KoA: Reckoning - Preview Roundup

There's a flurry of Reckoning activity as we getter closer to release, so here's a selection of previews and the like.
A lengthy, general preview from The Guardian:

This flexibility also extends to other areas of the gameplay. Looting and Crafting, for instance, has been designed to cater for fans of both expediency and depth. You don't need to access the Inventory to select, equip or discard items if you just want their value in credits; but if you want to delve deeper, you can head for a town and start experimenting with the game's three distinct crafting systems - Alchemy, Blacksmithing and Sagecraft.
Use Sagecraft, for instance, and you can start socketing weapons with magical gems; if not, you can still gain bonus points (and a cool onscreen appearance) from collecting complete sets of armour items.
There are also nine non-combat skills – some which have unexpected affects on the gameplay. Improving Stealth, for instance, not only introduces some fantastic stealth kills, but opens up corrupt career paths like pick-pocketing. Neither are you all alone in your quest. There are six joinable faction, including Nomads, Travelers, Scholars and Warrior Priests.

IGN has a Review in Progress, which is usually a format they use for MMOs:

Dense. That's the first word that will likely come to your mind when you go through the introductory dungeon of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and finally find yourself outside, free to explore to your heart's content. It's not that the world itself in Reckoning is unruly or unmanageable, nor does the game give you too much to do in terms of control input. It's simply that you're going to find a world so chockfull of plot that you might have a hard time keeping up with it all.

Of course, this isn't a gripe at all. On the contrary, it's actually a testament to the incredible work done by famous fantasy writer R.A. Salvatore and his team of writers that, as I discovered back at New York Comic Con, created a world with a 10,000-year history. So as you begin to speak to people, hear the names of characters and places, and start to put everything together in your head, don't feel bad if you're a little lost. I'm only several hours into the game, and I'm already feeling a tad bit overwhelmed.

Over at GameSpot, Ken Rolston and Joe Quadara explain they have found it difficult getting the message across:

In an interview with GameSpot this week (video below), Rolston and Amalur lead combat designer Joe Quadara discussed the difficulties of describing exactly how people should think of their blend of fantasy action and role-playing games.
"[That's always] a difficult problem for our messaging," Rolston said. "This is a role-playing game because I would be killed if it weren't. I make role-playing games."

Shacknews has a podcast with Ken Rolston and Joe Quadara, Machinima has a 30 minute video preview and G4TV has a 16 minute preview video.
More information.

I gotta say - that boss or mini-boss fight in the dungeon where the preview starts looks pretty fun. I'm not expecting a Gothic experience with this game (and the Gothic games are my contemporary favorite RPGs) but this game looks like fun.

I really just don't know about this combat. 15 hit combo's where the monster never hits the ground or has a chance to hit back. I just don't know. In gothic this was a bad thing called stun lock but in koa it's a good thing called combo's.

Well i'm just glad they will have a demo. Crossing my fingers.

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
I gotta say - that boss or mini-boss fight in the dungeon where the preview starts looks pretty fun. I'm not expecting a Gothic experience with this game (and the Gothic games are my contemporary favorite RPGs) but this game looks like fun.

It won't be a Gothic experience, it will more be a mixture of Dragon Age, a little Elder Scrolls and even some Mass Effect and Fable influences. It probably won't be the deepest RPG ever made, but it should provide some fun anyway.

I'm hoping I don't have to wield any of the silly-looking weapons. Just give me a spell book, a staff/wand/rod, and a target. I'll take care of the rest

Originally Posted by crpgnut
I'm hoping I don't have to wield any of the silly-looking weapons. Just give me a spell book, a staff/wand/rod, and a target. I'll take care of the rest

You don't have to do anything you don't want to do . There are staves for mages as well as chakrams (magical frisbees) and scepters (magical guns).

Originally Posted by Fluent
You don't have to do anything you don't want to do . There are staves for mages as well as chakrams (magical frisbees) and scepters (magical guns).

lol, magical frisbees!

Originally Posted by Fluent
It won't be a Gothic experience, it will more be a mixture of Dragon Age, a little Elder Scrolls and even some Mass Effect and Fable influences. It probably won't be the deepest RPG ever made, but it should provide some fun anyway.

It's looking a lot more Dragon Knight than Dragon Age to me - very much an action RPG. It's even got quick-time events.

Originally Posted by Zloth
It's looking a lot more Dragon Knight than Dragon Age to me - very much an action RPG. It's even got quick-time events.

Well I consider DKS a great game so that's a good endorsement, at least for me anyway.

Preordered. But I'll wait the demo to confirm it. I'm looking for a good action rpg (a la Diablo) and this could be the one. I don't expect really deep rpg mechanics.

It doesn't look like Diablo to me. It's not overhead with furious boring clicking.

That G4TV video preview of the boss fight really got into my head.

Last night, I BLOODY dreamt about it! Woke up with a headache

Ok, I think I'm edging into OBSESSION now!

No?
It's not action oriented, with a focus on looting, weapons and armor crafting, etc?

Originally Posted by Gragnak
No?
It's not action oriented, with a focus on looting, weapons and armor crafting, etc?

Yes, it is, But unlike Diablo, KOA is in third-person perspective, far more intricate combat (dodging, blocking, timing based attacks) and has many non-combat skills (lockpicking, detect hidden, persuasion, etc)

I'm looking forward to both games anyway

Eheh. Me too. Perfect mix!

Looks fun. Still hoping it doesn't require Origin.

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
Well I consider DKS a great game so that's a good endorsement, at least for me anyway.

Yep, everything I've seen (read) points to a more polished DKS, with a bit deeper lore and more varied loot drops. Can't wait for the demo.

Originally Posted by Falchor
Yep, everything I've seen (read) points to a more polished DKS, with a bit deeper lore and more varied loot drops. Can't wait for the demo.

There's one thing that might be different from DKS: the humor. KoA:R seems more serious.

Originally Posted by azarhal
There's one thing that might be different from DKS: the humor. KoA:R seems more serious.

VERY true… if the tone is off, could make the whole thing tedious to play.