Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

[LOG]

Release date: February 07, 2012

Good idea.
Three months after Skyrim...may not be enough if it's as large or larger than Oblivion, but it's a goodly gap for those who won't obsess with beating the game at least several different ways, with several different overhaul mods (though those will of course take some time).

Video games, why must you ruin my wallet!?

[LOG]

I love Ken Rolston's energy in this video.
The only problem comes if it's not everything he says it is . . . he'd be like Peter Molyneux on a sugar high.


There's a huge media compilation on their forums here.

Three
Question and
Answer threads.

[LOG]

20-minute demo.

I like the UI.

At this point the only thing that would excite me more is if they gave it a toolset.

There's a definite Elder Scrolls and WoW influence. But that's hardly a bad thing.

Some Destiny cards.

[LOG]

Hero's Guide to Factions and Fae.

[Opty]

Originally Posted by LOG

Official Site

Saving the world, and
Seeking out immortality.

At first quick glance, I thought this said "seeking out immorality."

THAT would be an amazing game.

[LOG]

Originally Posted by Opty

At first quick glance, I thought this said "seeking out immorality."

THAT would be an amazing game.

Any WH (40K) game ever made. :P

[LOG]

Key characters
Factions

[LOG]

Inside Reckoning: Cinematics

[LOG]

Guide to Amalur: Fate and Destiny

Video discussing the game's mechanics a bit more.

Right now, the biggest concern I probably have is just how different the experience can be each time. A lot of RPGs say that each playthrough can be really different, but only a few can actually pull it off.
DA:O was pretty good at it.

[LOG]

Impressions article

At the end of my time with the game, I've reached two conclusions. First, Kingdoms of Amalur is not going to blaze any new trails. Second, it's definitely a game I want to play.

[LOG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZzbx6WGSk

[efkelley]

Ran through the demo, largely at Penny Arcade's prompting, and Gabe's assertion that combat in Amalur isn't a 'chore' like it is in Skyrim. For my part, I think Gabe may be Doing Skyrim Wrong, but whatever. Skyrim melee can be a bit vanilla where a brawler game like Amalur will make it at least look neat.

Overall this is solid. The writing beats the hell out of Skyrim (admittedly that's not hard to do, and I *did* only play through the demo so I have no idea how it pans out). It's a brawler game, no doubt. Lots of flashy moves. Lots of combos. Lots of entertaining ways to employ combos. Now, how long will that hold my interest? Hard to say.

Picking flowers is laborious. It's part of why I almost never use alchemy in Skyrim, and it's no different here. And there are TONS of friggin flowers. I'd want a mod to turn off the glowy effects on lootable flowers. Don't care. At all.

Class progression is a matter of talent choices and gear selection. I can have tons of magic points invested and only use daggers if I want. I'd be silly to do it, but the option is there. I didn't see a ton of synergy in the three talent trees (Warrior, Mage, Rogue), but I'm sure that improvising players will develop some interesting builds.

Overall I don't think I'll buy this one out of the gate. I'll wait for the reviews, and possibly a Steam special. I'll pick it up at some point though. It's worth that much.

[Swannington]

I enjoyed the demo for this. I'm a big fan of bright, vibrant worlds like Fable. The more color the better.

I'll be buying this, but not at full price. Will pick it up later this year when it is cheaper.

[LOG]

Angry Joe's Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C43RMBx9wQ

So, not the best RPG of the year, probably not even in the top 5.
But it's still very solid.

[InfiniteDreamer]

I love this game so far..well I've just passed the tutorial level so there's a lot more content for me to look forward too. If only I could get some game time as it's my husband's game and he's been playing it since he got it :P

[Maxinquaye]

Kingdom of Amalur appear to be dead, as well as the studio that made it. And they owe Rhode Island over 100 million, because Rhode Island gave some kind of subsidy to lure the company from Massachussets.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/0...-entire-staff/

For many first-time game developers, selling 1.3 million copies of their first game in 90 days would be a major accomplishment. For Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios, though, that sales performance wasn't enough to pay back sizable loan guarantees from the state of Rhode Island, or to prevent the company from having to lay off all 379 staffers in the state and at Maryland-based subsidiary Big Huge Games late yesterday.

