Graphics look the same to me, too. Maybe the game performs better on some graphics cards than others? Mine is an AMD Radeon 6800. Don't ask me about it, it was a gift, I know nothing about graphics cards.
As for the game, I enjoyed the thing they claimed to have done better than other RPGs, which is the combat. I do NOT agree that other RPGs have bad combat, and I think it's a bit arrogant to suggest that, but the combat was nice. Unfortunately the rest of it was no better than a Fable game except the storyline, which from what I saw so far in the demo, wasn't as good (Fable 3's story wasn't very good to begin with, KoA felt even more shallow and cliche). I didn't really get to play with the mechanics of the game (the skills and such) so it looks like there will be a fun level of potential complexity there. Overall it looks like a game I'd enjoy playing despite the faults, but not enough for pre-order/first wave purchase. I'll be waiting until it's on sale.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Reckoning plays clunky because it's made for both PC and console. I hate that. I also think there should be jump. How can you feel immersive without jump? It it isn't a technical hurdle, it should be added. duh
Someday perhaps we will again get a really good single player rpg that has all the features we enjoy.
I slept on it for the week and I have decided NOT to buy the game this soon.
Not a pro/con list, just some points that have remained on my mind.
Something about the game felt constrictive. Could have been the camera. Could've been that the char couldn't jump which had all sorts of silly consequences.
I didn't like the UI and felt it could've been done better.
I enjoyed the combat a lot. No real complaints here.
For some reason the graphics reminded me so much of RIFT.
I liked the character models. The male Dokkalfar I chose reminded me so much of the Asmodians.
I think I'll wait for the "real" demo and if I'm happy with what I've seen, make a purchase on zavvi or anywhere else I can get it for less.
I wasn't impressed with the Demo. The camera blew it for me. I did, however, like this slightly more 'mature' Fable idea. But in all honesty, I don't see anything new about the combat here, it's just like Fable or Kingdom Hearts from what I've seen; A third person action RPG with combos. Except this one has skills trees and an awful camera problem. I found the story and dialogue a little childishly cheesy as well, which isn't a problem, but I wasn't expecting it with Salvatore on board.
There are games spanning back over 8 years that would give the same experience as this and the graphics ain't much worse (look at fable 1 again and compare, its pretty shocking).
Fable (2003):
Kingdoms (2012):
I'll still be checking Kingdoms out though.. I check out just about everything. But for anyone excited about this game that hasn't already played Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga (NOT Eco Draconis).. you owe it to yourselves to get your self a copy.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
I'm going for a 'wait and see' approach. Will be interesting to see how the game will turn out to be.
Same here, I've done the pre-order thing before and was disappointed. Also, going to wait for a price drop. I think its too pricey right now.
I didn't think the standard edition price was to bad. Simply because the game will last longer than most MMO's I buy.
For me that is.. not saying its the same for anyone else.
Now when I clicked on the link to see the limited editions at their store... I just closed the page real quick and shook my head... I guess the normal LE wasn't too bad price wise but the top two... way out of my league of anything I'd pay for a game.
The graphics in Kingdoms suffers from having the game produced for the Consoles. Just as Fable and Skyrim's graphics do. Just as most games created nowadays do. We just don't see what the PC is able to accomplish graphically. Batman Arkham City? Same thing.
Crysis...now that's for the PC.
Crysis 2? Good...but it really didn't utilise all the features available.
I enjoyed playing KOA Demo. I especially liked the Combat that I got to experience in the Demo. The interface felt straight out of a console, however. In fact I struggled to remember the last RPG I played that seemed to have an interface designed for a Mouse and Keyboard on a PC Monitor. Can anyone help me out here? Was it Neverwinter Nights?
The game I would most compare KOA to is Fable III. From the very start the graphics, gameplay and style instantly reminded me of Fable.
I used my Xbox Controller to play in the end, there really was no advantage or benefit to using the mouse and keyboard.
