Kingdom of Amalur

[Valkyrie-Favor]

This game looks really good, and the 10,000 year history alone makes it sound like a labor of love. I'm mostly a JRPG/Tactics guy but I think I'll be getting this. I'll wait for a deal, though...Can't afford to buy this and then Xenoblade. Heh.

[flex wood]

So I just tried the demo and nothing really grabbed me so I'll definitely be passing. I also just read on destructoid that there will be an online pass that locks you out of seven quests in this single player game. Not trying to start the EA/online pass hate just trying to give a heads up.

[MrPopo]

If you're going to get ME3 you should play the demo, as playing through the demo unlocks armor for ME3.

[DomitorInvictus]

So I just tried the demo and nothing really grabbed me so I'll definitely be passing. I also just read on destructoid that there will be an online pass that locks you out of seven quests in this single player game. Not trying to start the EA/online pass hate just trying to give a heads up.

I never thought I would see an online pass for a SINGLE PLAYER game. That's pretty slimy.

So what will happen when you are no longer able to access PSN or XBL? Those parts of the game will be locked out forever if you don't already have it saved on your hard drive? Why can't they release a full game without a bunch of complications and respect the consumer's rights to choose to buy used or new? This seems to be a growing menace.

I might just buy this used because I will not be tricked into giving money to this corporation for their bullshit tactics.

Ahh, capitalism!

[dsheinem]

Anyone else having weird demo bugs? The sound in mine dropped out shortly before I got out of the mines area and then the demo froze about 20 minutes into the 45 minute freeplay. I was playing the PS3 port.

[BananaXX]

It comes out this week, anyone going to be picking it up? I would but I'm sorta short on cash at the moment and KoA probably wouldn't help me with my grades....

[Bootaaay]

I've got this pre-ordered and am pretty excited for it's release on Friday - not only is the combat pretty smooth (and with a crazy level of RPG depth), but the world seems HUGE with a ton of content. I'm not thoroughly enamoured with the character designs, but the world itself looks beautiful enough. Also, I really like that Curt Schilling has been posting in a very frank manner over on NeoGAF - he sounds genuinely enthused about the product and you can tell that a lot of care and attention has gone into the title.

I never thought I would see an online pass for a SINGLE PLAYER game. That's pretty slimy.

I might just buy this used because I will not be tricked into giving money to this corporation for their bullshit tactics.

Firstly, it's not *really* an online pass because the game has no online features - the quests and faction unlocked by the pass were intended to be the first paid DLC, but because of EA's current policy of having passes for all the games they publish, this DLC was bundled with the pass (and to give EA an excuse to have a pass in the first place). So really, if you buy the game new you're getting the first DLC pack for free.

Also, this is entirely EA's decision, but buying the game second hand will only punish the creators; 38 Studios & BigHugeGames. Curt of 38 Studios has said that they would have liked to been able to publish the game themselves, but it's just not possible at this early stage in the studios life, so they have to rely on EA and everything that comes with using a big corporation like them as the publisher.

Anyone else having weird demo bugs? The sound in mine dropped out shortly before I got out of the mines area and then the demo froze about 20 minutes into the 45 minute freeplay. I was playing the PS3 port.

The demo was from a 3-4 months old build and is plagued with bugs - but Curt said that it was either release a buggy demo, or release no demo at all. They were leaning towards the latter option, but EA apparently insisted that they release the demo and Curt has since said that it was the correct decision, as so many people, myself included, have discovered the game thanks to the (albeit buggy) demo. Also, any of the common problems with the demo (buggy sound & dialogue, weird texture tiling errors, crashing, etc) have been fixed in the retail build.

[StuntDouble]

So, anyone pick this up yet? This might be the only full price game I pick up this year, so I'm curious if it lived up to the hype.

[DomitorInvictus]

I was tempted into picking it up on release day and I am currently 12 hours into the game. I am surprised that I am liking it as much as I do, its quite good!

At the same time I am a bit underwhelmed by some aspects of the game. Its a fact that there are loads and loads of lore in Kingdoms of Amalur, but there is so much that I often feel that it is too much for me to retain or even know what the NPCs are referring to. I found myself skipping a lot of the text. I find most of the lore a bit uninteresting as well, but that's just me.

I have experienced a few minor bugs in the game as well. Sometimes the subtitles get stuck on the screen, but only when I'm fighting human enemies. Sometimes there is a short delay between actions and their sound effects. When talking to NPCs, things may block your view as the camera takes on weird angles. And a few other things, but nothing game-breaking.

There is lot to love about Kingdoms of Amalur, even though near everything about it is standard fantasy WRPG fare. The environments are huge and gorgeous and the sense of scale dwarfs your character. They give you a great sense of freedom, even though there are lots of invisible walls. You can explore in just about any direction and find loot (it's a pretty big deal in this game) and baddies to kill. The environments are perhaps some of the coolest parts of Amalur in my opinion.

Of course, the biggest draw to this game is the combat. Fighting monsters and plundering for loot is what you'll mostly be doing. The combat itself may seem a bit shallow at first, but once you start unlocking new moves and magic, it opens up more possibilities for dynamic combat. Most of your moves can be chained together, which can be fun to experiment with while hacking and slashing through the monsters. I have one qualm with the combat system though, its not as responsive as I want it to be.

This game has everything you'd expect from a Western RPG, but it has a real time combat system that isn't lame! Kingdoms of Amalur is decent and fun enough to warrant a play-through or two. Just don't go expecting anything out of the extraordinary.

[StuntDouble]

DomitorInvictus,

Thanks for the rundown. I noticed the invisible walls in the demo, and was hoping that would be something that wouldn't be present in the final game. It's not a deal breaker, but it's certainly a little annoying. I mean, if I want to jump off these rocks and die, it should be my right to do so.


Isn't it weird how an overwhelming amount of information can almost be as bad as a lack of information?

What platform are you playing the game on? PC or console?