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Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Hands-On Event Impressions

M

Macstorm

Member
There will likely be a lot of write-ups going up today about Reckoning, so I figured I'd start by sharing mine. I didn't really touch on everything, but would gladly share more information here if people have questions.

RPGamer's Reckoning Event Hands-On: http://www.rpgamer.com/games/amalur/koareckoning/event/koareckoningevent.html

My Character

Strategyinformer:
http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/kingdomsofamalurreckoning/690/preview.html

IGN:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/119/1197860p1.html

G4TV:
http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/...-reckoning-hands-on-with-the-first-few-hours/

RPGFan:
http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2011/2254.html

Videogamer:

http://www.videogamer.com/pc/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/preview-3193.html

Gametrailers:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/preview-kingdoms-of/721675

The games level scaling explained:

http://www.gamerzines.com/pc/news/reckonings-world-scaling.html

R.A Salvator interview:


http://brutalgamer.com/2011/09/28/from-drizzt-to-reckoning-a-moment-with-r-a-salvatore/

Digital Chumps
http://digitalchumps.com/featured-e...eckoning-second-event-impressions-part-3.html

Zam
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=27910&storypage=1

Total Video Games

http://www.totalvideogames.com/Kingdoms-of-Amalur-Reckoning/feature-16702.html

MMORPG

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.c...of-Amalur-Reckoning-Gameplay-Impressions.html

G4 Vidoes

Allestar location
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55529/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-allestar-gate-location-video/

Stone Candle Mines Location
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55533/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-stonecandle-mines-location-video/

Crafting
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55531/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-crafting-system-video/

Abilities and skills
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55532/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-abilities-skills-video/

Ten ton Hammer:

http://www.tentonhammer.com/kingdom...ands-on-preview?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

GameInformer:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featu...d-phil-play-kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning.aspx

includes a 50 minute video of the game

Gametrailers Combat Interview:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/combat-features-kingdoms-of/721683

Thanks for the links, ReaperXL07.
 
V

Vinterbird

Member
Played it a bit earlier this year. For me, my entire perspective on the game changed after playing it. I'm terribly excited for it now, it's more or less Fable + Oblivion seemingly done right.
 
M

Macstorm

Member
Yeah, those are fair comparisons, though as someone that doesn't like Fable, this was a lot better for me. We got about 5-6 hours of playtime in and I was hooked.
 
V

Vinterbird

Member
Macstorm said:
Yeah, those are fair comparisons, though as someone that doesn't like Fable, this was a lot better for me. We got about 5-6 hours of playtime in and I was hooked.
Click to expand...

Definitely. The rhythm of the combat just reminds me a lot of Fable, but the rest of the game is very much inspired by Elder Scrolls, but with all of the natural and intelligent evolutions of those systems.
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
At this point, the only thing that DOESN'T appeal to me is the the bland as hell art direction. I mean, I struggle to find anything interesting about it.

Everything else looks pretty rad though
 
F

Fjordson

Member
Man, this looks awesome.

It's fully open-world, right? EA's probably talked about that, but I can't remember.
 
M

Macstorm

Member
AgentOtaku said:
At this point, the only thing that DOESN'T appeal to me is the the bland as hell art direction. I mean, I struggle to find anything interesting about it.

Everything else looks pretty rad though
Click to expand...
I'll have to blame EA for not getting out good screens then, because in-game everything looks amazing.
 
Unity2012

Unity2012

Member
Macstorm said:
There will likely be a lot of write-ups going up today about Reckoning, so I figured I'd start by sharing mine. I didn't really touch on everything, but would gladly share more information here if people have questions.

RPGamer's Reckoning Event Hands-On

My Character
Click to expand...

Nice read Michael. Great job.

Did you find the conversation screen intrusive at all? The black bars during the conversation segments seem to cut the screen in half. I am just curious to hear your opinion of it based on your playtime.

Thank you.
 
C

Commanche Raisin Toast

Member
thanks for the preview! there wasn't much in it that i hadn't already heard, but it's good to get even more reassurance that it's shaping up nicely. i'm also relieved to hear more people talk about how large the game world is, and the number of items.

just preordered on amazon. :)
 
M

Macstorm

Member
Unity2012 said:
Nice read Michael. Great job.

Did you find the conversation screen intrusive at all? The black bars during the conversation segments seem to cut the screen in half. I am just curious to hear your opinion of it based on your playtime.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
We were running it on a decent sized HDTV and I never had an issue with this. It might look bad in screens or videos, because of the size of those, but in-game I never found this to be a problem.

