Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo

Opty · Jan 18, 2012

I was looking forward to this title. From the promos and gameplay trailers I'd seen, it looked pretty sweet.

I downloaded the demo tonight and....well...it's a big "meh."

The opening was a bit long. The plot seems overly convoluted and the lore of the game seems a bit too derivative (which isn't totally surprising given the genre).

Gameplay controls are rather clunky and the menus and skill trees aren't as intuitive as they need to be. Demo was pretty buggy in some parts and the combat was rather repetitive. Voice acting in it is on the lower end of average. Not horrible but not good, either.

I also don't like that they janked ME's dialogue wheel. I expect it in a Bioware game (they've pretty much mastered it) but having it show up in a newbie company's game shows a lack of creativity, IMO.

But, it does have its good parts. The combat animations aren't bad. The art design is kind of cool and reminds me a little bit of Fable but more colorful.

It's not a horrible first outing for 38 Studios (Curt Schilling seriously owns a video game company?!) but isn't a strong entry, either.

It makes Dragon Age 2 look like the gold standard, if that tells you anything.

Based on the demo alone, I give this a "try it if you're absolutely out of games to play and have a lot of trade-in credit so that you're not actually paying for it," which is slightly better than a "pass." And, that's disappointing because it looked like it was going to be a pretty cool game.

LOG · Jan 18, 2012

Opty said:
The opening was a bit long. The plot seems overly convoluted . . . Gameplay controls are rather clunky and the menus and skill trees aren't as intuitive as they need to be. Demo was pretty buggy in some parts and the combat was rather repetitive.

Of everything you said, these are the only bits that concern me. I'll download it soon and give it a run (although I don't have my good PC available anymore, not sure if this laptop'll run it.

LOG · Jan 18, 2012

Which version do you have?
I'm on the PC and the only problem I've noticed so far is bad lip-synching.
Although I've only gotten up out of the tower.

Opty · Jan 18, 2012

I downloaded the PS3 demo because I'm running low on memory on my Xbox 360. The main bugs were some environment smearing (large parts of the ground when I would come out of a cabin turned into big white blobs that smeared everything until I ran a distance to get out of them) and sometimes my character would float forward sideways.

Overall, it was okay but not great. However, the story might get much better later on in the game. I'm not sure because after you escape the beginning, you only get 45 minutes to explore and do sidequests before the demo ends.

I'll hold out hope. I have a lot of trade-in credit at Gamestop and can probably get the game for free if I want to, so I might do that later.

LOG · Jan 18, 2012

Opty said:
I downloaded the PS3 demo because I'm running low on memory on my Xbox 360. The main bugs were some environment smearing (large parts of the ground when I would come out of a cabin turned into big white blobs that smeared everything until I ran a distance to get out of them) and sometimes my character would float forward sideways.

Didn't see either of those issues on the PC version.

Opty · Jan 18, 2012

Ah, then hopefully it was just a processing issue from a buggy download and not reflective of the actual game.

ETA: Seems I'm not the only one whose demo was full of bugs. I found a blog that also mentioned some of the same bugs I experienced. I forgot to mention earlier the audio cutting out in parts and some of the dialog in conversations cutting out, too. They talk about those and others in the article.

http://attackofthefanboy.com/news/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-demo-impressions-glitchy-rpg-fun/

What did you think of the demo?

KateSmash · Jan 19, 2012

Agreed with everything you said. And everything but the combat seemed so slow. Which makes the combat feel too twitchy in comparison.

I kind of liked the brightly colored, slightly cartoony aesthetic - but it's been done and better. Meh, I'll wait until the price drops in the Fall.

These Mean Streets · Jan 19, 2012

I tried the demo and while I didn't have the issues you listed, the game wasn't quite what I was expecting.

I've just come off games like Dragon Age, Dark Souls and Skyrim and was expecting something along those lines. The game seemed kind of... simplistic. It was more like the first Fable than the other three recent RPG's I mentioned.

LOG · Jan 20, 2012

Demo experience

For the most part I enjoyed it, but there are several minor things I'd like to note:

-The most noticeable thing for me was the lip-synching--it was pretty bad, I might go so far as to say awful.
-Subtitles need timing correction, especially in real-time, i.e. when listening to lorestones.
-I saw some graphic issues, there were points where the ground would tear during conversations.
-I found a bugged Tuatha in the tower; when I knocked one down, it lay one its back like acting as if it was in a never-ending fall.

