Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review

[Canadish]

I really want to support the idea of new Fantasy IP's.

But I just can't get get excited about this one. I don't know whether it's just because it's EA, or if it's the Fable vibe I'm getting off of it.
It just looks really soulless to me. More World of Warcraft overdesign.

By the way: "New Developers". I've heard these are the remnants of Iron Lore.
They're the guys who made DOW: SoulStorm. That's not a positive sign.

So is this good like "Dragon Age 2 Good", or good like "Actually Good"? I can never tell with Mr. Tito's reviews...

Okay, I chuckled.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

By the way: "New Developers". I've heard these are the remnants of Iron Lore.
They're the guys who made DOW: SoulStorm. That's not a positive sign.

Wait, are you serious? Where's Boreale?

 

[masticina]

The Demo was pretty darn good, it looks well.. it looks like a shitload of fun. That in itself cannot be a bad thing indeed!

 

[TokenRupee]

Hm, this is a problem for me. On one hand, I want to support the devs and I did like the demo. But on the other hand, it's published by EA. And I currently freaking hate EA.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Hm, this is a problem for me. On one hand, I want to support the devs and I did like the demo. But on the other hand, it's published by EA. And I currently freaking hate EA.

When faced with the predicament, ask yourself this.

Is your desire to support a developer who makes a good game outweighed by your desire to not give money to EA?

The former will benefit from your support and, if the game is successful, will go on to possibly make more games you will enjoy.

EA will be in the same position whether you buy this game or not, whether the dev company goes under or not.

 

[Delock]

Question here: is the finished product more stable than the demo. That bastard crashed so damn hard once I met the fate weaver that I'm hesitant about picking up the game now.

 

[Susurrus]

Well, Salvatore proved that the Dark Elf Trilogy was a fluke by.. er.. every single other book he wrote.

Also.. Fae fantasy not really used?

Have you played King Arthur 1/2 any time recently? The whole Seelie/Unseelie thing (right down to those names) was used in that, too.

At any rate, sorry, but the Dragon Age 2 review hangs over this reviewer.

 

[Hal10k]

By the way: "New Developers". I've heard these are the remnants of Iron Lore.
They're the guys who made DOW: SoulStorm. That's not a positive sign.

I think you're thinking of Crate Entertainment. This was made by Big Huge Games (which is pretty freaking old) and 38 Studios (formed out of whole cloth by Curt Schilling [yes, that Curt Schilling] in 2006, two years before Iron Lore went under).

 

[TheCakeisALie87]

Thanks, I was really excited about this game, but I'm more hesitant after reading all the reviews. Combat still looks awesome, but review after review says the RP of the RPG is lacking. Still on the fence, I'll probably hold off until it drops in price. $60 is still a ton of money.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

It seems more interesting than I thought. I'll probably check it out later on, not at release though.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Damn. It's good. I was kinda hoping to save $60 bucks. Oh well, whatcha gonna do. A little less beer this month, it seems.

 

[The Random One]

I doubt people will not play it because it's a new property, as opposed to because anyone who would like it has been playing Skyrim nonstop since November.

I do think I'd like it more than Skyrim, which isn't saying much. The demo glitched out on me so myeh.

 

[Sonicron]

What's that? Todd McFarlane designed the world of Amalur?
Well, colour me intrigued. I still have Spawn 1-100 on my shelf, so I guess I owe it to the game to at least try the demo once I'm done with exams. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[TokenRupee]

Hm, this is a problem for me. On one hand, I want to support the devs and I did like the demo. But on the other hand, it's published by EA. And I currently freaking hate EA.

When faced with the predicament, ask yourself this.

Is your desire to support a developer who makes a good game outweighed by your desire to not give money to EA?

The former will benefit from your support and, if the game is successful, will go on to possibly make more games you will enjoy.

EA will be in the same position whether you buy this game or not, whether the dev company goes under or not.

