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What It Is: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Brad returns to share his knowledge after a trip to the fantastical realms of Amalur.

Dec. 10 2011

Posted by: Vinny

253 Comments

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csl316

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Edited By csl316

I was excited about this, then I tried the demo and was sort of underwhelmed. But by the end, I made enough progress and got into enough fun battles that now I'm sold for sure. Cool game.

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Residentrevil2

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Edited By Residentrevil2

I'm reminded of Fable 1 and Jade Empire. Both were colorful and had free-flowing combat systems.

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deactivated-629eab11cc270

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U.I. and graphics look gross. Looks cool though.

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LevelRouter

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Edited By LevelRouter

Not into the art style but otherwise stoked for this.

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NDN_Shadow

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Edited By NDN_Shadow

I'm glad I watched this, I really enjoy games with fast paced, skill based combat like Devil May Cry / God of War / Ninja Gaiden, but I also love RPGs, so this really got me excited and looks to fill my niche.

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benderunit22

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Edited By benderunit22

The UI looks like it's designed for SDTVs.

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

So is this just replacing Ask Me Anything now?

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babblinmule

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Edited By babblinmule
@darkjester74 said:

The UI looks circa 2007. Other than that game looks fun, excited to play it!

I'm really getting massive Fable 1 vibes from that UI.
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Zaapp1

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Edited By Zaapp1

Why aren't these called Ask Me Anything anymore?

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BNB82

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Edited By BNB82

I think that I will preorder this. My list of must-haves is quite short for 2012 compared to 2011 and besides Mass Effect 3, I can't think of another RPGish type that I want to play.

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majid

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Edited By majid

WOW! Most of the menu/interface stuff looks directly ripped from DA 1 & 2.

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chickdigger802

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Edited By chickdigger802

Had no interest, until the 'rogue' class part. I guess I'll play that 'class' when I pick this up someday.

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Rowr

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Edited By Rowr

Looks like what Too Human needed to be more like, to actually be good.

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SatelliteOfLove

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Edited By SatelliteOfLove

The combat makes me crave another round of Dark Souls as its so...meek. Pass.

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DoctorWelch

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Edited By DoctorWelch

@hermes: I think we are basically both right. You're right because you're point is that there is still room for innovation it's just that developers aren't doing it and this is true. But the fact is that games are getting stale, and introducing a new hardware cycle is a the way that a new surge of energy and innovative ideas can be created and see come to fruition as a full game. Risks are much easier to take when new consoles come out, and franchises are created anew. Hardware will allow for some different systems to be put in a game you otherwise may not have had the chance to, the new consoles will naturally lead to new and exciting franchises, and the lack of games for the first year or two allows companies to take more risks because the chances that their game will sell is much higher when there is less on the market.

So yeah, maybe we dont NEED new consoles, but technically we dont really NEED any of this stuff. It's just that wave of new hardware will naturally advance development and design out of this wave of stale boring games.

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Deusoma

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Edited By Deusoma

Before I watched this video I 100% believed this was an MMO, and therefore paid zero attention to this game. Turns out it's singleplayer and actually looks pretty cool. Good thing Sunday was a slow night, huh?

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MrMazz

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Edited By MrMazz

i'll defiantly pick this up when it goes on sale it just looks like a solid game but not a specacular one ya know

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hermes

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Edited By hermes

@DoctorWelch: I agree with the conclusions you just arrived. I didn't agree with your initial commentary that we need a new console generation because its holding back game design.

Game design innovation is not being hold back because of hardware. Its being hold back because of lack of originality and a market obsessed with familiarity. There is still a lot of room for innovation in this generation left to explore... A new generation of consoles and PCs will only make that familiar design prettier.

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MisterMouse

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Edited By MisterMouse

There are definitely some aspects of kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning that look pretty cool, but it unfortunately doesn't seem to have anything super unique visually speaking to differentiate it from everything else is out there, and that is unfortunate.

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DoctorWelch

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Edited By DoctorWelch

@hermes: I'm done talking to you because you just keep trying to argue with my but everything you say just makes my point even more valid. You just gave examples of two games were looked down upon and talked about as being bland and boring because they did the same exact thing as the last generation games, just made it look a bit better and did little to nothing with the game design. You're also arguing that the same games could be made with the same design on any console no matter what the hardware and that the only point in having new consoles is because of graphics, and if that isn't what you're arguing then you agree with me so you must simply being trying to argue for the fun of it.

