Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Preview and Interview

We have some new coverage for 38 Studios’ ambitious attempt at penetrating the RPG market with an open world title, the action-heavy Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, lead by the ‘three visionaries’ Todd McFarlane, R.A. Salvatore and Ken Rolston of Morrowind and Oblivion’s fame, starting with a piece from fansite 38Watch:

When (Internationally-Celebrated Game Designer)® Ken Rolston talks about combat in Reckoning, there is an genuine enthusiasm, which is unmistakable, even in a man known for his genuine enthusiasm. When Rolston says, (you just have to try it,) he couldn’t be more right. I found the combat in Reckoning to be intuitive and deeply satisfying right off the bat. In a genre based on character progression and incremental advance, one is often left waiting for the point in which their character actually becomes fun to play. Reckoning delivers a visceral experience, fresh out of the gate (or piles, as it were). The controls are familiar, streamlined, and surprisingly responsive, and the combat animations are just plain badass. They bear the stylistic mark of 38 Studios’ Executive Art Director, Todd McFarlane, who will literally jump up on a table in order to demonstrate his attention to detail in this realm. This combination of form and function makes for a terrific combat experience, which starts out fun, and increases in awesome as your character advances.

As I progressed through the first dungeon, I was introduced to the combat mechanics, unique to the three destiny archetypes: might, finesse and sorcery. As you would expect, each tree plays to its strengths: physical combat, stealth and assassination, and powerful magic, respectively. Upon completion of the first dungeon, I had a solid grasp of the basic mechanics of each archetype, and felt like I was ready to begin to specialize. My greatest challenge was deciding which skill tree to climb first. Initially, I was intent on building a pure warrior, but my tutorial experience with the sorcery gameplay was so sweet, that I was forced to reconsider my own destiny. At some point, I had to resign myself to the fact that I only had 4 hours, and I know you folks would be really disappointed if I told you I spent the bulk of my time meticulously planning my character progression. Luckily, Reckoning’s destiny system is highly malleable. Players will be able to develop hybrid classes, based on personal preference, which unlock unique destinies. Conversely, they will be able to consult a Fateweaver powerful mystics, capable of reading the threads of fate and fully respec their avatar at any point.

Meanwhile the folks at Diehard GameFAN had the chance to chat with one of the visionaries himself, the best-selling fantasy author R.A. Salvatore, the subjects ranging from his upcoming Neverwinter book to his contribution to the setting of Kingdoms of Amalur:

DHGF: I’d actually like to start a bit with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. How involved were you or are you still with the development of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning?

R.A. SALVATORE: Quite a bit. My official title at 38 Studios is Creator Of Worlds. So, basically what I did was I created this ten thousand year history for the World of Amalur, and really where the races are, why they’re there, what the economies are, how everything ties together. The consistency of the world if you will. So for several years I was in there working on this with the teams, the art teams and the design team. Then when we acquired Big Huge Games, and decided to do an open world RPG as our first product while we continue to work on the MMO, they had to look at that history and pull out a time in that history that would be a good time to set their game and then come up with a storyline.

I had to go down there and approve it and work on it with them and, you know, help them edit it and get it to where they wanted it to be. So I’ve been very involved. This has been a five year project and counting for me.

DHGF: I’ll be honest, our interest piqued a bit when I saw the first ad for the game and saw you and Todd McFarlane were attached.

SALVATORE: I’ve been dying for it to come out, since for five years I haven’t been able to talk about the world. And now it’s coming out, finally. Cause we want the products to speak for themselves and I think it’s going to be amazing and I can’t wait for it to come out.

DHGF: So will this be something of a familiar setting for fantasy fans, or is this something completely new?

SALVATORE: It’s got a lot of the old elements, but if it’s eighty percent the same, it’s twenty percent new, that type of thing. We’ve got a lot of the classic fantasy elements and archetypes that people expect in a fantasy world and then we’ve pushed the envelope with it in a lot of different places. And it has a meta story that I think is very, very cool but I can’t talk about that.