Kingdoms of Amalur: A surprisingly pleasant surprise.

[Smooth Operator]

Odd because I was describing it to people as a bland Fable:TLC, doesn't have the character, doesn't have an interesting story, the combat is clunky, takes way too long to kill enemies, the UI is straight from 1980s, and some sound effects are from the same period,...

If they were asking $20 for this then alright, but it's the full triple A price... that is just insane.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It was interesting, don't get me wrong, but it was also hoooorrriiiiffffiicaallly generic.

Actually, in the age where dark and gritty fantasy is the norm I'd call something like Amalur anything but generic. Neither was the gameplay itself really.

True though, the themes, story, characters and general setting does seem rather generic, but it's fresh looks and fun combat definitely lifts if above just being a generic, mediocre RPG. I love it's audio so far as well.

And you say that it reminds you of WoW like it's a bad thing. Sheesh, if there's something I love about WoW other than the music is the fantastic environments. Blizzard really is a master in atmosphere design.

 

[putowtin]

were engaged in a wholesale wrecking

what an excellent way of putting it

In summary, if you like the idea of a game that is basically Fable-but-good,

The first fable was good, it's just what PM did with the series afterwards that made folks cry!

OT, played the demo too, was ok and worthy of a purchase when the price drops

 

[Erttheking]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Something made by EA for cross promotion and it DOESN'T SUCK?! IMPOSSIBLE! We all know that EA are the anti-christ and are completly destroying Bioware!...seriously people, calm down about these guys, they're not saints but they're not the devil either.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I dunno. I liked the demo, but it seemed to lack some scale. I felt boxed in the demo area but that is probably because it was just a demo.

I enjoyed the combat but it makes crazy when any game adds weapon degradation grrr. I won't mind as long as a fully disabled weapon doesn't become permanantly destroyed and is just removed from active use because I would be very perturbed if my staff of ultimate pwnage gets lost forever because I forgot to duct tape it together again in the middle of combat.

 

[Skoldpadda]

I'll call it right now: Yahtzee's gonna review this one.

 

[Cowabungaa]

God dammit, why is that comment generating so much backlash? If anything, reminding people of the most important/influential game of the 2000s (WoW) should be considered a good thing, or at least a compliment. No, drawing comparisons to WoW isn't bad so long as you're not blatantly ripping it off, something KoA is most definitely NOT doing.

Because you said it in combination with other not very positive sounding comments, resulting in the WoW comment sounding negative as well. It's just the way your post is structured.

I'd also say that the combat isn't like Dragon Age 2, as it's way more direct than DA2's and without the very important tactical screen, and a lot more like an expanded version of Darksider's combat.

But yes, the story sounds pretty generic. But I won't mind that much if they manage to tell it in an exciting way.

 

[IridRadiant]

Played the PC version on Steam. It reminds me of a cross between Rift and Dragon Age with character models updated from Neverwinter Nights 2 and a new combat system (I haven't played Fable).

It took me a while to get used to the camera being bound to the mouse and the clunky movement controls - outside of smoothly moving forward - but overall, I liked the dodging, melee, sneaking, and spellcasting. The autotargeting on the ranged attacks needs work, but it is a demo. I'd prefer it if I could aim my shots, but seeing as it's made for consoles, I'll give it a pass.

It's "unresponsiveness" is merely the assertion that you cannot change what you're doing instantaneously, which is fine by me. I think it would be better if they assigned the shield to the offhand (instead of taking the Link route of summoning it out of thin air whenever you wanted) and made it more responsive as I would rather dodge away than block attacks.

 

[teebeeohh]

Also, KoA take the KoTOR approach to dialogue, which involves your non-voiced character standing about with all the expressiveness of a fence post while you click your way through the conversation.

you know, i actually consider that a better system than the mass effect "give vague hint what the answer might contain" dialogue wheel. The number of times i wanted my slap my character for being stupid in conversations.

 

[DustyDrB]

In my mind, this is the Fable 2 that I always wanted. So I'm happy.

 

[BoogityBoogityMan]

Button mashing zero challenge combat, auto targeting, simple cartoony graphics, no jumping except when 'jump now' gfx appears, nothing interesting story wise in the demo, horride UI for pc that cannot be fixed because no mod support, QTE ugg, corridor with fork 'open world', combined with over the top hype from dev/pub and $60 price tag.

ummmm, no thanks.

