[Jordyn Youngman]

Then you're limited in exploration.

Why would it change combat? Change the space bar from jump to roll when facing an enemy, and back again when you break away to run. I don't even see how jumping would change combat without that.

[R.I.P]

The reviews have removed any regret I may have felt over excluding this game based on its publisher. Yay. More time for modding and Skyrim.

[SexyPimpAss]

The combat works well, like everyone has been saying, but it's soooo boring. it's almost as easy as assassins creed's combat, except instead of jsut waiting to counter- you just keep attacking so your enemy can't respond. theres no variation. they give you the option of charging your attacks but it's not needed.

I disagree. During some of the tougher fights, whether it involved multiple enemies or just boss type characters, it seemed like blocking and evading played a major role in surviving encounters. I felt that the combat was pretty hands on. I actually commented on how I was surprised that the game didn't boil down to your basic hack and slash style gameplay.

Anyway, I liked it. Came into some cash after selling a few things online. Definite release day buy for me.

[Katie Pollard]

I disagree. During some of the tougher fights, whether it involved multiple enemies or just boss type characters, it seemed like blocking and evading played a major role in surviving encounters. I felt that the combat was pretty hands on. I actually commented on how I was surprised that the game didn't boil down to your basic hack and slash style gameplay.

Anyway, I liked it. Came into some cash after selling a few things online. Definite release day buy for me.

Such is the nature of opinions, one should definitely take these with a grain of salt from internet critics.

I may give this a second chance, the demo doesn't give much of an impression into the combat for me.

While it may not be a release date/pre-order title for me, I will definitely look into it at some point.

Kudos for supporting the genre.

[Alex [AK]]

I played the demo for around half an hour last night, and I quite enjoyed it. The graphics look pretty good to me, and I really enjoyed the combat, as simplistic as it is. This one of the first RPGs where I really wanted to use magic instead of melee, which is a nice change of pace for me. I also quite like that they don't hold back on the blood, always a nice touch.

[Damian Parsons]

Hmm, interesting.

In many games I've played that gave you the option of hybridizing, people generally look down on it, because it ends up weaker, not "god". Strong focus and specialization tends to be the real route to min/max power. Of course, it depends on how many skill points/levels/etc you have to distribute.

Me, I prefer a character with a dozen skills at 60%, rather than one with four skills at 100%. Some games, it works. Other games (D&D Online, for instance) it's terrible.

Ok, let me clarify, I didn't mean 'god character' as is unfathomably tough. I meant it more in a sense of Jack of all trades. Like i said, it's all personal, but I like it when I can make a character and decide ' ok, I want to be a thief'...so that character actually fits into the catagory. I was even disappointed in skyrim for being so open. I think it breaks the immersion when you're playing a character in an rpg and you know that it's classless. Whats the point of sneaking around, trying to stay hidden, and risking an upfront fight when you know you could also just run in with a giant hammer and destroy everyone or blow everyone up with magic anyway? Skyrim isnt so bad because as you get higher lvl the skills you focused on are the only reliable ones, but in KoA you're always going to keep finding high-end equipment for all archtypes so you're always covered on all ends. Even the 'desitnies' aren't permanent if you dont want them to be. It breaks down to you're character, regardless of how you percieve him/her is always going to be a jack of all trades. I've always seen games that don't let you have a class as action games. Even though they have rpg elements, you're still an action hero that can use any item or spell with equal skill - no matter what.

I disagree. During some of the tougher fights, whether it involved multiple enemies or just boss type characters, it seemed like blocking and evading played a major role in surviving encounters. I felt that the combat was pretty hands on. I actually commented on how I was surprised that the game didn't boil down to your basic hack and slash style gameplay.

Anyway, I liked it. Came into some cash after selling a few things online. Definite release day buy for me.