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ReVamp

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Edited By ReVamp

Awesome.

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hermes

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Edited By hermes

@DoctorWelch: The question is: Do you really think game design is that limited by sheer power?

The Wii has hundreds of times the computing power of the N64, yet design didn't change that much between Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. The PS3 has tenths of times the power of the PS2, yet God of War 3 design is pretty much the same as God of War 2... When CDs and DVDs became commonplace, for the most part, PC gamers didn't get better games, just games with better graphics or a lot more cutscenes; but Final Fantasy VIII and XIII are not better than VII because they need more discs.

You are mistaking game design with something else... Good design can shine even on a NES game, but no amount of CPU can make a badly designed game any better. If you believe Halo 5 will be a better game because it will be on a newer hardware, you are in for a disappointment...

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DoctorWelch

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Edited By DoctorWelch

@hermes: Yes, but like I said, the percentage of raw power you are getting out of that optimization does not increase it even as if the consoles were twice as powerful as there PC counterparts. My PC which I built for under $1000 only about 4 months ago has 16 times the RAM, 50 times the storage, as well as a graphics card and processor that is around 7 years newer than that of the Xbox 360s. So even if these consoles are twice, three times, even four times as powerful as their PC counterparts it still wouldnt matter, technology is still so far ahead of these things that making a new console will drastically impact the design ability of developers who are making games for these new consoles. And if what you're saying is true, than the consoles will be even that much better.

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hermes

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Edited By hermes

@DoctorWelch: Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Components handpicked or designed to work together will usually work more efficiently than components that were built and put together for more generic proposes (even if those components are individually more powerful). That is the reason why apple computers will work better than generic PCs built with similar specs, especially in tasks like graphic design. Both hardware and OS are optimized for it. Even if a PC could match a PS3 in pure horsepower, the PS3 does not have to worry about Direct X, media codecs or Norton running in the background.

And what do you think a new generation is about? A console put together with components that match state of the art PCs, which will take non optimized hardware several years to catch on. No magic there...

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DoctorWelch

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Edited By DoctorWelch

@hermes: So basically you're saying that putting computer components in something called a "console" gives it a magical power that enables those components to do more, and do it more efficiently (Obviously the consoles are optimized to run games because that is their purpose, but that's not the point, I'm talking about pure parts that make up the console. Plus, the OS and such takes up about 1% of the computing power compared to a top of the line game that is running on it at max settings).

The funniest part is, what you're saying there actually supports my point even more because (abiding by your logic) if we put the same components from a modern PC into a new console, that console would be exponentially better than these current consoles are by a margin we can not yet even see from modern PCs.

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myslead

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Edited By myslead

holy shit awful interface

edit: the game looks alright though

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shinluis

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Edited By shinluis

@darkjester74 said:

The UI looks circa 2007. Other than that game looks fun, excited to play it!

You made me feel really old for some reason.

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darkjester74

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Edited By darkjester74

The UI looks circa 2007. Other than that game looks fun, excited to play it!

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ProfessorEss

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Edited By ProfessorEss

I'm not the biggest fan of God of War or Fable but I enjoyed the combat in both, and a system that is a combination of the two sounds like it could be pretty fun.

It does look a little generic visually, but it still looks alright.

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hermes

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Edited By hermes

@DoctorWelch: The technology being outdated compared to PC means close to nothing when comparing them to PC. You can build a PC with the exact same specifications than a PS3 or a 360, and it would never run any of the games those consoles can. Skyrim or Skyward Sword (for example) couldn't run, not even on minimum settings; and its true that we are still scratching the limits. The difference is that consoles are PCs dedicated to gaming. They don't need to share resources with MSN, Windows Vista or the drivers of the graphics card...

A console is capable of running better games than its PC counterpart...

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natetodamax

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Edited By natetodamax

It looks pretty cool. I don't like the UI or the way the conversations look (with the black bars that cover up 70% of the screen) though.

