Kingdoms of Amalur

[Kane Knight]

Already mentioned in several threads, not to mention Destor's most anticipated game.

Here's a video that demonstrates stuff like gameplay:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5xXJj_qka2c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And an endorsement from Penny Arcade:

Once again I was able to beg an early copy of a game. This time I scored Kingdoms of Amalur. I’ve been playing it now for a few days and I am in love. I’m probably not supposed to talk about the game yet but I figured it would be much easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission as the old saying goes.



I’m not incredibly far in the game and I don’t want to spoil anything but I do want to give my impressions. Yesterday on Twitter I said I thought it was better than Skyrim and I want to tell you why that is.



I’ve mentioned before that I have a problem with open world games. When given all these options I tend to get paralyzed rather than excited. for some reason Amalur is different and I think I know the reasons why:
The combat in Skyrim is miserable. If games like Bayonetta and God of War are on one end of a spectrum, games like Skyrim are so far on the other end that they have fallen off the spectrum and actually can not even see the spectrum from where they are. It seems like if you want to play a massive open world RPG you have to give up a fun,energetic combat system. The thrill of discovering a cave full of vampires in Skyrim is diminished by the knowledge that once I get in there, fighting them is just going to be a chore.



Amalur is the polar opposite. The combat system in Amalur is fast paced and incredibly deep. I’d say the way this game handles class choice is one of my favorite things about the title. There are three skill trees, might, finesse, and sorcery. As you level up you earn talent points and can invest them into any branch you like. So far pretty standard stuff. The twist is that throwing points into these trees will slowly unlock hybrid classes. For example, I started off in sorcery and chose a pretty standard wizard type class. I got a bonus to my mana pool and that sort of thing. Then I started putting points into finesse and I unlocked a couple of hybrid classes. Now I’m a spell casting rogue with magic blades! I get a bonus to blade weapons and a boost to magic damage. There are tons of these hybrid classes encompassing all the various combinations of talent points and trees. So as you play the game and shuffle your points around you can also be cycling through different class choices each with their own bonuses and special powers.


Having cool powers and a great class wouldn’t matter if the combat itself sucked though. thankfully Amalur delivers a visceral, smooth, flashy combat experience that I’d put up alongside games like Darksiders and Devil May Cry. I think that in Skyrim, story, exploration and discovery are the things that are supposed to keep you playing. Amalur has all that stuff too but it doesn’t sacrifice the game play to deliver it. This combat would feel right at home in an action game but they have combined it with solid writing and a massive open world.



The other big thing that keeps me in Amalur is the art. Skyrim is nice looking in its own way but I found the gray and brown to be incredibly boring after a while. The world felt procedurally generated to me rather than built by a designer. Obviously Amalur’s style isn’t for everyone. It has been compared to WoW and Fable which, honestly I think is fair. If that sort of style doesn’t turn your crank then Amalur isn’t for you. personally I lost interest in exploring Skyrim and Dragon Age 2 because I never saw anything that looked very interesting. A big part of the reason I play games is for “new art”. That is the thing more often than not that keeps me progressing. What will the next level or zone look like? Amalur in my opinion is absolutely beautiful. This world has been thoughtfully and artfully constructed. It is vibrant and unique in a way that makes me hungry to explore over the next hill.



In the end I just want to make sure this game doesn’t slip past your radar. I think it would be easy to look at it and think it’s a pretty standard RPG. In reality Amalur is a unique experience full of great ideas. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
-Gabe out

[Kane Knight]

Got this preordered and can't wait to play it in full. The demo wasn't perfect, but it got me salivating.

[RoXer]

Is this Curt Shiling's "other thing"? The not MMO? I feel like he's been working on that MMO for like 7 years now. I think even when he was still playing he would be interviewed about it and mention it.

[Swiss Ultimate]

Got this preordered and can't wait to play it in full. The demo wasn't perfect, but it got me salivating.

I played the 360 demo and wasn't exactly sold on the game. I didn't mind the graphics and really did enjoy the world design. Would agree with PA on combat, shit was fun.

Main reason I got the demo though was so that I could get special armor in Mass Effect 3.

[Requiem]

Dunno, demo didn't really hook me. It wasn't bad, and I'll probably download/play it at some point after it releases, but I don't understand this mass of excitement toward this game. It was fun, but there was nothing awe-inspiring about it.

The potentially interesting part about it is that this is the 'world' in which their MMO will be based. It is just the single player counterpart to that game. I'm guessing the art style will stick with it to a point as well.

[ClockShot]

Is this Curt Shiling's "other thing"? The not MMO? I feel like he's been working on that MMO for like 7 years now. I think even when he was still playing he would be interviewed about it and mention it.

Bah. Beat me to it.

Anybody else knew Curt Schilling was a gamer? I read an article a couple days ago he put up $35 million of his own cash to get the project going. It's now over $60 million.

[RoXer]

Joe Buck would ALWAYS talk about how he creates hot/cold zones for each batter and logs which pitches he threw in between innings and would then log those into a laptop. Any sort of interview he would do would most of the time touch on the games he plays and possible career in gaming after retirement. His obsession with gaming was prevalent even in his playing days. That's why (to me) it feels like this MMO has been taking forever.

The game looks like fun. Something I'll Goozex and play later down the road because of all the games on my to do list but definitely something to look forward to.

[Kane Knight]

Is this Curt Shiling's "other thing"? The not MMO? I feel like he's been working on that MMO for like 7 years now. I think even when he was still playing he would be interviewed about it and mention it.

The next KoA game is going to be an MMO, so this is technically an MMO predecessor.

[Destor]

I couldnt be more hyped. been staying away from footage as i over hyped myself for skyrim and refuse to make that mistake again. but long story short: i cant wait.

[Kane Knight]

I couldnt be more hyped. been staying away from footage as i over hyped myself for skyrim and refuse to make that mistake again. but long story short: i cant wait.

Don't usually bother much with game footage myself. I only posted it because it's almost obligatory to post some sort of video. Not to mention I have no interest in story vids because I don't want to "spoil" it.

Demo was definitely enough to sell me, which is frustrating. I want to go back and muck around in it, but I don't want to wear out before I can save my progress.

[Destor]

my only gripe with the demo (ignoring bugs) is how frequently gear was dropping. i hope that is for the demo only to let you play with different styles. otherwise they kill item progression. i think it was just the demo tho seeing as they all had the same cosmetic style (one rogue, mage, and worrior armor types but with dif stats.) fingers crossed i guess.

[Kane Knight]

my only gripe with the demo (ignoring bugs) is how frequently gear was dropping. i hope that is for the demo only to let you play with different styles. otherwise they kill item progression. i think it was just the demo tho seeing as they all had the same cosmetic style (one rogue, mage, and worrior armor types but with dif stats.) fingers crossed i guess.

I didn't mind loot frequency because most of the gear didn't really help my specific character much, and the stores didn't have much good (specifically for me), either.

This seems to be completely random, though. My first playthrough I got some cool stuff that happened to befit the Rogue build I had in mind, and my second magey playthrough, I didn't get much in the way of cool magey stuff. I got less mage stuff than my Rogue playthrough. If I had known that, I might have tried out spellcasting first.

[Destor]

I didn't mind loot frequency because most of the gear didn't really help my specific character much, and the stores didn't have much good (specifically for me), either.

This seems to be completely random, though. My first playthrough I got some cool stuff that happened to befit the Rogue build I had in mind, and my second magey playthrough, I didn't get much in the way of cool magey stuff. I got less mage stuff than my Rogue playthrough. If I had known that, I might have tried out spellcasting first.the thing im most excited for in this is its the first rpg i can think of that doesnt punish you for cross classing, in fact the rewards for late game cross classing are sweet. my biggest hiccup right now with trying decide what i will do with my first playthrough is that the birth signs are different for each race. (some crossovers some not.) tons of options. no idea what im going to be.

[Destor]

Also detect hidden is rediculously cool.

[Kane Knight]

I like the fact that with just a couple ranks of stealth, you can nuke people and their friends don't seem to notice unless they're already looking at you.

[Destor]

yeah games like this the stealth always seems to break the game pretty quick :'(

[Destor]

played a jack of all trades, went with ice blast, sword, and bow. had tons of fun...might do that my first time.

[Kane Knight]

yeah games like this the stealth always seems to break the game pretty quick :'(

Thing I hate is that I almost never got near enough to do the backstab as a Rogue.

I imagine a few more ranks and I'd break the game, but I was really more enjoying trying out multiple things.

