R.A. Salvatore on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’s Story

While he developed the lore for the Kingdoms of Amalur universe, R.A. Salvatore actually didn’t work on the title’s plotline, so it’s certainly interesting to read what he had to say about it to The Escapist. While they put the emphasis on the fact that he apparently didn’t like the names of the characters, I find this bit about a more condensed cast and less sidequests a lot more interesting:

“Peter Jackson’s LOTR movies did a great job of introducing characters by condensing the cast,” Salvatore said. Movies tend to err on the side of less is more with naming conventions, and Salvatore wondered if games should consider condensing the amount of lore exposed to the player. The characters are what drives the players into the story.

“I loved the character of Alyn Shir,” said Salvatore,” and I wish she was in the game more.” He also thought there might have been too many sidequests because, as a completionist, he felt too distracted by them to progress through the main story at the right pace.

All the quibbles aside, Salvatore absolutely adored the final product. “I wrote a long letter to Big Huge Games and I was almost crying as I wrote it,” he told me. Salvatore is immensely proud of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, especially how fun the action combat ended up.