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AntoineDiamonds

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Edited By AntoineDiamonds

I was hoping to see some footage of full Sorcery.

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guynamedbilly

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Edited By guynamedbilly

It looks fun but disconnected. Half the fun of an RPG is getting immersed into the world. I don't know.

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Shnowmon

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Edited By Shnowmon

Looks mildly intriguing to me. I will have to keep an eye on it. The UI does seem dated, but I could care less.

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mjfigur

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Edited By mjfigur

Let us also not forget that the Executive Designer of this game is Ken Rolston whom was the lead designer of both Morrowind and Oblivion. Not too shabby of a background and over 25 years of experience dating back to pen and paper RPG's.

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RagnarokRed

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Edited By RagnarokRed

I really want to like this game, but the art style is turning me off for some reason, and the UI looks like a horrible xbox game from 2002.

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deactivated-60844520306be

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This game looks a lot more appealing to me after seeing Brad's report on it.

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G0rd0nFr33m4n

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Edited By G0rd0nFr33m4n

@Luislulz said:

Looks really generic and meh.

My thoughts exactly.... I don't know what beer goggles everyone who thinks this looks good is wearing but this looks to have no innovation over anything that has come out over the past 5 - 6 years. For a game that has been kept secret and been under construction for so long I am really disappointed to finally see it...... MEH to the MAX !

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SexualBubblegumX

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Edited By SexualBubblegumX

Looks pretty interesting.

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CrimsonNoir

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Edited By CrimsonNoir

@Krelle said:

@Stahlbrand said:

The art design isn't for me. Looks silly next to Dark Souls and Skryim. WoW-silly.

Thats unfair to Wow.

Wow has a silly yet unique and wonderful art style. This game just have a rather poor art style that happends to lean towards the Wow-silly look.

Edit: And the UI is downright ugly.

Was also going to mention the UI was a bit too generic and unattractive. It really doesn't match the polish of a AAA title.

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kenniWORLDPEACE

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Edited By kenniWORLDPEACE

13:37

man, its 2011, and we still can't get a brother some decent looking cornrows in a videogame. lol, game looks awesome though.

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LiK

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Edited By LiK

Thanks Brad, I have a better understanding of what this game is now. I kinda like how they incorporated so many mechanics from other RPGs into it. Not totally original but I like the look of the world. Very colorful. Character models look like WoW but if the writing is good, I can deal.

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PhantomGardener

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Edited By PhantomGardener

I'm gonna have to agree with the rest of the dudes here. The UI looks downright ugly, I really hope they change it. Apart from that, the game looks awesome to me.

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DoctorWelch

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Edited By DoctorWelch

@AlphaZro: I dont mean to be a dick but it's clear you dont know much about technology. The technology in these consoles is soooooo old that it is actually insane. If you bought the same comparable technology to build a PC you would be building something basically shittier than a netbook, and it would barely cost a few hundred dollars if at all. Like the guys said on the one bombcast, a game like Assassins Creed could never have existed on the last generation because the technology just wasnt there to make something like that. Making consoles that have 4 times the computing power (thats just a random number) allow the developers to invent and make design choices they would never have been able to before because of technology limits.

Fact is, new consoles allow new, innovative, unique, and fresh games to come along and that is what the industry needs right now in my opinion. I am soooo insanely bored with all these games now. I really dont think I'm even going to play Batman or Uncharted because its the same old thing and I really dont care about that anymore. In the same way I LOVED COD4 but these Call of Duty games are soooooo boring.

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nights

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Edited By nights

@Aether said:

So it is like Oblvion+God of War? I would have been pretty pumped about this game if it came out like right after God of War or something but now it seems kind of boring. Pretty bummed as i was looking forward to it.

I'm not really seeing the Elder Scrolls comparison. Very little of this reminded me of Morrowind, Oblivion or Skyrim.

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DeadDorf

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Edited By DeadDorf

A good, open-world Fable? Count me in!

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ComradeKhan

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Edited By ComradeKhan

Differentiation... You're the shit Vinny

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Aether

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Edited By Aether

So it is like Oblvion+God of War? I would have been pretty pumped about this game if it came out like right after God of War or something but now it seems kind of boring. Pretty bummed as i was looking forward to it.