I think the game plays fluidly if you use a controller on the PC. It even fixes some of the annoying things and bugs that you get using keyboard/mouse in this game. I am really considering on buying this, not sure if I will wait for price drop or not though.
Besdes why single player RPG get coverage on mmrpg.com ?
I got a chuckle out of this as well. And they even get defensive about it in the article itself. In my opinion though, if you feel you need to put in some sort of comment about that in the article, it should be a really good sign that it doesn't belong.
Reckoning plays clunky because it's made for both PC and console. I hate that. I also think there should be jump. How can you feel immersive without jump? It it isn't a technical hurdle, it should be added. duh
Someday perhaps we will again get a really good single player rpg that has all the features we enjoy.
I would like jump too, but to say it is not immersive because it doesnt have jump is just silly. How often in real life when you are walking around are you bouncing up and down into the air as you go?
If anything not having jump is more immersive for realism.
I think the reason Kingdoms of Amular is here on MMORPG is that this game is a lead in to the Copernicus MMO being developed by the same team as an expanded world by 38 studio.
As far as the demo is concerned I have two minds:
For a console game, this is a refreshing take on the Fable style of play with the endless customization like Skyrim. With KOA, you can change your build at any time with destinies and have your talent points reset by a Fateweaver. I found the game fun and i liked the ease on console when it comes to switching fighting styles. (Elder scrolls take notes cuz your UI is batshit crazy).
Want rogue/spellcast? Set primary as daggers/ secondary as staff.
Want a ranged Melee? Set primary as swords/secondary as bow.
Want a smash and trash bad ass? Set primary as swords/ secondary as hammers.
And no matter your build, you can still block, dodge, sneak, and cast spells and pull up potions and items quick with radials.
This is one of the smoothest UIs I have seen for a fantasy game on consoles in a long time.
Ok, now the seond part:
This was advertised as a brain trust from RA Salvatore and Todd Mc Farlane and all we get is the same old crap as any other fantasy settings. Gnomes? Fae? Bhargest? Rock trolls? and wait, we even have wardens!!!
C'mon, guys, with your talent you could have drew up some crazy stuff like these damn sexy Mc Farlane toys and just through some letters together for a name. This is super lazy storytelling!!
Example: Draw a bad demonic creature with large mandibles and clubs for hands and call him:
Grab an A..... Grab a F.... some more consanants and add a vowel or two and we have a Fragmaw.....is that so hard...
I would rather fight a Fragmaw, some Hookinoos, and those damn cute Moomoo bugs, then sprites, trolls, and wolves...
That is what is wrong with the fantasy game genre....if it aint Tolkien of Dungeons and Dragons, then it isn't done.
That is what I don't like about KOA and the upcoming Copernicus... we were promised something new from these great talents and we got the same old, same old crap with a nice UI.
This is also where I,m at with this, seeing as the talant pool was hyped so much, to end up with this was abig let down for me, remove all the names and try playing the demo as an unknown source, you would be left with a big load of "MEH seen it,done it and whats with the 20 foot weapons".
I think this doesnt bode well for their lead in plan to their MMORPG later down the track thats linked to this single player offering, its to must of a cliche to everything we are all jaded about.
Didn't care for it. Tried the demo on PC, didn't play long but I was just kind of put off by it, reminded me of playing Fable immediately, then I realized that this game is probably better on the 360 and quit. Not going to bother with it. Put too many hours into Skyrim, I think I have been spoiled. Probably a fine game, just not going to drop 60 bucks for it.
I played the demo twice, and there were a few things bugging me.
- I encountered rather many bugs .. concerning in a demo so close to release.
- The UI needs improvement ... too much clicking through menu's
- Maybe i just didn't find it, but i want to zoom out
- Camera angles were often really awkward
- When running, i sometimes got blocked .... because i was on a 10cm high ledge :S ... me ... the big hammer swinging warrior .. am stopped by tiny ledge ??? .. and that is why you need jump.
