Reviews - GrEg_StAr_3000

I can´t see a god damn Thing! ;) A nice little Mod, that comes along with an interesting and BIG impact which changes the entire approach within game by simply removing formally artificial generated lighsources, and where the only two possible ways in providing the means to see what lies before you are A) torches & B) to some extend, magic-spells´n Gear, adding more realistic, thrilling as well as claustrophobic components to Arx Fatalis. Though torches in Vanilla-Arx could be used in order to light up certain areas´n spots, but at the end of the day played almost no critical part what so ever, they absolutely do now, amping up the whole exploration-aspect within the many dungeons one is going to visit to 11!!

- If only the little amount of Assets or NPS´c wouldn´t still give off a certain degree of glow, which the creator pointed out in his Mod-Summary is not changable due to hardcoding-reasons, I would not hesitate to give ,, Complete Darkness ,, a wooping 10 out of 10. Nevertheless, one cool and serious modification!

This modification is a MUST-HAVE addition to Arx Fatalis and helps to improve many aspects of the core-experience by adding as well as expanding new content on a variety of key features within the game itself, and providing a significant number of QoL-Components which, after applying this Mod, you don´t want to miss anymore! The prime reason why fan´s of Arx Fatalis absoultely need to install the ,, Extended-Mod ,, is the fact that there are just way more interesting items to correspond with, both repurposed old one´s that couldn´t be obtained before and bring their own little quest´s along, and completely new one´s made specifically for this Mod, like to just name one, the great & mighty Dwarven Tool - Chest that allows you to craft various armors which now even more so welcomes you to try out different playstyles. - Simply said - There is just ,, sooo ,, much more to do! =) It is because of this fact, that the gameplay expands itself on a scale, that is more comprehensive than ever before and should please every adventurer within Arx, that want´s to get the most wholesome experience imaginable, without distancing it to much from the original feel & gameplay.

After hours of suffering and trying not to lose my temper within the many tweaks and changes this modification has provided to Diablo, especially during the countles battles, I can honestly say that I don´t have the patience to torture myself any further with ,, The Hell 2 ,,. Seriously, for whom is this mod desined for? In my opinion most certainly not for fans of Diablo, who are looking for a new reasanable yet challenging quest. How can it be that my only chance of emerging victorious in battle, when NOT having a 20+ stack of Life-Potions in my inventory, is to force myself to flee once spotted by an enemy-pack, and head towards narrow door-spaces or halls in order to fight one fiend at a time?? Why is it that even by clever AND appropriate use as well as combos of my gear towards certain enemies the effects are next to useless?? Because of what reason is it, that I am more than sometimes at later stages presented with a barrage of enemies, RIGHT at the beginning of a dungeon-entrance, just to find out that theoreticly my whole game became next to useless because I saved the moment I entered the new level, not realizing that there are a split second later stacks of enemies heading my way and forced me long since into battle-mode, making a reload next to useless or escape impossible?? This mod is just unbalanced. ( . . . ) For what reasons is it that the first difficulty ,,Horror,, is giving the player already such an unforgiving time, when one would think that by wise and proactive use of Loot, Skill-Points and the overall mechanics natural progress should be no mammoth-project whatsoever with the 1st difficulty. Instead the player is forced to constantly watch out for as small mass-encounters of enemy-packs as possible; even as a warrior with high amounts of ,,Dexterity,,. By all that is holy, I´m not trying to discredit the overall work of the Mod-Creator for it is my belief that there has been done many ,,Quality´o´life,, improvement to Diablo that help to make it more accessible, and that is a good thing to be. But still, even having said that, I can´t help but say that I had a really unpleasant time because of the overall unbalanced nature of this mod and the enemies. Normal progress is not possible within ,,The Hell 2,,. Instead run away from enemy groups all the time like a little girl, as to force them to fight you one at a time because they are simply to brutal with their given stats. And don´t expect to stand any chance against the later enemies or even unique monsters within your 1st playthrough. Besides all that, it´s my opinion that there are not enough appropriate leveled enemys, as to gain enough experience points to stand a chance against the later confrontations. While I´m most certainly no die hard-expert when it comes to Diablo, this unbalanced mod ruined the entire experience for me. I mean, what? Am I really supposed to fool myself in starting a new game with all the loot and EXP I gathered up untill now, and start farming new loot and reach high enough level´s on the same difficulty in hopes to have a more enjoyable run and reach my goals? I don´t think so. . .

