they came in. I suppose he wasn't as injured as I first thought.
He still has that drag in his step, but he handled himself pretty well back there.
Just as I turn to leave, this catches my eye.
The sign reads "Reservation."
The door is locked however. I put two and two together and dig out the key I found earlier.
There isn't much inside save for a small amount of food reserves. Some flour, a couple apples, an uncooked chicken leg or two, and a little bit of wine.
I head back out and towards the stairs. The portcullis is up; my guess is Kultar fixed the lever while I was collecting supplies.
Just as I pass through, the ground shakes vigorously and I nearly lose my balance.
Whatever the cause of that was, it can't be good.
Level up!
I'll second that
Yes. Here's to hoping it shows up on GOG soon.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Nah, I'll stick with Steam, 10$, but now I don't know which one I should get, this one or Dark Messiah :P
Well, you could post it as a video, or do what I've seen some other LP's do. Post an image of the beginning of the conversation, and then post the rest of the conversation in text with perhaps an Avatar sized screencap of the speaker's face next to each line they speak.
Regarding the lack of polish- at one point you can break the game by sneaking into a place and picking the lock, then sprinting past the NPCs and triggering a script that's not supposed to happen at that point in the story. Also, there's no real reason to be a thief, because money's not worth anything. Potions? Finate amount in the game, far fewer than your money could buy. Weapons and armour? Can't use the expensive ones anyway because you're a thief. Also, good fucking luck beating the final boss as a thief, I never managed.
So I take it that a Mage-Thief is the best way to go if I want to experience the most of this game the first time through?
And yes, if you want to get the most out of the game, then you should focus on stealth and magic.
More corridors. I am getting a terrible feeling of déjà vu walking up and down these stone hallways.
I can't quite make it out, but it looks like a barracks up ahead. I guess I'm not out of the woods just yet.
As I crept closer, I could hear these two conversing over a game of sorts.
The one nearest me seemed to be down on his luck, so the other, to lift his friend's spirits, presented him with a joke.
You know why grey goblins have moustaches? ..to remind them of their mothers!
I can hardly tell the difference, so the joke was lost on me.
I must not have been the only one because after a few laughs, the other goblin prodded his friend for a response.
That funny, ah?
Not funny! Me mother is grey goblin!
Ouch.
I wasn't about to engage an angry goblin, so I headed back out and swung right.
As I approached the doorway up ahead, I saw that the door was already open.
I had no reason to doubt Kultar, but there is more to him than perhaps he had led me to believe.
By his description, Kultar had surprised the guard right as he entered. That doesn't explain how the hole in the floor has been bolted shut.
My guess would be the guard came in, saw what looked like an obvious escape, and left to get the needed supplies to cover the hole.
Kultar probably waited for the goblin to return to see if he had alerted any of the other guards.
But why would he risk being discovered unless he knew he could handle himself? Then that begs the question: how was he captured in the first place?
I suddenly realize I'm standing in the middle of the hall, in plain sight, when there are guards within earshot of my position.
I ease the door shut and continue down the hallway.
The path winds slightly to the right before straightening back out. The path ahead is certainly well lit, but there isn't much I can make out from where I am.
I proceed cautiously with both ears open.
I can just make out the sound of footsteps up ahead on the right. Before I investigate, I extinguish the torch on my left with a flask of water I had found earlier.
I'm not sure how well these goblins see in the dark, but I'd rather not risk the chance of being spotted.
Another jailroom. At first, it appears vacant, but I catch a glimpse of what looks like a prisoner in the cell on the left.
A goblin patrols the far end of the room, stopping for a few moments at each corner. I am about to step forward when I notice the prisoner is, in fact, another goblin.
I hug the wall and watch as the captive goblin pleads with the other for food and water. Zuuk, as he's addressed, responds in an uncharacteristically high voice, "You shut mouth, filthy traitor."
Interesting. I may be able to use this to my advantage. For now however, I head back out towards the branching hallway.
Quiet in both directions. I decide to check the room on my far right.
I see this to my left as I move forward: a reinforced door with a small window in the center. I'd be lying if I didn't say that piqued my interest.
Rather than feed my curiosity, I turn my attention back to the room on the right.
Two more goblins. I seem to have stumbled in on them mid-conversation; I distinctly hear one mention Zuuk leaving.. something.. leaving something lying around?
I try to move closer to make out what they're saying.
Me say, one more dirty plate, just one more, and me kill him!
I wonder how much truth there is to that.
Back in the jailroom, I swipe one of Zuuk's dirty plates..
..and position it somewhere where it can be seen.