- Making all the good stuff so obvious is NOT a good thing. Give explorers something to do ... make us work a little to find stuff. Please stop with making mmorpg's for 6 year olds, we do like a bit of challenge.
- Too much been there, done that.
- Admittedly, the combat is fun
If this is the setting for the upcoming MMO, count me out.
Well I kinda looked forward to this game and as you can read above posted and commented by many people, it's not too bad but not too great either.
I played the demo for hours also trying different things in the limited demo time which did seem very short for me to test out the big *guns* so to say. Screenshots and ingame textures? I'm gonna surprise you but ingame it looks better for me even, why? probably people's different pc specs, dont want to bluff but i am running a crosshair IV Formula motherboard, amd sixcore 1090XT CPU, on an SSD, a Geforce GTX480 and nice 5.1 surround (doesnt need to be more than that). Trust me, with everything maxed, it DOES look better (But to each his/her own).
I still feel jumping should be implemented not for reaching areas or secrets, nope. simply for getting over a stupid treeroot and tiny edges on slopes. This is easily achieved in the current build of the game (and the older build on the demo even). So it's a 50/50 yes and no real jumping but it gives a little more sense of freedom cause the demo did make me feel trapped a bit.
Love the designs, love the creatures all good and well but like posted above, please be original in names, you got great writers and artists, please people I dont expect you all to triple jump hoops of fire but just a little creativity in names can never hurt.
I felt like a bit of a visual polished version of Fable, although contentwise i think they are right about 200 hours of exploring and achieving. (or so i like to believe).
Controls....bit of a double edged sword. I am a PC gamer for FPS cause nothing beats keyboard and mouse there, but when it comes to adventure, fighting and platform games I really like a controller much more. I think that for consoles this will feel very nice on the controller although again I have to say, with the right tweaking here and there the keyboard and mouse (read camera) controls weren't too bad.
I did preorder it, to play the full game and give a more indepth review since it looks more like a mediocre adventure game, but something is sparking my interest in the story, especially if this game leads to the MMO.
The main problem with this game (as it was with Skyrim) is the very bad UI interface for the PC. Games with these kind of interfaces are obviously console ports, with little thought given to the advantages of having a mouse and being able to make choices on a third axis.
Buying and selling stuff is a nightmare
Selecting gear is a nightmare
Comparing gear is a nightmare
Also for some reason you have no control of the distance between your character and the camera. I felt that te camera was way too close to my character.
And of course, the whole way of how the character is controled is hammering the console feeling to us. At least Skyrim got that right and the feeling of movement was't that of a console. The main problem is that I'm denied the freedom of camera movement that you get when you're using a mouse and WASD. One axis of freedom is missing there and I'm not sure which one. Probably the right mouse & move the camera in direction different than where your character is moving one.
Well, those were the bad news.
The good news was that the combat was interesting and flud (minus the hit X button multiple times console influenced spasm). The graphics were passable, with the main noted exception being the ground and how low quality it looked compared to the rest of the world.
Bottom line, if this wasn't a prelude for an MMO, would anyone care?
Why do people complain about non-mmo articles on here? It isn't like this article made it so we missed out on another article. It is just something else to read. Get off your high-horse.
I think it has a chain reaction on the genre. For example, a site like this, which is about MMORPG, starts putting non MMO on here like LoL, GW1, Vindicus, DDO, Dynasty Warrior Online,Diablo, etc
the community will start to believe and except that these games are actually MMO. When players start to believe that these games are actually MMO, the developers will exploit that by making more of these non MMO, and advising them as MMO. How are the unaware forum readers to know it's not a MMO, if it's on this site which they read for MMO talk?
Ya know, I don't really care if the Single Player game lore fits into the MMO's if the MMO isn't what I want to play, in which case this doesn't matter.
