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Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning |OT| An Enemy-Pounding Funfest

That happened to me in the Demo when I went around killing townsfolk towards the end of it. Have you done that (or some other crime)?

I've stolen for the Travelers. But even if that did set him off, paying the bribe should reset him along with the guards, which unfortunately it does not.
 
Still plugging away through this, although I seem to be going a hell of a lot slower than everyone else - currently 78 hours in, level 31 with 109 completed quests. I'm really enjoying exploring the world and taking in all the detailed lore, but it hasn't been a perfect experience by any means.

So far, my main gripes are three-fold;

1) the loot - while I appreciate random drops, I feel quest rewards should properly scale to your character. For instance, if I do a huge-ass quest dungeon and am rewarded with a rare (purple) set of chakrams, I expect them to be better than the standard (green) chakrams I'm currently wielding, otherwise, what's the point? Oh, I can sell them for more practically useless money? I'm a goddamn multi-millionaire, there's nothing I can't buy - including the super-expensive weapons from certain vendors, which is something else that makes loot and quest rewards entirely redundant.

2) the camera - I need to readjust the camera so often that I play with a claw grip on my right hand, with my thumb holding down run and forefinger manipulating the right analogue. It's pretty remarkable that the two camera positions the game defaults to when in and out of combat are pretty much the opposite of what I want. When exploring, the camera needs to be lowered so I get a better view of what's ahead and not the ground a few metres in front of me, and when I'm in combat, the camera needs to be higher so I can see when enemies are about to attack and thus properly time my counter moves.

3) the combat - for everything the combat does right (and believe me, for an RPG it does A LOT right), it also does a lot of things wrong. Fights later in the game can become an exercise in frustration as the enemy groups become more numerous and varied - however, it's never REALLY challenging, it's merely frustrating. Even when getting interrupted out of combos and knocked about by spearmen, trolls and fire-ball hurling mages, my health is only dropping by an insignificant amount, so there's no real challenge even if the general experience of the fight isn't all that fun.
 

ParityBit

Member
Just finished the game and got 1000/1000 achievements! Was a WONDERFUL ride! I clocked about 130 hours and did everything in the game that you could (that I found). I will be on the lookout at the patches and maybe pick up some DLC once they raise the levels, new abilities.

I greatly enjoyed it and hope you guys do too!

Thanks Curt and your team for the fun ride! I will defiantly be picking up your next offerings!
 

gehrig38

Member
Posts like that make me smile. I know there are bugs, and we are working to fix the player experience, but seeing someone get 70-200 hours of uninterrupted gaming and have fun is pretty damn cool.
The DLC is, and likely will remain, a way to expose the Amalur universe, improve on our story telling and open up the MMO world to single player RPG fans hopefully.
 

Luthos

Member
If they could fix the sound delay bug on PS3, I'd be so much more inspired to finish the game. But as of now, I just don't feel like playing it.
 
Posts like that make me smile. I know there are bugs, and we are working to fix the player experience, but seeing someone get 70-200 hours of uninterrupted gaming and have fun is pretty damn cool.
The DLC is, and likely will remain, a way to expose the Amalur universe, improve on our story telling and open up the MMO world to single player RPG fans hopefully.

Yes, KOA is seriously one of my favorite games this generation. I'm not big on RPG's, but it does everything right to keep me engaged, where many (like the Elder Scrolls games) have failed.

Also psst, I already mentioned this, but a Vita version somewhere down the line, would be glorious...GLORIOUS!!!
 

I'm an expert

Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
2) the camera - I need to readjust the camera so often that I play with a claw grip on my right hand, with my thumb holding down run and forefinger manipulating the right analogue. It's pretty remarkable that the two camera positions the game defaults to when in and out of combat are pretty much the opposite of what I want. When exploring, the camera needs to be lowered so I get a better view of what's ahead and not the ground a few metres in front of me, and when I'm in combat, the camera needs to be higher so I can see when enemies are about to attack and thus properly time my counter moves.