At least with Skyrim, you knew the game would have legs if only because of mods.

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

And it gets worse...

http://www.destructoid.com/kingdoms-of-amalur-hides-seven-quests-behind-online-pass-220459.phtml

 

[daveman247]

Also, KoA take the KoTOR approach to dialogue, which involves your non-voiced character standing about with all the expressiveness of a fence post while you click your way through the conversation.

you know, i actually consider that a better system than the mass effect "give vague hint what the answer might contain" dialogue wheel. The number of times i wanted my slap my character for being stupid in conversations.

I actually enjoyed that aspect of the wheel. You never knew what shepard was going to say EXACTLY.

Though at some points the reactions were a bit over the top XD

"I'll snap him out of it" *Pucnhes character*

 

[hydroblitz]

Being a huge Todd Mcfarlane fan, I am most definitely looking forward to this game.

 

[Krantos]

Fable-but-good

Wow, I've been trying to figure out how to describe this game in a concise way, and that pretty much sums it up.

Yeah, it's no Skyrim, and I didn't really have time to fiddle with the crafting, but what is there left me pleasantly surprised.

I agree with everything you said, especially the Interface. So wait? In order to equip a sword I have to enter the menu, then go to inventory, then go to weapons, then select primary, then the weapon? That is wrong in so many ways.

While I'm not sold on the obviously WoW-esque visuals I am surprised a game this good looking runs this well on my PC with the settings on max. During my time in the demo the FPS never dropped below 25 and it only went that low once in a while.

This is why good games need to have demos. I had absolutely no interest in the game, but saw the demo and thought, "Might as well. So few AAA demos come out these days." Now, I'm seriously debating picking it up. I'll probably wait until some reviews come in (Hey escapist, can we get Susan to review this one? Please?) and if they sound decent (via content, I ignore scores), I'll get it.


I just wish EA wasn't the publisher, but the dev is an independent studio (not PW'd like BioWare is) so I guess that will do.

 

[dimensional]

I cant decide whether I like or dislike the demo it looks nice and all and seems slightly different to what has gone before but it feels like its suffering from an identity crisis to me it felt like a poor rpg/poor action game hybrid maybe thats what they were going for and maybe it will end up greater than the sum of its parts but it didnt gel in the demo as well as I would have liked.

The open aspect of the world initially appealed until I realised all I was doing was running around killing nearly the same critters over and over again. I wont be getting the game full price but when its about half price I may have a look, plus although it is only a demo it was ridiculously buggy dont know how many times the floor disappeared on me plus it crashed as soon as I started playing which didnt feel me with confidence (but then again so did mass effect 2).

 

[Makon]

I am pleasantly surprised by Amalur. Don't get me wrong, there are a few quirks that rub me the wrong way but ultimately didn't detract from the demo for me. Example being the camera, though that might simply require me getting used to it.

The aesthetic felt very nice, especially in a world where the average fantasy world is embodied by Demon Forge. I think all the comments comparing it to WoW are overblown, and that comparing them to Fable feels more appropriate.

In a number of ways, I'd say the Fable comparison is more appropriate than anything. The fluid change of styles in combat, the three separate skill schools, the aesthetic, ect. I think that if you took some of Fable's core concepts and added in some of the old-school elements of traditional fantasy, you have KoA:R.

As for the story; in the demo at least, it does feel very 'traditional' and generic at first, but keep in mind, we have no more than one quest for the story in the demo. For all we know, later on, it'll become a very unique and interesting story. I think the use of Destinies and Fate in the game are interesting as well.

Overall: Better than expected, eagerly waiting for full game.

 

[JokerboyJordan]

All the comments that say it's like WoW are correct, it's like Wow, not a Wow rip off.
It is what felt like to me, a very generic fantasy RPG, of course that's entirely my opinion, it takes a lot of elements for traditional RPGs and yes, it does play like Fable, but I think it's combat is also similar to DA2.

I think it may have garnered slightly more positive feedback if they released a newer build for the demo, seeing as in my game the jump didn't wor, I couldn't talk to non-essential characters and the characters I could talk to? The game skipped through their dialogue .

Of course I got past the tutorial dungeon before any of that happened, but by then...
I was bored to tears and I just killed everybody (including the guards), and I just got away with it. That sucked.