Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

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  • SethMode
    Master of Mysticism
    • Feb 2009
    • 5754

    #76
    So, after having a half day yesterday and a day off today, my time played now is just over 17 hours. I have to say, the game is very, very good in a lot of ways, and pretty shallow in others (in other words, pretty deserving of the good not great reviews its been getting). In bullets:

    + The combat is great, to a point. It's really fun and fluid and the amount of shit you can combine is awesome.

    - You don't need to really use it much because in most cases you are pretty over leveled. This might not be the case if you just play the main story, but considering the game almost forces you to take on sidequests, it seems like silly design.

    + The main story is great, as are the factions that I've played (House of Ballads, Travelers, and Warsworn).

    - Most of the sidequests are pretty dull, with weird/lame rewards, and poor stories. However, there have been a few quality ones that are keeping my hopes up.

    + It's exciting to get new loot (and there is a lot of it) and some of the weapons look fucking sweet and are very...er...varied.

    - I am 17 hours in and I have only come across two armor templates for all 3 classes. So, 17 hours equals only 6 different looking armor types. Kind of lame.

    + The music and voice acting is pretty sweet overall.

    - I swear my female character (don't know why I made a female as I usually don't, but my dark elf looks pretty awesome) literally grunts sometimes like a man when hit. At first I thought maybe I was hearing things, but after about 50 times, it was obvious they didn't record any reaction for a female character (not a big deal, but still, pretty stupid).

    + The abilities and destiny stuff is awesome, and finally makes the player feel like they can build in a way that suits them (and with the Fateweavers being able to reboot you whenever, you don't feel that pressure like you might ruin your character/game).

    - Currency might be the worst of any game I've ever played. I have not had less than 15,000 since the first hour or so, and while there is plenty to buy, and while I wouldn't want it to be like Skyrim where shopkeepers have limited cash, it makes the above part kind of silly. You can literally change your character as much as you want with this currency system. I like the ability to re-spec, but if you make it something you can do on the fly at almost any time, what is the point of a leveling system at all?

    + It's a shit load of fun.

    + Even when you're over-leveled, it's still fun as shit to fucking wreck guys.

    + As a rogue, the stealth kills never stop being satisfying or fun.

    + Going along with the common theme: FUN!

    Comment

    • Twigg4075
      Kindergarten Cop
      • Feb 2009
      • 20056

      #77
      Originally posted by SethMode
      + The abilities and destiny stuff is awesome, and finally makes the player feel like they can build in a way that suits them (and with the Fateweavers being able to reboot you whenever, you don't feel that pressure like you might ruin your character/game).
      Great impressions Seth. Thanks.

      The above part has me most excited. I don't play a lot of games like this but stuff like that makes me feel a lot more comfortable playing.

      What are you playing on? 360 I guess? I know IGN got a PS3 copy and you said GB got a 360 copy. But they also sent Shipwreck from CAG a PS3 copy. GB almost always seems to review games on 360 so they probably asked for that (or maybe they got both) but I'm wondering why they sent PS3 copies to other outlets? I was set on getting it for 360 but I could go either way now.

      Comment

      • SethMode
        Master of Mysticism
        • Feb 2009
        • 5754

        #78
        Originally posted by Twigg4075
        Great impressions Seth. Thanks.

        The above part has me most excited. I don't play a lot of games like this but stuff like that makes me feel a lot more comfortable playing.

        What are you playing on? 360 I guess? I know IGN got a PS3 copy and you said GB got a 360 copy. But they also sent Shipwreck from CAG a PS3 copy. GB almost always seems to review games on 360 so they probably asked for that (or maybe they got both) but I'm wondering why they sent PS3 copies to other outlets? I was set on getting it for 360 but I could go either way now.
        I'm playing on 360, mostly because my friend was borrowing my PS3 when the demo came out, so all of the unlockable stuff I had for the 360 (all of which turned out to be useless for me because it's only for might based "Warrior" characters).

        It is weird that they sent out PS3 copies only to a lot of places. I haven't heard anything about vast differences between the two. Have you?

        Comment

        • Twigg4075
          Kindergarten Cop
          • Feb 2009
          • 20056

          #79
          Originally posted by SethMode
          I'm playing on 360, mostly because my friend was borrowing my PS3 when the demo came out, so all of the unlockable stuff I had for the 360 (all of which turned out to be useless for me because it's only for might based "Warrior" characters).

          It is weird that they sent out PS3 copies only to a lot of places. I haven't heard anything about vast differences between the two. Have you?
          That actually sounds best for me then because I prefer warrior types. I guess I need to finish the demos.

          I haven't heard anything but I also haven't really done any research either.