I'll admit there were a couple times when I was playing the demo that I needed to dodge, and it's nice having to atleast try...but again, the combat is obviously lacking if the only time you need to even try is during a boss fight or when you're grossly outnumbered. And I do say 'grossly outnumbered' becuase even when you're fighting 4 or so enemies, it boils down to getting them all infront of you before smashing the same button over and over again until everyone is dead. Even the blocking is pointless in most cases. I don't think games need to be 'demon-dark souls' hard, but the fights should atleast require a little bit of thought.

I'm not saying that this game is terrible, I mean the combat does run smoothly, the writing is decent, and it's not too over the top. I was just stating that I think it's over rated by my standards becuase it's cartoony, it's being shown off as a rpg when it mostly plays like your standard hack and slash, and it's using the 'open class' system becuase god forbid someone should have to play a game more than once to experience everything.

[Cameron Garrod]

I'll admit there were a couple times when I was playing the demo that I needed to dodge, and it's nice having to atleast try...but again, the combat is obviously lacking if the only time you need to even try is during a boss fight or when you're grossly outnumbered. And I do say 'grossly outnumbered' becuase even when you're fighting 4 or so enemies, it boils down to getting them all infront of you before smashing the same button over and over again until everyone is dead. Even the blocking is pointless in most cases. I don't think games need to be 'demon-dark souls' hard, but the fights should atleast require a little bit of thought.

One thing I wonder is what the difficulty setting will do in the game. The demo, as far as I could tell, only let you pick Normal. Hard to tell if the difficulty will do something interesting, or if it'll just be the usual "more HP, more damage" thing. /ponder

[Kevin Jay]

I played the Demo and actually, liked the game.

It reminds me of DA, Fable and a sprinkle of ETS mixed together.

The graphics are a bit bright, but that can be toned down. The graphics don't bother me since, I've played Fable. The story has me wanting to see what is going to happen next.

There are some issues here or there, but my no means is any game perfect.

[Cheryl Rice]

That's a rather broad statement. I rather like the cartoony looks of many japanese games, like Dragon Quest VIII, Valkyria Chronicles and so on. But this just falls flat for me.

You're right, it does come out that way, but I meant it in this threads particular context, not so much as a general statement.

I don't remember liking cartoony looks anywhere else but some old point'n click adventure titles.

[Sarah Bishop]

I just found out that actually this game is being made by the former Lead Designer of Morrowind and Oblivion, this maybe explaining that...

[Romy Welsch]

It's for gold members only ATM. Hopefully that will change within the week cause I wanna try it bad.

Ahh, that would explain it, I've only got the free one. I have to say making it gold-exclusive is a bit of a stupid move. They're missing out on lots of potential customers.

[+++CAZZY]

Oh dear, oh dear. Destinies choice pack, with new armour. Fate touched weapons pack. Ultimate treasure pack. Compass of Fate. All pre-order bonuses, therefore the usual story, most people pay full retail for 95% of the game, and they will sell you the 'exclusive' pre order stuff (the other 5% of the game, that should have shipped on day one) as dlc. Kind of thing you would expect from EA, par for the course, you show us your game, we show you our business model.
What I wouldn't expect from any dev is the 'Twist of Fate' card, which is supposed to enhance the beginning of the game. What? So if I don't pre-order, yet still pay full price, you give me the 'average' beginning? Not impressed.

[Blaine]

Ahh, that would explain it, I've only got the free one. I have to say making it gold-exclusive is a bit of a stupid move. They're missing out on lots of potential customers.

Silver Members should be getting it this Tuesday.

Oh dear, oh dear. Destinies choice pack, with new armour. Fate touched weapons pack. Ultimate treasure pack. Compass of Fate. All pre-order bonuses, therefore the usual story, most people pay full retail for 95% of the game, and they will sell you the 'exclusive' pre order stuff (the other 5% of the game, that should have shipped on day one) as dlc. Kind of thing you would expect from EA, par for the course, you show us your game, we show you our business model.
What I wouldn't expect from any dev is the 'Twist of Fate' card, which is supposed to enhance the beginning of the game. What? So if I don't pre-order, yet still pay full price, you give me the 'average' beginning? Not impressed.

Normally that would be true but Reckonings going to have over 200 hours of content so different preorders aren't going to matter long term.