You make a valid point, but the fact still stands that I don't want to give my money over to a publisher that screws over people with horrible business practices. I would buy it on Steam to avoid the problem altogether, but I don't think my computer could handle it. Maybe they'll sell it directly on their site later or something..

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Hm, this is a problem for me. On one hand, I want to support the devs and I did like the demo. But on the other hand, it's published by EA. And I currently freaking hate EA.

When faced with the predicament, ask yourself this.

Is your desire to support a developer who makes a good game outweighed by your desire to not give money to EA?

The former will benefit from your support and, if the game is successful, will go on to possibly make more games you will enjoy.

EA will be in the same position whether you buy this game or not, whether the dev company goes under or not.

You make a valid point, but the fact still stands that I don't want to give my money over to a publisher that screws over people with horrible business practices. I would buy it on Steam to avoid the problem altogether, but I don't think my computer could handle it. Maybe they'll sell it directly on their site later or something..

Like I said, it's your decision, and I respect that you're unwilling to to support EA.

I see EA as an neccessary evil, so I try to support the people who make good games, not everyone sees it that way, and that's fine too.

 

[Indignator]

Incidentally, most of the interface problems described above have been fixed on the PC version and replaced with other less annoying ones.

Oh, and it seems like you can use 10 abilities at once on the PC version, flicking between them with the number keys.

This is at least the second review of this game that I have read that complained about the four slot problem, and both times I thought to myself, "I bet that problem isn't present on the PC." So all I can say is, "All hail the you-know-what."

P.S. Don't get too bent out of shape, it's a joke. I played the demo on the PC with a mouse and keyboard and I'm confident that this game plays better with a controller.

 

[Subatomic]

As it seems, a lot of the problems with camera control / movement that were present in the demo have also been fixed in the release version.

I quite like that the devloper openly supports and advertises the twich.tv streaming event although they have no control over what publicity they are getting out of it - for example, TotalBiscuit did stream for about 6 hours and had a very mixed opinion of it in the end, pointing out a lot of problems he had with the game. Not a lot of companies would have the balls to do that, as it's a potential PR nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[imperialwar]

A lot of people here obviously have never played many RPGs, the story is pretty much always you being the saviour of the world in one way or another, otherwise it wouldnt be much reason to play the game. If you want to play as Dave the baker then maybe try Real Life or what ever it was called.
I think of lot of people have issues as they cant play the evil option.

As for Salvatore I remember picking up Icewind Dale when it first scame out about 15-20 years ago and have been a pretty solid fan since. Admittedly I havent read all of his work as I didnt exactly follow his career salavating for the next novel, I was to busy growing up and becoming a functioning adult.

I have played the demo both on PC and PS3 and apart from some graphical glitches and sound drops I was content with it, remembering it was a Demo and not the full game.

But then what do I know I've only been playing games for 21 years, longer then some of these bitching and moaners have even been alive.. Imma go sit on my rockin chair on my porch now. At least thats how old these entitled little brats make me feel.

 

[Vault101]

havign decided spawn is the best superhero EVA!! and seeing todd Mcfarlanes name attacthed has gained my interest (that and the promising reception and Im in the mood for a bit of RPG'ing)

I may even get it for PC just for the hell of it

 

[Vault101]

A lot of people here obviously have never played many RPGs, the story is pretty much always you being the saviour of the world in one way or another, otherwise it wouldnt be much reason to play the game. If you want to play as Dave the baker then maybe try Real Life or what ever it was called.
I think of lot of people have issues as they cant play the evil option.

.

just because somthing is a common convention/theme in a certain genre doesnt mean it cant be explored or outright subverted (for example the elfs in Dragon age are not high and mighy)

again personal conflict that revolvs mainly around the main chrachter I think I prefer (assasins creed..sort of) ...then again "saving thr world" is often substituted with the main charachter getting caught up in world changing events, like the fallout games (kind of)

that said Im fine with common tropes if they are done well and not "eye roll" inducing, for example whenver I see a classic/gritty sci fi story involving off-world activites and hear how earth is covered in pollution...I cant help but roll my eyes