Holding X to run?!!??!1111 First thing I did in options was set run to L3 click, just like any FPS to enable sprint. Even press X is a better choice..
 
Holding X to run?!!??!1111 First thing I did in options was set run to L3 click, just like any FPS to enable sprint. Even press X is a better choice..

LOL, I didn't even realise I could reassign controls. That fixes one of the minor niggles I have with the game, as if I'd try sprinting too close to an NPC with X it would engage them in dialogue instead.
 

legbone

Member
Yes, KOA is seriously one of my favorite games this generation. I'm not big on RPG's, but it does everything right to keep me engaged, where many (like the Elder Scrolls games) have failed.

Also psst, I already mentioned this, but a Vita version somewhere down the line, would be glorious...GLORIOUS!!!

yep, definitely one of my favorites of this generation also. i have about 65 hours invested and i'm not burnt out yet. still loving the game. it's the perfect blend of god of war combat, diablo loot-whoring, and elder scrolls rpg structure. perfect blend in my opinion. one of the best games i have ever played. now that i think of it, not just this generation, but ever. i really hope it gets a true sequel and not just the mmo.
 
Just beat the game. According to STEAM 26 hrs played, 74 quests completed. Went pure might / sorcery and completed the House of Ballads, Warsworn, Scholar Arcana and House of Valor factions. Did a small handful of the other side quests.

Mini-Review
- Combat was great and the main draw of the game and I enjoyed it immensely even though the balance is definitely off. I did no crafting whatsoever and yet halfway through the game I was able to rip through the majority of encounters without a thought on hard.
- I enjoyed the graphics and general "feel" of the world, even though I wish they did a better job introducing you to the lore.
- Majority of sidequests were single player MMO affair and I felt they got dull pretty quickly. I didn't even bother them in the last two areas.
- Alyn Shir's VA is awesome.

All in all a solid B and I enjoyed my time with the game.
 
Meh, I had it set to trade-in at Amazon for 35 but I think I'm going to keep it. I'll just set it aside and hope for a patch to deal with the difficulty balance, and if one arrives I'll play thru as a rogue and check out the DLC. A company like this deserves my business, and I hope that they learned a bunch of important lessons from their first release that is evident in Reckoning 2. I haven't played many better games this generation.
 

gehrig38

Member
Very cool of you to mention Sammy. There will be a patch, imo it would most likely come between DLC 1 and 2, though I cannot be sure right now.
You won't be disappointed in keeping this, our DLC is pretty awesome stuff.
Curt
 
Finally finished it today, what a Game!!! I haven't had so much fun in a very long time. During those 145 hours it took me to finish it and 208 quests, didn't get a single glitch, completely nothing and that is really impressive. I'm just gonna say Thank You to Curt, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games for an awesome game, for a game that I'm still gonna be playing in coming months.

Now I'm gonna run through every location and dungeon again to see if there is anything new or maybe some quests I've missed and of course I'll continue my quest of getting every armor set in the game, only three set pieces left and I'm gonna have them all :D There are few more things I have to figure out as well, hot to get to those two chests that are out of the map. How to open the two locked doors in the Castle Gastyr and hot to get to a chest that is behind a solid wall in The Blackened Hall.

Can't wait for the DLC and I really hope for a bigger stash, so I can finally buy back my unique loot from the stores.


Curt could you ask guys from the team if it's possible that chest piece for Helius Armor Set might be missing from the game? Or if it's not, where would be the best place to look for it, cause that one piece drive me nuts, can't find it anywhere nor I can find a person that was able to find it.
 
Very cool of you to mention Sammy. There will be a patch, imo it would most likely come between DLC 1 and 2, though I cannot be sure right now.
You won't be disappointed in keeping this, our DLC is pretty awesome stuff.
Curt

It's also partly due to me rewarding your honesty and openness, and the way you've embraced the community. You and your employees deserve my business, and quite frankly you all earned it.
 

