Yeah, it adds the line symbol for points that aren't milestones; to me it's actually a little more confusing than if they had only used the brightness/contrast change for unlocked levels.
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Kingdoms of Amalur demo impressions thread [Up On 360/Origin/Steam/U.S. PSN]
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
Yeah, it adds the line symbol for points that aren't milestones; to me it's actually a little more confusing than if they had only used the brightness/contrast change for unlocked levels.
Baconsammy
Banned
Agreed. Is block efficacy referring to the amount of damage you sustain(or dont sustain) when blocking heavy attacks? While checking all of this, day turned to night in the starting area. Love how the forest level looks at night.
I used to have a problem with this term as well. My current understanding is that people usually use it to denote things in games that are due to clumsiness or laziness that we've just gotten used to because it's videogamez.
A good example would be force field walls in God of War or Devil May Cry, the ones that pop up when you enter a combat encounter, and don't disappear until you leave. There's practically no story motivation for these arbitrary walls, but the designers need you to stay in these areas. Not only does this force you to fight the enemies, but it prevents you from running away from them into a new area where there are more enemies: if the enemies from the previous encounter and the ones from the next encounter were alive at the same time, the game could go over its processing and memory budget.
What the force fields accomplish is called "gating." It's gamey because it's a clumsy and arbitrary solution that doesn't make much sense in the game world. Gating can be done a lot more gracefully: the Uncharted series has a handy way of doing this because more often than not you are accompanied by an AI companion. As you go through and play those games, you'll notice that there are a lot of doors that you need your AI buddy to open, like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj76JR8mTWI&feature=related#t=1m41s . What you won't notice when you play the game normally, is that they won't help you open the door until all the enemies are dead. This accomplishes the same thing as the GoW force field walls, but in a way that makes more logical sense in the game world, is less obtrusive, and therefore less "gamey."
So yes, I, like you, love games that are straight up and honest about being games, and so it used to bother me that "gamey" was a pejorative term, but now I see how there are a lot of "gamey" design choices that are made unconsciously, and efforts should be made to avoid them if we wish to improve the state of the art.
Calvinpewpewpew
Neo Member
This will be my first post ever on GAF, after lurking for..5 years? Hope it goes well.
I love the demo for this game-I am a long-time RPG player, from early, early isometric games on the PC to Final Fantasy on the NES and current favorites such as Mass Effect 2 and The Witcher 2.
Skyrim came out this year and I thought I would love it; after all, Oblivion and Morrowind were personal favorites of mine. I couldn't get into it though-the world just felt completely soulless to me, and the combat was boring.
I had never even heard of Amalur until the GAF thread made me download the demo, which I have now played 3 times on PC and twice on 360. The whole thing feels like a breath of fresh air, some monstrous combination of Fable, an action game, and an open world RPG-and it works. It just plain goes together. It doesn't hurt that the combat is as about as tactile, responsive, and engaging as anything I can remember the last few years.
Right now I am 99% positive I want to get this on PC to play with a gamepad, but I am struggling with the 59.99 price at Steam or a much cheaper copy with trade-ins at Gamestop with no Steam.
I love the demo for this game-I am a long-time RPG player, from early, early isometric games on the PC to Final Fantasy on the NES and current favorites such as Mass Effect 2 and The Witcher 2.
Skyrim came out this year and I thought I would love it; after all, Oblivion and Morrowind were personal favorites of mine. I couldn't get into it though-the world just felt completely soulless to me, and the combat was boring.
I had never even heard of Amalur until the GAF thread made me download the demo, which I have now played 3 times on PC and twice on 360. The whole thing feels like a breath of fresh air, some monstrous combination of Fable, an action game, and an open world RPG-and it works. It just plain goes together. It doesn't hurt that the combat is as about as tactile, responsive, and engaging as anything I can remember the last few years.
Right now I am 99% positive I want to get this on PC to play with a gamepad, but I am struggling with the 59.99 price at Steam or a much cheaper copy with trade-ins at Gamestop with no Steam.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Congrats on your first post.
I would say you should consider getting the downloadable version of KoA from Amazon. It's $10 cheaper than the Steam version, but I believe it will validate on Origin (which might be a huge no-no for you).
The other option is Toys R' Us. I believe Dr. Kitty Muffins was saying earlier in the thread that they're doing preorders for Reckoning at $45.
I had a similar dilemma between a boxed PC copy and the Steam version. What tipped it to buying the game on Steam is that if you look at the publisher on Steam it says 38 studios, NOT EA.
So I'd much rather have more money go straight to the devs (even with Steam's cut), than to fill EA's coffers.
