KoA: Reckoning - The beauty of Kingdoms of Amalur

I'm not sure what a "derpfest" is, but given the choice, I would choose Wizardry 8 over KoA in a heartbeat.

It could pertain i.e. to a game that comes with a built-in gold cheat which basically makes the game failproof if used along with boring grinding that is dictated by design. Such is the case with Wiz 8.

But hey, just getting started on KoA, it's pretty derpy in its own right:

- manially laughing evil antagonist given away in the intro

- twisted elves as the main enemy

- shields can be used with all (two-handed) weapons

and that's just a few minutes in. Man, those trees better be swayin'.
 
I really enjoyed KoA: Reckoning but I got it cheap on sale with the two DLC's included and then modded it up with Youngneil Shapes Amalur mod which reduced experience down to about 40%, so even doing a lot of side quests I never over-leveled.
And also the Widescreen Fixer mod helped by being able to set how close you want the camera to your character.
All the things that probably would have been fixed had the developer survived.
 
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Problem with KoA was that it was hollow in terms of lore and a sense of place. It felt like playing an MMO in singleplayer mode more than anything.

I liked the look, I liked the flow of combat, I liked the character building, I liked the atmosphere and so on - but the world was severely underdeveloped and exploration was a massive bore as a result.

This kind of game can do many things wrong and still work - but one thing it absolutely shouldn't fuck up is the exploration.

MMOs can get away with weak exploration because of the social features - even if I really lament the fact that most of them don't even try to take advantage of their beautiful worlds. WoW, for instance, has such a fantastic world - and they obviously poured their heart and soul into creating it - but you still don't really come across anything interesting if you go exploring. Well, beyond the scenery...

Pretty much the same with KoA.
 
A few hours in, I have to say it's quite fun. I guess the character building doesn't really reward versatility much, but that's ok. I'd take that system over Morrowind's or Oblivion's character development any time.
I find exploration to be satisfying, although in an open world sandbox I expect the possibility to climb, jump and dive freely, which is missing here.

Also, I'm sensing a major plot twist coming up. Plz don't spoil me, but I guess the maniacally laughing antagonist either isn't really as maniacal as he seems or not the real antagonist?
 
It could pertain i.e. to a game that comes with a built-in gold cheat which basically makes the game failproof if used along with boring grinding that is dictated by design. Such is the case with Wiz 8.

Built-in gold cheat eh? That's the first I've ever heard of that. I didn't find Wiz 8 to be grindier than any other old-school style crpg. In fact, I'd say it was considerably less grindy than similar titles due to the level-scaling.


I really enjoyed KoA: Reckoning but I got it cheap on sale with the two DLC's included and then modded it up with Youngneil Shapes Amalur mod which reduced experience down to about 40%, so even doing a lot of side quests I never over-leveled.

Is it like the Heartcore mod where you have to run it in the background every time you play KoA?
 
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Built-in gold cheat eh? That's the first I've ever heard of that. I didn't find Wiz 8 to be grindier than any other old-school style crpg. In fact, I'd say it was considerably less grindy than similar titles due to the level-scaling.

gold cheat: potion mixing. A small element that screws up the balance in its entirety.

I don't think there are many games as grindy as Wiz8, though of course it's not about levels, but about skill gain.
 
gold cheat: potion mixing. A small element that screws up the balance in its entirety.

I don't think there are many games as grindy as Wiz8, though of course it's not about levels, but about skill gain.

I still have no idea what you're talking about in regards to the balance. I never had an issue with that, and I played through the game in its entirety.

It could be that I simply never discovered the perceived exploit you're referring to, but then nearly every game has one in some form or another anyways.

I disagree about the grindiness, but I suppose that sort of thing is usually in the eye of the beholder.
 
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Wiz 8 felt like an absurd grind to me, but then again - it should be noted that I never got very far into it. I think I stopped at the first major city or whatever that was.

The combat system just didn't appeal to me enough, and I felt fights took way too long.