Commanche Raisin Toast said:
thanks for the preview! there wasn't much in it that i hadn't already heard, but it's good to get even more reassurance that it's shaping up nicely. i'm also relieved to hear more people talk about how large the game world is, and the number of items.

just preordered on amazon. :)
Click to expand...
I thought the world would be large, but it was huge. Massive. I tried to explore as much as I could in my six hours and barely scratched the surface.
 
R

Rad-

Member
AgentOtaku said:
At this point, the only thing that DOESN'T appeal to me is the the bland as hell art direction. I mean, I struggle to find anything interesting about it.

Everything else looks pretty rad though
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Everything else sounds cool but my god the art style is the most generic I have seen in a while. It really brings down my interest for the title.

Edit: That said, I'm still going to buy it day one. :p
 
M

Macstorm

Member
Rad- said:
Totally agree. Everything else sounds cool but my god the art style is the most generic I have seen in a while. It really brings down my interest for the title.

Edit: That said, I'm still going to buy it day one. :p
Click to expand...
Not trying to convince you otherwise, but I'm just curious what people are basing this dislike of the art on. What screens/art/etc. are people going off of?

Just wondering if I've seen impressive things that others haven't or what. I'm not really someone who cares much about art style, so I'm just really curious more than anything.
 
E

Emitan

Member
Macstorm said:
Not trying to convince you otherwise, but I'm just curious what people are basing this dislike of the art on. What screens/art/etc. are people going off of?

Just wondering if I've seen impressive things that others haven't or what. I'm not really someone who cares much about art style, so I'm just really curious more than anything.
Click to expand...
From the videos it just looks terribly generic. Like WoW but even more so.
 
T

thefil

Member
I've seen very little, but I'm also on the generic art boat. Still, all the impressions are good. I hope it ends up on Steam (which is unlikely) or at least that it gets a good Origin sale down the line if need be.
 
W

Wolfgunblood Garopa

Member
Billychu said:
From the videos it just looks terribly generic. Like WoW but even more so.
Click to expand...

That's fairly normal for WRPGs, but I'm sure this will be like most of the other good ones- once you're playing and the sense of adventure hits you, the art will all come together and stand on it's own.
 
E

Emitan

Member
Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
That's fairly normal for WRPGs, but I'm sure this will be like most of the other good ones- once you're playing and the sense of adventure hits you, the art will all come together and stand on it's own.
Click to expand...
Oh definitely. I'm very excited.
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
did not see this thread before so I had just updated the other thread but i'll repost the info here for everyone, lots of previews and new info flood today.


Previews:

Strategyinformer:
http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/kingdomsofamalurreckoning/690/preview.html

IGN:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/119/1197860p1.html

G4TV:
http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/...-reckoning-hands-on-with-the-first-few-hours/

RPGfan:
http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2011/2254.html

The games level scaling explained:

http://www.gamerzines.com/pc/news/reckonings-world-scaling.html

R.A Salvator interview:


http://brutalgamer.com/2011/09/28/from-drizzt-to-reckoning-a-moment-with-r-a-salvatore/

I'll continue to update with more as they come out. New Screens incoming aswell.
 
A

alphaNoid

Banned
This was one of the BEST games on the entire E3 show floor... I swear to God. Its such a sleeper and needs way more attention.
 
M

Macstorm

Member
alphaNoid said:
This was one of the BEST games on the entire E3 show floor... I swear to God. Its such a sleeper and needs way more attention.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I know it's still a few months away and Skyrim is between now and Reckoning's release, but Reckoning really is too good to ignore.


ReaperXL07 said:
did not see this thread before so I had just updated the other thread but i'll repost the info here for everyone, lots of previews and new info flood today.

Previews:

Strategyinformer:
http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/kingdomsofamalurreckoning/690/preview.html

IGN:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/119/1197860p1.html

G4TV:
http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/...-reckoning-hands-on-with-the-first-few-hours/

RPGfan:
http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2011/2254.html

The games level scaling explained:

http://www.gamerzines.com/pc/news/reckonings-world-scaling.html

R.A Salvator interview:


http://brutalgamer.com/2011/09/28/from-drizzt-to-reckoning-a-moment-with-r-a-salvatore/

I'll continue to update with more as they come out. New Screens incoming aswell.
Click to expand...
I added those to my initial post.
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
Videogamer Preview:

http://www.videogamer.com/pc/kingdoms_of_amalur_reckoning/preview-3193.html


Screenshots:

kingdomsofamalurreckoning22.jpg


kingdomsofamalurreckoning21.jpg


kingdomsofamalurreckoning20.jpg


kingdomsofamalurreckoning16.jpg
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
Yeah I'm not sure why honestly, but alot of the screens for the game just don't do it justice. The game looks pretty spectacular in motion, and in HD. Man I just can't wait for this year to be over with, I can't wait for stuff like Skyrim, and Saints row, but honestly KOA might honestly be my most anticipated game in development right now. It's going to be really interesting to see what they have up their sleeve for the MMO.

