If a player can be join every faction and see everything then there really is nothing special about ones choices.

 IMO a poor choice by the designers that cheapens any kinda of choice on makes. and kills replayability. At least Bethesda Developers were smarter then that, and I'll wager Kingdoms won't sell or do nearly as well as skyrim

I liked the demo but I'm on the fence about getting the game. My biggest problem is the camera. It felt off in a lot of places and not being able to zoom out didn't set right with me.

However, I did enjoy the combat and the skill trees are pretty nice. I'm not a big fan of the graphics but I can live with it. Overall I just don't know what to think of it. I probably will hold off on getting the game until I hear more about it after release.

Originally posted by winter

 If a player can be join every faction and see everything then there really is nothing special about ones choices.

 IMO a poor choice by the designers that cheapens any kinda of choice on makes. and kills replayability. At least Bethesda Developers were smarter then that, and I'll wager Kingdoms won't sell or do nearly as well as skyrim

Funny, I hated that in Oblivion and Skyrim, too.  You can choose to join every faction, and practice every skill.  It takes all the fun out of making choices.

Originally posted by Gorilla

The demo is based on code from a month ot two back not alpha code this is from the chairmen:-

Haven't read through this in detail, I will when I get home tonight. But I am assuming you posted this knowing that the demo code used to create the demo was over 3 months old? It was created 3 months prior to us going gold master on the game, and also is NOT the entire code base, the demo code was 'carved out' of the game code by a third party, and thus introduced immense amounts of bugs, which while frustrated, we cannot change, and take full responsibility for the sucky experience those bugs may have create

Great stuff. Looking forward to testing the launch version.

Originally posted by Vhaln

Anyone else think the game looks way better in these screenshots than it does in the demo?

The game look like that just disabled "Post Processing"  you will see the graphics fidelity.  Post Processing is similar to a bloom affect.

This game looks great, but I will not be buying it do to EA's locked out quest lines for used games. I refuse to buy from any company that tries to strongarm gamers like this.

I actually decided to preorder the game for a couple of reasons: It's on steam (I pretty much buy single player games only from steam nowadays), there's a MMO coming for it that might be interesting, and demo was interesting enough.

That being said it was a so and so situation because I find the lack of jumping moderately aggravating and the PC controls are a bit annoying. Especially when there's a target lock but no way to set it to manual locking, so I'm either stuck to attacking one foe when there are in fact three behind me, or then it suddenly decides to swap target from near death foe to full health one when I dodge.  It feels like the controls were created with a controller in mind - which they most likely were. Inventory is pretty much a dead giveaway for this as well. Seems it's one of the things that always ends up suffering most when the game UI is primarily designed for consoles.

On a bonus side I like the mobility and speed of the combat system in general and the fact enemies die reasonably fast (no minutes beating down a single foe), and hope they adapt it to MMO as well. Also the AoE splash damage from weapons after certain amount of hits is a definite bonus. However there either needs to be no target lock at all or then a way to tab target enemies. Oh and if the MMO comes with no jump then I'll have to pass because playing GW without jump was bad enough. I don't think I can stomach another MMO with "can't hop over this fence so you have to run through half of a labyrinthine zone with tons of dead ends to actually get on the other side".

As for other elements. Well, your race basically does not matter. In fact I'm not sure why they bothered giving options for races in character creation since every race uses same character model and has pretty much exactly same customization options save for skin tone. Also as was mentioned NPCs don't react to your race. Again something to improve on the MMO if they plan to compete with some of the upcoming games.

Originally posted by NBlitz

Originally posted by Gorilla

The demo is based on code from a month ot two back not alpha code this is from the chairmen:-

Haven't read through this in detail, I will when I get home tonight. But I am assuming you posted this knowing that the demo code used to create the demo was over 3 months old? It was created 3 months prior to us going gold master on the game, and also is NOT the entire code base, the demo code was 'carved out' of the game code by a third party, and thus introduced immense amounts of bugs, which while frustrated, we cannot change, and take full responsibility for the sucky experience those bugs may have create

Great stuff. Looking forward to testing the launch version.

Yeah it's encouraging but I still am a little sceptical. I am a bit turned off by the UI which is poor for PC. Rather than achnowledging it they are being pretty defensive and that kinda bothers me. The other thing (as I have said before) is the whole 'on rails' feel of it not a deal breaker but slightly concerened that again what they are saying there does not crrespone to how things are.

