Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

[dark-daventry]

Some of you may know that former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling started a game studio in Marlborough Massachusetts (a town away from me...) called 38 Studios. His company is now moving to Rhode Island, but it's for the better. A trailer for his studio's first game was recently put online. R.A. Salvatore, Todd MacFarlane (creator of Spawn) and Ken Rolston (designer on the Elder Scrolls series) are all involved. I'm very interested in this title now...

[kindofdoon]

The game looks highly unoriginal.

[drunkenmonkey]

Looks like the kind of game I'd play.

[dark-daventry]

The game looks highly unoriginal.

Be that as it may, I'm still planning on giving it a shot. 38 Studios does have other games in the works, but Kingdoms of Amalur is the first to be announced, apparently. I know they were working on an MMO codenamed Mercury or something.

Looks like the kind of game I'd play.

Same here! I'm very intrigued to see where this goes.

[LadyTerra]

The areas look cool and colorful.  I'd like to learn more about it first.

[Fierce Deity]

The gameplay in the trailer is far too cinematic for me to actually have an opinion. It looks cool, but I have no idea how it is going to play. Action RPG is the only thing that comes to mind, but it's hard to tell whether it will have a strategy-based combat system or if it is a full-on button-masher. I'll wait for more info before I make a decision.

[dark-daventry]

I'm hoping it's a full-on button masher; I excel at those. Cuz I'm a button masher.

[crayauchtin]

I'm really thrilled about two things here:

1) THAT GAME!!!

2) They're moving to RI. Maybe I should try to get a job writing for them.

[dark-daventry]

I'm really thrilled about two things here:

1) THAT GAME!!!

2) They're moving to RI. Maybe I should try to get a job writing for them.

I wanted them to stay in Massachusetts. Cuz they're literally a town away from me. Honestly, their office is probably a couple of miles away, if even. Either way, I want this game, like, now.

[Fierce Deity]

I've changed my opinion of this game. I'm now a lot more interested than before. I checked the official website and have seen how in depth the world really is. There are a handful of races, and wide open world, and apparently, an array of "destinies" (whatever that means). I'm psyched, because this might be what Oblivion should have been (at least in my opinion).

[wilco64256]

I've changed my opinion of this game. I'm now a lot more interested than before. I checked the official website and have seen how in depth the world really is. There are a handful of races, and wide open world, and apparently, an array of "destinies" (whatever that means). I'm psyched, because this might be what Oblivion should have been (at least in my opinion).

It's looking more and more like Skyrim is going to be what Oblivion should have been.  There's a Youtube video of about 40 minutes of Skyrim gameplay and it looks to have dropped everything that was wrong with Oblivion, picked up what was right in Morrowind, and then made all the good things even better.

That being said, Kingdoms here does look really fantastic and it's extremely likely that I'll pick it up.  It looks to be more action and combat oriented that the Elder Scrolls games, which could be good or could be bad.  I've played plenty of games where the action is such a strong focus that it gets repetitive early on.  One of the main reasons I enjoy Morrowind and Oblivion (Morrowind more) and the Deus Ex games is because there's so much variety in how the gameplay can be approached.

[Fierce Deity]

I never liked the leveling system in Oblivion. The one thing that stood out to me in the Skyrim gameplay video was the constellation system for your character's perks. That looks awesome, but if the leveling still requires me to run around in circles or jump up and down, it's going to be tedious. I never played Morrowind, but I intend to. I'll probably follow my instinct and get Skyrim when the Game of the Year edition is released.

Kingdoms of Amalur sounds like it will be following a standard leveling system. Your character gets different skill trees, and you progress any which way you like. But it says that depending on how you level, your "destiny" will change. I don't know if that means the story will change, but if it does, then that will offer a lot more replay value. I shouldn't get my hopes up though, in case "destiny" refers to something else.

[dark-daventry]

I seriously want this game this very instant. It's looking to be a replacement for the Fable franchise for me. I love fable, I do, but the plot gets progressively worse in each game.

[Fierce Deity]

I seriously want this game this very instant. It's looking to be a replacement for the Fable franchise for me. I love fable, I do, but the plot gets progressively worse in each game.

