Pad all the way. Felt sort of weird to try and play with a mouse and keyboard.
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Kingdoms of Amalur demo impressions thread [Up On 360/Origin/Steam/U.S. PSN]
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
Pad all the way. Felt sort of weird to try and play with a mouse and keyboard.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
I know that feeling!
Try again with the controller, and skip the tutorial. You'll get right into the open world stuff, and be able to enjoy the meat of the demo.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Speaking of versions, I'm actually surprised the PC version ran so well in the demo. Usually PC games with console ports run like trash without 2-3 patches post launch. Post processing was broken in the demo, but that's a small thing.
PS3 and 360 versions seem about neck and neck to me, but I prefer playing with the DS3. Sticking with the PS3 version.
Maybe I need to go play both again, but when I played them, the 360 version seemed to look lower res.
It's really not a big deal which version I get, I just prefer this one on 360 since I have friends that will be buying it there, and nobody I know getting it on PS3. But if the quality is better on PS3, I would rather that version instead.
Don't think you will go wrong either way. I have played the demo on the 360 and PS3 multiple times back to back for comparison and saw no difference other than I felt the camera was a bit more 'swingy' when playing with the 360 controller. Of course that was easily remedied by adjusting the sensitivity, but I think it is more to do with me just having a preference for the DS3 than anything.
Unless they change how the camera works, M/KB for me.
Baconsammy
Banned
I've played both a ton (too damn much to be honest), and the 360 version definitely has the appearance of being lower res, but the upside of that version is it runs at a consistently good framerate, outside and inside. The PS3 version looks better, but the framerate isn't capped, which leads to some really really terrible drops when indoors. Devs said they capped the final. I have no friends on PS3 to compare trophies/progress with, so I'm leaning towards 360 where I have at least 10 friends getting this.
Hm, I'll take a closer look, but I really saw nothing to split hairs over in multiple sessions with each version. Felt and looked pretty much the same all around to me, but it just felt better with the DS3 (personal preference). I think we will all be happy, regardless.
You have to do this on the pad too, though. Need RT to bring up the hotkey overlay, then a face button to cast. Is it just because they're on the same hand on the pad? I prefer the mouse version more since once a spell is selected, it stays on the hotkey indefinitely until I need to switch spells. Plus the movement/camera feels way better.
My only beef with the M/KB setup is the weapon switch button; I'd rather assign secondary weapon to RMB, then move spellcasting to M3 or something. Hopefully I can do this in the full version.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Except that I don't have to move my hand to touch the RT. I have to move my hand to hit the hotkey. Because I have to, I'd rather I don't have to hit yet another button once it's selected. I simply can't use hotkeys on the keyboard at the speed I can on a controller, especially when you just use the RT to modify buttons you're already pressing.
I'd rather have secondary weapon on RMB, and have hotkeys immediately execute upon button press.
Me want now!
Baconsammy
Banned
Me too. Great video. The sound of Claudia Black's voice makes my spuds boil.
That's what I figured about the same hand thing; I can see people that aren't as accustomed to using KB hotkeys not liking it as much. The typical duties that your hands are assigned to are different between pad and KB/M which is often where people initially get hung up trying to move between the two.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Oh god, that new video is awesome. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS GAME.
I've actually been playing PC games for most of my life. I'm just used to hotkeys actually doing things when I press them, instead of being a simple toggle. The PC hotkey bar holds more actions, but it's slower to activate than the controller. Battles are simply too fast to first think about which number I need to press, then hit RMB to activate it. Squeezing RT and hitting the same button I'm already hitting for my primary weapon is infinitely faster, no matter how used to KBM you are.
I've actually been playing PC games for most of my life. I'm just used to hotkeys actually doing things when I press them, instead of being a simple toggle. The PC hotkey bar holds more actions, but it's slower to activate than the controller. Battles are simply too fast to first think about which number I need to press, then hit RMB to activate it. Squeezing RT and hitting the same button I'm already hitting for my primary weapon is infinitely faster, no matter how used to KBM you are.
don't know if you'll care about this one in perticular, but IGN's review will be up on the 3rd which is the friday before the game releases. I can only imagine most others won't be far behind it.
Also for thosed worried about the framerate in the PS3 version is been capped in the final build. If i'm not mistaken it's capped at 30 fps.
Lord Phol
Member
Im not really sure how to describe the feeling of this game after playing the demo. It's kind of like a blizzard game but without the immensive amount of polish blizzard games are known for. Like what Torchlight is to Diablo. It feels pretty simple/straight forward with the low amount of options and easy customization, and everything from stats to menus and controls are quite streamlined. From what I've seen it still has some dephs to it and people keep talking about the combat so I guess is has that thing going for it compared to for example Fable.
All this is not necessarily a bad thing. Every game can't be Diablo 3, Uncharted or Batman quality-wise. If they nail the fun-factor just right it'll still be something worth investing money into. The one thing I would have loved for this though is Local Co-Op, but you can't have everything.
Will see how the reviews turn out and the gaf reactions before I consider a purchase.
All this is not necessarily a bad thing. Every game can't be Diablo 3, Uncharted or Batman quality-wise. If they nail the fun-factor just right it'll still be something worth investing money into. The one thing I would have loved for this though is Local Co-Op, but you can't have everything.
