Kingdoms of Amalur: A surprisingly pleasant surprise.

[Frost27]

I had fun with it but I don't know if I had enough fun to buy it. I probably will though because there isn't much else coming out this year until later so I need to find something to pass time. It REALLY reminded me of Dungeon Hunter 2 with an over the shoulder camera both in look and feel.

I went into it expecting that sort of experience and that is what I got. Though I found myself hating the NPCs and storyline and just wanting to continue my bloody swath of destruction.

From the very start, the storyline rubbed me slightly wrong, from having the very first non combat NPC you meet get in the way while you try and loot (I had an Ironic chuckle at the fact that this was occuring during the tutorial and was probably, like everything else, a primer for what I was in for for the rest of the game). To the creepy, armored, Grizzly Adams looking Ms Cleo wannabe you meet just outside of the intro dungeon. Hopefully it won't be so bad later in the game when free roaming is possible.

I have seen a couple posts about "derviative story" likening this to The Witcher et al. due to the starting out dead bit. Not necessarily accurate, but close. Keep in mind one of the three big names behind this project is Todd McFarlane, the fellow who created spawn. This is his one and only storyline. The evil elves bent on destruction, all Salvatore.

 

[The Wykydtron]

It was ok... I couldn't really tell if it was good because of the nightmarish migrane the floaty camera gave me... Fuck it's like Vanquish (the only other game to give me a migrane within 2 minutes) took WRPG pills, took off it's rocket boots and died. Shame i loved the whole rocket boots thing, it was like DMC in the future and on entirely too many drugs

Still the actual OHKO stealth kills are a nice breakaway from the classic "you have nine arrows in your face and you're fine" staple of the dice roll damage WRPG. Just disregard that crap and stick 'im in the kidneys

 

[boag]

And it gets worse...

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

Well I expected as much from EA, guess Im going to wait until its in a bargain bin.

 

[TD_Knight]

The game itself (i.e. the actual gameplay) isn't terribly generic, but the story (from what the demo shows) definitely seems to be... in my opinion, at least. I'm a fan of Salvatore's works, but I get the feeling he might've phoned this one in. I'll reserve final judgment until the game is actually released, though.

Maybe I'm just cynical when it comes to RPGs, but most every RPG seems to have you play as some 'chosen one' who is the only one who can save the land/world/planet/galaxy from some evil overlord/eldritch abominations/monsters/dragons, etc.

And they usually go about saving the world by doing an inordinate amount of kill and fetch quests for loot, cash and xp so that eventually they can become godmode and turn into a big goddamn hero.

 

[BoogityBoogityMan]

Maybe I'm just cynical when it comes to RPGs, but most every RPG seems to have you play as some 'chosen one' who is the only one who can save the land/world/planet/galaxy from some evil overlord/eldritch abominations/monsters/dragons, etc.

And they usually go about saving the world by doing an inordinate amount of kill and fetch quests for loot, cash and xp so that eventually they can become godmode and turn into a big goddamn hero.

haha, great post.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Snip!

Actually, the Tuatha (the army you're stuck with having to deal with) are pretty much loosely inspired by the Tuatha de Danaan - the Children of Dana; which refers to the Celtic pantheon in general. I was pleasantly surprised in seeing that the game ignores the usual conventions (Orcs are bad and elves are awesome! Ugh.) and cribs instead from Shakespeare's perception of the Fae and of the usual divisions that we've slapped on them. The Summer and Winter Courts, the Wyldfae, etc.

It's a nice change from your straight-up Tolkienesque universe.

Now on the flipside; if they'd wanted to find a proper name for an evil Fae king, they missed their mark. "Gadflow" looks more like a stuffy swear word you'd hear in Victorian England and less like the surname of some kind of evil wizard-king.

What bothers me, though, is how the game contains no codex. For something that's trying to set up a massive universe, it seems contented to just dump exposition on your ass. That's all well and good in the first couple chapters of a new fantasy series you've just started, but in the context of the game needing to flesh out an entire world?

Meh, I dunno. At least, I could mentally fill the blanks with Skyrim and figure out what my character knows from the onset. My Dokkalfar, on the other hand, is a completely blank slate. He knows nothing and needs everyone to blab on about things that should be painfully obvious, because my ignorance is my character's, as well. Skyrim tends to handle that one little aspect a tad better, IMHO.

 

[Zhukov]

Snip!

Actually, the Tuatha (the army you're stuck with having to deal with) are pretty much loosely inspired by the Tuatha de Danaan - the Children of Dana; which refers to the Celtic pantheon in general. I was pleasantly surprised in seeing that the game ignores the usual conventions (Orcs are bad and elves are awesome! Ugh.) and cribs instead from Shakespeare's perception of the Fae and of the usual divisions that we've slapped on them. The Summer and Winter Courts, the Wyldfae, etc.

It's a nice change from your straight-up Tolkienesque universe.

I don't know a thing about Celtic mythology, but I did find the whole Fae business vaguely promising. The one bit of memorable dialogue I got found in the demo was with a Fae (the one sitting above the village).

On the other hand, the Fae in the game aren't at all, well... fey. Shouldn't they be shadowy figures glimpsed among the trees? Y'know, rather than standard NPCs and redshirt enemies t be slaughter en masse?

Ah well. At least they don't have bows.

 

[Something Amyss]

And it gets worse...

