[First Impressions] Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo

After the trials and tribulations of starting a new job, moving, and etc., I'm finally back with my first impressions on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Story

I'm taller! Mwahahaha!

I didn't have high expectations from something made by R.A. Salvatore, but the game's story seems workable. There's a war (the Crystal War) going on between the mortal races and the Tuatha, a cult from the Winter Court of the Fae, who are immortal. The player character is a man or woman who is raised from the Well of Souls by the gnomes. He or she has power over her own fate and is unwritten in the tapestry of the world. Essentially, the player is the world's wild card. It is the player's job to save the mortal races from the bloodthirsty Tuatha.

Graphics

This game seems to borrow heavily from Fable. A swear that a lot of the character animations-- the way that my character, Faith, moved, for example-- seem to be the same as the way my character from Fable III moved. The graphics are smooth, exaggerated, and nice; the color palette is lighter than in other RPGs and everything is brighter.

Combat System

It's so pretty... not snowy at all....

Fable again comes to mind. Fortunately, Fable: The Lost Chapters, for the most part, rather than Fable III. I'm fairly certain that the combat multiplier is extant in KoA, which was missing from Fable III. The game utilizes the middle mouse button to move from one weapon to the other, allowing the player to have primary and secondary weapons equipped. (I, of course, chose dual daggers and a longbow.) The magic takes up a separate space, and having played Fable III, where it didn't, I give a hearty THANK YOU to the world. You can see the slots running across the bottom of the screen in the screenshots. They're attached to the right mouse button, and by choosing the number, the player choose the spell. Mana replenishes automatically, but the player's supply is very limited and makes it so that strategy must be properly utilized. The player can both block and dodge, which have different associated stats and abilities. Also enabled are assassin stealth stabs and stealth long-range attacks. Bows have a limited number of arrows, which will eventually refill on their own. Weapons in the game are staffs, chakram, hammers, swords, and daggers, as well as magic. Combat animations are very nice, and special attacks that come about by charging the weapon (holding down the attack button) are nice to look at as well as interesting. And also, very similar to Fable: The Lost Chapters.

Roleplaying Capability

The character creation isn't unlimited, but offers a nice selection. The piercings the game provides are a little blocky and weird-looking, and don't quite sit right on the character, which I hope they either fix by launch time, or someone patches in for later. Given the bevy of weapons and armor that the player can choose from, as well as the different play styles that KoA will adapt to, roleplaying seems like it might be at a good point in KoA. I'm not sure yet whether the game has any morality inbuilt into it, I.E. whether I can play an evil character. There is pickpocketing, etc, but it's unclear as to whether there's a negative effect. I suspect that morality is in the game, but is judged by an unseen meter. If there were more dialogue options allowing a greater range of character expression, I would be happier, but it seems at least fairly solid as it stands.

The boss battle of the intro dungeon.

Conclusion

If Fable: The Lost Chapters were to have an honest successor-- and if that successor actually had the morality angle (need more definite information, KoA!)-- then I wish that KoA was it rather than Fable III. As it is, I'm happy enough that both games exist. KoA also seems to have drawn some from open-world titles, which makes it more expansive than Fable could ever hope to be, but is narrower and, at times, more charming (certainly less serious) than Skyrim. I will be glad to purchase KoA when it comes out on February 7th, 2012!