Amir0x

Banned
I liked the battle with <Adessa Spoilers>
the gnome... Octavian(?)... and how we fought on those wooden plankways while assassins kept trying to get at me, culminating in him being tossed through the stained glass window. And the stained glass window remains broken for the rest of the game as far as I can tell, when you look up from the Forum. It was a cool detail and a cool battle. Easy, yes, but I can tell if I didn't hopelessly overpower myself, it might have been engaging on that level too.
The <Mel Senshir>
Mel Senshir battle too was really a great story mission.

If I had to list a series of things I want fixed now that I'm so closed to the end, they'd be as follows:

&#9679; Difficulty Balancing; Potion limitations (A cooldown would function perfectly); crafting balancing (you can basically slot so many health regen items that you can become invincible); new difficulty mode where enemies hit much harder and potions are much scarcer in the world.
&#9679; Dynamic World Change: In it, the world will reflect directly changes that have occurred as a result of actions taking during primary mission stories. So in a mission if it's your job to save a village, and you fail... when you return to the world, that village will be destroyed for good and the missions that were available then would be gone. If a massive battle takes place on a field during a story mission, environmental damage should be sustained into the world proper once the mission is over. Scorched earth; perhaps collapsed cliffs. Little details like that keep the world fluid and evolving and make it seem like your choices matter.
&#9679; Dynamic World Action: The world should feel alive. Horse back riders should gallop past you on the fields to some unknown destination. Riders in the sky should frequently swoop over head, casting their shadow upon your avatar. Random dynamic battles should occur between monsters and regular individuals. People should make trips between different cities on their own. This is a world with refugees, constant bloodshed and horror... and when I'm in the Plains I just feel "this world is awesome and you guys are lying about the war."
&#9679; Better yellow armor distribution for proper level usage. I have now completed three or four decent rogue armor sets. I didn't complete them until I was lvl 36 and had armor so much more powerful than all of it that it was almost embarrassing. Shit, the Heirophant yellow armor made me :( when I compared it to my crafted stuff. This is a single player game, so maybe like the Universalist set there should be sets for the different classes that can also be found with great exploration of the world.
&#9679; Dungeon variety needs to increase by three or four folds. There are so many limited types of actual dungeon skins that even into the later final regions I was still entering dungeons with the same cave skin or the same tree skin. This is kind of a shame. The dungeons themselves are hand designed, but it might as well be randomized if this is going to be the case.
&#9679; Enemy type variety needs an increase too. For a game this long, if you do sidequests the handful of actual differing enemy types is pretty alarmingly low for my tastes. Spiders, Trolls, Jottuns, Crogans, that Fish Crogan thing, Kobolds, Mumaks, wolves, Tuatha, those weird dinosaur things (I call them that anyway), Treshes, Noshira(sp?), Fae and various bandit pallet swaps, brownies and Bogarts and a few others. A game of this type as long as it is requires at least fifty to eighty unique enemy types. Dark Souls nailed this aspect quite well. I understand this takes work and this is their first game, but I hope this changes in the sequel. Plus why is their an anti-avian bias? Where are my bird type enemies, yo?
&#9679; A better character creation system. This is nitpicky, but the characters I made should have much more ability to tamper with. I've encountered many NPCs that look sadly like my own character :(

There are more niggles all over the place, but this is still a good, solid first effort. I'd give it a low 8, since I did enjoy my time, I appreciated the soundtrack, the combat is a good foundation for future efforts and the art direction really starts shining once you leave Dalentarth. Overall, the team who made this should be proud, but definitely take lessons learned to heart.
 
Yeah, the company where I work conducts post-mortums every time we release new software to see what could have been done better etc. Hopefully BHG and 38 Studios do the same. Considering fan feedback should be a part of that as well as any metrics they're able to gather (not sure if they're capturing how many people are completing certain parts of the game or not). There's definitely a lot of chatter about the game on many podcasts and gaming forums so I'm going to assume it sold well for a first effort. At least I hope it did. I'd love a sequel.
 