[Alex Blacke]

Yeah, pre-order bonuses don't really bug me. (Certainly didn't care about the FO:NV ones). Sure, that Dowsing Rod looks at least a bit interesting, but the flowers didn't seem very hard to spot, what with the "loot sparkles". Armor and weapons? Game'll have plenty of those.

What I wouldn't expect from any dev is the 'Twist of Fate' card, which is supposed to enhance the beginning of the game. What? So if I don't pre-order, yet still pay full price, you give me the 'average' beginning? Not impressed.

Hmm. Didn't we unlock some sort of Fate card at the start of the demo? I don't recall the exact wording anymore, unfortunately....

[Dona BlackHeart]

this game should have had multiplayer

[Avril Louise]

After 90 minutes I was really pleased with the Demo.

I was worried this was going to look as cartoony as the "Fable" games or as "World of Warcraft" as "Darksiders".

I think they found a decent balance where your characters look decent enough.

The world is detailed, colourful and large. The gameplay is fast paced and fun. It delivers an "Elder Scrolls" world of epic openworld adventure but in a faster moving world.

IIt's a game that is immediately accessible while at the same time offering a great deal of depth.

Combat is straightforward but satisfying, fluid and expanding as your skills and abilities grow.

The only thing I could complain about was that your shield dissapears when you're not using it and appears as if by magic when you block.

But the game does everything else so well I can't really bring myself to complain about that.

Huge gameworld with numerous enemy types. The sort of place you could lose yourself in for hours, days, weeks if not months.

I consider previous "Elder Scrolls" games to have set the bar as far as what I expect from an open world RPG.

This delivers much of the stuff that I enjoy while at the same time being different enough from Bethesda's Flagship to be interesting and different to play.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword

[Pete Schmitzer]

Oh dear, oh dear. Destinies choice pack, with new armour. Fate touched weapons pack. Ultimate treasure pack. Compass of Fate. All pre-order bonuses, therefore the usual story, most people pay full retail for 95% of the game, and they will sell you the 'exclusive' pre order stuff (the other 5% of the game, that should have shipped on day one) as dlc. Kind of thing you would expect from EA, par for the course, you show us your game, we show you our business model.
What I wouldn't expect from any dev is the 'Twist of Fate' card, which is supposed to enhance the beginning of the game. What? So if I don't pre-order, yet still pay full price, you give me the 'average' beginning? Not impressed.

I don't think it is as bad (or bad at all, they are just trying to boost preorder sales is all) as you seem to think it is. If they were cutting out (not that they are cutting any of the current preorder bonuses out of the main game) a town or quests i think that would be reason to cry foul. The twist of fate card you get from preordering from gamestop only increases persuasion by one point and the devs have stated on their forum that they are against cutting anything from the main game to be sold as dlc. (http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/showthread.php?748-Reckoning-Pre-Order-Bonus-Items-Revealed&p=13505#post13505)

[Gill Mackin]

this game should have had multiplayer

Why?

[GPMG]

I don't think it is as bad (or bad at all, they are just trying to boost preorder sales is all) as you seem to think it is. If they were cutting out (not that they are cutting any of the current preorder bonuses out of the main game) a town or quests i think that would be reason to cry foul. The twist of fate card you get from preordering from gamestop only increases persuasion by one point and the devs have stated on their forum that they are against cutting anything from the main game to be sold as dlc. (http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/showthread.php?748-Reckoning-Pre-Order-Bonus-Items-Revealed&p=13505#post13505)

Thanks, just read the linked thread. Particularly telling : "Unfortunately until 38 is up and on it's feet, on it's own, we don't get to completely make those decisions by ourselves." At least they are honest. Gotta love EA, once again putting continued access to their customer's wallets before allowing devs to make the games they want to. [Unless it's Bioware, that is, who claim they are never interfered with, honest, guv.]

