Remember Troika Games? I'm sure you do. It might not be a good memory, too -- if you've ever played Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, it might have left just enough of a sour taste in your mouth to not have anything more to do with Troika. However, a hidden (or not-so-hidden) gem that also came from Troika was Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, a profoundly compelling game that deserves to be commemorated as the year draws to a close.

RPG + Steampunk = Arcanum

It's not like the fine folks at Troika were new to the industry -- after all, they were the masterminds behind Interplay's classic Fallout -- so Arcanum had a little credence going for itself from the onset. What set it apart from other games at the time was the sheer level of immersion that allowed the player to truly enjoy the world of Arcanum without having to muck about with typical RPG pitfalls such as shoddy itemization or boring quest plots.

I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of RPGs. Sacrilege that may be, I just can't get into games that progress at a snail's pace such as RPGs do. However, upon experiencing Arcanum for the first time, I became so engrossed with the story and intertwining character developments that it winded up being one of my most treasured games.

I had gotten hooked at the meticulous webwork of Arcanum's Victorian-esque society; I was reeled in by the clashing ideals of ancient magick and progressive technology, befitting of the steampunk genre; I was awestruck at the sheer multitudes of items and monsters that populated the game world, without being too overbearing; I was dumbfounded as to how Troika managed to pull it off.

Tying in to Cosmo's earlier writeup on the often fickle process of choice within video games, Arcanum continued the happy tradition set by Fallout that placed you in a game world in which you can practically do whatever the hell you want. That was another alluring element of the game -- if I wanted to strip off all of my armor and streak through the town while drunk, nothing could stop me! Well, except maybe the local constabulary, of course. Still, the freedom to actually pull off a stunt like that was a refreshing take on stuffy video game parameters that typically shunted you from linearity to linearity.

Arcanum's interface was very clean and robust.

Of course, there were a few hair-tearing moments. It mostly had to do with the slip-shod performance of the actual game rather than what was contained inside it. Arcanum shipped incredibly bugged and it took the work of a few dedicated gamers to eventually squash all the problems that had cropped up. Besides the technical hiccups, there were a few spots in the game where I was reminded of why I tend to shy away from RPGs -- namely, when I got teared apart from an overly difficult encounter due to my party not having the chops to survive. Fair enough, I would wander off and gain a few more levels to ease the pain...oh, and I would probably construct one of those big freakin' Tesla cannons that you can craft. Yep, that's awesome.

"I can also clone your hat."

It's evident to all alike that Arcanum represents a staple of gaming history that imparted what an RPG should always be like -- engaging, memorable, but most of all, liberating. Having the creative freedom to actually explore and approach the challenges set forth by the game from unique angles would wind up to be a de facto formula for a successful game in the future. Sure, contemporary games may just be a glitzy graphics engine propped up with some sort of game play element, but the fundamentals are still there, and they were established long ago with games like Arcanum.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go give some Earl Grey tea to a monocled Ogre to complete a quest.