Usually with more RPGs I know what i'll end up being (usually warrior) but with the way the Destiny system works in this I really have no idea which route i'll take. Might become more clear once we get a good listing of the skills but I really like the Mage teleport skill, and the Warriors Quake ability. I'm leaning more to Greatswords, and Chakrums for my weapon choices, but the Faeblades seemed really interesting aswell.
 
M

Macstorm

Member
ReaperXL07 said:
Usually with more RPGs I know what i'll end up being (usually warrior) but with the way the Destiny system works in this I really have no idea which route i'll take. Might become more clear once we get a good listing of the skills but I really like the Mage teleport skill, and the Warriors Quake ability. I'm leaning more to Greatswords, and Chakrums for my weapon choices, but the Faeblades seemed really interesting aswell.
Click to expand...
The best part is that you don't have to pick just one, as you can pick skills as you want. I started thinking I was going to go all mage, but found the rogue skills to be really nice, so blended. I could respec at anytime, so I considered going full rogue, but I love chakrams.
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
damn, all these previews are just making the wait for the game much more difficult. I have a few upcoming games to tide me over but can't wait to get my hands on this. Surprisingly i've ready every preview so far that I know of, and no one has mentioned any bugs. As I understand it previewers were givin complete freedom to do whatever they wanted, and for no one to have found any major bugs either says that it was good enough that no one cared, or that no one ran into anything worth talking about.

The guys always seem to really care about what their making here, which I think lends to my excitment, I want to pre-order but am waiting to find out about the CE. Hopefully it will be announced at NYCC.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Vinterbird said:
Played it a bit earlier this year. For me, my entire perspective on the game changed after playing it. I'm terribly excited for it now, it's more or less Fable + Oblivion seemingly done right.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a great combination.
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
Billychu said:
Wow, Gametrailers. Wow. They're really expecting multiplayer?
Click to expand...

in my experience Gametrailers shows a lack of knowledge about alot of the games they talk about, i've listened to their podcast and they are usually misinformed about alot of things. I also think Shane is abit of a douche most of the time, but thats beside the point.
 
Riposte

Riposte

Member
Can I play a dual-wielding Drow??


Also did they make combat look less choppy? I hate that shit every time you hit someone.
 
E

Emitan

Member
inky said:
No hard target-locking seems troublesome, especially against several dudes.
Click to expand...
It looks like Arkham Asylum. You don't really need lockon combat for this type of fighting. I never even locked on in Bayonetta.
 
M

Macstorm

Member
inky said:
No hard target-locking seems troublesome, especially against several dudes.
Click to expand...
It handles aiming very smoothly. As long as you're pointing the right way, you'll be fine. You can even change direction mid-combo like, as was just said, in Arkham.
 
S

Syril

Member
ReaperXL07 said:
Gametrailers preview is up

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/preview-kingdoms-of/721675
Click to expand...

Seeing this for the first time, it looks pretty neat, but I'm still kind of unsure about the whole character building thing they seem to be promoting. Playing other open-world RPGs, it always kind of turned me away they way that the games were so expansive that it felt as if they were encouraging me to play one character infinitely long, yet had these leveling systems that encourage you to hyperspecialize to the point where it felt like I needed to make multiple characters just to get some variety.
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
Syril said:
Seeing this for the first time, it looks pretty neat, but I'm still kind of unsure about the whole character building thing they seem to be promoting. Playing other open-world RPGs, it always kind of turned me away they way that the games were so expansive that it felt as if they were encouraging me to play one character infinitely long, yet had these leveling systems that encourage you to hyperspecialize to the point where it felt like I needed to make multiple characters just to get some variety.
Click to expand...


Couple of things to note here as for some of your concerns. First is that while it's an open world (and you can go anywhere you want, it is a somewhat more directed experience than something like TES, think more like a mix of Elder scrolls style, and Fable. You can explore to your hearts content, but it won't be super difficult to find you way back into the story when you want.

As for the specializations concern this is why they have created the destiny system the way it is.I'll try to explain to the best of my knowledge. In most RPGs the best idea is to just go with one direction (Warrior/Mage/Rouge) pick the skills that best suit that build and move forward. In this the way the destiny system works is much different as your not picking a class as your picking destinies that unlock as you invest skill points.

