Okay, after going through twice, I think I'll pass on this game at launch even though I was really hyped for it. I left the demo disappointed and bored.
The world, story, and art just aren't doing it for me. It feels like I'm playing a private server of some MMO. Or, like, Phantasy Star Online single player. It seems like there's a huge world, but it's all a hollow, lonely facade. Granted, the demo is limited, but I didn't feel particularly engaged. You can't get very far into the main quest because an area is blocked off, and the other quests seem standard fare (follow this NPC here and there, fetch quests, etc.). It's also weird to see so many reagents to be littered right along every linear pathway coming off of Skyrim. Thinking about that game, a lot of things feel like a downgrade here, to be honest--lockpicking is a quick example.
The combat seems a cut above something like Fable, but, after looking at all the skill trees and Destinies or whatever, it doesn't seem like it'd remain interesting throughout the course of the game. You can do a lot, as many skills and techniques have various effects, but that flexibility doesn't seem particularly meaningful, at least on Normal in the demo. I'm certain the combat is a strong point in this game; it's just not as I'd hoped. I guess if one were to take advantage of respeccing and constantly changed things up, it'd be more exciting. I'm truly intrigued by skill builds that some people have already posted/theorized (and how loot effects would factor into things), but creating a character with interesting strategies in mind won't dispel something bound to get repetitive without a strong feeling of growth or boring without proper opposition. Enemies and encounters seem promising from the demo (though you'd probably want to play the real thing on Hard), but the tuning of fine details here and there feels off enough that those looking to play strictly for Amalur's combat may be disappointed.
The camera has issues, but it does the job. When there are more enemies around you, it zooms out decently enough, so the closeness is less of a problem. There are still times when enemies appear behind you in battle completely out of sight. Rotating it still feels a little unwieldy and sluggish, whether it's the acceleration or responsiveness in general. I don't know why the "look" feature doesn't snap into first-person.
There are soooo many technical issues with the PS3 demo. I think this is the number one thing pushing me away from the game. The sound completely glitched out my first time through, as did the dialog by skipping everything automatically. There are times when I'd enter an area without a floor (seeing the world below and some afterimage of any characters moving over it), occasions when enemy skills would glitch the ground into a stretched out texture, and NPCs that would simply disappear for a split second during conversation or have some unnatural bit of animation. Sometimes I'd get stuck in aggro/non-aggro mode, and I also had problems with the game refusing to accept prompts (like looting). The unlocked framerate constantly fluctuates, too. It's incredibly distracting, especially since it's often dropping for no apparent reason. Yikes.