Did anyone figure the "Southern Lights"? Is it just a nice touch or is there more to it. I've been fallowing it around the Cealed Coast and it leads me to the tower next to Castle Gastyr and it stops there, shining above the tower. I wonder if it has something to do with the locked doors in the Castle Gastyr?

I also spent like two hours playing with those pressure plates inside the castle, trying different combination and hoping something would work by luck and open the doors but nothing.

I know most of you don't give a damn about stuff like that but it bothers me a lot, mostly because I don't know what to do with it :D
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
A lot of people seemed to have a problem with "Her Righteous Fury" so last night when I activated it I went "Oh shit" and made several saves just because.

Eeeeh. went pretty smooth.

But how very disappointing that the much hyped
Niskaru Lord
at the finale of that string of sidequests turned out
to be just the typical Niskaru boss enemy model :(

A much more diverse enemy types would do this game a lot of wonder.

Also... it seems like I'm not going to get the DLC... I see no point when there is little to no room for character advancement anymore to purchase it. Probably an unfair way to say it, but the DLC I think is going to be "just another place to do what I've been doing 70-ish hours or so with no variation whatsoever."

Sorry if that sounded a bit harsh.
 

Xevren

Member
I have really about had it with this game. I just want to beat it and get it over with but I can't. During the last boss my character keeps just getting stuck and won't move. Can't pause it or do anything at all. This has happened to me so many times throughout the game (especially after quick traveling) but on the last boss alone it has happened 5x in a row now. Just going to try again tomorrow.
 

Badgerst3

Member
Finished it last night.

Level 30, 54 hours played, main quest, house of ballards and arena quests.

Skipped all else. Loved the arena combat for what it's worth. The main quest was ok, but tons of talking, almost rambling. It was like a weird combo off too much backstory but not enough current storyline to reel me in.

Played on hard and did no black smithing. Was way to easy after the first 3 hours. Did like the combat and was glad to give curt and his company my money.

To be utterly fair- I was ready for it to end. Would consider koa2.
 

Sylonious

Member
I thought Curt Schilling was scheduled to go back on G4TV after the review, but it never came on for some reason. Did anybody here see it?
 

1stStrike

Banned
The music isn't anything special. I really wish they added custom soundtrack support.

This was a big thing for me. The soundtrack was completely forgettable and in some cases just didn't make much of an impression.

Watch this video (some gameplay of the silent step quest).

The music during the battle is just... meh. It doesn't get me hyped up like, say, this.

And, I hate to make the comparison, but two things that the next KOA needs to have is:

1. NPC's that actually seem like they're alive. You know, you walk into a town and they talk to you as you walk past, or even talk to one another. Right now they just stand there or walk around, but they're not actually doing anything.

2. Something as random and entertaining as dragon battles in Skyrim. It's something as cool as that which takes a random quest to kill 10 wolves or something and turns it into an epic experience.

"Well, I'll just kill 8 more of these and I'm good..." *dragon lands on the ground in front of you* "Oh fuck."

You just don't get that in KOA. No random events happening, no epic events. The world and NPC's is pretty static, which is something that needs to change in the next one, IMO, to take it to the next level.
 

Jedi2016

Member
And, I hate to make the comparison, but two things that the next KOA needs to have is:

1. NPC's that actually seem like they're alive. You know, you walk into a town and they talk to you as you walk past, or even talk to one another. Right now they just stand there or walk around, but they're not actually doing anything.

2. Something as random and entertaining as dragon battles in Skyrim. It's something as cool as that which takes a random quest to kill 10 wolves or something and turns it into an epic experience.

"Well, I'll just kill 8 more of these and I'm good..." *dragon lands on the ground in front of you* "Oh fuck."

You just don't get that in KOA. No random events happening, no epic events. The world and NPC's is pretty static, which is something that needs to change in the next one, IMO, to take it to the next level.
That's its MMO heritage showing through. Oddly enough, I actually like the game for reasons like this.. it has all the perks of the MMO without the hassle of dealing with all the idiots playing WoW (I quit WoW over a year ago).
 

