@TheLeamenator: But isn't that an everyday part of being a gamer that hangs out on forums and talks about this stuff? I see something EVERY SINGLE DAY that someone else thinks is amazing and I think is just okay. I'm not good at explaining why I like pizza. I can tell you a few things that make up why, but in the end I just freaking like pizza. Games are often the same way. We can give you the combat, art style, exploration, whatever components, all day long. But with those of us that think the game is cool, we just like how they all meld and we find it interesting. I think you just need to leave it at that and move on. There are surely games you like that other people hate. It makes sense to you, it doesn't to them. All entertainment is this way to me. Call this explanation lazy, but it's really that simple. I freaking loved Too Human, and I'll be damned if I can ever explain that to someone who hated that game.

@TheLeamenator said:

I suppose I just don't understand why some people are going absolutely "gaga" over it. It looks all right. It looks like a fairly competent fantasy RPG, but nothing special. At least not in a "MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF 2012!!!" sort of way. 1. The story and the storytelling is pretty awful. 2.Sure, the world is big, but the paths in between key locations are relentlessly narrow. The game does have an okay art style and the combat is certainly a huge improvement over something like, I dunno, Skyrim. 3. But that's really only as a result of it being developed solely in third-person. So, 4.if the only thing this game is really doing better than other recent fantasy RPGs is having a somewhat distinctive art style and a combat system that doesn't suck, but is then failing at doing what those other games do so well (storytelling, vast exploration, etc.), I just don't get it. Can someone please explain to me just what it is that makes it so appealing? I'm all ears. I won't be a dick. I'll listen... Just as long as you don't lazily continue on with saying "opinions". Now, that's just lazy.

Okay, here goes. I'm inserting some numbers into your post and corresponding counterpoints. Note that a key piece of a person's anticipation for a game is their frequency of game consumption. I buy 1-2 new games per month, I have Final Fantasy XIII-2 coming, Syndicate most likely as well. If someone is the type that buys a game every 4-5 months, hitting only the biggest tentpoles at launch, I wouldn't expect them to be super excited about Reckoning.

1. I can't do anything with that but tell you that the plot premise holds potential, and I've dug a little into the lore on amalur.com and think it'll be pretty good in broad strokes. The conversational part of the storytelling, you're right, is not the best. Watching NPCs go through canned gesticulations while exposition flows forth is a few steps behind Mass Effect 2, which I consider the pinnacle of cinematic storytelling to this point. If you value others' views on such things, the guys on GBcast this week all seemed interested by the premise.

2. That's the negative side of the coin. To use the natural comparison, areas in Skyrim are terribly vast, so much that I'm often wasting my time trying to find paths up mountains that simply aren't there. The narrower pathing also allows for more specialized, unique-looking set pieces. Whether or not that pays off, we'll see.

3. That's not really true. Plenty of third person RPGs with shitty/passive combat. I see plenty at a glance on my shelf.

4. Here's a big thing. I'm done with Skyrim. I'm done with Dragon Age 2, and The Witcher 2 isn't coming til April. There's room at my gaming table for more than one or two RPGs per year, because I love the genre. If people still have things they want to do in Skyrim, by all means wait for a sale or skip Reckoning. I'm just ready for the next RPG.

I just see a lot of potential. That's why I'm excited, why I'm taking Tuesday off. I want to see the places and people connected to the entries on the lore website, more pieces of fantastic gear like the two purple pieces I've seen in the demo.

It looks like a fairly competent fantasy RPG

Sure, the world is big, but the paths in between key locations are relentlessly narrow.

 But that's really only as a result of it being developed solely in third-person.

 So, if the only thing this game is really doing better than other recent fantasy RPGs is having a somewhat distinctive art style and a combat system that doesn't suck, but is then failing at doing what those other games do so well (storytelling, vast exploration, etc.), I just don't get it.

 I just don't get it. Can someone please explain to me just what it is that makes it so appealing? I'm all ears. I won't be a dick.

@Blind_Evil: Fair enough. Just one thing I wish to say: I personally think Grand Theft Auto IV is the pinnacle of cinematic storytelling in video games - not Mass Effect 2 (so maybe that just shows where my interests lie). Thanks for the detailed opinion.

@TheLeamenator: GTAIV is definitely strong in that regard, but to me Rockstar has a bad habit of making 8 hours of amazing narrative surrounded by 20 hours of non-optional filler gameplay. Had the same issue with Red Dead Redemption. The last 4 or so hours were amazing, but the middle 10 seemed like nothing but a tease.

@Blind_Evil: It's interesting how everyone always says the middle of Red Dead Redemption is the weakest part of that game, whereas that whole side story set during the Mexican revolutionary war is easily the best part of that game for me. From the characters to the beauty of the terrain to the grandiose scope of all the events that happens there, Nuevo Paraiso easily stands above the other two acts... At least, that's how I feel.

Opinions.

 I won't be a dick.

I haven't looked into this game, almost to the extent that it doesn't really exist, not because I have anything against it, it was just never a game I had on my mind. But I was just on IGN, and they have their review up if you want to go check it out.

@kingzetta: I won't be a BIGGER dick.

@DragoonKain1687 said:

It felt like the first Fable, but with more cool stuff.

That's essentially what I thought. A mix of Fable, maybe a dash of Oblivion, and a drop of God of War, and we get Reckoning.

Graphics were never really one to irk me unless they're spectacularly bad, not as in ugly-bad, but unoptimized-PoS-bad. Combat looks fun, and the story holds some potential, so it's definitely on my radar.

Damn you all. Grow up and stop bickering.

@TheLeamenator said:

@Blind_Evil: Fair enough. Just one thing I wish to say: I personally think Grand Theft Auto IV is the pinnacle of cinematic storytelling in video games - not Mass Effect 2 (so maybe that just shows where my interests lie). Thanks for the detailed opinion.

I despise GTA IV. So yeah :P

Also..Because I like the colors and the combat :D

@Still_I_Cry: I think the very idea of "despising GTA IV" is ludicrous. So yeah :P

@Storms said:

@Desiant: Ever played Dragon Age? The menus and level-up screen are carbon-copies of that at some points.

I have, actually, both the first and second (enjoyed them both, I'm not horribly picky about my game mechanics).

Though the thought on the menus is interesting. I played on PC, and found it rather clunky (the UI and the camera are just about the only problems I have, aside from that, it works better than when I played it on my PS3, especially in the framerate department). Strange that I didn't even notice the similarities.

The only reason I think this game looks good is because it's fucking incredible.

Other than that, no reason I guess.

"cough" some of the devs are friends of the site "cough" "cough" that's why "cough"

Joking aside I also think this looks boring. I thought Skyrim was boring so i'm a lost cause. Some people are just into this whole fantasy stuff which is why it's appealing to them.

@Nottle said:

@Lagaroth said:

Because some people have different opinions on what is generic and boring than you do. /gasp

I don't get how generic can be an opinion.

Okay, let's put it another way. Your definition of generic is wrong.

Because Curt Schilling

why do people like thngs!

@jmrwacko said:

@Nottle said:

@Lagaroth said:

Because some people have different opinions on what is generic and boring than you do. /gasp

I don't get how generic can be an opinion.

Okay, let's put it another way. Your definition of generic is wrong.

1 a: relating to or characteristic of a whole group or class :general

But facts can't be wrong, This ^^^ is a definition of generic. If something is factually similar to it's group that isn't an opinion.

An RPG that doesn't play like absolute garbage and is nearly on par with a character action game, nobody would ever enjoy that. So the story is generic fantasy but to be realistic here for a second every fantasy is generic fantasy and if you can't see that you're in an absurd state of denial.