Quick Look: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

This looks like a fairly competent time sink. If you're a RPG junkie that's burned through all the recent releases then check it out; or just wait a few months and by the middle of the year you'll have forgotten about it.

I really wish I could get over the art style in this game. Looks like lot of fun but I detest how it looks.

I feel like the appeal here is that it's a loot driven RPG that's not just clicking on stuff over and over. That's it. They layer a lot of systems in ways I don't feel make sense that really is just other forms of leveling up and getting skills. The art style isn't terribly unique either looking way too similar to WoW for me personally to appreciate it.

The other thing is that besides the premise I could care less about this game's world or story or lore. Picture this as a $20 linear dungeon crawler with high production values instead of a lesser Skyrim (despite being priced at $60). It makes more sense to say "yeah this is like Torchlight but better". Or a good Dungeon Siege 3? Yeah that sounds right.

I have to say the worst part is the UI. Holy shit those menus are fucking terrible.

Also anyone who said this is basically a single-player MMO with good combat is spot on.

I'm really want this game, but at the same time not sure if I will play it. Decisions decisions.

Brad's throwaway comment of "set it on hard from the get go" just saved this for me. For some reason I figured you'd have to go through the whole thing first. I usually don't like super tough RPG's, but if it's based on this sort of combat engine a bit of challenge is a necessity.

Yeah after watching the game run on a pc I can safely say that the kingdom of amalur for consoles runs below 1920x1080. The hud elements are much larger and trust me the smaller they are the better. PC version for me.

@CptBedlam: Was thinking that too... Like how Bethesda leaves big open areas and you're just thinking... I could totally see a DLC dungeon here

@C_Cage said:

Yeah after watching the game run on a pc I can safely say that the kingdom of amalur for consoles runs below 1920x1080. The hud elements are much larger and trust me the smaller they are the better. PC version for me.

Uh, you can pretty much say that about any game on consoles(with few exceptions). 1280x720p isn't even a standard that is stuck too.

@hawkster said:

Looks like an offline version of WoW. Which kind of appeals to me. I might get this.

I'm getting the exact same vibe and it makes me really want to play it.

I was/still am really excited about this game partly because if I can't have infinity engine style combat I would want something more in line with devil may cry/kingdom hearts. That being said, something about the art style and UI seems really off putting. I keep feeling like I'm looking at an early build of a game. The UI reminds me of those early builds of Bastion with giant oversized UI

im an elder scrolls and fallout guy...but this game looks nice

Titan Quest and Dragon Age: Origins both had sustained abilities that reduce your mana pool while active, just FYI.

i really want to like this game, i really do but the graphics whore in me cant get past the fact that this looks like a xbox game

@Vonocourt: Yeah, all 360 games render internally at 720p max, and plenty don't reach that.

Anyway, I hate the aesthetics of this game :<

That is SO the Jarl of Whiterun.

@Joeku said:

Very Amaluring.

I love/hate you.

Hold on... every now and then, a pinata creeps in there? Sold.

This seems extremely dull and uninteresting. My real question is, why would anyone want to play this? The game is essentially a generic combat system with little to no complexity with a WOW like quest system thrown on top to give you a "reason" to actually do anything in the game because the story is not a big deal. I guess Im just saying that there isnt anything in here that is unique enough to make it appealing in any way.

Maybe something to buy later in the year, but meh. Not so excited right now and no monies to spend.

@Ares42:I'm having hard time believing how some people would prefer this action-rpg over skyrim because of the

battle and fighting elements. Everything about is so mediocre and generic...

It seems like that one of those games where you just "go" in an apparent direction and good stuff happens to you. As long as you can keep the game on and doing that, you're golden.

TL;DR of this QL:

Brad: "Wow that's really neat."

Jeff: "No it isn't."

Started playing this game yesterday and it's okay. It's nothing special and I can see why Jeff sounded so bored while playing. It doesn't do anything awful but every thing is so compartmentalized. When I started playing it the first game that came to mind was not skyrim. It feels like an mmo. The graphics look great and everything is so bright and colourful but that's kind of the problem. EVERY THING is bright and colourful. Nothing stands out. I don't even know anyone's name. The only way you can spot anything important is if it glows which is exactly what it does.

This is a stark contrast from skyrim with it's muted, mostly grey and brown palette. Despite skyrims lack of colour and limited voices every one feels like they have a personality of their own. Amalur actually has a lot more voice actors but it just can't seem to get me to care about any of them. The battle system is fun enough in Amalur but if that's all it's got then it might as well just have been a beat 'em up hack and slash.

So much of this game seems incredibly average, and games like this are the sort of thing that reminds me of any other number of action RPGs that go completely ignored by sites like Giant Bomb and others for absolutely no reason. What is special about this game aside from the people making it? The gameplay seems relatively un-challenging, the artstyle is the same old overdone WoWification that tons of other games have started adopting (something I'm really getting sick of), and in general I feel like I've seen this kind of game hundreds of times.
 
It seems above average, I guess, in what it's trying to do, but, these are the kind of instances where I get really confused in trying to figure out why some games get attention and others don't.

Looks like a single player version of an MMORPG with no soul.

@MordeaniisChaos said:

The visuals, specifically the environments look a LOT like WoW.

That's the main thing that turned me off. I hate the cartoony look.

I really hope EA and the ex-Bethesda guys here understand what made the Elder Scrolls games so fantastic and make it possible to mod the game, I think a first person mod could help this game a lot, as the third person camera controls look pretty terrible.

Ehhh...

Meh, Dark Souls is better.

@TekZero said:

Meh, Dark Souls is better.

Haha, so funny...

@fisk0: First person for this game? Thats bonkers.

@TekZero said:

Meh, Dark Souls is better.

Agreed, but this is still a good game. I would still only recommend it as a rental or as a cheap buy. The main fault for me playing it is that the world is not interesting nor are the characters memorable. Very fun but not varied enough.

I bet this game is a hell of a lot better then Fable 2 & 3.

@n0nametaz: Well unlike Fable 2 it doesn't feel like your character is constantly ice skating. So that's a plus.