[Destor]

the skills tree is hard to get an idea what to level because you dont get far enough in the demo to really be able to figure out how these thigns work. i do know that detect hidden is a must. but other than that i dont know...choices...i did read that threw the most playthroughs you will be able to max four of them...

[Destor]

cant see me taking stealth unless im a rogue so at least thats one checked off.

[Kane Knight]

the skills tree is hard to get an idea what to level because you dont get far enough in the demo to really be able to figure out how these thigns work. i do know that detect hidden is a must. but other than that i dont know...choices...i did read that threw the most playthroughs you will be able to max four of them...

You can also buy skills, I don't know if that's factored in. What you can buy appears to be limited, but I don't know yet.

cant see me taking stealth unless im a rogue so at least thats one checked off.

I've spent a good chunk of the week joking to friends about stealth nukes, so I might. But I haven't decided.

Plus, I think you can respec for a fee.

[Destor]

the game is very friendly to respecting, like a lot of rpgs now they're trying to find ways around people having to restart because of poor early game descisions. i dont know how i feel about this, but its in there.

[Destor]

and training cost a crazy ammount of money

[Kane Knight]

the game is very friendly to respecting, like a lot of rpgs now they're trying to find ways around people having to restart because of poor early game descisions. i dont know how i feel about this, but its in there.

Kinda wish instead of respeccing there was more effort into explaining things in the first place. Then you could make informed decisions.

and training cost a crazy ammount of money

Of coure it does. but it's there and worth it.

[Destor]

true on both counts

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Bah. Beat me to it.

Anybody else knew Curt Schilling was a gamer? I read an article a couple days ago he put up $35 million of his own cash to get the project going. It's now over $60 million.

Yeah, I saw him at the Natick Mall a couple of times checking out the RPG game books when they had a bookstore at the mall. He was really into Everquest when it was huge.

This game looks pretty freakin' sweet. I never imagined his games were going to be a cross-platform. I really expected him to just launch a few indy-PC games. Good for him for getting EA Games into it. I know he's got another online RPG in the works too.

[Blitz]

Just checked the demo since I've been hearing about this everywhere, and I'm definitely intrigued. Combat feels like God of War more than Skyrim. May have to pick this up.

[El Capitano Gatisto]

The combat system in God of War isn't great either, it's mostly button mashing. Skyrim's combat is absolute shite. I haven't encountered anything better than in Demon/Dark Souls.

[Blitz]

No, GOW-style combat isn't fantastic, but it's leagues better than Skyrim-style. Also, the videos I've seen seem to indicate that the combat gets deeper, or at least more varied. Enough to get me considering a purchase.

[Kane Knight]

This game looks pretty freakin' sweet. I never imagined his games were going to be a cross-platform. I really expected him to just launch a few indy-PC games. Good for him for getting EA Games into it. I know he's got another online RPG in the works too.

Amusing in the light of one of the guys working on this recently bitching about how piracy is why there are so few big PC exclusives (as opposed to consoles).

No, GOW-style combat isn't fantastic, but it's leagues better than Skyrim-style. Also, the videos I've seen seem to indicate that the combat gets deeper, or at least more varied. Enough to get me considering a purchase.

Cappy, of course, already called Skyrim's combat shit, so I'm not sure leagues better will be much of a benefit here.

Still, it's what I would call good enough.

[Destor]

Tommorow...cant come soon enough

[Kane Knight]

Can't wait to play.

[Destor]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jVC6FemwPcI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Kane Knight]

What do they give it?

I'm headed to bed.

[Destor]

9.0, the written review and the video are VERY positive.

[Captain of Fun]

9.0

[Captain of Fun]

Damn it Destor.

Also, the bright colorful art style is a bit of a turn off for me. When it comes to Fantasy games, I prefer the more realistic tone of Skyrim, and Dragon Age. Personal preference though, and not a knock on Amalur in any way.

That said, I am intrigued enough by the combat and class customization to give it a look once the price drops. Helps that R.A. Salvatore is involved.

[Destor]

i can see how that art style could influence some people, personally i think the brighter pallet is refreshing from what is the norm. good change of pace, but like wise, just a personal taste thing.

[Kane Knight]

I want realism in my fantasy games.

[Captain of Fun]

Yep.

[Kane Knight]

Got it. might not be able to play til this evening, though.

[Captain of Fun]

Dunno, I read a lot of Fantasy stuff as a kid. Mostly R.A. Salvatore stuff. When I read it, my vision of the characters and the world they inhabit was more in tune with that gritty realistic style. That's how I liked to envision it, and it's stuck with me enough where I see something like World of Warcraft, and it's jarring.

When I think Dragons, Elves, and Mages, I just automatically think of that art style. That's my reason anyway.

[Kane Knight]

Loving this.

[Destor]

it picked the worst time to come out, im working out like 3hours in the am and then 3 hours in the pm plus work in between... :'(

[Destor]

i have it and i've gone threw the tutorial dungon, fixing to do cardio then IM GONNA PLAY TILL MY FINGERS BLEED.

[Kane Knight]

i have it and i've gone threw the tutorial dungon, fixing to do cardio then IM GONNA PLAY TILL MY FINGERS BLEED.

I've only gotten about as far as I did in the demo. I can't wait to really crack this fucker open.

[LoDownM]

Love this game. Seem to be chugging health potions like crazy tho, probably because of my terrible timing at blocking/dodging then it is a game thing however.

[Kane Knight]

Love this game. Seem to be chugging health potions like crazy tho, probably because of my terrible timing at blocking/dodging then it is a game thing however.

I had only used one until I took a specific quest, then I downed three in one fight alone.

Minor health potions are easy to make. they're just black cohosh and embereyes, both of which are plentiful

So if you're having trouble blocking, at least you can snag some healing easy.

I'm pretty good with the roll, but even I screw up sometimes. Less quick with the block button, because I'm not used to having two weapons + a shield.

[Funky Fly]

Definitely interested in this, as I love fantasy action type shit. Any major gripes and/or praises worth mentioning/singing? Did they fix the bugs from the demo? How is it compared to Dragon Age and Skyrim and shit?

[Kane Knight]

Definitely interested in this, as I love fantasy action type shit. Any major gripes and/or praises worth mentioning/singing? Did they fix the bugs from the demo? How is it compared to Dragon Age and Skyrim and shit?

I don't have many huge praises to sing. Things have changed a lot from the demo, starting with the inability to spam magic (There's now a cooldown), which takes me some getting used to.

Having not had any glitches save one in the demo, I can't comment on the difference. I'm not getting the one, random texture issues, anymore, though.

The games runs pretty smooth. Most of the tweaks are minor, far as I can see.

I've seen multiple reviewers say that they've played the game for X hours and are yet to see any major bugs, which is probably a good sign.

The controls are probably too "floaty" for you though.

[Poit]

Anybody else knew Curt Schilling was a gamer?

Yeah, that's known since 1999, when Curt Schilling bought the rights to his favorite board game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Squad_Leader), just so he could make sure the people who make it could stay well-funded.

[Kane Knight]

Who knew that athletes could be nerds, too?

:le gasp:

[Triple Naitch]

I remember reading that after games when all of the players would go out and drink, Schilling would go back to his hotel and play Warcraft or something.

[Destor]

Definitely interested in this, as I love fantasy action type shit. Any major gripes and/or praises worth mentioning/singing? Did they fix the bugs from the demo? How is it compared to Dragon Age and Skyrim and shit?
The bugs form the demo are gone. i have had some minor bugs tho. had my camera get stuck for like 5 seconds once and my subtitles got stuck on the bottom of the screen once. also had a charecter that was doing a mission with me fall in battle...but i could still talk to him lol...nothing bad tho

[Destor]

DA:O might be my fav game of all time but this is light years beyond DA2 in terms of gamplay and level design and production value. So far i prefer it to skyrim but i think skyrim might be the second most dissapointing game of all time (right behind DA2.)

[Destor]

things that Ive REALLY liked so far:


Being in able to equip staight from chest/fallen enemies/etc. not the first game to do this but it is ALWAYS welcome.

the art design. really digging this. winter court was kinda purdy.

level design. im playing a pure rouge, and focusing on stealth. i like how many rooms cant be spammed stealthed, a lot of enemies will just pour into the room or teleport. keeps you on your toes.

crafting systems. this is how you make money if no one has noticed. i really liked how they lock you out of the higher tier sagecrafting, letting you make them (and sell them) but not equip them. the crafting has an insane ammount of depth and structure. very welcomed.

combat is great. everytime you level you add a layer of depth and strategy to your PC. slowly crafting how the game controls by leveling. pretty brilliant approach.

some of the quirky things you run into. example: the wolf who just hates pants...

that ability to know exactly which dialogue pushes forward the story. on first playthrough this doesnt matter for me but on second playthroughs this will be awesome.

money is a bitch. (early game of course.)

there's prolly more.

things that should be mentioned:


lip sync is very awful (not that it affects me.)

wish hard was just a little harder.

something feels...off. about the camera. it functions great but something feels...tighter? i dunno how to explain it. somethign about it makes me wanna find a way to change it...but to what i dunno.