My tolerance for combat as the primary ingredient in RPGs has grown quite low over time.

I remember loving Bane of the Cosmic Forge back in the day - and it had a very similar combat system.
 
I remember loving Bane of the Cosmic Forge back in the day - and it had a very similar combat system.

Yeah, all of the Wizardry games were grindy. That's why I didn't find Wiz 8 any grindier than the norm. I found it slightly less so due to the fact that you could at least see your enemies and avoid them if you wanted, unlike the older titles.
 
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From a skill perspective, Wiz8 really isn't all that grindy unless you delve into Bishops and powergame your way through the class. As for the number of enemies, sure there's a lot of them but no more than a comparable M&M game.

...wondering where dte is.
 
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Not sure what you mean by skill perspective.

To me, grindy combat is about the amount of time it takes to fight a group of enemies versus the amount of fun it represents.

Wiz 8 had long fights that weren't all that fun - and there were a LOT of them.

That's the very definition of grindy combat, right there.

Though obviously it's still about what you enjoy.

To some people, it seems fighting enemies is almost like therapy. Like it's soothing to hypnotically do the same repetitive task over and over again.

For me, not so much ;)
 
Not sure what you mean by skill perspective.

To me, grindy combat is about the amount of time it takes to fight a group of enemies versus the amount of fun it represents.

Wiz 8 had long fights that weren't all that fun - and there were a LOT of them.

That's the very definition of grindy combat, right there.

Though obviously it's still about what you enjoy.

To some people, it seems fighting enemies is almost like therapy. Like it's soothing to hypnotically do the same repetitive task over and over again.

For me, not so much ;)

This is exactly the reason I've never been able to finish wiz 8 despite several attempts.

I usually end up quitting around trynton where you run in to 3638748948744838 wasps.( not sure if I should give credit to joxer for using his numbering system in order to keep my journalistic integrity.;) )

Having said that though I don't find KOA's grinding any more fun than wiz 8's.
 
KOA was okay, and I got my money's worth. I can't compare it favorably to Skyrim, but few games can match Skyrim as it hits the sweet spot of my tastes. I had more of a problem with how puffed up the team that headed the game was, than with the game itself. I eventually stopped playing because there was too much grind, not enough game. If the whole game had been as well done as the first major quest, then it might be a top 15 for me.
 
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I even finished KoA and would have loved to see a second title in this franchise.
 
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puffed up the team
You saying it "tastes" like:
Powerpuff_Girls_Vol_1_5.jpg
 
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It's obvious that grinding means different things to different people. For the majority, grinding is the need to engage in combat (or other repetitive tasks) for the purpose of reaching high enough levels to be able to accomplish a particular goal.
 
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Dunno about the majority, for me grinding is a game design where devs had just a few or no ideas at all so they need to occupy your time by repetetive tasks. And I hate every single bit of such game design.

I'm not saying don't repeat the same thing ever anywhere, hell why not to repeat it here and there, so someone can test a different strategy or something. But when grinding comes to be a major quest of a game, that game can't IMO deserve GOTY title. Obviously, looking on last year, many disagree with me.
 
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The main game bored me but the Greek themed add on was really good. I forget the name and I'm too lazy to look it up. When I got back to the main game I stopped playing.
 
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It's obvious that grinding means different things to different people. For the majority, grinding is the need to engage in combat (or other repetitive tasks) for the purpose of reaching high enough levels to be able to accomplish a particular goal.

How do you know that's the majority opinion? Also, we're talking about grindy combat more so than grinding in general, it seems to me. If the combat system had been fast and smooth, I doubt it would have been much of an issue.
 
How do you know that's the majority opinion? Also, we're talking about grindy combat more so than grinding in general, it seems to me. If the combat system had been fast and smooth, I doubt it would have been much of an issue.

Google "RPG grinding" and see what comes up. There's an official (and I use that term loosely) definition.

Anyways, I'm not arguing about the combat in Wiz 8. It's definitely a drawn-out affair most of the time. I just didn't find the game to be grindy in general.
 
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