          Comment

          • Twigg4075
            Kindergarten Cop
            • Feb 2009
            • 20056

            #80
            I found a comparison.
            Check out a screenshot comparison between the PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Hint: Click on 'see full-size' to view the images in the original size.


            Apparently people are saying the colors on are sharper and better lighting on ps3. The 360 version seems to have a filter that blurs a lot of textures.

            Comment

            • Bomberooski
              #GoHawks
              • Feb 2009
              • 10474

              #81
              Just bought it. Started it up with my brother. Going all Mage. Like it so far. Liking the WoW like look
              I give rep not thanks
              My Audio Blog (Whoring)

              Comment

              • Twigg4075
                Kindergarten Cop
                • Feb 2009
                • 20056

                #82
                Originally posted by Bomberooski
                Just bought it. Started it up with my brother. Going all Mage. Like it so far. Liking the WoW like look
                Funny you should say that because it seems like most people's criticisms of the game are the WoW type aesthetic.

                Comment

                • Bomberooski
                  #GoHawks
                  • Feb 2009
                  • 10474

                  #83
                  Originally posted by Twigg4075
                  Funny you should say that because it seems like most people's criticisms of the game are the WoW type aesthetic.
                  Weird. I guess I'm not super picky about a real fun game having phenomenal graphics. I kind of like an "arcadey" look to a game like this that feels very hack and slash.
                  I give rep not thanks
                  My Audio Blog (Whoring)

                  Comment

                  • Twigg4075
                    Kindergarten Cop
                    • Feb 2009
                    • 20056

                    #84
                    Originally posted by Bomberooski
                    Weird. I guess I'm not super picky about a real fun game having phenomenal graphics. I kind of like an "arcadey" look to a game like this that feels very hack and slash.
                    I thought it looked fine too but it seems all the uber nerds are complaining about the look of the game.

                    Comment

                    • jms493
                      Junior Member
                      • Feb 2009
                      • 11248

                      #85
                      i have this game but fuck I started mass effect and now I think I am fucked. KOA will have to wait.

                      Comment

                      • SethMode
                        Master of Mysticism
                        • Feb 2009
                        • 5754

                        #86
                        Jeff Gerstmann's review is pretty much spot on to how I feel I think. It's a very fun game with some pretty big issues as well, and at about 25 hours it's starting to lose me a little. I have to say, Gerstmann is right when he says don't worry about the sidequests. They just aren't of the same quality of the main story/factions. It's just really hard not to do them because they're fucking EVERYWHERE.

                        A couple of other suggestions:

                        Lockpicking I'm pretty sure is broken, because I never put a single skill point in it and I have no problem at all with the Hard or Very Hard locks. Every lock is basically diagonal left or diagonal right.

                        This game is an achievement whore's wet dream because money is so abundant and re-specing is so cheap. Level up enough that you can fill up one skill and all you need to do is save before a fateweaver, upgrade blacksmithing/sagecraft/whatever, take the 10 seconds to make whatever you need to make, achievement pops, reload and go again. It kind of makes making new characters pointless. You can 100% the game with a few reloads or re-specs if you're playing on Hard.

                        Comment

                        • Twigg4075
                          Kindergarten Cop
                          • Feb 2009
                          • 20056

                          #87
                          Originally posted by SethMode

                          This game is an achievement whore's wet dream because money is so abundant and re-specing is so cheap. Level up enough that you can fill up one skill and all you need to do is save before a fateweaver, upgrade blacksmithing/sagecraft/whatever, take the 10 seconds to make whatever you need to make, achievement pops, reload and go again. It kind of makes making new characters pointless. You can 100% the game with a few reloads or re-specs if you're playing on Hard.
                          You had me at "hello".

                          Comment

                          • SethMode
                            Master of Mysticism
                            • Feb 2009
                            • 5754

                            #88
                            I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but there are to many fucking sidequests in this game. Pump the breaks next time Big Huge.

                            Comment

                            • SethMode
                              Master of Mysticism
                              • Feb 2009
                              • 5754

                              #89
                              So, after 65 hours, I'm done. The ending was okay, the story overall was intriguing but ultimately disappointing. I feel like they shoot themselves in the foot with the whole "you can change your destiny" because your actions literally mean nothing in the larger scale of the world. You are funnelled down a very specific path to a forced endgame.

                              That being said, I had a lot of fun with it, but probably could have been fine with droping 25 hours off of the playtime and had a better time. I'm 2 achievements from 100%, but both are ones I doubt I'll have the patience to go back through and do (50 successful persuades and beat the game on Hard). At least, not anytime soon.

                              Comment

                              • jms493
                                Junior Member
                                • Feb 2009
                                • 11248

                                #90
                                65 fucking hours?

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