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Arx Fatalis
This critically acclaimed first-person RPG from Arkane Studios takes the player on an amazing journey into the fantasy world of Arx. Arx is wrought with turmoil, brought to the brink of destruction by a violent war.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
33 of the 88 reviews raise this.
“One of the best RPGs I ever played, with great object interactability, puzzles and secrets that are difficult, but you can solve them by thinking about it and looking carefully at every detail. The unique magic system…”
“You combine water with flour to make dough, use the rolling pin on the dough to make raw pie, manually place the pie near a fire to watch it cook. Dragging items in and out of your inventory and into the game world in…”
“Arx Fatalis is a great early immersive RPG. In 2002 it was WAAAAAAY ahead of it's time and I still remember being stunned about what you could do like cooking, blacksmithing, casting spells by tracing runes in the air…”
10 of the 88 reviews raise this.
“Of all the old-timey RPGs, Arx Fatalis is easily one my favorites. Though gameplay mechanics didn't quite age well: it's a tad janky, and with spells, outright clunky. All the same, Arx Fatalis delivers a fantastic…”
“Arx Fatalis is a fascinating, immersive RPG buried under frustrating controls and UI. There’s a lot here to love - the underground world is unique, the opening hooks you with an intriguing setup, and it scratches that…”
“Quite fun, cool story too! Magic is almost a requirement, since a melee-only build is much more difficult. Big minus: The magic casting by drawing is a bad gimmick. Its fun for learning new spells or pre-casting them,…”
9 of the 88 reviews raise this.
“Of all the old-timey RPGs, Arx Fatalis is easily one my favorites. Though gameplay mechanics didn't quite age well: it's a tad janky, and with spells, outright clunky. All the same, Arx Fatalis delivers a fantastic…”
“I love the setting of Arx so much and wished more games were like it. It definitely shows its age in places but there really isn't anything else like it and it's such a shame.”
“A fantastic, atmospheric RPG. Everything ran flawlessly with the Arx Libertatis Community Patch. No crashes and 2K resolution. I still think it looks great. Highly recommend playing a mage, as the spell system is unique…”
4 of the 88 reviews raise this.
“One of the best RPGs I ever played, with great object interactability, puzzles and secrets that are difficult, but you can solve them by thinking about it and looking carefully at every detail. The unique magic system…”
“A fantastic, atmospheric RPG. Everything ran flawlessly with the Arx Libertatis Community Patch. No crashes and 2K resolution. I still think it looks great. Highly recommend playing a mage, as the spell system is unique…”
4 of the 88 reviews raise this.
“*note: did not finish* It's everything I say I want in a game, why did I hate it? What's wrong with me? +Zany twist on a Western Fantasy setting. +Delightfully strange voice acting. +Lots of immersive sim systems. +Art…”
16 of the 88 reviews raise this · 9 of them still recommend the game.
“Of all the old-timey RPGs, Arx Fatalis is easily one my favorites. Though gameplay mechanics didn't quite age well: it's a tad janky, and with spells, outright clunky. All the same, Arx Fatalis delivers a fantastic…”
“Don't buy this, even for 1$ (which is what I got it for). I watched reviews ahead of purchase, was warned that the "draw lines to cast a spell" system "takes a couple of tries". What they SHOULD have said is "It is…”
“Gothic did everything better a year earlier.”
15 of the 88 reviews raise this · 11 of them still recommend the game.
“Of all the old-timey RPGs, Arx Fatalis is easily one my favorites. Though gameplay mechanics didn't quite age well: it's a tad janky, and with spells, outright clunky. All the same, Arx Fatalis delivers a fantastic…”
“You combine water with flour to make dough, use the rolling pin on the dough to make raw pie, manually place the pie near a fire to watch it cook. Dragging items in and out of your inventory and into the game world in…”
“Arx Fatalis is a great early immersive RPG. In 2002 it was WAAAAAAY ahead of it's time and I still remember being stunned about what you could do like cooking, blacksmithing, casting spells by tracing runes in the air…”
14 of the 88 reviews raise this · 11 of them still recommend the game.
“One of the classics, truly a favorite. Big cult following. Absolutely worth the money - but be prepared for a little bit of tinkering. The magic system will feel impossible to get right at first without mods - this is…”
“Literally went all Vigor and its HILARIOUS. It has some of the most impressive magic I have seen in a game and is quite complex. A little obtuse to know WHERE to go but as long as you pay attention you'll be fine. Use…”
“It's good if you like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, dungeon crawling, utilitarian magic, lots of neat systems and interactive elements. Not so good if you like to play as an archer, and don't like figuring lots of…”
6 of the 88 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“One of the classics, truly a favorite. Big cult following. Absolutely worth the money - but be prepared for a little bit of tinkering. The magic system will feel impossible to get right at first without mods - this is…”
“Of all the old-timey RPGs, Arx Fatalis is easily one my favorites. Though gameplay mechanics didn't quite age well: it's a tad janky, and with spells, outright clunky. All the same, Arx Fatalis delivers a fantastic…”
“Yes, I recommend it. Yes, you do need Arx Libertatis to properly enjoy the game on modern hardware. Yes, Arkane dropped the ball by releasing Arx Fatalis on Steam in a state it is in now. I understand that for a studio…”
5 of the 88 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Don't buy this, even for 1$ (which is what I got it for). I watched reviews ahead of purchase, was warned that the "draw lines to cast a spell" system "takes a couple of tries". What they SHOULD have said is "It is…”
“Yes, BUT as others have pointed out, you need Arx Libertatis to run this (some anti-virus softwares give virus warning, but it is false). And the game shows it age - you get stuck easily on textures, npc have awful…”
“Один из лучших иммерсив симов и просто хорошая игра. В конце правда сюжет очень скомканный и без подсказок хрен разберешься пока сто раз всех нпс не перетыкаешь. Так-же словил софтлок при первом прохождении на [spoiler]…”
Counted across 88 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 87.8% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Not even 2 bucks! If you enjoy oldskool RPGs that can get confusing without a guide but make exploration and experimenting even more exciting I recommend this one. Slap on the Arx Libertatis mod (VERY IMPORTANT!!!) on it https://arx-libertatis.org/ and you're good to go. The…”
— a player, Steam review · 34 hrs played“When people say this game is underrated they mean it! Arkane was really ahead of their time back in the early days when they were still starting off and Arx really shows it, Arx is a first person dungeon crawler and immersive game with a heavy influence and inspiration from…”
— a player, Steam review · 44 hrs played“This might be one of the coolest RPGs (maybe even games in general) I've ever played. There are so many unqiue systems here and they all work really well together. You cast spells by drawing them, you use your inventory by opening an interface and physically dragging stuff from…”
— a player, Steam review · 25 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Arx Fatalis Patch Notes - May 28, 2020
Updated to run on Windows 10 Stability improvements Various bug fixes
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | RPG |
| Player tags | RPG · First-Person · Dark Fantasy · Classic · Immersive Sim · Atmospheric · Fantasy · Singleplayer · Underground · Adventure · Action · Dungeon Crawler (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Russian |
| Official site | http://www.arxfatalis-online.com/index_eng.php |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Windows XP, 500 MHz Pentium ® III or compatible, 64 MB RAM , DirectX 8 or higher, DirectX 8 compatible sound- and graphics card with 16 MB, 750 MB fixed disks Recommended: 900 MHz Pentium ® III or compatible, 256 MB RAM , DirectX 8 or higher, DirectX 8 compatible sound- and graphics card with 32MB, 750 MB fixed disks