Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning

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This game looks more awesome by the minute. It looks like Elder Scrolls world meets the combat of Dynasty Warriors or God of War. Except with more fleshed out spells.

Its an open class system but with a twist with destinies. As you put points in skills it unlocks destinies which is like a class "framework" that can be equipped and changed. This framework provides passive bonuses and alters the mechanics of skills bought, access to armor and weapon types and also provides new skills to use. It is the best version of an open skill system I have seen to date.

I just hope that 38 studios doesn't bankrupt itself with its vaporware mmo before this game can be released.

30 minute gameplay walk through:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3...

I thought this looked interesting. It seems like they are attempting something different, so I'm all for that.

It seems strange to have Curt Schilling involved, but then again I always heard he was into EQ, and he's probably just a money guy anyway.

It's on my radar.

HansomB1derful wrote:

It seems strange to have Curt Schilling involved, but then again I always heard he was into EQ, and he's probably just a money guy anyway.

Saying he's "involved" is selling it short. Curt founded that studio, IIRC. His dream for life after baseball was video game creation.

Regarding the game, I'm looking forward to it eagerly. It look good for being a 2012 title and the Giant Bomb guys are pretty high on it, doubly impressive because they're not into fantasy.

The game looks good. But knowing how long the wait will be for it, my excitement is low.

Actually, this is being done by Big Huge Games which was bought by Schilling's 38 Studios. I get the feeling that 38 Studios input is mostly as an advisor.

38 Studios has got to be busy because they've got to show something tangible soon on the mmo...

There isn't a thread for this already? I'm shocked.

I'm ... somewhat interested in this. If it turns out to be a more action-oriented Elder Scrolls game with a more interesting world than Oblivion (Morrowind clearly had a better world), I might bite. I'm kind of burnt out on fantasy right now, though.

This is the action rpg. It is due out in q1 2012.

@garion - I searched and couldn't find anything.

It looks great, and similar games are pretty much non-existant on my platforms, PC and PS3. There's another 40~min game walkthrough from PAX....it's on the internet.

They said it would come out Q1 2012. The game looks prime to be pushed out into Fall 2012. A great deal of buzz generated at E3. I could see them pushing the title to contend with other big games in the holiday.

fangblackbone wrote:

This game looks more awesome by the minute. It looks like Elder Scrolls world meets the combat of Dynasty Warriors or God of War. Except with more fleshed out spells.

This does indeed look good. They have emphasized that this is an RPG and not an action game however.
I don't see why they needed to though, if you watch the playthroughs it's pretty obvious.
So it's not their goal to be on par with God of War, but I think they'll be miles above Dynasty Warrior.
So hopefully you can alter your combat style during the game cause otherwise I'm gonna be so bored.

Also, I absolutely love the environment design.
If there's a tower anywhere on the scale and grandeur they've shown, I'm gonna move into it.

Blind_Evil wrote:
HansomB1derful wrote:

It seems strange to have Curt Schilling involved, but then again I always heard he was into EQ, and he's probably just a money guy anyway.

Saying he's "involved" is selling it short. Curt founded that studio, IIRC. His dream for life after baseball was video game creation.

Regarding the game, I'm looking forward to it eagerly. It look good for being a 2012 title and the Giant Bomb guys are pretty high on it, doubly impressive because they're not into fantasy.

Curt Schilling is evidently very into games of all sorts. My other hobby is board games, and he has (or at least had*) a company over in that sphere as well. When the old Avalon Hill company went out of business and was purchased by Hasbro, he more or less created a new board game company and bought the license to continue developing and publishing Advanced Squad Leader modules because he played the game a lot and didn't want to see it die with Avalon Hill. Since then, his company has grown and branched out to publish a number of other wargames.

* I don't know if he still has ownership in the company or if he has now completely sold it to his partners who ran the day-to-day of the company when he still played baseball.

