Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura by Troika Games, released in 2001 is one of the most distinctive RPGs of its era. The setting was Victorian steampunk: gnomes building steam engines, elves preserving ancient spells, newspapers sold on the streets, trains cutting across the continent. The atmosphere was remarkably dense — the world felt alive long before such genre hybrids became fashionable.

The central mechanic was the physical mutual exclusion of magic and technology. The closer a character leaned toward the technological pole, the worse their spells performed, and vice versa: firearms misfired in the hands of a mage, potions had no effect on an engineer. This created genuine dilemmas when choosing equipment and party composition — the choice carried mechanical weight rather than being purely cosmetic.

The role-playing possibilities were exceptionally generous. A character's race determined how the entire world responded to the player: a half-ogre received contemptuous remarks from some NPCs and respect from others, an aristocratic gnome opened certain doors while a pauper opened different ones. Most objectives could be solved in multiple ways, many quests had no obviously correct answer, and side stories frequently surpassed the main storyline in depth and elaboration.

Combat remained a weak point. The real-time mode functioned poorly, companion AI let players down, balance was uneven, and some schools of magic were noticeably more powerful than others. Technical rough edges at launch alienated part of the audience — and that likely cost the game its commercial success.

Despite this, Arcanum gradually became a cult classic. The combination of deep world-building, mechanically meaningful role-playing choices, and a willingness to address themes of racism, class conflict, and the price of industrialisation — without moralising, through concrete situations — made it an enduring classic. Players who discover it decades later frequently call Arcanum one of the greatest RPGs of all time.