[Sunnii Bebiieh]

One thing I wonder is what the difficulty setting will do in the game. The demo, as far as I could tell, only let you pick Normal. Hard to tell if the difficulty will do something interesting, or if it'll just be the usual "more HP, more damage" thing. /ponder

one of the lead combat designers, Joe Quadra, said that enemies will be more aggressive on hard and that they will attack in groups more, like 4 out of 5 enemies will attack at the same time, in addition to health and damage increases.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9jgaqAKvY&list=PL909F824113345407&index=3&feature=plpp_video (im pretty sure its in there some where, sorry i don't know where exactly )

Without the ability to jump over obstacles (real or imagined) you are inherently limited in your ability to explore. You can only go along dictated paths and into designated regions. Say you climb a mountain. How do you get down? The path is going to be your only option if you can't jump. Likewise for going up. It's just a way to create additional barriers. Surely you can't say the game would be any worse with jumping so why else remove it?

I think it's has to do with how you build your game. In FF12 i couldn't jump, sprint, or roll and i felt like i was exploring and that was a very large game. In Bioshock jumping felt fairly useless when it came to exploring, except for a few situations, and it was a fairly linear game, though it had parts that were more open, and i felt like i was exploring. So i don't think something should be "tacked on" in a game just because it might make it better. I don't think it would make exploring any less fun. The game was designed around the player not being able to jump, so i don't think there will be any parts will it will feel like it would have made the game better. (besides not being able to jump those fences XD)

Thanks, just read the linked thread. Particularly telling : "Unfortunately until 38 is up and on it's feet, on it's own, we don't get to completely make those decisions by ourselves." At least they are honest. Gotta love EA, once again putting continued access to their customer's wallets before allowing devs to make the games they want to. [Unless it's Bioware, that is, who claim they are never interfered with, honest, guv.]

no problem, I think they are trying to get to the point where they are able to self publish, but the devs interact a lot with the community and seem to really enjoy what they are doing.

Edit: Also, to anyone who has been having bug trouble with the demo, the devs have stated that it was a 3 month old build the demo was taken from and that those three months were dedicated to bug squashing and polishing.
http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/showthread.php?2519-This-is-WRONG-let-s-try-to-improve-it&p=44248#post44248

http://forums.reckoning.amalur.com/showthread.php?2141-Already-some-minor-bugs-(&p=43819#post43819

[Fluffer]

reminds me of fable 2. but the demo was so bad it crashed at the end of the tuturial
so i never got the chance to see the 'open' world
ps i did the demo for the mass effect freebies
but since the demo went to a black screen i did not get them all
i may try it one more time
you could not jump in fable either

[Danel]

I thought the demo was average. A lot of things bugged me, such as:

Shields appearing out of your back pocket.
You can't use a sword and shield together.
Old fashioned dialogue screen with black bars on screen.
I'm not sure yet about the combat, it may grow on me.

I suppose the main thing was i got a "meh" feeling with it. I felt like i had already played the game before on my first playthrough. Maybe i've just played too much Fable and TES, but i find it hard to see what it will do different or better than other RPG's.

[Beth Belcher]

Once upon a time I recommended a game called "Morrowind" to some friends of mine.

One of them tried it and decided the game was rubbish because he couldn't succeed at archery and got beat up by a Scrib so he declared the game to be rubbish.

Don't be too quick to write this off as it looks to be a pretty big game with lots of potential.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword

[Stacy Hope]

Not a fan. Gameplay felt more like playing a mediocre 3D beat em up from the 90's. Awful inventory system. The story failed to grab me and I ended up skipping the cinematics (boy, were there a lot of them). The graphics are barely a step above Torchlight. You'd think they'd be able to get higher fidelty when it's a non-budget multi-platform release (even with the cartoony aesthetics). The textures felt lower-res than World of Warcraft. And of course, they had to add token QTEs.

All in all a completely forgettable experience and just made me long for Torchlight 2 more instead.

[Fluffer]

I kinda enjoyed it, even though I am not a huge fan of ARPG's generally. It looks like it could be fun, but I also will wait for some reviews and a price drop, I still have FFXIII-2 and Batman:Arkham City to get first.