Reviews have been mostly positive, with IGN scoring it 8.7 and conferring the IGN Editors' Choice Award on August 24, 2001. PC Gamer and GameZone awarded Arcanum 90 out of 100, with the latter also conferring its Editors' Choice accolade. The Electric Playground awarded the game 9 out of 10, calling it "the most diverse and open-ended RPG to date." The game currently holds an average review score of 79% on GameRankings and 81% on Metacritic.