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

Aaaand this was what tipped me back away from getting it right away. I don't like online passes in general, but an online pass in an offline game?

 

[Something Amyss]

On the other hand, the Fae in the game aren't at all, well... fey. Shouldn't they be shadowy figures glimpsed among the trees? Y'know, rather than standard NPCs and redshirt enemies t be slaughter en masse?

Based on what? I only ask because you've already said you don't know much about Celtic mythology.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Shouldn't they be shadowy figures glimpsed among the trees? Y'know, rather than standard NPCs and redshirt enemies to be slaughter en masse?

Ah well. At least they don't have bows.

Yeah, there is that. Depending on the writer, the Fae tend to be used in different ways, but the "aloof forest pixie" route hasn't been trodden by the industry in quite a while. It's like everyone figured out that hey, the Fae are kinda supposed to make Faustian bargains with mortals, so it's not like they can *stay* aloof. Not much bargaining gets done if you stick to the shadows.

Aaaaand then, they fuck things up by turning them into faceless and eminently killable meatsacks. Oh, well. Nobody's invented the one video game formula where the player encounters precisely zero resistance, yet, and nobody should.

Because if we don't have our faceless redshirt armies and if something vaguely original can be too much to ask for on occasion, what are we left with? The "Press X to Win" game, which costs 60$ plus online pass and with 15$ DLC to mix things up and press Y to win, instead?

Cynicism for the win!

 

[Zhukov]

On the other hand, the Fae in the game aren't at all, well... fey. Shouldn't they be shadowy figures glimpsed among the trees? Y'know, rather than standard NPCs and redshirt enemies t be slaughter en masse?

Based on what? I only ask because you've already said you don't know much about Celtic mythology.

Because what little I do know of Celtic mythology gave me the impression that Fae and Sidhe and whatnot were distant, mysterious and generally not to be fucked with by mere mortals. Y'know, the sort of thing you might catch the merest glimpse of before running the hell away, the reason mothers warn their kids not to try and find the source of that music that can be heard in the forest at night, that sort of thing.

Not a production line sword-swinging mook that you kill for 5XP.

Aaaaand then, they fuck things up by turning them into faceless and eminently killable meatsacks. Oh, well. Nobody's invented the one video game formula where the player encounters precisely zero resistance, yet, and nobody should.

Because if we don't have our faceless redshirt armies and if something vaguely original can be too much to ask for on occasion, what are we left with? The "Press X to Win" game, which costs 60$ plus online pass and with 15$ DLC to mix things up and press Y to win, instead?

Cynicism for the win!

I guess. Perhaps it was unrealistic of me to think a game could involve a fantastical race without also involving the player effortlessly killing them by the truckload.

 

[Corven]

To me it's a game that could have been great back in 2006.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

The demo was enjoyable enough but almost every negative comment brought forth towards it, I agree with. A lot of issues with the combat, the art direction leaves a lot to be desired, its very generic feeling.
I was pretty interested when I saw that a lot of the lore was coming from Irish Mythology. I was hoping to see delightful twists on it like the fae I was used to dealing with in Dresden Files. I was disappointed from what I saw though. I also thought I heard Simon Templeman's voice in there, which is almost guaranteed to make me buy a game but who knows.
I will probably pick it up eventually when the price goes down but no way I can bring myself to drop 60 dollars on it.

 

[AlotFirst]

To me it's a game that could have been great back in 2006.

I fully agree with this statement.

 

[veloper]

To me it's a game that could have been great back in 2006.

I fully agree with this statement.

Why specificly the year 2006? It's more meaningful to pick a year from the previous generation.
Both the 360 and ps3 were out in 2006. Take 2004, that's primitive graphics.
Not that I'm a graphics whore myself. Just saying.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I played the demo of this last night and it was a really good game even when I was nearly falling asleep.

I have reviewed it for a podcast I write for and my review was nearly all positive remarks. I love that it seems to be a kind of Frankenstein monster of a game. Like someone taped Fable, a Bioware RPG and Skyrim together.

The only thing I didn't like about it was the upgrade and inventory UI it was very slippy and slow to respond but the combat controls were very nice.

The graphics also look pretty gorgeous on my PC with only the uncanny valley NPC's letting it down.

 

[Bostur]

My impression is much like Zhukov's, I didn't expect much but was pleasantly surprised.

The combat feels good, the voice acting is decent. The dialogue writing seems well polished, except maybe that the made up fantasy names can make it hard to keep track of characters.

The RPG elements feel standard, with some unique touches like the fate cards for specs. There seems to be some incentive to find lore items for stat gains. Crafting and items seems well developed with some potential for depth.

Aesthetically it has a shiny, naive feel. It looks good but may be a turnoff for some. I think it's nice that not all games are grim and dark.

The flaws were pretty minor. Some glitches that are often common in demos, actions and movement getting stuck or triggering at the wrong time.
I also noticed a few annoying 'consolisms' that most games of the genre has. Inaccurate controls, menu items nested far too deep, quick time events. But considering that Skyrim fares much worse in this regard it didn't seem like a showstopper to me.

It feels a little generic. The major point for me would be how well the storyline develops and how game balance works at higher levels. This is hard to judge by a demo.

I'm a little cautious and will probably wait for some good reviews. My guess is that it will turn out to be an average but worthy game.