Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General Is this game anything like Arcanum?

I have only played about 60 minutes of this game, but so far it feels very different to Arcnum. Maybe it gets better later on?

Arcanum is my favorite game of all time so I know the game won't fill those boots completely, but I just wonder if theres any systems like Arcanum in this game?

Examples:

In Arcanum, you had MANY ways of completing quests/scenarios

1. First city, Shrouded Hills, you can speak to the doctor in town who has recieved a tip off that the bank is about to be robbed, you can help him save the bank and in return claim a reward. On the other hand you could track down the bandits (who carry rusty weapons, not very well equiped) and help them rob the bank, OR you could just rob the bank yourself. You could them go to the doctor, and steal the rewards he was going to give you

2. There was a FANTASTIC reaction system in the game, depending on your intelligence you would either play dumb, or be incredibley smart and people would react accordingly to this. You could also increase people in a certain town reactions towards you by completing quests, and you could also put gear on such as smokers jacket that increased your reaction and this would open up alot more dialogue and gameplay.

3. You could get fantastic gear at the start of the game by being a bit evil, stealing. For example in the first town there is a locked chest in the Blacksmiths where he keeps his stock, this is a very hard chest to pick lock early game but if you complete certain quests you could earn a fate point that would allow you to critical success the lock, at night, when the NPC is sleeping (Yes there was actually NPC scheduling, game felt very alive.) and loot stock, alot of good items to be had. On the other hand there is a travelling merchant in the first town who sells magical swords (one of the best swords in the game infact) if your brave enough, and strong enough to kill her or perhaps even pickpocket her, you could claim these powerful weapons for yourself.

These are just a few, a very small selection of some of the things that made this CRPG so incredible, and I just wonder if PoE has ANY of these features? if not then I am very confused as to what a CRPG actually is compared to Arcanum, because I played BG2 and it felt more like a storybook with gameplay consquences mainly happening in the story and dialogue then it is the actual game like Arcanum.

There are multiple ways of completing many quests. The Pet Pal talent will open up additional quests and quest solutions, as well.

There are few dialogues that take attributes or abilities into account, other than the Charisma bonus for Charm/Intimidate/Reason dialogues.
There is a reputation system, though, and characters will treat you differently based on their opinion (can be raised with quests, trading or other interactions, lowered by getting caught trying to steal or moving someone's stuff, etc), the character's Charisma and sometimes equipment.

You can steal lots of stuff (Sneak helps, Invisibility is better), and get decent loot killing some NPCs (not everything they carry if they are a merchant, though, and not end game quality stuff).

1. Original Sin is pretty good about this, most quests have more than one solution and take into account things you can do.

2. Your stats do not alter your dialogue options.

3. There is not much pre-placed loot. There's some stuff you can see, paintings and goblets and plates are worth stealing and selling. Anything in a container is random. Sometimes it's a few magic items, but other times it's uninteresting. There's no breaking into a safe to get specific items.

Arcanum does stand out for the variations in gameplay it allows, though its main quest is more limited to 2 paths.

D:OS offers some of those features (conversation options setting Traits, multiple ways to solve quests, freedom to act good/evil) and betters Arcanum in the ability to use/craft objects and interact with the environment (plus it has *much* better graphics). However I suspect you might find Planescape Torment (very dialogue heavy, unusual background, near-total freedom of main character development, interesting companions) a closer fit with your ideal CRPG.

PoE does seem to play very much like BG/BG2 but with the addition of conversation options that can set traits like Cruel, Clever, Benevolent, etc and a party reputation system that is locale-specific (killing an unpopular noble might gain you prestige in one location and lose it in another). That does make it a better role-playing experience and worth checking out, but it too has a main plotline which you have to follow at some point.

The presence of a central plotline (and the practical requirement for it to have limited branches) is pretty much universal in CRPGs. If you are looking for one where you can just wander around as you please, the Elder Scrolls series (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim) may be worth a look as well as the Two Worlds series. However that freedom tends to give them a more generic gameplay feel also.

I played Arcanum for about 4 hours then went back to Baldurs Gate 2 or Icewind Dale, it just was not my cup of tea at the time. Part wasthat it was brand new and if I remember right it was buggy and the interface was not very ergonomic, I wanted to like it. Maybe years later patched and perfected I should try that again. HMMMM oh Amazon.com wherfore art Arcanum?

D:OS does not remind me of Arcanum and I think it is better than Baldurs Gates in a heck of a lot of ways, but D:OS does remind me of Temple of Elemental Evil, Atari's D&D 3.5 vers rules turn based CRPG, which is really good as well but too short...come to think of it I think D:OS is too short as well, I always find myself at the end wanting one more act, one more dungeon,....a part 2 or an expansion.

Try GOG - their Arcanum forum has details on user-created patches and enhancements.