Calvinpewpewpew
Neo Member
Thanks for the welcome! I don't really mind origin, but like many of you have for the most part found it easier to manage my considerable and ever growing backlog on Steam-so I might just suck it up and do that-I wonder if 38 Studios gets a higher portion of the sales directly from Steam as it cuts out EA as publisher? That could be a factor too.
I would dearly love to play this on 360, but it looks better, plays better, and loads much faster on my PC.
Haunted
Member
Very well put.
I always understand the term as denoting something that's breaking the suspension of disbelief of the in-game world in favour of game mechanics. Arbitrarily gating sections with something outside the internal logic of the game is a prime example of this.
Of course, this only affects games who actually try to involve you in their game world and try to build a cohesive world in which you can immerse yourself. Which KoA obviously wants to do. Hence things feeling "gamey" being a bad thing.
Quick question, I heard the demo was built on a different engine, is this true? When I played the demo, it froze on me. I was pretty much mortified that a demo froze and was prepared to completely write off the game. I can't deal with buggy, glitchy games but if the above is true, then I will definitely pick up the game in the future. Demo was fun and I loved the world so far.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
It's not a different engine, but it is a different build. The demo build is 3 months old.
Haunted
Member
The demo code was branched off the main build three months before its release and worked on by an outside company specifically contracted to build the demo while 38 Studios continued their work on the main game.
So the demo is probably not the best indication of how bugfree the final release will be. Have to wait and see how it's received.
Baconsammy
Banned
While the company that made the demo should be ripped for all the bugs, they should also be commended for the whole "start past the tutorial with full loot and a level" idea. If I was forced through that tutorial every time, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have explored as much as I have or fallen in love with the world as much as I have.
I have the demo and I think it's better than Skyrim.
But then again I don't think very much of Skyrim.
eternaLightness
Member
Finally gave it a try on the PS3. It was a nice change of pace after playing Skyrim.
I love the quick combat and the stealth kills. I chose the more mage-like character and would love to see how that opens up in the full game.
I really like the artstyle. So full of colors, which is again, a nice change from me playing Skyrim.
Few complaints; I wish character movement was a bit more weighty. There's camera sensitivity but I wish I could do the same for my character. It's fine in combat but a bit too fast when just walking around. Framerate was also not very good so hopefully it's just a demo thing.
Overall I quite liked it and will probably end up giving it a chance. Hopefully the final product ends up being really good.
I love the quick combat and the stealth kills. I chose the more mage-like character and would love to see how that opens up in the full game.
I really like the artstyle. So full of colors, which is again, a nice change from me playing Skyrim.
Few complaints; I wish character movement was a bit more weighty. There's camera sensitivity but I wish I could do the same for my character. It's fine in combat but a bit too fast when just walking around. Framerate was also not very good so hopefully it's just a demo thing.
Overall I quite liked it and will probably end up giving it a chance. Hopefully the final product ends up being really good.
I think you have to register/log in to the EA servers on the pc version, which I haven't done, in order to avoid the tutorial on repeat playthroughs.
I've been through that damn tutorial 3 times now, but its worth it.
I'm confused on how the breakdown of Might/Sorcery/Finesse works. Looking at the Destinies page I can see that putting a certain amount of something (is it points? like from leveling up?) into Sorcery can make me an Acolyte or Initiate which also confers certain bonuses.
How often do you get to choose a Destiny? I think the system sounds really cool I'm just unsure how it all works.
How often do you get to choose a Destiny? I think the system sounds really cool I'm just unsure how it all works.
Haunted
Member
Requirements are governed by the amount of points you put into that respective skill tree.
In the demo, you could change destinies (i.e. title + bonuses) at any time.
QisTopTier
XisBannedTier
I'm def gonna go jack of all trades my first play through. The half requirements to equip gear and the plus 3 to all skills is way way to good :3
Tried the demo last week, wasn't too impressed, but it was the least offensive western RPG I've played in awhile. If I had to play any of them, I would play this one, at $20 maybe. Although, I was pretty much done with the game when I approached an NPC and his head was missing...typical western RPG shit.
I liked how it felt more like an action game, with perfect guards and everything. Still, the UI was disgusting and bland and the game felt like super generic land, like a rejected LotR scenario or something. Walking out into that forest during the demo felt like I was walking into candy land, way too many multi-colored mushrooms, trees, etc. A little too reminiscent of Fable at times, which isn't a good thing, at all. Still, it looked more engaging than all that Bioware and Bethesda crap.
I liked how it felt more like an action game, with perfect guards and everything. Still, the UI was disgusting and bland and the game felt like super generic land, like a rejected LotR scenario or something. Walking out into that forest during the demo felt like I was walking into candy land, way too many multi-colored mushrooms, trees, etc. A little too reminiscent of Fable at times, which isn't a good thing, at all. Still, it looked more engaging than all that Bioware and Bethesda crap.