1stStrike

Banned
That's its MMO heritage showing through. Oddly enough, I actually like the game for reasons like this.. it has all the perks of the MMO without the hassle of dealing with all the idiots playing WoW (I quit WoW over a year ago).

Right, but this isn't an MMO. It's a singleplayer game, with no other players to interact with. So, the NPC's have to fill the world with life. Right now they're just too static, basically mannequins.

For a single player game, it needs an injection of life into its world in the next iteration.
 

Ricker

Member
Speaking of the Fury in the House of Ballads quest,I'm trying to get back in there to battle her again after running out last time,but I can't seem to reach it anymore if I look at the marker on the map...do I have to enter the House of Ballad per say...? completly forgot how to get in there lol...
 

Torraz

Member
Still busy playing this game. Currently at around 40 hours @ level 28 and having done two "drastic change" respecs. Really enjoying this game so far, although I think one of my side quests is bugged. I'm done with the first area and nearly done with the second. For a change of scenery I went into the third, Detyre, and it turns out everything is grey since I accidentally walked into there at level 13 or so. That's a bit of a bummer, so I'm considering focusing on the main quests from now on, since I think I'm plenty high level (28/40 with less than two of five areas done...). I can still return and do the side quests later.
 

Drazgul

Member
For a change of scenery I went into the third, Detyre, and it turns out everything is grey since I accidentally walked into there at level 13 or so.

The way I understand level-locking (which is just as stupid as level scaling if you ask me - mobs should have static level ranges period), only the 'overworld' area is locked into your original level range; you should be able to find some challenge from the dungeons. That's where most of the quest content occurs anyway, so you aren't really missing out as such. :)
 

Torraz

Member
The way I understand level-locking (which is just as stupid as level scaling if you ask me - mobs should have static level ranges period), only the 'overworld' area is locked into your original level range; you should be able to find some challenge from the dungeons. That's where most of the quest content occurs anyway, so you aren't really missing out as such. :)

Ah, thanks. Does that mean that monsters inside dungeons will still drop possibly worthwhile loot?
 
Ah, thanks. Does that mean that monsters inside dungeons will still drop possibly worthwhile loot?

They will but it depends on what you mean by worthwhile. If you looking for gold/purple stuff then yes, if you using something you crafted and hoping for something better then probably no :D

Loot, from what I've seen, is region locked not level locked, at least gold/purple stuff.
 
If they could fix the sound delay bug on PS3, I'd be so much more inspired to finish the game. But as of now, I just don't feel like playing it.

That's exactly where I am right now. It's been sitting on my shelf since launch day and I haven't had the desire to continue until that gets fixed.
 
Anyone having difficulty starting the game (PS3)? It just keeps getting stuck at the "Connecting to EA Servers" bullshit before I've even got into the menus.

*edit, nevermind, just had to log out of PSN to get round it - guess there's a problem with EA's servers or something.
 

Sheikh

Banned
Meh, I had it set to trade-in at Amazon for 35 but I think I'm going to keep it. I'll just set it aside and hope for a patch to deal with the difficulty balance, and if one arrives I'll play thru as a rogue and check out the DLC. A company like this deserves my business, and I hope that they learned a bunch of important lessons from their first release that is evident in Reckoning 2. I haven't played many better games this generation.

well said. try playing with the CHAKRAMS ..they are the best weapons in the game . This game is something that is what you would say as a TOTAL VALUE FOR YOUR CASH. even after beating the last boss you can continue with the game by playing the side quests. isnt that amazing?
 

Ricker

Member
Finally beat the House of Ballads...damn that last fight was the hardest so far but with Reckoning Mode and calming down lol,I did it...very nice questline.Almost level 20 now,keeping the Ballads set on for now,it's the only full set I have anyway that's not so bad if you are Sorcerey.
 

gehrig38

Member
Curt could you ask guys from the team if it's possible that chest piece for Helius Armor Set might be missing from the game? Or if it's not, where would be the best place to look for it, cause that one piece drive me nuts, can't find it anywhere nor I can find a person that was able to find it.