It would seem as if there will be roughly 11 dif armour designs per class. so we get a lot of drops with dif stats but look the same.

there is prolly more

[Destor]

(ftr the record skyrim was a great action game but shitty rpg)

[St. Jimmy]

Is this online, or what?

[Kane Knight]

The camera's kinda loosey goosey. More to the point, it seems to pivot in a slightly different focal point than most other games. The camera is my only real gripe so far.

And yeah, I've got a nice amount of money off of sagecrafting without even really trying. I pick up a lot of the suckers, a lot more than I can ever use, so it's a good thing they sell for a decent amount.

[Kane Knight]

Is this online, or what?

It's a disc-based game that's single player. I think that covers all corners on "online."

[Kane Knight]

Well, I got the achievement for beating an enemy at least four levels higher than me. I actually killed two, but a third got me when I had him down to a sliver of life. They were taking huge chunks off if they hit me even once, so there were many buffs involved. As well as a lot of rolling. My health regen and damage resistance potions died off at the last minute, and I didn't notice.

Still, it was nice to confirm they were just too badass for my level. And fun to whip them once I figured it out.

[Destor]

so im now cuaght up to where i got in the demo. really wish i had went with detect hidden. prolly gonna start leveling it now. hadnt realized there were secret doors in the world.

[Kane Knight]

so im now cuaght up to where i got in the demo. really wish i had went with detect hidden. prolly gonna start leveling it now. hadnt realized there were secret doors in the world.

I checked the skill levels in the demo. You can't gain the levels, but yuo can check them out.

I think they changed some stuff, speaking of. I think you needed a lower skill level to sell fenced goods to regular merchants in the demo. Could be wrong; I'm not redownloading just to check.

[LoDownM]

so im now cuaght up to where i got in the demo. really wish i had went with detect hidden. prolly gonna start leveling it now. hadnt realized there were secret doors in the world.

What, really? Gonna have to start putting points into it.

[Destor]

I checked the skill levels in the demo. You can't gain the levels, but yuo can check them out.

I think they changed some stuff, speaking of. I think you needed a lower skill level to sell fenced goods to regular merchants in the demo. Could be wrong; I'm not redownloading just to check.lots of little things have been changed (all for the better imo)

What, really? Gonna have to start putting points into it.i've noticed a chime in certian locations where i believe there to be a hidden door. cant confirm if you need the skill to enter or not.

[Destor]

i take back what i said about items. you get some awesome rare items through questing. the drop stuff all has a basic look depending on your level it seems, and as you pregress the stats increase increase until you pass certian cap then it gets both a stat upgrade and a cosmetic, im sure these quest items are scaled too (hope not) but they are both fantastic and look really sweet. also im completely in love with this game.

[Kane Knight]

lots of little things have been changed (all for the better imo)

i've noticed a chime in certian locations where i believe there to be a hidden door. cant confirm if you need the skill to enter or not.

Yeah, I'm unclear on whether Detect Hidden is required to access them.

[Destor]

after getting the skill yes you do need them. already completed a lorestone set thanks to it so i'd highly advise taking detect hidden up to level 5 no matter what type of charecter you have.

[Indifferent Clox]

Got it!

[Kane Knight]

No game effect (beyond the obvious them being weapons) but it's awesome running around with flaming Chakrams on your back.

[Indifferent Clox]

Have you seen any minor quests effect npc dialogue yet?

[Destor]

Have you seen any minor quests effect npc dialogue yet?
what do you mean? i've molded the outcome of entire towns in sidequest if that helps...they now speak to me accordingly.

[Destor]

No game effect (beyond the obvious them being weapons) but it's awesome running around with flaming Chakrams on your back.
i still havent toyed around with them...but they're awesome. you going mage? i was very tempted to go mage.

[Kane Knight]

i still havent toyed around with them...but they're awesome. you going mage? i was very tempted to go mage.

Yeah, I wanted to go between Rogue or Mage, and finally decided on Mage. The fire spell is completely badass. Unfortunately, it sometimes doesn't respond.

[Destor]

Yeah, I wanted to go between Rogue or Mage, and finally decided on Mage. The fire spell is completely badass. Unfortunately, it sometimes doesn't respond.
i dunno if you're to webwood yet but you'd sail through it with a fire spell...really wish i had one. im a poison based rouge...webwood was a pain. everything there laughed at my poison game... :(

anyhow the spells seem to deliberately have delays and unspoken rules about casting. i havent really figured out why or what cause these slight delays yet, but i think it's by design.

[Kane Knight]

i dunno if you're to webwood yet but you'd sail through it with a fire spell...really wish i had one. im a poison based rouge...webwood was a pain. everything there laughed at my poison game... :(

anyhow the spells seem to deliberately have delays and unspoken rules about casting. i havent really figured out why or what cause these slight delays yet, but i think it's by design.

Yeah, I've dealt with webwood. I'm using an ice staff and fiery chakrams right now. The two work decently as a pair, but they're mostly backup. I use mostly magic. Most things die to one or the other.

Thing is, there seems to be a weird irregularity with the fire spell. Like, the lightning one has a definitive cooldown. The fire one I can literally spam, but sometimes won't trigger. I don't think it's a delay or unspoken rule. It's just a bug.

[Destor]

could be, i havent played with it obviously. :-\

[Indifferent Clox]

I was reading how someone destroyed a village in a sidquest and nobodymentioned it. Except that the town was then a ghost town..

[Destor]

I was reading how someone destroyed a village in a sidquest and nobodymentioned it. Except that the town was then a ghost town..i assume this was web wood. people dont really go into that forest so word not reaching other places isnt really illogical.

[Indifferent Clox]

I've been reading a lot of reviews that said shit about the game that I've found absolutley untrue. Dunno.

[Destor]

yeah one said that there were no descisions, that what you chose ends up the same. this isnt even remotely true.

[Indifferent Clox]

Lets use metacritic and Kotaku to point out erroneous critisims.

[Kane Knight]

I was reading how someone destroyed a village in a sidquest and nobodymentioned it. Except that the town was then a ghost town..

Was that 1Up? I read the same thing, but I don't remember where.

I didn't read many reviews. I was already sold on the game.

yeah one said that there were no descisions, that what you chose ends up the same. this isnt even remotely true.

And you don't have to get that far in the game to know that.

[Destor]

the reviewer admitteded to having only played it for 20 hours. which isnt even remotely enough to review this game in my opinion.

[LoDownM]

I keep hearing about bugs, and Xplay gave it a 2/5 because of bugs. But the only bug I've encountered so far was, after coming out of the Reckoning mode, got stuck in an incline and had to reload.

Other then that the only other thing that was buggy was the camera once, was so far zoomed in that all I could see was my characters and enemies feet.

[Destor]

dont understand how skyrim gets a pass on bugs from these poeple and then nothing else does. and yeah the three tiny bugs are the only bugs i've encountered. (unlike skyrim were i ran into a game breaking bugs every few hours forcing me to reload old saves.)

[LoDownM]

Honestly, I think it's because of the new engine Skyrim had. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Skyrim, but I just think it's bugs got overlooked in reviews because of the new engine/graphics and because it's a Bethesda game, bugs were expected.

[Destor]

Honestly, I think it's because of the new engine Skyrim had. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed Skyrim, but I just think it's bugs got overlooked in reviews because of the new engine/graphics and because it's a Bethesda game, bugs were expected.
exactly tho, they get a free pass to have the comsimer play test their games...anyway...Amalur is alrgely been bug free minus a few quirks.

[Destor]

also skyrim wasnt a new engine, yes beth claimed it was but that was them blowing smoke.

[Kane Knight]

Double standards in gaming? Why, I never!

[Indifferent Clox]

I've had a couple bugs, such as subtitles staying on screen too long.

[Kane Knight]

the reviewer admitteded to having only played it for 20 hours. which isnt even remotely enough to review this game in my opinion.

