Kingdoms of Amalur's Combat The "Best" Of Any RPG

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

I enjoyed it alot, free-form fighting with more fluent and easier controls to manage then Skyrim. Now to just make a keyblade Model Sword later on when it's released...

only downer was a graphic problem in the Demo on the first section where the ground's texture was missing, but it WAS the Demo

 

[gigastar]

So maybe it is better combat than Skyrim, but theres still games with better swordplay. Like Devil May Cry, for one example.

 

[Irridium]

Shame the story started out stupidly.

"Why is the enemy attacking us? All we have here is a bunch of dead people and a well that brings dead people back to life!"

Just... whoever wrote that needs to be smacked in the face. Rest of the demo seemed fine. Couldn't finish it though, going through "elf fatigue". A bit tired of all the swords and sorcery RPG's. But that's my issue, not the game's.

 

[AsurasFinest]

No offence to anyone who likes the look of this game, but it looks generic as all hell.
Its like it took every RPG game available and meshed it into one thing, playing it as safe as possible to get money.

I just don't see the appeal of this game honestly.

 

[AppleShrapnel]

No offence to anyone who likes the look of this game, but it looks generic as all hell.
Its like it took every RPG game available and meshed it into one thing, playing it as safe as possible to get money.

I just don't see the appeal of this game honestly.

None taken.

Generic as it is, the big draw for me is the random, Diablo-esque loot tables. Demo was short enough that I didn't really get into it (since I know I'll be doing that same bit of content later), but I managed to find a two-handed hammer with some lightning damage tacked onto it- the one or two mobs I tackled with it before I quit was pretty awesome... poor wolves didn't stand a chance. XD

And yes, making money is important to pretty much everyone. With the economy the way it is, taking risks is, well... riskier than it was a few years ago. While on the whole KoA is fairly generic and bland, it is a new ip, at least, with certain elements from certain games combined fairly well.

 

[Ayjona]

I find it strange that when AAA devs talk about "best" and "amazing" combat mechanics, they are often NOT referring to a truly reflex- and precision-based combat system, supported by evasive and defensive maneuvers and tactical options in abundance, and physics engines specifically made to make combat deeper and more varied, but to highly visual button-mashers and special effect-laden auto-targeted fighting engines. RPG action games such as Skyrim and supposedly Kingdom of Amalur are often at least slightly more varied and sophisticated, but rarely enough that the combat engine actually becomes a feature in itself.

Perhaps I'm doubly damaged by my experiences: 1) As an amateur but longtime MMA/street fighter, I'm constantly looking for a digital fighting experience that recreates some of the sensations of real fighting, notably what I mention above: the reliance on reflexes and precision, the opportunities for a vast number of tactical options and split-second strategic decisions, many, many different approaches and ways to defend and evade. A game really needs both well-developed fighting mechanics, a quick pace, AND a realistic physics engine to emulate some of that.

2) I started playing games in a climate where the hardware was not advanced enough to support the kind of combat mechanics I describe above. But the devs did try. And as time plodded by, many strove to push the sophistication of their combat mechanics to a reasonably bleeding edge.

From Deliverance to Die By The Sword, from the early beat em ups to SF IV and Soul Calibur, from the embryo of the idea that trying to recreate a partially realistic fighting experience would make for a great game to Lugaru and Zeno Clash, the evolution of melee and unarmed combat in video games seem to often be passed by or ignored by modern AAA devs (particularly in third-person action games), where the trend can sometimes be to partially head back to the dim and misty past, for something simplistic and repetitive instead, albeit with slightly improved visuals ;-)

A good thing there are still fellas like Wolfire Software and ACE Team developing advanced fighting engines. It seems my hope for combat that will satisfy this surely unhealthy need to get out of my chair and go outside and spar rests with games such as Overgrowth and Zeno Clash 2.

 

[MercurySteam]

To be honest it felt like a mediocre RPG and it just lacked polish. It did all the same things that RPGs do resulting in a game that deosn't feel like it has anything new to offer. It just feels like an RPG for people who don't want anything special.