By all that is holy!! The long anticipated preview of Pedro Ordaz´s Mammoth Project Arx-Insanity was at last unleashed upon the world of Exosta & Earth- and that is just fantastic, but why do I feel that way? While the Insanity-Mod itself is still beeing developed, nevertheless ver 0.4.6 as of this time of the review, is already giving us a supreme demonstration in terms of technical finesse, dedication and the modcreators overall love to Arx Fatalis. The first and most obvious improvement that you will notice right from the intro, are the enhanced visuals- never had textures and objects looked sharper, finer & more rich in detail within Arx then now! Adding on to that, there has been a countless amount of newly rearranged as well as previously unused 3D-Objects/NPC´s/Enemmies and assets throughout the levels. It is because of those changes that the individual areas with their halls/corridors/chambers etc. look much more lively and busy, but also at the same time way more dirty and vulgar in their appearance- which is a good decision because this is exactly what you´d expect to happen, if a civilazation composed of different races with their various Ideologys & personal goals in life was forced to live alongside each other underground on a more or less tight spaced delicate caveecosystem - There will be tensions! And if that wasn´t enough, one is even presented with completly new cinematics alongside many newly added Characters! As for the Auditory-Department Arx-Insanity shines, or to be more precisely sounds more amazing than ever before. Not only were almost all soundeffects reworked into more deep, crisp & clean samples of their old counterparts in order to present a more vibrant echo that helps to generate a more uncomfortable yet believable atmosphere for the many caves you are about to visit, but there were also different themes remastered into high definition alongside new intriguing tracks to further enhance the mood in Arx. With all that said: A real treat for the eyes & ears! But make no mistake, there´s more!! In my opinion the new features that Arx Fatalis benefits the most from the Insanity-Mod, are the new fluent Fighting-Mechanics with a much faster pacing, the expanded gameplay and the overall whole stability. Now this is what you call superb! The many battles you have to face feel a lot more natural & dynamic. With the exception of encountering Ylside´s, fighting in Vanilla-Arx almost felt entirely alien due to the fact that the overall pacing during confrontations and movement of your foes was always too slow, making the outcome relatively easy for the player, but not with this modification! This time you have to be really on your toes and watchfull of each and every fiend you face. In general and from the first minute, the gameplay in ,,Insanity,, feels just so much more solid and polished. Although the Arx Libertatis-Mod helped a lot to bring a more stable experience to players or to make it even run on modern OS´s at that time, things still felt a little bit off, giving the feel that the game remained unfinished and sometimes even broken. -With ,, Insanity ,, this is now a thing of the past! One more thing I have to point out is the use of magic; Drawing you runes never has been more comfortable! Insanity´s rebalancing of the Spell-Casting just feels so good and is much easier to performe, even at dire situations. Furthermore, you have now even the ability to approach you enemies from within the shadows themselfs and execute Stealth-Kills! Lastly, the levels: For where some of the areas in Vanilla-Arx apart from the Crypt are a little empty for my personal taste, and in a lot of ways scarce in terms of obstacles one had to overcome, decides ,,Insanity,, to go for the clever approach in actually using all those empty places within the given layout in Arx, and simply making thing more interesting. Now levels provide you with different segments as well as possibilities in approaching your goals within their areas, which are for the most part obstructed by all sorts of newly added gates/trapdoors & portculisse´s. This is forcing you to spend more time in a specific levelpart- which yet again is a good thing because it provides you with more interessting content and is in my opinion much more rewarding than just to walk from A to B unhindered. As a Die Hard-Fan of Arx Fatalis I´m blown away with the results of Mr. Ordaz´s Demo. Jugding by the fact this Mod is still work in progress, but seeing what has already been acomplished with the ver 0.4.6, one can only be thrilled, what the final release will be like! But Apart from all that: I strongly recommend to anybody who had some run in´s in the past with Arx Fatalis to check this modification out for it became in my eyes an absolute must have should you crave for nothing less then the ultimate experience in Arx! Pedro? You did a great job man. ;)