That's kind of the problem with modern gaming. A lot of games are more than 20 hours long, though many are much shorter. Including multiplayer, you need a lot more time than any other medium.

To review a CD, you need a few hours (80 minutes max, multiple listenings). A DVD? a few more (Let's assume a thorough job, a 2 hour movie is generous, plus possible bonus features). A book? Depends on how fast you read, but a novel should take less than a day to substantiate. Even a play or other live performance, you're unlikely to spend more than a couple hours on. Sometimes people see multiple showings, but it's less common.

Some of the reviewers are talking 50+ hours of time, and they're on a single play. Even if you rush through the game to the ending, you're looking at a huge investment.

Not every game needs this level of investment, but somethign like KOA does. A lot of sandbox games need a heavy commitment, and any game with multiplayer will if you want to accurately tackle it.

It's a bitch, and worse, you're usually doing it for comparably less money and a less appreciative base. Game reviewers are now getting death threats for reviewing games an 8 out of 10. A fucking 80%!

[Destor]

in sad news i found that the level cap is 40...i will cap 40+ hours AT LEAST before completetion. if not 60. im 27 hours in and at level 15.

[LoDownM]

It's a bitch, and worse, you're usually doing it for comparably less money and a less appreciative base. Game reviewers are now getting death threats for reviewing games an 8 out of 10. A fucking 80%!

Didn't Epic Games throw a fit when Destructoid gave Gears 3 an 8/10?

[Kane Knight]

Didn't Epic Games throw a fit when Destructoid gave Gears 3 an 8/10?

Something like that.

[Kane Knight]

in sad news i found that the level cap is 40...i will cap 40+ hours AT LEAST before completetion. if not 60. im 27 hours in and at level 15.
Yeah, the level cap's been known since before the game came out.

Seems like a fairly arbitrary number.

I like the fact that Detect Hidden can sometimes change dialogue options.

[Kane Knight]

Hard to believe I have 51 quests done and I've barely touched the main story.

[Funky Fly]

Hard to believe I have 51 quests done and I've barely touched the main story.

That's good. Lots of shit to do = win.Probably gonna pick this up down the line when the price drops in a couple of months. UFC 3 is out next week and I've my heart set on it something fierce.

[Destor]

the ammount of side questing is insane. ive mostly just done side quest not even factions and have completed about 40 quest. im working it pretty well though. completing all side quests in a section before moving forward. seems how they structured the game tho, if you stay caught up in you questing (factions and main) you keep working your way across the world map. only completed 2 main and maybe 3 faction tho, so backtracking may come into play. (with fast travel back traking isnt a negitive, but id rather run my ass across the world tbh.)

[Kane Knight]

That's good. Lots of shit to do = win.Probably gonna pick this up down the line when the price drops in a couple of months. UFC 3 is out next week and I've my heart set on it something fierce.

Enjoy your gay coitus simulator.

[Kane Knight]

the ammount of side questing is insane. ive mostly just done side quest not even factions and have completed about 40 quest. im working it pretty well though. completing all side quests in a section before moving forward. seems how they structured the game tho, if you stay caught up in you questing (factions and main) you keep working your way across the world map. only completed 2 main and maybe 3 faction tho, so backtracking may come into play. (with fast travel back traking isnt a negitive, but id rather run my ass across the world tbh.)

I accept every quest as I come across it, and because some of the side quests require you to go so far (relatively), I seem to always sit at nine side quests to pursue. Seriously, every time I look for a new quest, the number seems to be nine.

I've got a decent distance into two of the three faction quests I've got, but I don't know how much further I have to go. For the most part, I haven't much tried to follow them particularly, either.

[LoDownM]

Loving my Daggers/Chakram weapon combo. Working much better then the Faeblade/Long sword combo I was using before.

[Destor]

my only regret is not trying the chakrams. the faeblades would be a great secondary weapon for mobs, wouldnt want it as a primary. seems like the three primary weapons are sword/dagger/staff. the others are either situational or ranged. (using dagger/bow combo and the bow is tops.)

[Kane Knight]

my only regret is not trying the chakrams. the faeblades would be a great secondary weapon for mobs, wouldnt want it as a primary. seems like the three primary weapons are sword/dagger/staff. the others are either situational or ranged. (using dagger/bow combo and the bow is tops.)

Chakrams are pretty nice, but I definitely wouldn't use them as a primary. Still, they're pretty sweet. I like the escape attack you get with one of the lower tier abilities. It's like attack pause attack, and you'll launch yourself backwards. Fun little attack.

[Indifferent Clox]

There have been two quests I've turned downbdue to moral qualms of my charcther. Firstly I refused to help that Guy kill his ex partner or whatever and then secondly I refused to help some women steal a fae treasure by reenacting a ritual.

[Kane Knight]

Moral Qualms. That's not what RPGs are about. They're about phat lewt and killing shit!

[Indifferent Clox]

I've always hoped for a game that had resolution based not only on what you do but on your decisions not to do things as well.

[Kane Knight]

People are overwhelmed by a binary choice system.

Just saying.

[Indifferent Clox]

It'll spring up within a couple game cycles (I.e. elder scrolls 7 era). Possibly not with the elder scrolls franchise because they seem to be streamlining. Maybe a new IP.

[Kane Knight]

It'll spring up within a couple game cycles (I.e. elder scrolls 7 era). Possibly not with the elder scrolls franchise because they seem to be streamlining. Maybe a new IP.

Unlikely.

[Destor]

Chakrams are pretty nice, but I definitely wouldn't use them as a primary. Still, they're pretty sweet. I like the escape attack you get with one of the lower tier abilities. It's like attack pause attack, and you'll launch yourself backwards. Fun little attack.at some point after i cap i'll prolly switch over to pure mage and play with em. they look awesome :y:

I've always hoped for a game that had resolution based not only on what you do but on your decisions not to do things as well.DA:O had this

[Kane Knight]

The Mage's "blowshitupus" abilities are pretty badass. I've got to try the other classes, of course, but Mark of Flame dominates most enemies with one or two hits and can handle crowds.

I also picked up the summon spell and the heal spell. Heal spell kinda sucks, so I've been considering respeccing and grabbing ice instead.

The Fae Gortha or however it's spelled is nice because it often distracts the big bosses, allowing me to hit them without being turned into a fine paste by giant trolls and shit.

The only thing I really dislike is one of the Mage destinies turns your roll into a teleport, which has its uses (It can go through certain things), it seems to be overall less effective.

The roll was generally a good choice for me, and the only time I got clobbered was when my timing was off. The timing window is different or smaller or something, so I get smashed a lot more. Fortunately, I can hide behind my zombie minion.

Of course, if things get too bad, there's always potions.

[Destor]

speaking of pots what's your thoughts on the radial wheel? for me with inventory being a constant concern i dont keep many on me so i dont find myself using them as much as i prolly should and typically leave them at the house save some health regen and some crit boosters.

[Kane Knight]

speaking of pots what's your thoughts on the radial wheel? for me with inventory being a constant concern i dont keep many on me so i dont find myself using them as much as i prolly should and typically leave them at the house save some health regen and some crit boosters.

I haven't really used the radial wheel. It's so easy to bring up the pause menu.

With only one backpack, I've only once hit my cap on items. I tend to go back to towns often enough I can sell off my shit.

Most potions I pick up do get sold, though. Same with the ones I craft. Pretty easy money. Not as good as gems, but still.

[Destor]

likewise on most counts. i've hit my cap 3 times but im having to make trips just to sell fairly often, not a bad thing. but it is somethign i have to stay on top of. like before entering a dungon i want to be no more than 40 in my inventory.

[Kane Knight]

Yeah. It's not so bad once you get a house, though. I kept the pre-order bonuses and some partial sets, which were REALLY screwing me up.

As it is, I probably keep more shit than I need to.

[Destor]

the manual says that the items chests are connected from house to house...i dont have a second house but thats fuckin awesome.

right now im doing the last quest for the house of ballads. really dug this quest and on the subject of set you get a pretty good full set mage armor on this mission...and a worrior sheild...guess if i were jack of all trades lol.

[Kane Knight]

Yeah, they confirmed that, to streamline things. I always prefer it to separate inventories in multiple towns.

[LoDownM]

What do you have to do to get a house? I've just been basically doing the faction questlines I had and haven't done many other side quests yet.

[Destor]

in the town of cannoroc in wormwood you get your first chance.

[Kane Knight]

Yeah, you have to complete a quest there.

I don't know about all of them, but several are quest-related.

[Destor]

correction: webwood...lol

[Kane Knight]

I didn't even notice that. My mind just filled in "web."