 

[Mortuorum]

I hope the final game is less buggy than the demo (Tried only 360, so far). Took me three tries to get past the meeting with the fate weaver. The fight directly afterwards froze twice at the same spot two seconds into the fight. People missing their heads (Hugues most notably), voice-overs not playing, and only seeing the last line of text, and more. I do hope the retail version is much better, as the demo was ripped from the game by a third party, or so I'm led to believe.

Your 360 may be having issues. I played the demo last night and didn't experience a single glitch (although I agree with what other have said about the combat and justly-hated QTEs).

 

[Aggieknight]

Combat really better than skyrim? Well that's not too hard, once they say better than say "Demon Souls" then we'll start talking.

Exactly.

I didn't think the combat in Skyrim was terribly great. It was "meh" but the environment, the freedom, the story, the character customization...THAT is what kept me playing it.

Dark Souls on the other hand...the combat in that game keeps me playing.

The combat from the demo for Kingdom of Amalur was "ok", easily better than Skyrim but not fantastic. The demo was interesting enough for me to pick the game up though.

 

[WWmelb]

To be honest, i wasn't at all inspired by the demo. I dunno, it kinda felt just like playing a raiding rogue in vanilla wow... where i would sit there hitting 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 5, 2, 2, 2, 2, 5 for around 20minutes on a boss. Maybe it might get more intricate as levels progress, but as others have said, the animations preventing other actions and the QTE's were a big turn off.

I was really ... really hoping it would be great... and yeah the forced sign up for EA services crap just for a demo was an insult.

 

[DrgoFx]

From honest opinion of the game, it's a better roleplaying and action game than Fable. That's all I'm saying. Atleast Fable 2 and 3. I am interested in the game and the combat doesn't really feel FLUID but it feels like there's a rhythm to it. From the demo, it feel like they tried to be honest. It's more of a "WE'RE TRYING TO DO THIS! -takes a few steps and trips-" Like there's progress there, and it works to an extent but they did not accomplish their goal.

The dialog is not that broad in the demo, the character customization is better than most, the lore is interesting and I love the art style. The actual features in combat and abilities really has me intrigued. Destinies seem like an interesting way to bring in classes and the fact each class has a fast hitting weapon, a heavy hitting weapon and a some what ranged weapon or reach weapon. Obviously, warriors has better hits at close range, rogues are faster and farther in range, and then mages are heavy hitters at range.

The combos are actually a lot better than people here give them credit for. As I said, the game feels like it has a rhythm. Combos require something more than smashing buttons and hope something amazing happens. Many combos require timing and duration. Of course there's only so much you can do with a button for each weapon [two], a dodge button and four abilities, but it feels more rhythmic than fluid to me.

EDIT: I want to add one last thing that I actually like about the game. The camera. I can see it being annoying to many people but TO ME it gives the game a cinematic feel, making the game like an interactive movie [atleast a fun interactive movie. -cough-heavyrain-cough-]. In all RPGs that are third person, the camera is either fixed behind the character or switches from shoulder to shoulder, but barely doing anything else. In Reckoning, the camera follows the character, but not so strictly. It sometimes stays somewhere, leaving your character nearly off screen, but most of the time it just gives you a different outlook on the battle field, and that I like.

 

[Naeras]

Well, to be fair, Skyrim's combat is a bit meh, so the claim that it's got better combat than Skyrim isn't that big of a statement.

But then again, who's playing Skyrim for the combat?

 

[Gather]

It isn't exactly that hard to beat the Skyrim level of combat. Skyrim, bless it's aggressive soul, is not that complicated. One click and you've done a regular attack, press the button down and you can do several different types of heavy damage dealing attacks (All with some sort of side-effect pending you have invested the points).

If I were to compare it's combat I would ask; is it better than Risen or is it better than Gothic? We'll have to wait and tell. The demo was a poor example of the games combat; at best you had one or two unlocked abilities of varying use.

I do wonder what will happen to the UI, however. While playing the PC demo (Because I'm too cheap for the x-box demo. Screw you X-Box live gold) I can't help but tell the UI is strongly designed for the x-box. The lack of conversation short-cuts in the listed dialogue, "potion" circle interface without the ability to set potions onto the spell bar and poor auto-detection of the current screen resolution (Although not many games get this so it's passable) kinda points it out.

