Kingdoms of Amalur

[Kevadu]

Played the demo (on PS3), loved it.  Which is good 'cause I already preordered the limited edition...

The only bug I ran into was a problem with the conversation system.  After a point the audio just didn't play and as a result the text skipped by faster than you could possibly read it. Though loading a new area seemed to fix things (at least for a while).  It seems a friend of mine encountered the same problem with the PC version so it's not platform-specific.

Other than that bug I found it ran quite well.

[Serene Prophet]

I never had it crash on me, but I had alot of lag during the game as well.  Still I really enjoyed it.  Easiest way for me to describe it so far if I were to compare to games to it is Fable/WoW.  Dunno if itll be a day one purchase, but I definately am looking forward to it.

[Bill]

I enjoyed the PC demo. Technically, it's in pretty good shape, although I certainly noticed:

- occasional performance stutters (not frequent enough to hurt the experience, but it sometimes happens)
- headless character at the start of the demo; later on, the head appeared, floated above the body for a couple seconds, and merged
- a strange bug in which my character kept walking downward as if the key were stuck. Triggering a cutscene solved the issue

[Kevadu]

Man, a lot of people are noticing bugs.  This is pre-release code, but still...I hope they don't pull a Bethesda here.

[Serene Prophet]

Actually I read that this is a snippet of the release version.  So if anything gets fixed its gonna be day one patch or some such..could be mistaken though.

[Perigryn]

The only problems i had on the ps3 version was sometimes after an area loaded the some of the ground parts didn't load for a few seconds you could still walk over it but it just looked like a big hole in the ground till it finished loading. The 360 version I ran into almost no issues with.

This was the only real bug I saw in my XBox 360 run of the demo, that or there'd be these odd swaths of non-textured ground now and again. Other than that, I saw typos in one random letter thing I found in the Odarth graveyard.

All that aside, I really, really like this title so far. I really like how fun the combat is, love the vibrancy of the world, and like that it's Fable, but better.

I do agree with the comment that the menus look bland, though. They're a touch clunky, but it's no Fable II or Oblivion or anything.

The skills look interesting and worth delving into, as well. I'm really curious to see where this'll go and how open it all will be. If you're curious, definitely snatch up the demo, it's worth the play!

[Dice]

I started, skipped cutscenes, and my character was headless for about a minute haha
I also made the conscious decision to march around the dungeon-deep topless because it looked more fashionable than that sickly garb before.... *sigh* Maybe I should stop playing video games.

Loved it though, very simple but deep gameplay.  Do want. :D

[Kevadu]

So I'm seeing the claim being thrown around on various forums and things that the demo was based on a four month old build and was thrown together by a third party (while the main team continued to develop the game, presumably).  That would explain the bugginess but nobody is citing an actual source for this claim.  Does anyone here know anything about it?

[Eusis]

I heard about that too. True or not it'll probably show if the final game is much less buggy or has a bunch of minor differences in interface and whatnot.

[Serene Prophet]

Yeah thats pretty interesting because, as I said, I heard it was the main release build demoized.  I actually kinda hope your version is true, since that means itll be even more awesome (hopefully) when it launches.

[Lard]

I'm waiting on this one for a while before I decide to buy. I'll be reading reviews as well.

Any mention of anyone involved with Elder Scrolls immediately fills me with bug dread.

Is the combat better than Elder Scrolls? How does this compare to it, Dragon Age, Dragon's Dogma etc.?

[Eusis]

Is the combat better than Elder Scrolls?

I'd say so.

How does this compare to it, Dragon Age,

Completely different styles.

Dragon's Dogma etc.?

... That'd require either coming out or a publically available demo.

The best comparison would probably be Fable if it had something of a bite to it. It has a similar design to Fable II's, but doesn't have concessions like regenerating health to be more accessible, and more actual equipment to manage. Anyone angry with how Fable III turned out (or liked what Fable II offered but wished it were more of a GAME) will probabl be satisfied here.

[Lard]

I just mentioned Dragon's Dogma because I thought someone might have played it at E3.
I liked what I played of Fable II overall so that's promising.

[Perigryn]

The best way I've been thinking of this game is if Fable, WoW and Dragon Age had a love-child together, this would be it.

The combat's much more engaging and visceral than Elder Scolls, and moreso than Fable. Like was said above, it's an amped-up version of Fable's combat system. It seems, in a lot of ways, that they took the best parts of a lot of games and made theirs into it.

It does seem like the dungeons/world will be somewhat linear, with some branching, like Fable or even a bit like Dungeon Siege III, but it seems like a nice, fresh world with a solid lore to back it up. It definitely has that single-player MMO vibe to it.

[Aurian]

I am curious about the game, but don't have a chance to play the demo (my PC is not set up for gaming and my Xbox360 is not hooked up to the internet). Is the battle similar to ME or DA?