As far as the video games, I'm interested in checking out Reckoning when it launches, but have little interest in the bigger MMO project.

Another chunk of gameplay. If you wish to skip the mechanics overview, head to the 7 minute mark.

I'm shocked this thread only has 11 or 12 posts.

Looks like all I do is get shocked by this thread every time it pops up.

This game intrigues me; maybe I'll bite if I've slowed down enough on Skyrim by the time it comes out

garion333 wrote:

I'm shocked this thread only has 11 or 12 posts.

Looks like all I do is get shocked by this thread every time it pops up.

Just goes to show how popular open-world simulation is, look at Skyrim, Minecraft, and The Sims. We have what looks like the best character combat in an RPG ever, some cliche/grandfathered RPG elements refined, but not much else for an RPG player to be wowed by (?). Even after that, I am unsure about the emptiness. This game isn't low profile, and keeps its marketing up every month or two.

I was thinking this was an MMO for some reason. Now, seeing that it's not, I'm very interested.

I am looking forward to this game so much more than Skyrim. I am sure I am in the minority there but, it is what it is...

It is shaping up nicely and I can't wait until early february!

ebarstad wrote:

I was thinking this was an MMO for some reason. Now, seeing that it's not, I'm very interested.

38 Studios is doing an MMO. This is a Big Huge Games project that 38 Studios picked up and is now helping with development. So, I understand your confusion.

fangblackbone wrote:

I am looking forward to this game so much more than Skyrim. I am sure I am in the minority there but, it is what it is...

It is shaping up nicely and I can't wait until early february!

I think I'm on the same wavelength there. While Skyrim will be yet another jump ahead in that same-ish open world Bethesda mould, Reckoning seems to be trying out some new design combinations.

I am REALLY taken with their action-combat system and how may gel with the stat-based RPG progression.

I just watched the 20 minute video posted above and now I'm really looking forward to this. I like the look of the game and the combat, and it sounds like it could be a pretty substantial single-player game. In a way, I'm glad this just popped up on my radar -- cut down on the waiting time.

fangblackbone wrote:

I am looking forward to this game so much more than Skyrim. I am sure I am in the minority there but, it is what it is...

It is shaping up nicely and I can't wait until early february!

In the minority with you. I'm sure I'll love Skyrim, when I eventually pick it up, but I just can't stand that they improved everything in The Elder Scrolls except the thing that really needed to be improved: combat.

Okay, I'm much more interested in this game than I was before watching that 20 minute demo. The game appears to take some great ideas from the Elder Scrolls games, Diablo and Fable and seems to blend them rather seamlessly.

I still haven't gotten a good feel for the open world portion of the game, but otherwise I like the Diablo-esque loot system and the more action oriented combat could be good. That usually requires a hands on experience though.

Wow. That video was the first I've read/seen about the game, and I'm definitely interested.

Every time I see something on this game, I get more interested. The latest 20-minute walkthrough completely blew my mind. At first I thought it was a really snazzy-looking Fable clone with great art, but now it looks (as others have mentioned) somewhat comparable to the Elder Scrolls games.

One of my most anticipated games currently.

I'm so jazzed for this game I'm finally gonna play Fable 2, just to play something that seems kinda sorta halfway similar!

Wow! Just saw that latest clip. Very nice indeed.

I can't stop watching clips from this game on Gametrailers. My anticipation is reaching unhealthy levels.

pre-ordered!

From the latest Answers from the Devs [possible spoilers]:

Meaty content and special "epic" events, found in hidden spaces and far corners of the world is very rewarding and exciting for most RPG-players but one could think that spending a lot of resources on this kind of hidden-away content would be very unrewarding for the developers. A lot of people might not even find this content because they are not interested in exploring. Is this something that you think about? Do you have to find a good balance when it comes to how much resources you put into something that to some will be awesome, whilst others might not find this content at all. – By Goatrek

A: Actually, creating special areas for hidden content was one of my favorite things to do when creating the world. When we're handed new exploration reward items that we need to find homes for, it's like a field day for the world design crew. Crafting secret areas and visual stories relevant to that item really give us a chance to come up with ideas that no one has thought of yet and lets us give context to the world in our own way.