Fable's plot has so much potential, but I think Peter Molyneaux focuses too much on gimmicks. I liked Fable 3, but it could have been so much better. I would like to see a Fable that sheds light on the Old Kingdom, Scythe, and The Void. Instead, they focus on bringing Albion to the industrial age. They are moving in the wrong direction on the timeline.

[dark-daventry]

I seriously want this game this very instant. It's looking to be a replacement for the Fable franchise for me. I love fable, I do, but the plot gets progressively worse in each game.

Fable's plot has so much potential, but I think Peter Molyneaux focuses too much on gimmicks. I liked Fable 3, but it could have been so much better. I would like to see a Fable that sheds light on the Old Kingdom, Scythe, and The Void. Instead, they focus on bringing Albion to the industrial age. They are moving in the wrong direction on the timeline.

I liked Fable 3 as well. Personally, I think they have the right game engine, but the wrong plot. Overall, I think the engine used for 2 and 3 fits the fable franchise well, but I agree with you on the plot front. However, I'm not one for prequels; generally, I have a strong disliking towards them. I feel in a lot of ways that going backwards in time limits creativity; your limited by what has already happened. Sure, you're providing more context to it perhaps, but you can't truly create something new by going backwards. Doing a sequel, however, allows you to build on what has come before, yet explore new avenues. But for the fable series, I'm starting to wonder if a prequel really is the right way to go; I mean, the plot has just gotten so convoluted over the years. Ideally, I'd like to see Fable 1 remade using the fable 2 and 3 engine. I'd certainly buy that.

Now, to get back on topic: R.A. Salvatore wrote about 10,000 years of history for the kingdom of Amalur; everything in the game has a purpose. Old ruins belong to an ancient race that you'll learn about. The game takes place somewhere during the 10,000 years of history; where, we don't know. But having such a long timeline, they can most certainly build an entire franchise out of this, and I'm sure that's what they're planning on doing. In fact, I read somewhere that 38 Studios is also working on an MMO set in the Amalur universe...

[Fierce Deity]

Has anybody seen PC gameplay yet for this title? I've been anticipating this game for awhile, but I still don't know if it'd play better on PC or on console. It looks more like a console game, but if the PC version plays well, I'd be willing to pick up the PC version over the console one.

[Rosella]

Huh, I was completely unaware of this thread, but the game looks really interesting. My friend is buying the limited edition of it (it comes with dice! ) so I'll probably see what he thinks, but I'm definitely interested.

[dark-daventry]

Fierce Diety, I have seen PC footage, in person. The E3 Demo (which was sadly only a visual; Attendees like myself could only watch a developer play through the game; we couldn't actually get our hands on it) was on the PC, and it looked pretty good, though I imagine that the PC used was of the higher-end variety. Regardless, I want this game NOW! I have it reserved for the 360, but I'm debating whether I should switch to the PS3 or PC.

[wilco64256]

I played the demo, didn't like it, the problem is that it didn't at all "sell" the game for me. The whole purpose of releasing a playable demo is so that people will get more excited to buy your game. I'll think about renting it from Redbox for a couple of days to see if the final version is any better, but I'm entirely unimpressed with the demo. A few notes on why:

1. Very first time I tried to play the game it locked up before it even got to the first menu. Fabulous first impression there.

2. Next two times I tried to play it the game locked up on me partway through the Well of Souls so I had to completely start over.

3. Fourth attempt, really trying to find reasons to like the game now - at least this time I get out of the WoS, talk to the Fateweaver, and get through 20 minutes of my 45 minute timer before it locks up.

4. Finally on the fifth try I actually get through the whole thing. But am totally unimpressed.

5. Conversations kept randomly skipping lines without me pressing anything.

6. Framerate is all over the place.

7. The world neither looks nor feels like an original IP. It feels like I'm playing a cross between Dragon Age and WoW in a Lord of the Rings universe.

So yeah I'll give this another day or two via Redbox, but I'm definitely not going to rush out and pay full price for it. When you release a demo for something it should really shine and show off some of your best work. If this glitchy mess is the best we can expect from Amalur count me out.

[MusicallyInspired]

meh not even worth capitalizing or punctuating this post