Wish I had a better answer, but I don't, here's the official response from our lead.

I just double-checked the loot tables and I'm sorry to report that you're absolutely right. warrior_set06_torso (the Helius chestpiece) is missing from the loot table for some reason, so it CAN'T drop. :-( I looked through the Dependency Viewer and it looks like that piece isn't hand-placed in the game anywhere either, which means this is an outright content bug.

I'll put it in DevTrack. Thanks, Curt!

--Ian
 

Jedi2016

Member
Seems like something that would be pretty easy to fix.

My one complaint so far is that the DLC is coming too soon.. I've only played for 20 hours, I've barely scratched the surface! :)
 
Wish I had a better answer, but I don't, here's the official response from our lead.

I just double-checked the loot tables and I'm sorry to report that you're absolutely right. warrior_set06_torso (the Helius chestpiece) is missing from the loot table for some reason, so it CAN'T drop. :-( I looked through the Dependency Viewer and it looks like that piece isn't hand-placed in the game anywhere either, which means this is an outright content bug.

I'll put it in DevTrack. Thanks, Curt!

--Ian

Thank you very much for the answer, much appreciated. I'll be able to sleep at night now ;) I hope you guys could fix it with a patch or with the DLC.

One more question about the sets if you don't mind Curt, and it looks like it also might be a missing content. I just got the Official Strategy Guide (awesome stuff) and it looks like there are few sets in the guide that aren't in the game, unless those aren't gold sets but are listed as ones in the guide.

The sets that are listed in the guide and are missing from the game are:
- Elite Tuatha Armor (might)
- Tuatha Armor (might)
- Tuatha Guard (finesse)

The only Tuatha set available in the game is the Tuatha Sorcerer's Vestments. Again, when you get a chance, could you ask the guys about those sets?
 

1stStrike

Banned
Thank you very much for the answer, much appreciated. I'll be able to sleep at night now ;) I hope you guys could fix it with a patch or with the DLC.

One more question about the sets if you don't mind Curt, and it looks like it also might be a missing content. I just got the Official Strategy Guide (awesome stuff) and it looks like there are few sets in the guide that aren't in the game, unless those aren't gold sets but are listed as ones in the guide.

The sets that are listed in the guide and are missing from the game are:
- Elite Tuatha Armor
- Tuatha Armor
- Tuatha Guard

The only Tuatha set available in the game is the Tuatha Sorcerer's Vestments. Again, when you get a chance, could you ask the guys about those sets?

The Tuatha armor is definitely in the game. I have it.
 

sneaky77

Member
DLC question if anyone knows, if you haven't finished the game will it be incorporated into the map or is it after finishing main quest only?
 

Musiol

Member
I really loved the game, but today I hate it so much, 30 hours went away. Why? stupid bug, which I can't move forward, do anything, nothing. Any ideas? Here's pic.
424272_3543505309249_1320971339_3512033_176348691_n.jpg
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
There is a very nice looking unique armor set that goes with the helmet ;)

What is it? Not sure if I want to replace the one she's wearing though... the defense is not that high, but my God that 32% increased damage in criticals in that armor is absurd. She's pulling off 40.000 and even 80.000 damage with her backstabs it's so delicious. The Might/Finesse synergy is incredible, especially for dealing criticals... and it is simply the best one for pulling off absurd damage with backstabs.

Saved, right about 6 hours earlier, autosave of course saved it right after this, because got new quest point. I'm stuck and probably won't finish game.

..............

I thought it's common knowledge and common sense that you need to save often, in multiple files, in WRPGs.... hell, in any game that permits this. To fully rely on Autosaves in a game as massive as this is just looking for trouble.........

Oh, and a big thumbs down to missions where we have to babysit a NPC from dying. I tried to limit myself from not doing Reckoning mode as much as possible but I just can't get around on doing it in those missions since the NPCs are always throwing themselves into a pack of Jottuns with reckless abandon while all they can do is just doing stupid hyaaah hyaaah with that stupid pointy stick they are calling spears.
 
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