Tutorials need some help:
-Can you exit Fateshift voluntarily?
-Does Fateshift only work on humanoids or something? I tried using it on some wolves, and after turning it on I couldn't get the finale to activate on them.
-How do you clear your crimes? I stole some stuff and killed a guard, so I had guards after me, what does it take to get them to stop coming after me so I can continue with my quests?

Also be sure you include an option to disable tutorials in the release version.

The game also ran kind of slow at times, but I suspect that has more to do with my laptop than the game. It'd be fine inside places, but stepping outside everything would kind of go slow-motion.

I've just come off games like Dragon Age, Dark Souls and Skyrim and was expecting something along those lines. The game seemed kind of... simplistic. It was more like the first Fable than the other three recent RPG's I mentioned.

So is that good . . . ? Or bad . . . ?

These Mean Streets · Jan 20, 2012

I guess it depends on the individual player. It's a matter of style and what each person likes, really.

I don't mind it, but -to me- the game isn't as immersive or enjoyable as something like Dragon Age, Skyrim or Dark Souls. In short, it seemed like a quick and easy, fun game not requiring much thought - and there's nothing wrong with that.

My only gripe is that with all the hype I'd heard, I thought it was going to be something more. As it was, it came across as just a step above the XBox Live Arcade RPG's you can download and play for 10 bucks or so.

LOG · Jan 20, 2012

Quick, easy, and fun?
The last two are variable, but as I heard this thing is going to be a true open-world. So expect tons of side-quests and lots of times to complete everything.
I've also heard that while there is no modkit, the game is moddable.

Arcadia Divine · Jan 21, 2012

To be honest, I'll never play this game. My reason is RA Salvator. Sure he's a good author, but I just don't see him as a creative person.

LOG · Jan 21, 2012

Arcadia Divine said:
My reason is RA Salvator. Sure he's a good author, but I just don't see him as a creative person.

o.0 . . . k, I'm not exactly sure how that works, but w/e.

RPecha · Jan 31, 2012

People need to keep in mind its just a demo. It is not the final product. Demos are usually rushed in order to get feedback in order to see what needs changing/fixing. If the Publisher and Dev are doing their job right then that would be exactly what is happening. They take the feedback from the demo to fix the bugs and change stuff up BEFORE people have to pay money for it. Some may argue that is what beta testing is for (which it is) but not every company had the resources to do it that way and instead use the demo to have a much larger audience test the waters before release.

Now after release id rent the game just to see if things got fixed and if they have, then I will buy it.

Opty · Jan 31, 2012

RPecha said:
People need to keep in mind its just a demo. It is not the final product. Demos are usually rushed in order to get feedback in order to see what needs changing/fixing.

No, they're not. You're describing "betas," not demos. Demos are usually pretty close to the final product.

Arcadia Divine · Feb 1, 2012

RPecha said:
People need to keep in mind its just a demo. It is not the final product. Demos are usually rushed in order to get feedback in order to see what needs changing/fixing. If the Publisher and Dev are doing their job right then that would be exactly what is happening. They take the feedback from the demo to fix the bugs and change stuff up BEFORE people have to pay money for it. Some may argue that is what beta testing is for (which it is) but not every company had the resources to do it that way and instead use the demo to have a much larger audience test the waters before release.

Actually it's a beta not a demo. Beta testing is usually never rushed, at least if the company knows what it is doing.

Now after release id rent the game just to see if things got fixed and if they have, then I will buy it.

You can't rent computer games.

These Mean Streets · Feb 1, 2012

Arcadia Divine said:
You can't rent computer games.

The game is also on XBox and Playstation and so can be rented.

Arcadia Divine · Feb 1, 2012

Oh, I thought it was for just the computer.

These Mean Streets · Feb 13, 2012

Well, I wound up getting Amalur:Reckoning and have to say that I'm enjoying it greatly. While I said earlier that it seemed simplistic after trying the demo, a better way to put it would've been that it isn't as in-depth a game as some other rpg's.

But after playing it, I've found it's in-depth enough, and the world is pretty large and varied with good gameplay. Overall, it's a fun and entertaining game.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo

Opty

LOG

Lagrangian

LOG

Lagrangian

Opty

LOG

Lagrangian

Opty

KateSmash

this was a triumph

These Mean Streets

We Could Be Heroes

LOG

Lagrangian

These Mean Streets

We Could Be Heroes

LOG

Lagrangian

Arcadia Divine

LOG

Lagrangian

RPecha

Opty

Arcadia Divine

These Mean Streets

We Could Be Heroes

Arcadia Divine

These Mean Streets

We Could Be Heroes