True, it's a fairly involved process to come up with some of this stuff. Often the idea starts in design, gets passed to concept, then to character or environment art, maybe even animation and then to us (world designers) to integrate into the world. For art, it's a chance for them to flex their muscles and come up with their own ideas that aren't dependent on quests. On our end, it means sculpting out passages in mountains, setting up particular encounters and traps, locking the treasure away behind hidden doors and using a whole slew of other devious toys at our disposal to make you really work to find the content.

When I found out that our Lead Designer, Ian Frazier, was designing a set of unique armor to be hidden throughout the world, I was super excited to start working on their hidden locations – because, with Ian being our D&D group's DM, each of the five armor pieces of the set were named after our characters. We had free creative reign for these one-off moments and somehow they all turned into the area where they either died or were laid to rest with varying degrees of brutality and serenity (it's surprisingly fun to kill your beloved D&D character – don't tell the DM!). I was even able to work with one of the narrative designers so that when you wear my character's helm, you’ll find that some NPCs have commentary for it. At that point, when you're having so much fun with the project, it's all about the time you want to put into it to make it really special.

We know that there is the possibility that some folks will never find the things we've hidden away, but when people do, it's extremely exciting and gratifying. One of my favorite moments was hearing that one of the Narrative Designers stopped play-testing quests when he discovered a piece of the unique set we had hidden away, and spent hours searching the rest of the world to obtain the rest of the armor set. – By Jessica "Meridian" Hara Campell, Principal World Designer

What sort of Player Housing can we expect? Are there multiple options of houses and/or upgrades? – By KazeeSiH

A: The world of Amalur boasts a wide array of player housing options. Player homes will be full of variety and fun; some will offer unique things others will not. All of the player housing will offer at least a stash box to store your items, a mirror to customize your appearance, and a bed to sleep and heal in.

In addition to those basic features, you may also find that when you upgrade some of the homes, you'll unlock certain types of workbenches to craft at as well. This makes working with different crafting systems, such as Alchemy or Blacksmithing, more convenient for those who invest in player home upgrades. A player home will often change its physical layout as you upgrade it. This could mean additional rooms with new areas to explore, new services, or even house guests added to the experience.

One of the player homes you can unlock via questing also comes with its own underground mines. This means as you upgrade the property, not only the home interior will change, but the underground mines will expand and grow too. This allows you even more expanded layouts to explore, both above ground and below. Player housing has been one of my favorite things to work on in Reckoning, as it offers such a diverse mix of rewards. It's a wonderful feeling when you unlock a place that is all your own for the first time. Have fun exploring! – By Kitty "Neko" Hughes, Level Designer

What types of "unique" loot will be in game? We've heard about the magical daggers that do ice damage during the day and fire at night, and I think someone mentioned about a sword with an eyeball that swirled around the blade, is there any hope for sentient weapons, special armor, or trinkets that may be considered engineered marvels of wonder? – By Falkon

A: There is a great breadth of unique items that you can find throughout Amalur, many of which were "lored" by Internationally Celebrated Game Designer and visionary Ken Rolston, himself! Some of them, like the Warsworn Commander Ballegar’s claymore, named "Fortune" are famed for bringing riches to the wielder (one of the buffs increases the amount of gold you find). Others, such as the Faeblades, are manifestations of magic.

Playstation mag had a preview of this.. they had one note of caution in their 4 hour preview build.. that much like Fable the exact amount of "open" really in this "open world" game was fairly limited to tightly scripted corridor type environments that funneled them from location to location. That could mean many things.. that the game is scripted in the beginning rather than overwhelming players.. and it opens up more as you get into the game.. or that its more like Fable than we have been shown so far.

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