So lets say you go full warrior. What will happen is you will get destinies based on the skill you pick but they will all help you to build a warrior that suits your playstyle, you'll start as a brawler, then go to warrior, then knight , and so on. However if at some point you choose to put points into the mage tree it will mix with your warrior skills and also unlock mage destinies (intiate, apprentice, sorcerer, etc.), and hybrid destinies that will combine bonuses for both trees into one class and . And you can get different hybrid destinies for having more skills in the warrior tree over mage/ or having more points in mage over warrior.

They also have destinies that will only unlock based on having points invested in all three trees. It might sound complicated, but from everything i've read about it, and the way it works it makes it appear to be very hard to "screw up" your characters build, it really sounds like the system allows for alot of experimentation and flexibilty. Keep in mind that you can respec at anytime as you wish by visting a fate weaver (costs more and more money each time you do it).
 
W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
I just need to know this. The early videos showed cities "teeming" with life, with like, 5 people in it. Have they fixed this?
 
S

Syril

Member
ReaperXL07 said:
Couple of things to note here as for some of your concerns. First is that while it's an open world (and you can go anywhere you want, it is a somewhat more directed experience than something like TES, think more like a mix of Elder scrolls style, and Fable. You can explore to your hearts content, but it won't be super difficult to find you way back into the story when you want.

As for the specializations concern this is why they have created the destiny system the way it is.I'll try to explain to the best of my knowledge. In most RPGs the best idea is to just go with one direction (Warrior/Mage/Rouge) pick the skills that best suit that build and move forward. In this the way the destiny system works is much different as your not picking a class as your picking destinies that unlock as you invest skill points.

So lets say you go full warrior. What will happen is you will get destinies based on the skill you pick but they will all help you to build a warrior that suits your playstyle, you'll start as a brawler, then go to warrior, then knight , and so on. However if at some point you choose to put points into the mage tree it will mix with your warrior skills and also unlock mage destinies (intiate, apprentice, sorcerer, etc.), and hybrid destinies that will combine bonuses for both trees into one class and . And you can get different hybrid destinies for having more skills in the warrior tree over mage/ or having more points in mage over warrior.

They also have destinies that will only unlock based on having points invested in all three trees. It might sound complicated, but from everything i've read about it, and the way it works it makes it appear to be very hard to "screw up" your characters build, it really sounds like the system allows for alot of experimentation and flexibilty.
Click to expand...

I might be missing something here, but it sounds like you're just saying that your class title and passive bonuses change depending on how you set up your skills.

ReaperXL07 said:
Keep in mind that you can respec at anytime as you wish
Click to expand...
Yay!

ReaperXL07 said:
by visting a fate weaver (costs more and more money each time you do it).
Click to expand...
Boo!
 
Dr. Kitty Muffins

Dr. Kitty Muffins

Member
I just wish they would push this one back a bit to allow hype to build up for it. No one is looking past the christmas season just yet and it shows in the total amount of thread views Kingdoms gets. This is an awesome game and it deserves some room to "breathe".

I don't think being the first quality game release of 2012 is going to do much good sales wise. This is going to be a quite release unless they give it some more time to garner attention.
 
M

Macstorm

Member
Syril said:
I might be missing something here, but it sounds like you're just saying that your class title and passive bonuses change depending on how you set up your skills.
Click to expand...
You character's play style is based around the skills you select and your Destiny options (which can be changed at any time for no fee) vary based on the skills you've selected. You unlock different Destiny options as you level and you can swap them on the fly, so you're never locked in.
 
R

ReaperXL7

Member
WanderingWind said:
I just need to know this. The early videos showed cities "teeming" with life, with like, 5 people in it. Have they fixed this?
Click to expand...

It seems in some of the newer videos there are more people, but alot of the videos take place more so in dungeons and the open world so it's alittle hard to gauge how populated cities are. Keep in mind though that all the nps have schedules they follow, going shopping, sleeping, going into taverns, traveling, etc.


Bunch more stuff also

bunch more previews:

Digital Chumps
http://digitalchumps.com/featured-e...eckoning-second-event-impressions-part-3.html

Zam
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=27910&storypage=1

Total Video Games

http://www.totalvideogames.com/Kingdoms-of-Amalur-Reckoning/feature-16702.html

MMORPG

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.c...of-Amalur-Reckoning-Gameplay-Impressions.html

G4 Vidoes

Allestar location
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55529/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-allestar-gate-location-video/

Stone Candle Mines Location
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55533/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-stonecandle-mines-location-video/

Crafting
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55531/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-crafting-system-video/

Abilities and skills
http://www.g4tv.com/videos/55532/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-abilities-skills-video/
 
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