How does KoA compare to other new RPG's?

I finally bit the bullet and bought Amalur today. I was really trying to hold off for it to go on to sale since I have so many other games to play at the moment, but I can spend a bit compulsively on games, especially the ones with a lot of content.

I'm not going to have time to play it yet, but I would still like to know how it compares to some other newer RPG's out there for those that have played them.

How favorably does KoA compare to Skyrim?

Divinity 2 (the one it seems most like to me)?

Risen?

How does it compare to looting arpg's like Sacred 2, Titan Quest?

Anything else you think is a comparable game?

It's like a cross between a single player WoW and a Fable game. Much of the mechanics of the game's looting and selling reminded me of WoW. Tons of back story that I'm having a hard time caring about or even wanting to absorb mostly because it's not presented very well. Lots of info thrown at you from very verbose NPCs.

It's a mish mash, and definitely a trial run of their upcoming MMO. Some fun combat elements and much easier with an Xbox controller. I don't dislike it, but I'm surprised by some of the glowing reviews it got.

rossrjensen said:

I finally bit the bullet and bought Amalur today. I was really trying to hold off for it to go on to sale since I have so many other games to play at the moment, but I can spend a bit compulsively on games, especially the ones with a lot of content.

I'm not going to have time to play it yet, but I would still like to know how it compares to some other newer RPG's out there for those that have played them.

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rossrjensen said:

How favorably does KoA compare to Skyrim?

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Imo , It doesn't. Except for combat skyrim does everything else better.

rossrjensen said:

Divinity 2 (the one it seems most like to me)?

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didn't play enough of divinity 2 to know.

rossrjensen said:

Risen?

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I had more fun with risen but really they are 2 different kind of games. Amulars all about combat and loot whereas risen had a solid mix of everything.

rossrjensen said:

How does it compare to looting arpg's like Sacred 2, Titan Quest?

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I would compare it with diablo. (which is not a good thing imo.) never played sacred or titan quest. Diablo taught me that those are not my kind of games.

rossrjensen said:

Anything else you think is a comparable game?

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I haven't heard anyone else say it but to me the closest comparison is lotr: war in the north.

They both have action combat. Koa's has more combo's and is more over the top and has the advantage that you can use magic, stealth and might all in the same build, which you can't in lotr. I enjoy lotr's combat better as it's more realistic and you can use shield and sword in a conventional way. Also the ranged combat is vastly improved in lotr. Mainly because you get to aim. Lotr also much more mouse and keyboard friendly if you care about that.

Both games have large open area's but are more hub based. Nothing wide open like skyrim. Koa's area's are connected by small path's whereas lotr's area's aren't connected you click them on the map. Overall koa is more open and less linear than lotr's.

Neither game has great story or quests but they are both adequate.Lotr has giant eagle's though and what's not to love about that.

Neither game is great but I like them both and they are both worth a play, especially at a bargain price if you wait.

There are plenty more thoughts on the game in other threads if you care to look. I'm a little more down on koa than others so you'll probably want to hear what some people that really like it think as well and then form your own decision.

Ovenall said:

It's like a cross between a single player WoW and a Fable game.

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This is more or less my demo impression, too.

Thanks for the responses. Now I just need to get through some other games!

Its like ultimate, pickup RPG.
Its far from being as good as the other (and there were great RPGs released this year)

But its lots of fun - real joy to play

I'm having some fun playing it, some of the quests are quite invovled. The loot, however, is quite annoying....after the crafting fiasco in Skyrim I totally skipped crafting in KoA, and that seems to be the only way to get decent upgrades, as the quest rewards are often items you cannot even use. Sigh! That and the cartoony, 5 yr old kiddie looking world are the only issues I have with it.


-Carn

Mostly agree with Carnifex here. I skipped crafting too and am still using the Chakram I found at level 5 and I'm level 15. Another problem that I'm running into is that I'm a "complete one area fully before moving on" type of player and when I enter new areas most of the enemies are "gray", which means lower level and don't reward much/any experience. For some reason these can still damage me, so I'm forced to kill them even though there's no reward for doing so. That's a joy killer.

I've completed one of the faction quests and it was fairly entertaining and longer than similar quests in Skyrim. Well, longer in the fact that you visit more areas before completion. Reckoning dungeons are typically very small compared to Skyrim's.

The game feels like Titan Quest to me. Pretty interesting builds and non-combat skills are seperated from combat skills. You get one point/level for non-combat and 3 points/level for combat skills.

There is too much unrewarding wandering. Skyrim is filled with interesting places to go that have nothing to do with quests. Reckoning tries to keep interest by having hidden caches all over the place, but since there is almost never any hand-placed loot, it's a waste of time looking for the stuff, except to sell.

They have an interesting training system in place. You can boost your non-combat skills by finding trainers, but each trainer can only train you once and you must be of a certain skill level (basic, advanced, master) before they can train you. You can't just find the master trainer of blacksmithing and train from zero to master.

Didn't they say that one of the best sets of armor in the game would be spread out in various hidden corners to reward exploring? Has anyone tried adventuring for that?

That much is true, there are various armor sets both hidden around the world/dungeons, and some you can get off big named mobs as well. The gold sets are the only items that come close to competing with what you can craft, however, and even most of these fall short.


-Carn

Be sure to put some points into "detect hidden". Not sure the named items are part of the hidden loot they splashed around, but got a lot of gold and items to sell, as well as heal potions.

It's utterly, utterly dull under any difficulty level less then hard. And hard is still too easy. And there are corpses with faster reflexes than me.

I've played to level 18 and the game is an utterly generic Fable inspired fantasy clone. If Fable was a free-roaming hack n' slash game as opposed to a railroaded story-driven game then this would be Fable.

I hated it (levels 1-5), warmed to it a great deal (levels 6 - 18), and am now bored by it (levels 18+). It's a game I can neither condemn nor praise. It is the beige of action RPGs.

Beige Freaking hilarious!

I have to add that the Fae are the most dull and half-baked interpretation (and voice acted) of traditional Irish heroic lore I've ever seen. In the same sense that generic fantasy is often a lazy representation of English folklore.

If you want to see English folklore done right then see the Dragon Warriors RPG system. If you want to see Irish folklore done right in an RPG then ... though shit.