Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura 2001

Is it still worth playing?

Troika Games' 2001 isometric role playing game for Windows, its debut. The world is moving from magic and many races into an age of steam engines and firearms, and you start as the survivor of a zeppelin crash. Character creation is classless, with several races and backgrounds that adjust attributes. As you spend points, an aptitude meter moves toward magic or technology, and each weakens the other: high technology weakens spellcasting, and high magic makes technological gear malfunction. That build decides how quests go, since many have several solutions, such as combat, persuasion, theft or bribery. Combat can be real time or turn based, and up to five companions can join, though you cannot control them directly. A world where the same quest is solved differently by different builds is still the reason to play it today.