That's the same in retail as well - you will be able to change unlocked destiny cards on the fly. You'll only need a fateweaver to reset your skills and abilities.
You can respect your skills? Is there anything stopping you from like maxing blacksmithing and the respecing after you made some awesome shit?
Cost. Each time you visit the fate weaver, the cost increases. I'm going to double check the skill thing, but I believe both are attached to the same process -- I'm going off memory, so that's not the gospel.
6 hours of demo time and I'm very impressed. I had barely heard of the game before the demo and if not for ME3 tie in I might not have ever given it a try. This is why demo's can be so important even if they have some bugs and also why it's just a pain to try and get them right.
When's the last time a demo has brought to light a game like this? I honestly can't remember.
When's the last time a demo has brought to light a game like this? I honestly can't remember.
SnakeswithLasers
Member
What are the multi-platform impressions here? Pretty much identical on PS3 and 360? (My PC isn't going to run it.)
I generally grab single player games on PS3, but Skyrim has me wary at the moment.
I generally grab single player games on PS3, but Skyrim has me wary at the moment.
Personal preference here, but I'd say:
PC >>>>>>>>>> PS3 >> 360 right now. And that's the exact opposite order I thought I would be playing them in to start with.
And that's not because there is a problem with PS3/360 versions -- I was just stunned that the PC version ran as smoothly as it did on my older machine.
Posted? Camera related. I love how the devs listen to their potential customers. 
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/...back!-(particularly-camera)&p=51245#post51245
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/...back!-(particularly-camera)&p=51245#post51245
ANOTHER POST BECAUSE OH FUCK YEAHHHH
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/...ehind-the-scenes&p=51400&viewfull=1#post51400
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/...ehind-the-scenes&p=51400&viewfull=1#post51400
That's Curt Schilling.
disappeared
Banned
Have no fear. The PS3 version runs absolutely fine, the usual frame-rate hiccups aside.
Elginer
Member
Paid off my preorder tonight on 360. Really looking forward to this. Like I told a buddy of mine today, I really want to support these guys cuse I can really see the passion coming through for this project and it's awesome to see that they're actually listening to fans and taking feedback. Love it!
Neuromancer
Member
ANOTHER POST BECAUSE OH FUCK YEAHHHH
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/...ehind-the-scenes&p=51400&viewfull=1#post51400
That's Curt Schilling.
Curt's buying everyone in this thread a beer?! Awesome!
Well I live in Mass. So I think I need to buy him a beer for the world series win!
QisTopTier
XisBannedTier
Baconsammy
Banned
Loved Joe's post. Wonder if his goal is a day one patch.
disappeared
Banned
And another thing. Stealth feels smooth. The first thing I always ask myself in a new RPG is, how good did they make the fucking rogue? Usually it's pretty shitty. Not many dialogue choices and the stealing bits feel tacked on. But in this game makes it quick and painless. Just tap into Sneak, maneuver, watch the eyes, then kill/steal/pick lock, tap out of Sneak. It's pretty fucking rad. Some bits of dialogue are good too. I convinced that guy you fight with in front of the village that he was just drunk and telling stories. He admitted it too haha.
Baconsammy
Banned
Yeah, I love it too, but enemies are too stupid (in the demo). I was fighting a bear, ran away mid-fight, stealthed behind a tree and the bear almost immediately lost me and then started rolling on his back. I almost felt bad for back-stabbing him. Almost.
Maybe bears are meant to be stupid, but humans give up pretty quickly too.
Psychoward
Banned
Demo is nice, but I'll wait for a price drop. Doesn't seem like it'll be worth $60 imo.
Everyone is ofcourse entitled to their own opinions but agreat rpg with rock solid fun comabt and a few hunderedhours worth of content seems justifiable for 60 bones imo. Plus 38 and big huge are proving every step of the way that they deserve to be supported. It won't be for everyone though but that's just the way it goes.
$45 via TRU. Worth it, imo.
Baconsammy
Banned
In case you haven't been following it, Amazon's been adding "visionaries" videos the past couple of days. In each one Curt, RA, and Todd answer customer questions. One more coming up with Ken. The videos are on the product page.
Outtrigger888
Member
I see curt is waiting for his gaf account to be approved and is reading this entire thread. Really starting to love 38 studios
and is reading this entire thread. Really starting to love 38 studiosI totally agree. The downward angle of the camera is more problematic to me than the closeness.
I'm really having to force myself to not play the demo again. Never expected to be this excited for Reckoning.
I see curt is waiting for his gaf account to be approved
It's going to be a long wait, unless someone notifies Evilore (if he'd even approve it before the usual mass approval of juniors, though), probably, but it's cool to know.