Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

A quick detour to London has allowed me to take a look at Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, action-rpg under development at 38 Studios, which had already got to enjoy a few months ago.

The last presentation does not have many notable news, but chatting with programmers we have managed to learn some interesting details of what promises to be a real jewel for lovers of fantasy action.

As I had already anticipated, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will be enriched by the collaboration of extremely important names such as Salvatore (exceptional pen of the adventures of the Forgotten Realms) and Todd McFarlane, hired as consultants, respectively for the universe of the game and for the artistic side of the project.

What we know of the story quite intriguing, with the protagonist resurrected through a mysterious machine and, therefore, only be living throughout Amalur to not have a destiny, but to discover the actual quality of the script we'll have to wait for the release of the game.

That sure that Reckoning offrir open-world experience, trying to live the dynamics typical of modern action with the thickness and depth of traditional RPGs. The latter element should be guaranteed by the presence in the team of Ken Rolston, lead designer of Morrowind and Oblivion.

The participation of Rolston, however, threatens to turn into a double-edged sword, since as we have seen through the demo game programmers, the ideas of the designers in question would seem to have stopped a few years ago.

Just to give an example, during the presentation the programmer is likened to a citizen trying to exploit the special skills intended to rob him. After being caught with their hands in the bag, was approached by a guard who reported the offence and the whole scene was handled by a dialog all too familiar to those who played the older chapters of The Elder Scroll.

Confronted to the evidence, in fact, the programmer could choose whether to go into the cell, pay the fine or resist arrest. Do not remember anything? Hopefully this is just an isolated case, given that we'd love to play something cool.

Thus in Reckoning the management of the dialogues seems already old even before the release. Apparently, programmers decided to ignore completely the strides made in recent months on the front of the narrative.

Forget about dynamic dialogues or Mass Effect, Dragon Age as in the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning we will be facing a narrative structure carved in stone. The player, in fact, avr available various options to choose from, but none of these can alter the story in any way.

In practice the first option will always the one that will go straight to the point, proving perfect for all those who want to learn more about the history but that will only go ahead with the plot. Subsequent choices, however, need to find extra elements in the world or characters, without in any way to influence the development of this.