Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

My absolute first impression was not favorable -- the Kingdoms of Amalur demo requires you to have, and sign in with, an EA account. I imagine this is vital for (among EA's other marketing purposes) the advertised item unlocks, particularly those that'll apply to Mass Effect 3, but even in today's era of always-online fuck-you DRM, it's still typical to allow an Offline/No-Signin mode. Kind of a letdown, here.

Anyway, the next surprise waiting for me was the game's overall aesthetic. The trailers I've watched looked a bit exaggerated, maybe, but the game itself looks cartoonish. Actually, it seems deliberately styled to resemble World of Warcraft, and the nerdy gnomes in the starting area certainly don't dissuade that comparison.

The quests I saw in the demo were also highly reminiscent of WoW, or more specifically, of my earlier experiences with WoW -- before the game became so diluted and streamlined. Listening to an NPC explain his plight, and then venturing out into the wilderness to find who/whatever he needs, before returning and picking up the next link of the quest chain; it's refreshing, although familiar at the same time. I was engaged enough during my demo time, but I do wonder if this content can continue to be interesting for more than a couple hours.

Pleasantly, there does seem to be a lot of content. The starting area was rich with lore and interactive objects, and the town immediately outside, daunting with available quests -- and then I took a look at the world map, of which this region is a relatively insignificant part. And then of course is the depth of character customization, which - between the multiple weapon and armor slots, D&D-style skill points, WoW-style talent trees, and "Fate cards" which can change your passive, class-like bonuses - is both engrossing and satisfying.

But another surprise was how unpolished some of the story content seemed. A primary NPC I spoke to early in the game, had recorded lines which sounded like they were directed contrary to how they were written -- awkward emphasis and word substitution, which didn't really make sense in context. And even in my relatively brief time with the game, I encountered a number of times where an NPC or quest marker didn't react as it was supposed to. While it's certainly playable, it's striking to me how unfinished it seems, and unless this is a pre-release build (the game comes out in a few weeks!), that doesn't really bode well.

Kingdoms of Amalur invites comparison to World of Warcraft and to Skyrim, and while it may be more personalized than the former and more technologically stable than the latter, it remains to be seen if it can match the long-term intrigue of either. I had fun with this demo, but I'll need to hear some more in-depth critiques before making a purchasing decision.

Progress: Played through the demo