I've encountered a camera glitch twice, which I think has to do with the "zoom out" the game does when you're fighting. The camera will rotate so it's below the ground line, and it can be hard to fix it. Rolling can get you out of it. Can.

Also, is it me, or do curses kinda suck? I don't mean "I hate getting them," because I usually barely even notice. I'll usually have 3-4 curses before I bother to get cured, because they don't really seem to affect much.

[Destor]

depends on the curse. i got one that decreased all of my skills by 3 points. not be able to craft sucked. a combo of armor decrease by 25% and dam by 25% can be an issue against the right enemies. also elemental resist decreases in mage heavy areas. it just depends on getting the wrong curse at the wrong time.

[Destor]

jusr got my first twist of fate w0000000000000000000000t. pretty cool bonuses too. 3% chance to absord 5 health 6% mana and like 5% faeblade dam. 1 was useless for me (i dont use faeblades) but still very cool.

[Kane Knight]

depends on the curse. i got one that decreased all of my skills by 3 points. not be able to craft sucked. a combo of armor decrease by 25% and dam by 25% can be an issue against the right enemies. also elemental resist decreases in mage heavy areas. it just depends on getting the wrong curse at the wrong time.

So far, none of that has been much of a problem, though I've never got the skill loss one.

I've even got a mana curse, which decreases your mana regen. I just seem to have such a good mana regen rate it didn't really matter much.

jusr got my first twist of fate w0000000000000000000000t. pretty cool bonuses too. 3% chance to absord 5 health 6% mana and like 5% faeblade dam. 1 was useless for me (i dont use faeblades) but still very cool.

My first one actually came out of my Amazon pre-order. Think I've got two in game now.

[Indifferent Clox]

I came back to an area I had been to before and found like 5 new quests that were not there before, this game truly never ends hahah

[Destor]

which makes me question the level cap all the more :mad:

[Destor]

(i still love it dearly tho)

[Indifferent Clox]

Well i figure since you can reset all your skills any time via fateweaver the level cap is more or less arbitrery. You may not get more powerful but you can pretty much trade in your powers at any time which makes up for it in my opinion.

[Destor]

but takes away replayability. you're not wrong tho and i will most likely do this.

[Indifferent Clox]

True, but you can still go through and make different decisons that adds to the replay.

I guess in comparison to skyrim there really is no reason to replay amular, because the base charecters don't really change too much i don't guess... but maybe i'm wrong about this.

need to invest more time into thisgame, probably only palyed ten hours or so if that.

[Destor]

id like to replay to do the diff choices but if i've already played all seven classes by then...

[Indifferent Clox]

but you'd only have been one race

[Indifferent Clox]

or you could simply not do all the quests the first time, i suppose. dunno, just trying to make the game more fun for you since you pretty much single handedly got me interested enough to check it out in the first place.

[LoDownM]

I imagine they'll increase the level cap like Broken Steel did for Fallout 3. I hope anyway. Level caps in single player games are kinda retarded imo.

[Destor]

or you could simply not do all the quests the first time, i suppose. dunno, just trying to make the game more fun for you since you pretty much single handedly got me interested enough to check it out in the first place.its the multiple outcomes that i want to do...i dont mind replaying missions but if i've already explored all gameplay possibilities its hard to see what would bring me back...then again i've played DA:O like 50 times...so whatever.

I imagine they'll increase the level cap like Broken Steel did for Fallout 3. I hope anyway. Level caps in single player games are kinda retarded imo.
im good with caps within in reason. they ensure that the end game will have some challenge. and in a game with scalling enemies things can get really out of hand with out a cap.

[Indifferent Clox]

how many multiple decisions have you come to so far? does the game end when the main story is over? How many endings are there supposed to be?

[Destor]

maybe 7. no it doesnt. prolly just one good ending and one bad ending.

[Kane Knight]

Is it true that the dungeons and shit scale with you, even though the rest of the world is divided into "zones?" I've seen evidence that could support or deny it.

which makes me question the level cap all the more :mad:

Does kinda suck.

Also, finally got hit by some curses that bother me. I'm not sure if you've gotten to the cursed amulet one, but :(

but you'd only have been one race

Pretty trivial difference.

I imagine they'll increase the level cap like Broken Steel did for Fallout 3. I hope anyway. Level caps in single player games are kinda retarded imo.

I wouldn't mind a larger cap, and would certainly jump for such DLC, but I don't see why level caps are retarded. Gotta end progression somewhere.

[Destor]

from how i understand it the first time you enter a zone it is set to a level (multiples of 5 based off your current level. if for example im level 8 all enemies are set between level 6 and 10.) as far as i can tell the dungons are typically at the higher end of the spectrum and the "field" is lower bar certian enemy types.

found a pretty neat trick at the end of the house of ballads quest line where they sent me back to the begining (basically) but after exiting this cave i came out in a new zone. (the dungon itself was all of said new zone.) thought it was pretty clever of them.

[Indifferent Clox]

let me see if i'm understanding what you just said.

after the house of ballads, they send you back to the well of souls, but when you came out of it it was a different place than gnomeville or whatever is that area right before gorath

[Kane Knight]

The zones are supposed to be fixed levels. That was already explained. Each area has a set range like you explained, but it doesn't do it based on your level. That much was explained by the devs. But a lot of people have said they have the dungeons explicitly scale to you, whereas the zones will only scale up within the preset.

[Destor]

let me see if i'm understanding what you just said.

after the house of ballads, they send you back to the well of souls, but when you came out of it it was a different place than gnomeville or whatever is that area right before gorath
no, thats the basically part

[Destor]

The zones are supposed to be fixed levels. That was already explained. Each area has a set range like you explained, but it doesn't do it based on your level. That much was explained by the devs. But a lot of people have said they have the dungeons explicitly scale to you, whereas the zones will only scale up within the preset.hmmmmm i prefer presets in my rpg goodness so i hope its all preset...there does seem to be scaling tho.

[Destor]

forgot to ask: what was the preorder bonus you got kk?

[Kane Knight]

Did the Amazon pre-order. If you're asking the twist of fate, I'll have to check it out next time I play the game. I didn't even know there was a twist of fate for pre-ordering with Amazon. Gamestop offered a better deal technically, but I got free release day shipping (more than six dollars difference) and I liked the dowsing rod (since plants seemed to be about the only thing Detect Hidden couldn't find).

[Kane Knight]

Weird.

I only have two cards, one from story and one from the demo (according to the web).

I guess I mistook that for a Pre-Order bonus, but it unlocked at the same time as my Amazon lewt, which I got a day later (waiting for the codes)

[Destor]

i deleted the demo before i started the game so i didnt get the semo bonuses...

[Destor]

(didnt realize it worked that way)

[Kane Knight]

It's not a huge deal. Most of the swag is quickly outdated, the N7 armour set is only for Might characters, and the ToF is nice but hardly necessary:

Players who played the demo for KOA are awarded a special Twist of Fate
Confident: "You follow your path with uncommon coolness and ease, rarely letting your situation suffer from extremes"


+5% Ice resistance
+5% fire resistance

[Destor]

yeah, good to know im not missing out on that. pfft

[Kane Knight]

I thought Twists of Fate were going to be a bigger part of the game. there are only a few, most for hitting the loyalty quests it seems.

It in no way hurts my appreciation or enjoyment of the game. This is really fucking fun.

that camera glitch, though...Grr.

[Destor]

I thought Twists of Fate were going to be a bigger part of the game. there are only a few, most for hitting the loyalty quests it seems.

It in no way hurts my appreciation or enjoyment of the game. This is really fucking fun.

that camera glitch, though...Grr.:lol: i've only had it once...of course it was at the worst time possible.

[Indifferent Clox]

What are the twists of fate?

[Kane Knight]

:lol: i've only had it once...of course it was at the worst time possible.

It usually is.

It's the only bug I've really noticed, and it's groin-stabbingly frustrating.

What are the twists of fate?

They're permanent bonuses that are given to you in the form of "cards." You unlock them for certain story events, related to factions and I think the main story quests, too.

There was a Gamestop exclusive, and one for playing the demo.

[Destor]

i gotta say it will take me ages to get through this game...so much content.

[Kane Knight]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fUBw-bLcZYc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The part around 2:55 is what I think of when I think "Twist of Fate."

[Blitz]

Started playing today, now that I'm on winter break. Love it. Doing Warsworn quests atm :heart:

[Destor]

i dont think i've put this over yet but there is a large variety in voice actors. prolly double what you usually get form a game like this.

