Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

**Trickman** · 01-18-2012, 09:10 AM

I tried the demo on the Xbox 360 last night. It was pretty fun. A lot less "serious" and a little more cartoony looking 3rd person game than some other RPGs (I'm looking at you, Skyrim!). Still, it was pretty fun. Way more action than RPG, in my opinion. It has a response tree similar to Mass Effect, but your character doesn't speak (no voice actors). I didn't get into hit combos in the demo, but from what I've seen, you'll be able to do a lot of them with different types of weapons.

The demo was a bit glitchy, as my character appeared without a head when I first started out (haha), but it later appeared as I kept walking.

One thing that irked me a lot was the fact that before the demo even started, it prompted me to log in to my EA account before playing the game. Either that, or I would have to create a new one...for a DEMO?! That's ridiculous, IMO. I had to go back through past emails on my computer to find my username and password, as I didn't want another one floating out there. Dumb. I can understand it if you bought the full game, but if more companies follow suit and I have to log in to my system, and then log into a company's server from now on just to play a demo, I won't be a happy camper.

**MadScientist18** · 01-18-2012, 09:25 AM

I don't mind it asking for EA account...as it gives you 45 minutes to do whatever quests or to level up in the area. Pretty much gives you a lot of time to play if you want. I mean it was kind of a pain, but it's EA

I played the demo on PC/Steam and it had some hiccups, but generally OK. This is probably not a full $60 purchase for me...will probably wait for a steam sale. It was too WoW for me and no dialog from main character (like mass effect) hurt things a bit. I like my 3rd person characters to have an actual voice...it helps with the story in my opinion. I'll have FF13-2 to keep me busy, so I can wait for this one to go on sale.

**Hennet_sim** · 01-18-2012, 09:26 AM

After playing the demo it seemed like a fun game it felt a lot like fable from the demo I liked the daggers weapons very fast. Not sure if the game is worth 60 bucks after playing the demo.

**Trickman** · 01-18-2012, 09:38 AM

At $40, it would be a worthwhile purchase.

**MadScientist18** · 01-18-2012, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Trickman Terry

At $40, it would be a worthwhile purchase.

Maybe...but a Steam sale might make it a little cheaper. Just not a game I want to sink that much money into I guess.

**Trickman** · 01-18-2012, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by MadScientist18

Maybe...but a Steam sale might make it a little cheaper. Just not a game I want to sink that much money into I guess.

Steam sales aside, I'm talking physical copies from retail stores.

**thesau31** · 01-18-2012, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by Trickman Terry

One thing that irked me a lot was the fact that before the demo even started, it prompted me to log in to my EA account before playing the game.

The way they were explaining it, this was done for the purposes of the demo-to-full-version unlocks and cross-promotion unlocks with ME3. Probably just a line they're peddling, but that was their explanation for it.

... as far as the game, I could not be more hyped. In 45 minutes, this interests me a hell of a lot more than Skyrim has after 45 hours, and hits the points that twinge my interest: good loot, engaging & skillful combat, and great thoughtful (albeit small) improvements over pre-existing systems.

Do want nao.

Also worth a mention, I played the demo on both PS3 and 360 - it runs tremendously better on the 360. Framerate dips often while in interior spaces on the PS3. Whether or not that will translate into the full version I do not know, but it was enough to concern me and change over my preorder.

**Primebuster** · 01-18-2012, 11:23 AM

i played the demo last night as well. i was very impressed - went from a "i dont really care" to "i'll buy this when i can!"

**Trickman** · 01-18-2012, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by thesau31

The way they were explaining it, this was done for the purposes of the demo-to-full-version unlocks and cross-promotion unlocks with ME3. Probably just a line they're peddling, but that was their explanation for it.

... as far as the game, I could not be more hyped. In 45 minutes, this interests me a hell of a lot more than Skyrim has after 45 hours, and hits the points that twinge my interest: good loot, engaging & skillful combat, and great thoughtful (albeit small) improvements over pre-existing systems.

Do want nao.

Also worth a mention, I played the demo on both PS3 and 360 - it runs tremendously better on the 360. Framerate dips often while in interior spaces on the PS3. Whether or not that will translate into the full version I do not know, but it was enough to concern me and change over my preorder.

I get it, and it's true...it did mention all the unlocks after I signed in. It's just a pain-in-the-butt extra step way for them to track you. There's enough big brother all over the Internet, and now the company that produces a single-player RPG experience is tracking what I do. If it was a MMO, I would understand, but this is a single-player experience. A covert reward system is just a little too sneaky for me, that's all.

Good to hear your impressions of the two system versions. I'll definitely pick it up on 360.

**thesau31** · 01-18-2012, 11:48 AM

Oh I totally get it, I was just putting out some of the information I had consumed on the topic.

I think we'd all be surprised by how much of our gaming is tracked for statistical purposes though, even for single player experiences. Personally I welcome it. If statistics collected are going to make a better game the next time around, I am all for that. EA doesn't have any of my vital information, and e-mail spam is easily handled, so personally it doesn't seem to bother me all that much.

I can completely understand the flip-side of that coin though as well, as it certainly can seem a bit intrusive.