Kindoms of Amular: Reckoning - Page 4

I agree. It's decent, but I have too many other things I need to finish up instead of getting into this.

Read this one already - nicely worded. He echoed my earlier thoughts that the game seems to be a "combination" of other games (elements). I still love exploring Skyrim and I still consider it a game based in a "real" world. The author I think perhaps generalizes Skyrim's environment and palette too much. Iam still impressed and immersed at the different things I find, over 80 hours in.

I look forward to Amular specifically because the atmosphere/graphics/locations are a "fantasy" type feel. As he states, this is not going to appeal to everyone. For me it allows the "escapism" to be more pronounced.

Pretty much confirms my thoughts. In terms of game design, Reckoning seems to pick up where the first Fable left off. If Fable 2 was one possible outcome, then Reckoning is its other (more interesting) possibility. I'm excited to play the full version when it launches.

I also kind of agree with his thoughts on Skyrim. As I've had more time away from it, I realize a lot of things about it that didn't quite work for me. Usually with a Bethesda game (or any other long RPG), I know when I'm done. I will have done everything I set out to do and felt a sense of real accomplishment. But in Skyrim, there's never a sense of an endpoint. As big as Morrowind and Oblivion were, I knew very clearly when I was done. Neither of those earlier games had a credit sequence or a game-ending battle, but I knew I was done because I'd seen through each of the storylines I wanted to see through. I was done when I was done.

But in Skyrim I just sort of petered out. Over time, I'd collected so many quests that I no longer had any sense of direction or story, just a collection of unfinished quests. It's sort of like walking into a bookstore and buying a book, but in order to understand that book, I need to buy three others. And in order to understand each of those three, I need three more. And so on. Over time, you would lose track of what that first book was about, and you'd lose track of all those others in-between. All I'd have is a room full of unfinished books. I may have enjoyed reading what I read, but I never would have gotten anywhere. That's how Skyrim feels.

I hate walking away from a good game feeling like I didn't finish it. And even though I finished the main questlines for Skyrim, I still feel like I'm not done with it. And not in a good way. In a compulsive way. To me, that's a flaw, and it's where Skyrim has crossed some invisible line into MMO-style design. I think that's what Gabe meant by feeling "paralyzed" by it.

It's good to read someone crystallizing my thoughts on Skyrim. Before reading that, I felt like the only gamer not playing it!

His review should sell a few copies of Reckoning.

Finally got around to spending some time with the demo. I feel a bit disappointed. Framerate is really uneven, and while I love the cartoonish character design, the environments are bland.

Hopefully the full game is better. From everything I've read and heard from the dev team, it deserves to do well. I just wish I liked it more than I do.

Tried the PC version for comparison. The smoother framerate definitely helps for combat. I'm still not hooked by the art design or story, but the combat is really good. And, man, I hate the BioWare-style conversation wheels. That's a big turn off.

I'll definitely keep an eye out for reactions to the game when it's released. It's a tough call from the demo. A lot to love, and a lot to hate. Very much on the fence.

I was...not confused... but slightly disoriented? maybe, by the design of only having the wheel sometimes and then having the list sometimes. I would prefer they pick one conversation style and then do that default thing you were talking about so I don't have to keep on my toes when I start a conversations. Maybe its just me.

Yeah, this threw me too.

Is the list for when there's more than 4 choices? I couldn't figure why sometimes it was a wheel and sometimes it was a list.

It kinda weirded me out, also. It may be that this demo is fairly old code (they've been remarkably open about the process and how torn they were about releasing the demo). The wheel vs. list pattern seems to be that it shows a list when you're "investigating" and asking follow up questions to a particular line of conversation.

And for those of you following this game closely, I strongly recommend hoping over to the NeoGAF thread. Curt Schilling's been regularly posting (the pitcher-turned-MMO-nut-turned-game-producer). I'm blown away at how open and honest the whole team has been about this game. That alone makes me want to buy this game, just as a way to encourage other developers to act the same way.

This was pretty much my reaction to the demo as well. There were some elements I liked (the ease of switching between melee and ranged combat being one of its stronger points) but other stuff that left me cold (some of the character designs at the start gave it too childish an appearance for my tastes).

The devs have clearly put a ton of work into the game and I always feel obligated to support developers that put so much effort into the single player experience.

I'll also be following the reviews closely and that will determine whether I buy right away at full price or wait a bit.

The whole team's been making some really wide circuits in the gaming media/community. I've never seen anything like it for such a big game. It's the kind of thing you usually only see from the super small studios (with 1-5 people).

I hope this signals a sea change in the industry where bigger independent studios emulate the small studio ethos rather than the big studio ethos. Currently, most of the big independents still act like publisher-owned studios rather than "little guys." Big Huge Games (nice bit of irony in their name) seem to get it. The more I hear from them directly (rather than through PR and the gaming press), the more I want to support them. Knowing that they're self-publishing through Steam probably means I'll get it there rather than on one of the consoles. It's slightly more inconvenient for me, but seems worth it to go a little out of my way for a studio that is going well out of its way to talk to us directly and openly, without a bunch of predictable PR-speak getting in the way.

I was kind of getting burned out with Skyrim so I fired up the demo again and played the full 45 minutes. I have to say that I really had fun with it! I think what is really selling me on the game is the great combat. While the game does not have the realistic look of Skyrim, it has its own aesthetic that I find appealing.

I'm seriously thinking about getting the game now, especially after reading all the positive previews. Just wish Amazon was offering a pre-order credit for this one.

Yeah, me too. Toys R' Us has the pre-order for $45+tax w/ free shipping, but I hear their shipping is pretty slow and Amazon has an exclusive bonus Dowsing Rod. I reported the price difference to Amazon under the "find a lower price?" link on their product page, but I don't know if that really does anything. It can't hurt, I guess.

I don't know if all retail pre-order copies will get the Fate Touched Weapons or not?

I still don't know what the GameStop compass promo does, but after playing the demo I decided that knowing where the flowers etc. were located using the dowsing rod wouldn't help much if I couldn't pick them up. I'll take my chances having to spot them as I go...

A nicely worded, classy post from Mr. Schilling.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...postcount=2648

IGN's video review is up. 9.0, "Excellent"

I was going to give this a pass till I heard Schilling was involved, plus heard a radio interview he gave the other day. Will definitely be checking it out now.

I'm always a little wary of exclusive reviews, but good start.

Just played the demo. Let me preface by saying that I LOVE playing the Fable series. This game, to me, is very much like Fable. Which is a good thing in my opinion.

Graphics-wise you would almost think this game was made by the same people who made Fable.

Game play was fun. The battle system is very good in my opinion.

I already pre-ordered and look forward to playing the whole game. Will be a nice break from Skyrim.

Bottom-line: If you like the Fable series you will love this. If you DON'T like the Fable series (specifically the graphics) you can probably pass on this one.