[Kane Knight]

I damn near got a full level from Windmere Castle.

Fucking A, was that a pain in the arse.

[Kane Knight]

Completed two of the faction arcs.

The next Kingdom of Amalur needs to be subtitled something like Last Ascension.

I want to abbreviate a game to KOALA.

[Poit]

I've been spending way too much time playing this game.

Faeblades/Chakram is a rather fun combat style. The only downside is that the chakram AoE attacks don't work on slopes.

[Destor]

Completed two of the faction arcs.

The next Kingdom of Amalur needs to be subtitled something like Last Ascension.

I want to abbreviate a game to KOALA.YES. from now on im going to call it that regardless.

I've been spending way too much time playing this game.

Faeblades/Chakram is a rather fun combat style. The only downside is that the chakram AoE attacks don't work on slopes.same whit the bows supers shot the targeted enemy will be hit but the others sail forward.

[Poit]

I'm finding that for bosses who don't recoil when hit, the bow is really useful.

[Kane Knight]

I've been spending way too much time playing this game.

Faeblades/Chakram is a rather fun combat style. The only downside is that the chakram AoE attacks don't work on slopes.

A lot of the magic attacks miss on slopes, too. And some even miss if there's cover even remotely near your target.

This is one of the reasons Mark of Flame owns and is probably broken. Ice Barrage and Storm Bolt (I think those are the names, ice and lightning attacks) are both much more prone to miss. MoF barely even needs line of sight.

I'm finding that for bosses who don't recoil when hit, the bow is really useful.

Does it cause them to recoil, or is this a "run like hell, attack from a distance, repeat" sort of thing? Just curious. I thought my first character was going to rock a bow, but then I changed my mind.

[Destor]

it doesnt cause stagger until they enter the "heavily wounded" status. but the beauty of it is the high piercing dam you get from the bow so you eat up armored enemies pretty quick.

[Kane Knight]

it doesnt cause stagger until they enter the "heavily wounded" status. but the beauty of it is the high piercing dam you get from the bow so you eat up armored enemies pretty quick.

Yeah, piercing is awesome. I had some Chakrams with piercing damage for a while, til they got outstripped by basically everything I picked up.

[Poit]

Does it cause them to recoil, or is this a "run like hell, attack from a distance, repeat" sort of thing? Just curious. I thought my first character was going to rock a bow, but then I changed my mind.

It causes them to recoil rarely while I run like hell and attack from a distance.

[Destor]

already aksed KK this but how are the rest of you building your PCs? im a pure rougue built around piercing dam (due to the bonuses you get from going pure rougue in both piercing dam and bow dam you deal massive damage this way) and poison damn (took this becuase of the birth sign i chose, basically nullifies enemy dam...i deal alrge ammount of bleeding dam as well...so lots of dam over time.)

also have (right now) a HP regen of 4 per second. pretty beastly.

[Blitz]

I started with the intention of going pure rogue, but I like melee combat too much so I put some points into Might as well. Currently using a longsword primary with a bow secondary.

[Destor]

that could be awesome. its so easy to pop-up enemies with the sword...the combos basically perform themselves.

[Verbose Minch]

already aksed KK this but how are the rest of you building your PCs? im a pure rougue built around piercing damn (due to the bonuses you get from going pure rougue in both piercing damn and bow damn you deal massive damage this way) and poison damn (took this becuase of the birth sign i chose, basically nullifies enemy damn...i deal alrge ammount of bleeding dam as well...so lots of damn over time.)

also have (right now) a HP regen of 4 per second. pretty beastly.

I'm going pure mage. Just using some fire staff and am working on upgrading the electro bolt all the way.

Just unlocked something that makes it so that when you dodge, you teleport instead.

[Kane Knight]

also have (right now) a HP regen of 4 per second. pretty beastly.

I have 2 and change, mostly thanks to socketing gems.

[Kane Knight]

I'm going pure mage. Just using some fire staff and am working on upgrading the electro bolt all the way.

Just unlocked something that makes it so that when you dodge, you teleport instead.

Tier 3 (I think) destiny. I hate the teleport over the roll. Buuut, if you want to be a pure mage, you're kind of stuck with it.

Later it evolves into ice teleport.

[Destor]

ice teleport sounds pretty cool tho

[Poit]

My character is split fairly evenly between finesse and magic, using chakrams and faeblades with a bow for backup.

I'm also stuck with a teleport replacing my roll, and I don't really like it. It doesn't matter that I can teleport through enemies if I get hit during the delay before teleporting.

[LoDownM]

I haven't had any problems with the teleport replacing roll. Actually been doing better with the teleport then the roll. Need to level up again so I can get the posion teleport from the finesse/magic combo destiny.

[Verbose Minch]

Tier 3 (I think) destiny. I hate the teleport over the roll. Buuut, if you want to be a pure mage, you're kind of stuck with it.

Later it evolves into ice teleport.

Yeah, it is the tier 3 destiny. Seer I think it's called?

What does Ice Teleport do? Does it do area damage or something? Create a line of ice that people can slip on?

[Indifferent Clox]

Right ATM I'm doing magic/ might. Was doing evenly balanced.

Hey how does the mark of flame work?

[Kane Knight]

ice teleport sounds pretty cool tho

Yeah, but....

It doesn't matter that I can teleport through enemies if I get hit during the delay before teleporting.

EXACTLY.

Yeah, it is the tier 3 destiny. Seer I think it's called?

What does Ice Teleport do? Does it do area damage or something? Create a line of ice that people can slip on?

It just does ice damage near the point of teleport. Possibly to anyone you teleport through, too. Can't quite be sure.

[Kane Knight]

Right ATM I'm doing magic/ might. Was doing evenly balanced.

Hey how does the mark of flame work?

Exactly how it's described in the game?

You tap the button it's assigned to (Y in my case) to mark (Can have multiple targets) then hold it to detonate the mark.

BOOM.

[Verbose Minch]

It just does ice damage near the point of teleport. Possibly to anyone you teleport through, too. Can't quite be sure.

Ahh, I see. That's pretty cool, thanks.

[Blitz]

Fucking hate wolves in this game. Battles are pretty easy unless there's 3 or 4 wolves constantly lunging at you while a couple of trolls attack. Fuck. Glad I decided on a bow secondary.

[Kane Knight]

Fucking hate wolves in this game. Battles are pretty easy unless there's 3 or 4 wolves constantly lunging at you while a couple of trolls attack. Fuck. Glad I decided on a bow secondary.

And this is why Mark of Flame is so badass. Since the mark itself staggers most baddies, you can keep them off you long enough to tag 3 or 4, then detonate. If the baddies are yellow, it usually takes me two to kill them all.

[Destor]

shield timing is critical with quick enemies like wolves. just got a parry move for my daggers. wolves be damned

[Indifferent Clox]

I don't like how I did all of those boggarr.plague quests and the people of didenhall still act like the plague is some huge.current issue and thar I'm not like a hero with a statue at this point.

[Destor]

i didnt cure the warden before finishing that quest so he died :'(

[Kane Knight]

I don't like how I did all of those boggarr.plague quests and the people of didenhall still act like the plague is some huge.current issue and thar I'm not like a hero with a statue at this point.

Yeah, that's kinda shitty. Especially since other events let you shape a certain city to the south.

[LoDownM]

Just got to the second continent. Gonna go back and do side quests on the first one before I get into the second one.

[LoDownM]

Around the 4:10 mark of this video, is one of the most entertaining things I've seen in a "serious game" aka not Saints Row.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VN9b1SsN3Gk" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="480"></iframe>

Put it in spoiler tags since the video contains a boss fight of the main story.

[Kane Knight]

Just got to the second continent. Gonna go back and do side quests on the first one before I get into the second one.

How far do you have to get in the main quests to unlock the second continent?

[LoDownM]

The Great General questline is the last of the main quest on the first continent. It's about 8-9 quests into the main quest.

[Kane Knight]

The Great General questline is the last of the main quest on the first continent. It's about 8-9 quests into the main quest.

Think that's the one I'm working right now. The one with the windstones or whatever?

[LoDownM]

Yeah that's the one.

[Kane Knight]

Cool. I figured I had to be pretty close. Spent a lot of time on the factions and random quests. Nearly done with the travellers, which will mean I only have the Scholia Arcana to finish, but I really wanted to hit the second continent.

[Blitz]

Just finished up the House of Ballads missions (I think). I've done like two storyline missions.

