Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

[Ingwer-Orang]

First i was dissapointed,the demo (or lets say the escape from the caves) was rather boring,but after that the game started to be really engaging.

I really like the aesthetic/graphics,the story and lore seems to be interesting and the skill and combat system is really fun.

 

[GoaThief]

It has actually sold very well for a new IP.

Source?

Latest I knew was 330,000 across three platforms... not too great at all.

 

[DoPo]

So far the posts I'm seeing from people that didn't like it aren't really saying anything bad about the game. Just that it wasn't for them or they can't really say anything specific about it that bothered them.

Again, another good sign to me. Think I'm gonna go ahead and buy it. It really had me hooked.

Yes, that is correct. I didn't particularly like the game. So to say. It just felt like D&D ripoff classic fantasy #1573. Crossed with Fable. All in all, the briefest I can describe it is Fable, but better, set in D&D. And, well, that's it, really. It didn't feel interesting enough.

Then again, Fable, but better, is enough to make me want the game. I can live perfectly fine without it, but I can also pick it up on steam when it's 66% or 75% off. It's good enough to play but not good enough to make me praise it. Which, I assume might be good in a way.

 

[Hal10k]

It has actually sold very well for a new IP.

Source?

Latest I knew was 330,000 across three platforms... not too great at all.

That was sales of physical copies in North America, and wasn't even a complete sample of them. Factor in other regions and digital distribution and that number gets a lot higher. It actually placed on the top 10 best selling games in February. That's pretty good for a brand spankin' new IP.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I played the demo to unlock the Chakra Launcher in ME3. I admittedly wasn't particularly impressed by the game. I wasn't very impressed by the character creator, the graphics I found to be pretty decent but really nothing special, I wasn't engaged by the combat style whatsoever, the writing and story seemed alright - and were definitely the strongest part of the experience to me - but I still didn't find myself being particularly engaged by it (although I blame that on fantasy fatigue, not the game itself).

Overall a decent game, but I don't see myself buying it.

 

[WaruTaru]

So far the posts I'm seeing from people that didn't like it aren't really saying anything bad about the game. Just that it wasn't for them or they can't really say anything specific about it that bothered them.

Again, another good sign to me. Think I'm gonna go ahead and buy it. It really had me hooked.

Let me help you fix that.

0) Even on Hard difficulty the game is not that challenging. If you're looking for some casual play then this point wouldn't bother you much. If you're actually looking for something difficult to challenge, you'll be disappointed.
1) Crafting is broken. The moment you get proper crafted equipment everything becomes a cakewalk.
2) Mage Tree's Meteor is on the same scale of overpoweredness, with added AoE to boot.
3) Level locking areas. The level of an area is determined by the level of your character when you enter it. The area would remain at that particular level as your character levels up. This is important because the monster level determines the type of loot you get. If you accidentally locked an endgame area to a low level, you're screwed out of luck if you wanted to do some farming for crafting gears later on.

With that said, the game as it is provide some entertaining kill-'em-all game play with lots and lots of flashy skills from the different skill trees. The multiple side stories aren't half bad, and some of them sidequests have a pretty decent story but the main story is relatively lousy. Character customization is pretty good as there is a number of crafting options available, as well as the ability to mix and match skills from different classes to suit your own play style. Overall I'd say its definitely a solid casual game which would eat up a lot of hours if you went around completing everything.

 

[ckriley]

So far the posts I'm seeing from people that didn't like it aren't really saying anything bad about the game. Just that it wasn't for them or they can't really say anything specific about it that bothered them.

Again, another good sign to me. Think I'm gonna go ahead and buy it. It really had me hooked.

Let me help you fix that.

0) Even on Hard difficulty the game is not that challenging. If you're looking for some casual play then this point wouldn't bother you much. If you're actually looking for something difficult to challenge, you'll be disappointed.
1) Crafting is broken. The moment you get proper crafted equipment everything becomes a cakewalk.
2) Mage Tree's Meteor is on the same scale of overpoweredness, with added AoE to boot.
3) Level locking areas. The level of an area is determined by the level of your character when you enter it. The area would remain at that particular level as your character levels up. This is important because the monster level determines the type of loot you get. If you accidentally locked an endgame area to a low level, you're screwed out of luck if you wanted to do some farming for crafting gears later on.

With that said, the game as it is provide some entertaining kill-'em-all game play with lots and lots of flashy skills from the different skill trees. The story isn't half bad, and some of them sidequests have a pretty decent story but the main story is relatively lousy. Character customization is pretty good as there is a number of crafting options available, as well as the ability to mix and match skills from different classes to suit your own play style. Overall I'd say its definitely a solid casual game which would eat up a lot of hours if you went around completing everything.

This actually sounds good to me because I'm not the type of player that needs video games to be an exercise in anger management. Meaning, I'm not hardcore and never understood the school of thought which seems to want video games to be so incredibly difficult and challenging that only a few dedicated and hardcore players could ever complete it.

Level locking, on the other hand, does sound problematic. I'll have to watch out for that because I could definitely see that being an issue at end game.

 

[GoaThief]

Level locking, on the other hand, does sound problematic. I'll have to watch out for that because I could definitely see that being an issue at end game.

Honestly it's a positive.

There is a feeling of progression which is sorely lacking from some other titles like Skyrim. As long as you don't go, "Let's see how far I can travel before coming to the end of the world" then it works perfectly well. I've had no issues with it at all.

