Kingdoms of Amalur
 

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

Here's a video that demonstrates stuff like gameplay:

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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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Also detect hidden is rediculously cool.

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.

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

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

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.

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...

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

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.

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.

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.

and training cost a crazy ammount of money

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

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

true on both counts

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Tommorow...cant come soon enough

Can't wait to play.

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What do they give it?

I'm headed to bed.

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

9.0

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.

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.

I want realism in my fantasy games.

Yep.