[Destor]

i cant find a lore stone in the wolds :(

[Blitz]

Started dabbling with FAe Blades after I got the twist of fate for finishing the HOuse of Ballads. Think I still like the longsword more.

[Kane Knight]

The battle with the Balor is pretty epic.

[Destor]

Started dabbling with FAe Blades after I got the twist of fate for finishing the HOuse of Ballads. Think I still like the longsword more.

i said this earlier but the only 3 weapons that should be used as a primary weapons are swords daggers and staffs. the rest are ranged or situational.

[Blitz]

I was using daggers when I was going pure rogue, but I don't think I will anymore. A lot of the enemies seem to like to attack from a distance or run away, and as a melee fighter, I need the range. And greatsword is way too slow to be useful.

[LoDownM]

Use Daggers/Chakrams, haven't had a problem with range really with Chakrams as my secondary.

[Destor]

I was using daggers when I was going pure rogue, but I don't think I will anymore. A lot of the enemies seem to like to attack from a distance or run away, and as a melee fighter, I need the range. And greatsword is way too slow to be useful.the greatsword is more for the need to deal a massive kill blow. huge dam, but i wouldnt use it against smaller enemies.

[Blitz]

Also, at any point does blacksmithing begin to pay off? I've put a lot of points into it, but I still can't craft anything better than I've found in chests. Even with salvaging some decent gear.

[Destor]

i went with sage crafting (which is awesome) but it would seem that once you could get into the master tier with blacksmithing AND combined with socketing your own gems youd be able to make the most rediculous weapons possible. but the random weapon drops seem to be fine (much better than the random gem drops.) still i would prefer to be able to control what im using instead of waitng for the right drop for my build...which is likely the only perk of blacksmithing (like sage crafting and alchemy) and that the control. being to make the perfect weapon/gem/pot for your play style/build.

[Kane Knight]

i went with sage crafting (which is awesome) but it would seem that once you could get into the master tier with blacksmithing AND combined with socketing your own gems youd be able to make the most rediculous weapons possible. but the random weapon drops seem to be fine (much better than the random gem drops.) still i would prefer to be able to control what im using instead of waitng for the right drop for my build...which is likely the only perk of blacksmithing (like sage crafting and alchemy) and that the control. being to make the perfect weapon/gem/pot for your play style/build.

People were talking how beastly blacksmithing is, but I'm yet to craft anything better than comparable drops. My drops, in fact, tend to be so awesome I have only twice felt the need to actually buy a weapon or armour.

And yeah, Blacksmithing with Sagecrafting sounds cool, but again I have no shortage of better stuff. I'm selling shit that's better than what I crafted. Wouldn't be so bad if I had better components, I guess.

[Destor]

see im in the novice class (and always will be with my current build) so i have no idea what i will be able to craft when i can add up to the 5th component. anyone maxs blacksmithing please pass the info along tho :D

[Kane Knight]

see im in the novice class (and always will be with my current build) so i have no idea what i will be able to craft when i can add up to the 5th component. anyone maxs blacksmithing please pass the info along tho :D

I haven't maxed it, but I am in Master territory.

[Destor]

can you craft weapons that can hold epic gems?

[Blitz]

Also, I reallllllllyyyyyyy hate the fact that there's no option to drop items. Hate being in a dungeon only to realize I'm right at my limit and having to run out and go to a city to sell stuff.

[Kane Knight]

can you craft weapons that can hold epic gems?

What gem works with what is kinda persnickety. Like, okay, I'm a mage, right? Focusing in staff and chakram? Well, you can't put ANY weapon gems in either as far as I know. I think it's only certain UTILITY gems that fit in either.

Other weapons appear to be less finicky, but I haven't played around as much. I've been told certain items can be crafted with epics, yes, but what I couldn't tell you because none of my attempts have worked.

One of the reasons I bought one of the two items I did was that it had an epic gem slot. Quite naturally, my reaction was FUCK YEAH.

[Blitz]

I have not purchased anything except potions. Everything else I get from drops and treasures. Detect hidden ftw.

[Kane Knight]

Also, I reallllllllyyyyyyy hate the fact that there's no option to drop items. Hate being in a dungeon only to realize I'm right at my limit and having to run out and go to a city to sell stuff.

I hate the fact that you can't store quest items. And that there are inventory glitches. I can't get rid of one item and I've confirmed it has no more quest uses and most people can sell or junk it.

Meanwhile, a lot of people are having similar problems with different items.

So to recap: Quest items take up space in your inventory, can't be sold accidentally (thankfully), can't be stored in your chest until you need 'em, and sometimes remain unsellable after you're done with them.

[Kane Knight]

I have not purchased anything except potions. Everything else I get from drops and treasures. Detect hidden ftw.

I make most of my potions. There are a few I don't have yet, and need to buy, but otherwise, most of the cash I spend is on lockpicks (my lockpick skill is like, 3) and repairs.

Oh, and sometimes it's easier to buy reagants/shards than wait for them to drop/hunt.

[Destor]

Also, I reallllllllyyyyyyy hate the fact that there's no option to drop items. Hate being in a dungeon only to realize I'm right at my limit and having to run out and go to a city to sell stuff.you can destroy junk...not the same but still

[Destor]

What gem works with what is kinda persnickety. Like, okay, I'm a mage, right? Focusing in staff and chakram? Well, you can't put ANY weapon gems in either as far as I know. I think it's only certain UTILITY gems that fit in either.

Other weapons appear to be less finicky, but I haven't played around as much. I've been told certain items can be crafted with epics, yes, but what I couldn't tell you because none of my attempts have worked.

One of the reasons I bought one of the two items I did was that it had an epic gem slot. Quite naturally, my reaction was FUCK YEAH.jelous :mad:

I have not purchased anything except potions. Everything else I get from drops and treasures. Detect hidden ftw.the first town sold some sweet early gam bows and daggers...since then not so much

[Blitz]

I make most of my potions. There are a few I don't have yet, and need to buy, but otherwise, most of the cash I spend is on lockpicks (my lockpick skill is like, 3) and repairs.

Oh, and sometimes it's easier to buy reagants/shards than wait for them to drop/hunt.
I've put nothing into alchemy. I can craft like, minor health potions but that's about all. And I only seem to successfully harvest reagents like...a quarter of the time. Lockpicking is easy in this game.
you can destroy junk...not the same but still
Really...did not notice the option. That makes things easier.

[Kane Knight]

jelous :mad:

the first town sold some sweet early gam bows and daggers...since then not so much

The epic gem slot was only on a robe of the second continent. Probably less useful to you.

There may be some armours for fighters/rogues there, too, but I don't really look at stuff that requires might and finesse.

I've put nothing into alchemy. I can craft like, minor health potions but that's about all. And I only seem to successfully harvest reagents like...a quarter of the time. Lockpicking is easy in this game.

Really...did not notice the option. That makes things easier.

Lockpicking is easy, but it can be easy to break your picks on harder locks so I like to keep a stock of 'em.

If I knew how easy it would be to buy reagents later in the game, I might have skimped on alchemy.

The option only shows up on your junk screen. Easy enough to miss.

[Kane Knight]

i cant find a lore stone in the wolds :(

I just completed two sets in there last night. And then found a bunch of quests I didn't have. Grrrr.

Also, the guy who pays you for armbands is now missing. He might come back, because he's done it before, but still. Looked everywhere.

I'm fine with quest guys moving around, but leaving on holiday? Fuck. That.

But I digress. Do you know what set you're missing a stone from?

[Destor]

the name escapes me but its the one that gives me 4% to max health. its in the second row on the lore stone sheet.

[Destor]

found it, it was on the path out of the sector, i had kept taking the southern path out with out realizing it i guess.

[Kane Knight]

How are people finding the difficulty of the game? While I don't find it like, super hard, people are bitching that it's way too easy, to the point there are difficulty patch petitions.

[Destor]

i would like a raise in difficulty just because i like to be challenged a bit but im not angry about the difficulty either. i think a lot of it is that you go from hours of facing grunts without facing top level enemies. i do have to say tho that the reckoning meter can completely nulify any boss fight. dont see a way around that. if i happen to not have a full bar at the time of the boss fight some of them can be VERY chellenging. like having to fight a 5 wave set where the second set was 3 prisimire trolls that out level me by 4 followed by other uber cunts all while trying to protect an npc.... not that easy. thinking of making a stip on myself that as soon as my meter fills i HAVE to use it to remove the "wait for the boss" mentality that logic says to have.