And until they give solid info on the MMORPG, I just can't garner any interest. Hell, I'm even tired of the levels and directed game play in Skyrim. I mean, I don't want to kill that guy to unlock the damn quest items from my inventory, heh.
And jump? If you have to ask, well don't bother. On the other hand, if you were locked into that by the code you bought, just say so instead of looking like you make bad choices.
Game developers. Can we get a "respec" for them? For a nominal fee, of course.
Yeah the jump thing coupled with the on rail thing is bad. It's like Ikea (for those that have not been to Ikea irt is pretty much impossible to get to the exit without walking past every single display). That in and of itself is not a problem but the devs don't seem to be representing it how it is.
I think its going to be a good game, the question for me is however how deep the rabbithole goes, as in how deep the game and its mechanics is.
Did i just brush over the surface in the demo or did i pretty much experience how this game is going to be till the end?
Thats what will make or break my decission about purchase.
From what I've seen the game seems to have a stellar combat system thats fast paced and on higher difficulty might get really complex, a "unique" art/sound design and interesting world.
However if there is nothing more to the game than what I've played in the demo then its not worth my 40€.
For a "taste" the demo was very good, for a main course its lacking.
Comments
Graphics look the same to me, too. Maybe the game performs better on some graphics cards than others? Mine is an AMD Radeon 6800. Don't ask me about it, it was a gift, I know nothing about graphics cards.
As for the game, I enjoyed the thing they claimed to have done better than other RPGs, which is the combat. I do NOT agree that other RPGs have bad combat, and I think it's a bit arrogant to suggest that, but the combat was nice. Unfortunately the rest of it was no better than a Fable game except the storyline, which from what I saw so far in the demo, wasn't as good (Fable 3's story wasn't very good to begin with, KoA felt even more shallow and cliche). I didn't really get to play with the mechanics of the game (the skills and such) so it looks like there will be a fun level of potential complexity there. Overall it looks like a game I'd enjoy playing despite the faults, but not enough for pre-order/first wave purchase. I'll be waiting until it's on sale.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Reckoning plays clunky because it's made for both PC and console. I hate that. I also think there should be jump. How can you feel immersive without jump? It it isn't a technical hurdle, it should be added. duh
Someday perhaps we will again get a really good single player rpg that has all the features we enjoy.
Jump needs to be in, it feels crap without it & is a definitye detriment to the enjoyment of exploring in a natural way.
I'd even go so far as add some climbing into the game
I played the demo last Sunday.
I slept on it for the week and I have decided NOT to buy the game this soon.
Not a pro/con list, just some points that have remained on my mind.
Something about the game felt constrictive. Could have been the camera. Could've been that the char couldn't jump which had all sorts of silly consequences.
I didn't like the UI and felt it could've been done better.
I enjoyed the combat a lot. No real complaints here.
For some reason the graphics reminded me so much of RIFT.
I liked the character models. The male Dokkalfar I chose reminded me so much of the Asmodians.
I think I'll wait for the "real" demo and if I'm happy with what I've seen, make a purchase on zavvi or anywhere else I can get it for less.
I wasn't impressed with the Demo. The camera blew it for me. I did, however, like this slightly more 'mature' Fable idea. But in all honesty, I don't see anything new about the combat here, it's just like Fable or Kingdom Hearts from what I've seen; A third person action RPG with combos. Except this one has skills trees and an awful camera problem. I found the story and dialogue a little childishly cheesy as well, which isn't a problem, but I wasn't expecting it with Salvatore on board.
There are games spanning back over 8 years that would give the same experience as this and the graphics ain't much worse (look at fable 1 again and compare, its pretty shocking).
Fable (2003):
Kingdoms (2012):
I'll still be checking Kingdoms out though.. I check out just about everything. But for anyone excited about this game that hasn't already played Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga (NOT Eco Draconis).. you owe it to yourselves to get your self a copy.
Same here, I've done the pre-order thing before and was disappointed. Also, going to wait for a price drop. I think its too pricey right now.