Also, that just applies to each hub area - dungeons and other zones that require loading will set the difficulty when you enter. So if you struggle to progress in one then come back later it'll be easier, or if you don't enter a cave in a previously visited area then come back and go into it after levelling considerably, the difficulty will be appropriate to your current level rather than the old/surrounding hub area.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[Weaver]

the ability to dodge mid-attack

This drives me CRAZY in games. It drove me nuts in God of War, it drove me nuts in Darksiders (not to mention the dodge in Darksiders that couldn't dodge things), and I'm glad you mentioned this before I touched Amalur.

It's like DMC and Bayonetta are the only games that care about how responsive their combat is.

 

[Rawne1980]

Source?

Latest I knew was 330,000 across three platforms... not too great at all.

That was just a partial US figure not total sales.

It was a little surprising to see Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sitting pretty at number four in the NPD software sales charts for February, an impressive feat for a brand new IP. But what does the number translate to in actual sales? NPD tells Joystiq that Reckoning sold a total of 330,000 copies in the US across Xbox, PS3 and PC last month.

It's not a bad number, especially for a new IP, though it isn't quite a blockbuster either. Of course, the figure doesn't include sales in other regions (or even all of North America, for that matter), so we'll have to wait on word from EA to see how Reckoning fared overall.

It's debut sales were higher...

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC is this week?s top debut with combined sales of 569,000.

And it's sold more since.

Even got to be a top seller in the UK.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40268/
http://www.gamesradar.com/kingdoms-amalur-dominates-uk-sales/

Need any more sources?

 

[MomoElektra]

I find the game boring and the story generic. Nothing new and nothing exciting. I honestly thought it was a Skyrim clone for a while.

I liked the graphics and the design of the world, but even that is, again, pretty generic.

 

[GoaThief]

Need any more sources?

Cheers matey, nope.

Glad to see it's done OK, you can never have too many sales. Buy this game!

 

[Mordekaien]

It's pretty good. It's not that hard, has interesting mechanics, bloody awesome combat, interesting mechanic (fateshifting), good lore and unique visual feel, but (and this is a big BUT) it feels like an MMORPG without anyone else in it. Most quests were fetch quests or quests of killing particular guy/ kill ten wolves etc.

Even though I haven't finished it, I will probably give it another go someday.

 

[Something Amyss]

I suspect the reason that you dont see all that much about it is because there is not enough to complain about. You see the game was published by EA and that means that the people around here will not say anything good about it.

There's plenty to complain about, and it was even complained about here when the game was, you know, new.

-It's too easy. I breezed through hard mode with a blindfold and one arm tied behind my back
-It's a (insert game here) ripoff.
-Salvatore is a hack!
-The freeform class system is an illusion.
-game-breaking bugs.
-minor bugs.
-Online pass for offline content.

And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

 

[ckriley]

I find the game boring and the story generic. Nothing new and nothing exciting. I honestly thought it was a Skyrim clone for a while.

I liked the graphics and the design of the world, but even that is, again, pretty generic.

This is one of the common criticisms I've seen of the game while browsing the web for reviews. And honestly, I put this kind of feedback in the same camp as the "This game needs to be incredibly difficult or it fails."

New and exciting is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, true innovation rarely translates into profitability. Which is why we don't see more of it. Games that are truly unique and different usually fail to draw in a broad audience. Which always makes me want to ask, "What to you constitutes new and exciting?"

But again, this doesn't necessarily deter me from the game. It not being hard enough or innovative enough is common criticism aimed just about every single game out today.

 

[ckriley]

I suspect the reason that you dont see all that much about it is because there is not enough to complain about. You see the game was published by EA and that means that the people around here will not say anything good about it.

There's plenty to complain about, and it was even complained about here when the game was, you know, new.

-It's too easy. I breezed through hard mode with a blindfold and one arm tied behind my back
-It's a (insert game here) ripoff.
-Salvatore is a hack!
-The freeform class system is an illusion.
-game-breaking bugs.
-minor bugs.
-Online pass for offline content.

And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

Didn't the game only come out last month? That's a serious question, not being snarky.

 

[Something Amyss]

the ability to dodge mid-attack

This drives me CRAZY in games. It drove me nuts in God of War, it drove me nuts in Darksiders (not to mention the dodge in Darksiders that couldn't dodge things), and I'm glad you mentioned this before I touched Amalur.

It's like DMC and Bayonetta are the only games that care about how responsive their combat is.

Which is completely true, since dodging mid-attack is the ONLY measure of combat responsiveness to go by.

 

[Something Amyss]

I suspect the reason that you dont see all that much about it is because there is not enough to complain about. You see the game was published by EA and that means that the people around here will not say anything good about it.

There's plenty to complain about, and it was even complained about here when the game was, you know, new.

-It's too easy. I breezed through hard mode with a blindfold and one arm tied behind my back
-It's a (insert game here) ripoff.
-Salvatore is a hack!
-The freeform class system is an illusion.
-game-breaking bugs.
-minor bugs.
-Online pass for offline content.

And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

Didn't the game only come out last month? That's a serious question, not being snarky.

Two months ago. But since this is not a huge franchise, two months is a pretty long time for people to still be talking about it at all, let alone to still be complaining about it.

 

[Kahunaburger]

It says a lot about the state of game writing that being written by R.A. Salvatore is seen as a good thing by some people.