Although I'm a sucker for the Gothic game style so it's a day 1 buy with a wish I could get the collectors edition but can't due to living in Australia (I'll pay for the postage and handling; why can't you deliver here?)

 

[Baresark]

Meh. The world is standard fantasy stuff through and through, the story and characters are boring, the art style uninspired, the graphics mediocre at best, many gameplay features (like lock picking and inventory management) badly designed. I do agree that combat is the best part about the game, but even that isn't exactly amazing. As of now I'd rate this game M for Mediocre.

I had forgotten about the lockpicking, you're right, it was complete shit. It was all trial and error and it will seemingly rely on having lots and lots of lockpicks. And the inventory was bullshit as well. While I enjoyed the overall experience, it was a mediocre game. I couldn't imagine playing it for 200 hours, or anywhere near that number for that matter. Also, that fateweaver guy you meet (his name escapes me) was supposed to be drunk.... that was terrible voice acting because I wasn't able to figure that out til I picked the right dialog option. I thought my character was just a huge douchebag for saying that stuff.

OT: Skyrim combat was a joke, that is like picking the low ball and then accidentally hitting a higher ball and saying you did better. The combat in this game is much much much better than Skyrim's combat, but that isn't saying much.

 

[NotSoLoneWanderer]

The trailer looks like it's for an MMO than a one player game. Still have to go try the demo though.

 

[DrgoFx]

I had forgotten about the lockpicking, you're right, it was complete shit. It was all trial and error and it will seemingly rely on having lots and lots of lockpicks. And the inventory was bullshit as well. While I enjoyed the overall experience, it was a mediocre game. I couldn't imagine playing it for 200 hours, or anywhere near that number for that matter. Also, that fateweaver guy you meet (his name escapes me) was supposed to be drunk.... that was terrible voice acting because I wasn't able to figure that out til I picked the right dialog option. I thought my character was just a huge douchebag for saying that stuff.

The lockpicking is shit. I have to agree. The game presents A LOT of good ideas, but many are poorly done or barely shine. The story isn't really that generic to me, the idea of fate being presented in the way it is makes it interesting to me. I'd like to see where they go with such a concept. An example of good ideas was dispelling. The idea that to unlock doors and chests is to break through a magical barrier before it shatters and injures you is an interesting idea to me. I think it could have been done better, but it is greatly intriguing. Lockpicking has an x-ray style view in the image. That could open several doors to make lock picking unique, but it doesn't seem like they do anything. Maybe if you get higher lockpicking? I don't know.

 

[daveman247]

The trailer looks like it's for an MMO than a one player game. Still have to go try the demo though.

How come? is it the cartoony look?

OP: I enjoyed the demo and think ill pick it up sometime. Enjoyed the combat, and most of the stuff in the game really.

Not sure if its just for other things, but i didnt really run into many bugs in my 360 demo, let alone gamebreaking ones. Just some texture pop-in really.

I agree demons/ dark souls combat is better overall. I think they handled spells better here though, holding down the right trigger and hitting a face button is much quicker than having to equip a "talisman" of some sort. And the fact that there are several talismans for different spells, AND have to to equip it along with swords/sheilds/bows. Not cool.

Then again, i dont play a hell of a lot of RPG games, so maybe these things which i see as impressive are not so much

Overall it may not be particulary new/ groundbreaking anywhere but polishes existing stuff quite well. Which is enough for me.

 

[RatRace123]

Well, to be fair it's not that tough to have better combat than Skyrim, which is still stuck in the "press button to whack enemy" school.

And after playing the Amalur demo, I can say that I did indeed enjoy the combat more than Skyrim's. It has a Fable feeling to it, and given that I enjoyed Fable, I reckon I'll enjoy this one.

 

[go-10]

combat was better than Skyrim, Fable, or World of Warcraft, but then again it isn't really hard to make a better fighting engine than those games. Now if they would make combat better than say in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 or Bayonetta, THEN I'll be impressed

 

[Sangreal Gothcraft]

The combat was alright Played the demo, Nothing that I'm too Excited about, 60$ is too much to charge for , for a new IP.