The layoffs effectively end one of the most prominent experiments in direct state support for game development in the country. Rhode Island had to issue $75 million in bonds to help attract the studio, founded by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, from its original home in Maynard, Mass., on the promise that the move would create hundreds of jobs in the state.

This might be more for P&CE but why does a state give money to something as fickle and insecure as a startup games company?

[efkelley]

Yeah I'd heard about this. Really a shame. The game was pretty decent, and it even had an interesting story (RA Salvatore does pretty well sometimes).

It may have been a state program that Big Huge Games applied for. Hard to say. They may have been better off staying where they were. But, hindsight equals perfect vision and all that.

[Maxinquaye]

I actually went out and bought this game. It was in a bargain bin here at GameStop in town.

I'm loving it!

[DragonHeart]

That sucks. I've been planning on picking this up, just haven't had any time for gaming recently. The demo was pretty cool and I like how you could unlock equipment for the full game just by playing it. Although it would suck for my wallet, I wish they'd put more full games up on the PSN--I would have bought it already if that had been the case.

[Maxinquaye]

I just finished this, and it was amazing. I loved the combat system in this. It's more of a combat RPG than Skyrim. Combat in Skyrim is, honestly, subpar. But in this game it was fun.

The story is about the same quality as any other RPG. That is, not much to write home about. But it's as good quality as Bethesda and BioWare can do. But the combat is FUN.

It's open world like Skyrim and Oblivion, so you're not locked to the areas that the devs want you to be in. Like in Skyrim, you can visit any location you've already visited freely. It has a bare-bones crafting system around blacksmithing (armor/weapons), alchemy and sagecrafting (making gems and crystals that enhance your gear).

The world is both lyrical and cartoony. Sort of a celtic dream fantasy thing with fae rather than elves. In fact, you can play elves, but elves are mortal in this game, along with humans and gnomes. But you can't play gnomes. Like in WoW gnomes are technological beings, or tinkerers.

In fact, a lot of the game reminds me of WoW - except that it's more beautiful. And, the combat is FUN!

[efkelley]

Brawler combat can be really entertaining. I wish more games would embrace it.

[Mharvey]

It's interesting so many folks liked it so much.

I, personally, dropped it in a hurry. I felt like I was playing a garden variety MMO that forgot other players. It was loaded with irrelevant, grindy quests. My personal favorite was, I think, the very first side quest... apparently, I'm the only one qualified to keep a dying fae from bleeding to death all over the public square. So, I get this order to go on a quest, but I'm thinking: "Why can't I just use a healing potion here?" Oh well. So, I need to go on a lengthy quest while she's bleeding to death in the middle of the street being ignored by everyone else. Then I speak with another fae to find out that I can, in fact, JUST USE A HEALING POTION. Then, I come back, and do what I wanted to do to begin with. That one left me scratching my head and saying "Well, that's just about the stupidest quest I've ever seen in a game. Period."

That sorta set the tone for the rest of my experience.

Second, I felt that the combat was reminiscent of World of Warcraft at low level, where I push a max of like 2 buttons and everything dies. I'd be a little more forgiving if this game hadn't advertised nothing but it's amazing combat system. A "level first, have fun second" system was really a let down for me.

I dunno. This one was just not my cup of tea. A completely inferior game to Skyrim in every way IMHO.

[Maxinquaye]

Well, there's no accounting for taste.

I loved it.

[Zoombie]

I found it getting dull fast...

[efkelley]

Originally Posted by Mharvey

A "level first, have fun second" system was really a let down for me.

I dunno. This one was just not my cup of tea. A completely inferior game to Skyrim in every way IMHO.

I'd argue on the writing, but I agree that you need a few levels before the combat gets interesting. I only played the demo, but by the end (using the magic tree) I had several options based on opponent type, number, and concentration. Still, having to play three hours to get to the meat is a bad idea.

It's a tricky balance, innit? You don't want to overwhelm a new player with a billion options, but you don't want to force advanced/veteran players to slog through killing rats for five levels.

Anyway, when this goes on special with Steam I'll probably pick it up. 15 bucks is my price point on this one.