I didn't think the standard edition price was to bad. Simply because the game will last longer than most MMO's I buy.
For me that is.. not saying its the same for anyone else.
Now when I clicked on the link to see the limited editions at their store... I just closed the page real quick and shook my head... I guess the normal LE wasn't too bad price wise but the top two... way out of my league of anything I'd pay for a game.
The graphics in Kingdoms suffers from having the game produced for the Consoles. Just as Fable and Skyrim's graphics do. Just as most games created nowadays do. We just don't see what the PC is able to accomplish graphically. Batman Arkham City? Same thing.
Crysis...now that's for the PC.
Crysis 2? Good...but it really didn't utilise all the features available.
I enjoyed playing KOA Demo. I especially liked the Combat that I got to experience in the Demo. The interface felt straight out of a console, however. In fact I struggled to remember the last RPG I played that seemed to have an interface designed for a Mouse and Keyboard on a PC Monitor. Can anyone help me out here? Was it Neverwinter Nights?
The game I would most compare KOA to is Fable III. From the very start the graphics, gameplay and style instantly reminded me of Fable.
I used my Xbox Controller to play in the end, there really was no advantage or benefit to using the mouse and keyboard.
I think the game plays fluidly if you use a controller on the PC. It even fixes some of the annoying things and bugs that you get using keyboard/mouse in this game. I am really considering on buying this, not sure if I will wait for price drop or not though.
Actually it does look like these screens on the PC. And the game plays amazing with a mouse that you can bind keys to.
"Its better to look ugly and win than pretty and lose"
I got a chuckle out of this as well. And they even get defensive about it in the article itself. In my opinion though, if you feel you need to put in some sort of comment about that in the article, it should be a really good sign that it doesn't belong.
I would like jump too, but to say it is not immersive because it doesnt have jump is just silly. How often in real life when you are walking around are you bouncing up and down into the air as you go?
If anything not having jump is more immersive for realism.
I really enjoyed the demo. Can't wait to play the full game!
Grim Dawn, the next great action rpg!
http://www.grimdawn.com/
Seems to me those guys designed the game without much freedom and with guided events mostly. By the way why weapons are bigger than the characters? :]
This is also where I,m at with this, seeing as the talant pool was hyped so much, to end up with this was abig let down for me, remove all the names and try playing the demo as an unknown source, you would be left with a big load of "MEH seen it,done it and whats with the 20 foot weapons".
I think this doesnt bode well for their lead in plan to their MMORPG later down the track thats linked to this single player offering, its to must of a cliche to everything we are all jaded about.
Didn't care for it. Tried the demo on PC, didn't play long but I was just kind of put off by it, reminded me of playing Fable immediately, then I realized that this game is probably better on the 360 and quit. Not going to bother with it. Put too many hours into Skyrim, I think I have been spoiled. Probably a fine game, just not going to drop 60 bucks for it.
It was a good read.
OMG over 200 hours of non jumping action.... i really hope the Lore and overall gameplay make ir up for that...
loved the character visuals (roled a female blue elf on the demo)
I played the demo twice, and there were a few things bugging me.
- I encountered rather many bugs .. concerning in a demo so close to release.
- The UI needs improvement ... too much clicking through menu's
- Maybe i just didn't find it, but i want to zoom out
- Camera angles were often really awkward
- When running, i sometimes got blocked .... because i was on a 10cm high ledge :S ... me ... the big hammer swinging warrior .. am stopped by tiny ledge ??? .. and that is why you need jump.
- Making all the good stuff so obvious is NOT a good thing. Give explorers something to do ... make us work a little to find stuff. Please stop with making mmorpg's for 6 year olds, we do like a bit of challenge.
- Too much been there, done that.
- Admittedly, the combat is fun
If this is the setting for the upcoming MMO, count me out.
Well I kinda looked forward to this game and as you can read above posted and commented by many people, it's not too bad but not too great either.