Will see how the reviews turn out and the gaf reactions before I consider a purchase.
I'm used to it and I still prefer the 360 controller. It just feels better and smoother for the game and I don't really have much else to add besides that. Just kind of a preference thing here.
It's a toggle in both versions. I don't understand why you think you can hit two buttons with one hand infinitely faster than you can hit two buttons with both hands.
I don't doubt it. I'm only curious since I've heard what he mentioned more than once and on the surface it isn't something that makes sense to me. I figure the actual disconnect driving it is a couple steps further in observation.
Yep, games going to be amazing, not much time left, but it's going to take forever to get here.
disappeared
Banned
Talk about a demo impressing the hell out of me, when I'd never heard of the game before! The colorful world, the smooth (and variable) combat, beautiful music... day one. My only gripe seems to be the goofy-looking HUD. Wish I could switch it off or dim it somehow.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Because moving two fingers on a stationary hand is faster than moving two fingers one on stationary hand and one moving hand. The moving alone requires time that the stationary hand on the controller does not need.
RT only toggles as long as it's pressed. It doesn't switch. That alone shaves time. If it was a toggle, I'd have to look down at the GUI to see whether or not spells were currently active. As long as RT is not pressed, spells aren't active. I have no reason to look at the GUI.
Only a week and a half left
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
Kingdoms of Amalur will be competing with The Witcher 2 for the best Western RPG on consoles in 2012. I'm curious as to who console gamers will pick as the top game. Amalur's ambitious DLC plans give it a bit of an edge IMO.
This seems like a wash at best to me; the distance I have to move a finger from A to say 1 is definitely longer than the travel of RT, but then my activation is always on RMB which never requires me to change position, unlike the thumb on the face buttons which is the one responsible for the switching on the pad. Beyond that, once a spell is selected on PC it remains on RMB; I have to keep switching between pressing and releasing RT whenever I need my face buttons back to perform attacks, even if I am not actually changing spells.
Just seems interesting that they function in such a similar way but they are perceived very differently. I definitely still feel like it's the result of an expectation bias rather than an actual mechanical issue.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
it's totally expectation-based. My issues with the KBM controls are based upon my expectations after playing any number of MMOs with a hotkey spell bar.
Its going to be more than a 2 horse race. Diablo, Torchlight, Mass Effect, as well as a new Risen game and other stuff. Skyrim probably won't get a goty edition until 2013, but there will be DLC. Its gonna be a good year for wrpgs.
MushroomSamba
Member
As excited as I am for both those games, I'd be shocked if Mass Effect 3 and Borderlands 2 didn't beat them out by a landslide in terms of sales and popularity.
He said "consoles", for what it's worth. But yeah, helluva year for WRPGs.
Makes you wonder what the reasoning is on their end; I mean there is also the standardization of secondary weaponry being assigned to RMB, which got pushed out in favor of this system to something that I think is much less intuitive (and one of the reasons I might play this on pad if it isn't adjustable in the retail version). If they had just followed a more standardized setup (press button, receive bacon spell activation and RMB secondary weapon) it seems like you dodge it all and have a more functional control setup. I don't see any upside in the current KB/M configuration except to give it more functional parity to a controller - which is a control option PC already has.
Doh, I missed that.
On 360 alone we have KoA in February, ME3 in March, and now Witcher 2 in April and possibly Borderlands 2 in June. Then when you add the DLC from KoA and Skyrim and the eventual DLC for ME3 and BL2, this is the year of the WRPG on the 360.
We wont know until the Lens of Truth or Digital Foundry get us info on the final builds of the game. IGN should have part 3 of its rolling review up today. They are playing only on the PS3 build with it though. I believe they stated they will also play on the 360 and PC for final review.
Baconsammy
Banned
And I believe they said the review will be out prior to release. So hopefully they'll shed some light on the final versions of all 3.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Completely agree. That's pretty much why I'm going with the controller.
downloading the demo when i get home tonight.
I prefer KB/M for these types of games (almost all games tbh). Just like in Arkham City, I find having total control of the camera really helps.
But, I'm left handed and I don't see a way to change the movement keys so I'm stuck with a controller it seems.
Niiiice. I've played through the PC demo a couple more times now with the 360 controller and I think I'm going to stick with the controller in the final game as well. Leaning towards a hybrid build of either sorcery/finesse or sorcery/might. These next 2 weeks are going to be altogether too long!
BrettWeir
Member
My god! Although some of you aren't a fan of the artwork, I absolutely love it. I'm drooling over those armor sets and weapons. That one 2h sword near the end of the video is amazing (2:42). Monster Hunter meets Xenoblade Chronicles.
I haven't gone to a midnight release ever...I may just do it for the first time for this game. And I thought Guild Wars 2 would be my first midnight release....
I can't WAIT to see everything this game has to offer!!! Come on Feb. 7th!!!!!
I haven't gone to a midnight release ever...I may just do it for the first time for this game. And I thought Guild Wars 2 would be my first midnight release....
I can't WAIT to see everything this game has to offer!!! Come on Feb. 7th!!!!!
CitizenCope
Member
OK after watching that video I'm in before reviews. What midnight launch is Schilling going to be at?