[Blitz]

That's really my only knock against the game, is that it's easier pathetically easy or artificially hard. Any battle that's has less than 4 enemies is pretty much cake. Any battle that has more than that is usually artificially hard, because there's so many enemies attacking at once that no matter how good you are at blocking or dodging, you will get hit. Frequently. And because of the way attacks stagger, you're gonna eat a few in a row. It can chew your health up quickly.

I don't mind losing because I used the wrong tactics or I'm not leveled enough. But getting hit by random wolf and taking a few shots from Ettins because of that is annoying. On the whole though, the game is pretty easy, and pretty much any battle can be one in a minute or so with a full Fate bar.

[Kane Knight]

i would like a raise in difficulty just because i like to be challenged a bit but im not angry about the difficulty either. i think a lot of it is that you go from hours of facing grunts without facing top level enemies. i do have to say tho that the reckoning meter can completely nulify any boss fight. dont see a way around that. if i happen to not have a full bar at the time of the boss fight some of them can be VERY chellenging. like having to fight a 5 wave set where the second set was 3 prisimire trolls that out level me by 4 followed by other uber cunts all while trying to protect an npc.... not that easy. thinking of making a stip on myself that as soon as my meter fills i HAVE to use it to remove the "wait for the boss" mentality that logic says to have.

Meteor is also a real game changer. It's a top-tier spell that does explosive and massive fire damage in an area. It's about the closest thing the game has to a win button, barring Reckoning since you can't use it anywhere near as frequently. I mostly use it as a nuissance button, to help me navigate when a cave or castle is pissing me off. Run into a mob and just want to get out of there? Meteor. major yellow enemies will survive with a lot of health (Prismere troll), others may survive with a little (Tuatha), but it disposes of most and makes the rest less of a hassle.

[Emperor Smeat]

Next DLC pack got announced for a March 20 release date although no price was given.

It will be called "The Legend of Dead Kel" and allows players the ability to access the Gallows End area of the game which will be a new continent added to the current game.

The Legend of Dead Kel includes:

* An Epic New Questline – The Legend of Dead Kel is only part of the story of Gallows End. It intertwines with numerous side quests, multiple dungeons to explore and a colorful cast of characters
* New Enemies, Dungeons, Items – Multiple new enemies and enemy variants, a new dungeon type: Dverga Fastings, three new Twists of Fate, eight new armor sets, eight new shields and 18 new unique weapons
* The Ultimate Player Housing – Gravehal Keep is more than just player housing, it’s a massive estate with multiple buildings and a full retinue of retainers, each with their own back stories, side quests, perks and quirks
* Tons more to Explore – The Legend of Dead Kel DLC adds in more than 15% of additional land to traverse and explore in the already massively expansive world that is Amalur

http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-story-dlc-coming-next-month/

[Kane Knight]

Yeah, meant to mention that earlier. Looks awesome.

[Destor]

fuck me...im never gonna finish this game...maybe i should quit my job...that is seriously way too tempting

[Kane Knight]

fuck me...im never gonna finish this game...maybe i should quit my job...that is seriously way too tempting

What amazes me is how many people completed the game within a week or two of launch. Seriously, I thought I was playing it a lot, and I'm kinda underemployed.

So I wonder if these people are actually unemployed, or they just spend every waking hour playing the game.

[Destor]

really jelous of them tho... ihavent been able to play this week :( i need at least 2 1/2 hours free before i will fire it up otherwise it's just a tease. so sad. i MAY be able to play sunday tho so im pretty excited.

[Destor]

i seriously have too much going on right now. AMALUR IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT

[Kane Knight]

really jelous of them tho... ihavent been able to play this week :( i need at least 2 1/2 hours free before i will fire it up otherwise it's just a tease. so sad. i MAY be able to play sunday tho so im pretty excited.

Yeah, seriously can't play this for less than an hour. And preferably, not that little either.

[Destor]

yeah, i've gotta agree. just as soon as your making your checklist of things you wanna do in this session an hour has passed. i think thats a pretty big compliment to the game but a massive burdon for me. still just as hooked on this tho.

[Kane Knight]

yeah, i've gotta agree. just as soon as your making your checklist of things you wanna do in this session an hour has passed. i think thats a pretty big compliment to the game but a massive burdon for me. still just as hooked on this tho.

I've got like 60 quests in my queue. Sometimes, just deciding what to do is really a burden.

I hate how fast enemies respawn sometimes. I went through one area three times in my play session tonight, and they respawned each time I ran through. No fast travel, and I was still on the same day.

Zero Punctuation made a joke about respawning enemies today, and while I like them (unlike Yahtzee), it does get ridiculous at points. Yeah, if I fast travel, I can see it, but simply walking to and fro on a quest...

The good thing is, I do have several complaints and not a one of them has ruined my enjoyment. I mean, I'd rather have no complaints, but if I can't have that, ones that don't bug me much are better than game breaking or seriously annoying flaws.

[Kane Knight]

<div style='width:650px;font-size: 12px;'><embed src="http://cdn2.themis-media.com/media/global/movies/player/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.7.swf" flashvars="config=http://www.themis-media.com/videos/config/5416-2ba294afe6b1b1558924fabc7cdb4bf5.js%3Fplayer_version%3D2.5%26embed%3D1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" width="650" height="391" wmode="opaque"></embed><div><a href='http://www.escapistmagazine.com'>The Escapist</a> : <a href='http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation'>Zero Punctuation</a> : <a href='/videos/view/zero-punctuation/5416-Kingdoms-of-Amalur-Reckoning'>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning</a></div></div>

Here is said Zero Punctuation.

[Destor]

ill watch it this evening once im home :y:

[Destor]

that was pretty awesome

[Kane Knight]

I'm a Zero Punctuation fan. Then again, people are usually fans up until Yahtzee pans a game they like. You should have seen the backlash to Skyward Sword.

[Destor]

eh some people have no sense of humor, and to be fair several of his opinions were spot on on. others not so much but even then i thought they were funny. in any event that was the firts one of those ive seen and it was very awesome. gonna search through their archieves.

[Kane Knight]

Camera point was TOTALLY valid.

[Destor]

Im glad he was able to put it to words. i commented on it almost as soon as i got but had no idea how to express what it was that bugged me. He did however. AND IT STILL DOES. its my biggest gripe with the game so far. also his knock about why it was an mmo straight out of the gate is pretty valid too. :lol:

[Kane Knight]

The camera bugs me in a lot of ways. When going up a slope it often resets it so you're looking at the slope. When going down, it often seems to keep the same focus point so you're no longer able to see. And using the camera stick is easy enough, but with the way it centers, usually after only a couple seconds, it can be a pain in the ass.

Also, several games have the capacity to center the camera in the direction your character is facing. This should be fucking standard on any action game with a rotatable camera. Swinging the camera around is a pain in the ass in the midst of combat.

On an unrelated note, I love the Chakram attack from a roll (teleport). I didn't unlock it until I started blowing points to get the top tier Destiny for mage. I forgot I even bought it until I teleported through a Niksaru and then air-juggled it.

Uf they do another non MMO game in the series, I will buy it first day as long as they fix the camera and do better quality control.

Wouldn't mind some other things, too. now that I fully understand how the level-lock works, I fucking hate it.

[Destor]

also where is target lock?

[Destor]

and please elaborate on level lock.

[Kane Knight]

also where is target lock?

Target lock?

and please elaborate on level lock.


When you enter a new zone, it has a finite range of levels you can encounter based on your initial level. Entering a zone too early leaves it stuck at that low level, which means going back later you'll encounter low level bad guys and get low level loot. There are several zones that can scale to 40, but several of them are also ones you're likely to attack sooner rather than later. An example are the final "dungeons" of the faction quests.

Basically, it can make the late game kind of boring.

I like the idea of being able to go back and stomp stuff, I guess, but if you're going to have areas scale, have them scale.

[Blitz]

88 quests done. Still only at like quest 3 of the storyline.

[Kane Knight]

Had a glitch where I couldn't walk anywhere. Thankfully, it was outside, and fast traveling fixed it.

[Destor]

just wanted to stop in and say I PLAYED FOR 7 HOURS YESTERDAY AND IT WAS HEAVEN.

anyhow: target lock that i control. the current system the target will change if you're a long rand and someone get into melee. pretty annoying if im trying to off the elite on the field and some grunt approaches me.

scaling: that how i thought it worked cept i didnt realize zones had caps. kinda lame. why not just set each zone to a certian level and if i enter the wrong zone let me get pwnd and one shot'd...why is this taboo?

[Blitz]

Decided to try out Chakrams yesterday. Wow. Super effective. I think I have a new secondary.