Still there is not much round right now so chances are I'll have a go regardless.

Originally posted by MikeB

We recently sat down with the fine folks behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning to discuss the upcoming singleplayer RPG. Read on for all the juicy details!

EA recently invited us to take part in a roundtable discussion of sorts with some of the key players behind the development of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, Reckoning is a singleplayer RPG developed by Big Huge Games and there are a number of huge names attached to the IP and project, including Ken Rolston (of Elder Scrolls fame), R.A. Salvatore, and Todd McFarlane.

Why are we covering the game here at MMORPG.com? Well, for one, Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios is looking to create an MMO based on the Amalur setting and Reckoning will serve as many gamers’ first taste of what the IP is all about.

Read more of Michael Bitton's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning: Roundtable Discussion.

For all their combined intellect, it amazes me that they will not have a 3 faction mmorpg with pvp for grown ups.  I'm already hearing it's 4-5 races mirrored on both sides along with a handful of the same same classes.  However, that being said, world might be enjoyable and a nice upgrade from WoW.

I have hope.

Originally posted by Xasapis

The main problem with this game (as it was with Skyrim) is the very bad UI interface for the PC. Games with these kind of interfaces are obviously console ports, with little thought given to the advantages of having a mouse and being able to make choices on a third axis.
 

• 
  Buying and selling stuff is a nightmare
  
  
  • 
    Selecting gear is a nightmare
    
    
    • 
      Comparing gear is a nightmare
       
    
    Also for some reason you have no control of the distance between your character and the camera. I felt that te camera was way too close to my character. 
     
    
    And of course, the whole way of how the character is controled is hammering the console feeling to us. At least Skyrim got that right and the feeling of movement was't that of a console. The main problem is that I'm denied the freedom of camera movement that you get when you're using a mouse and WASD. One axis of freedom is missing there and I'm not sure which one. Probably the right mouse & move the camera in direction different than where your character is moving one.
    
    Well, those were the bad news.
    
    The good news was that the combat was interesting and flud (minus the hit X button multiple times console influenced spasm). The graphics were passable, with the main noted exception being the ground and how low quality it looked compared to the rest of the world.
    
    Bottom line, if this wasn't a prelude for an MMO, would anyone care?
     

 I had a very similar bad reaction to the interface.  I think it's actually worse than that.  For armor, it only shows you the armor rating, but the game is designed around warrior heavy, rogue medium, and caster light armor, so it's just not really helpful at all for anybody not playing as a full warrior.

The other thing I absolutely did not care for were the quest markers.  Exclamation points and question marks to me are so overdone that I literally just hang my head when I see one for the first time.  Escorting a guy through a dungeon and having a white (incomplete) question mark over his head the whole time was just really bad design, imo.

To me, the game was ok.  The combat was the high point, and the game looked good.  I would just question a lot of the design decisions.  Not a game I would pay full price for (money is tight for me right now) but I might pick it up at a discount.  I think a game like this is going to be divisive and depend on the individual and what they're looking for.  What it comes down to is that the demo is available, so play it and decide for yourself.

I found it amusing that you had to talk to that escort guy a few times during the mission but despite the escort coninuing he would end each dialogue with a goodbye. Kind of nitpicking I know but sounded odd. I also semi bugged him out by firing at the boggit things across a little lake to the left before you enter the cave. He went into combat mode but could not reach them so wouldn't move. Once I killed them it was OK but because they where in a place not connected to the 'rail track' it was hard as they where un reachable and at the edge of ranged weapons reach.

Talking of dialogue they have spent a lot of time and money on VO (sounds familiar), I was disapointed that it was often mufled and reverby, this was particularly noticable in interior locations like inns. I am guessing that one could be blamed on the demo being an earlier fork in the code. One would hope so.

Game plays great but felt too easy early, good news is that in reviews on IGN the combat AI actually gets smarter ie flanking etc. So the game will not just be easymode.

Originally posted by Vhaln

Anyone else think the game looks way better in these screenshots than it does in the demo?

 

Me also.

Demo is looking totally differently then what is shown in screenshots.

Maybe, that was the idea.  ;)