I played the demo for hours also trying different things in the limited demo time which did seem very short for me to test out the big *guns* so to say. Screenshots and ingame textures? I'm gonna surprise you but ingame it looks better for me even, why? probably people's different pc specs, dont want to bluff but i am running a crosshair IV Formula motherboard, amd sixcore 1090XT CPU, on an SSD, a Geforce GTX480 and nice 5.1 surround (doesnt need to be more than that). Trust me, with everything maxed, it DOES look better (But to each his/her own).
I still feel jumping should be implemented not for reaching areas or secrets, nope. simply for getting over a stupid treeroot and tiny edges on slopes. This is easily achieved in the current build of the game (and the older build on the demo even). So it's a 50/50 yes and no real jumping but it gives a little more sense of freedom cause the demo did make me feel trapped a bit.
Love the designs, love the creatures all good and well but like posted above, please be original in names, you got great writers and artists, please people I dont expect you all to triple jump hoops of fire but just a little creativity in names can never hurt.
I felt like a bit of a visual polished version of Fable, although contentwise i think they are right about 200 hours of exploring and achieving. (or so i like to believe).
Controls....bit of a double edged sword. I am a PC gamer for FPS cause nothing beats keyboard and mouse there, but when it comes to adventure, fighting and platform games I really like a controller much more. I think that for consoles this will feel very nice on the controller although again I have to say, with the right tweaking here and there the keyboard and mouse (read camera) controls weren't too bad.
I did preorder it, to play the full game and give a more indepth review since it looks more like a mediocre adventure game, but something is sparking my interest in the story, especially if this game leads to the MMO.
The main problem with this game (as it was with Skyrim) is the very bad UI interface for the PC. Games with these kind of interfaces are obviously console ports, with little thought given to the advantages of having a mouse and being able to make choices on a third axis.
Buying and selling stuff is a nightmare
Selecting gear is a nightmare
Comparing gear is a nightmare
Also for some reason you have no control of the distance between your character and the camera. I felt that te camera was way too close to my character.
And of course, the whole way of how the character is controled is hammering the console feeling to us. At least Skyrim got that right and the feeling of movement was't that of a console. The main problem is that I'm denied the freedom of camera movement that you get when you're using a mouse and WASD. One axis of freedom is missing there and I'm not sure which one. Probably the right mouse & move the camera in direction different than where your character is moving one.
Well, those were the bad news.
The good news was that the combat was interesting and flud (minus the hit X button multiple times console influenced spasm). The graphics were passable, with the main noted exception being the ground and how low quality it looked compared to the rest of the world.
Bottom line, if this wasn't a prelude for an MMO, would anyone care?
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
I think it has a chain reaction on the genre. For example, a site like this, which is about MMORPG, starts putting non MMO on here like LoL, GW1, Vindicus, DDO, Dynasty Warrior Online,Diablo, etcthe community will start to believe and except that these games are actually MMO. When players start to believe that these games are actually MMO, the developers will exploit that by making more of these non MMO, and advising them as MMO. How are the unaware forum readers to know it's not a MMO, if it's on this site which they read for MMO talk?
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
Yeah the jump thing coupled with the on rail thing is bad. It's like Ikea (for those that have not been to Ikea irt is pretty much impossible to get to the exit without walking past every single display). That in and of itself is not a problem but the devs don't seem to be representing it how it is.
I think its going to be a good game, the question for me is however how deep the rabbithole goes, as in how deep the game and its mechanics is.
Did i just brush over the surface in the demo or did i pretty much experience how this game is going to be till the end?
Thats what will make or break my decission about purchase.
From what I've seen the game seems to have a stellar combat system thats fast paced and on higher difficulty might get really complex, a "unique" art/sound design and interesting world.
However if there is nothing more to the game than what I've played in the demo then its not worth my 40€.
For a "taste" the demo was very good, for a main course its lacking.