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I don't get the hype behind Kingdoms of Amalur

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I don't get the hype behind Kingdoms of Amalur

Post by psychic_dream »

I've yet to play it , but from what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem to have anything particularly special going for it. The terrains feel empty, with only random animals appearing now and then. The story and writing don't seem very gripping, though I could be wrong about that. That said, the dreamy, fantasy theme does look cool.

Has anyone else tried playing it? Why did it flop so hard? I read that its overall budget was around $80 million, just slightly behind Skyrim, which was already a massive undertaking for Bethesda. The only info I know about the game's development is that it was the brainchild of a retired MLB player , who wanted to create expansive RPGs with rich gameplay variety and compelling stories. He even went as far as to hire renowned industry veterans and took out a gov-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island to fund it
Last edited by psychic_dream on March 27th, 2025, 00:45, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Oyster Sauce »

Hype?
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Post by A Chinese opium den »

Perhaps play it and then make a thread describing your thoughts on the matter. :weeb:
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Post by Vaako »

I can barely remember it, only played it a little when it came out, was pretty generic but stopped after a few hours.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Play the entire game completing all content and write a review
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Post by Valter »

I liked all the different weapons and combos. Nothing special, but enjoyable :)
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Post by Vergil »

psychic_dream wrote: March 27th, 2025, 00:41
Why did it flop so hard?
psychic_dream wrote: March 27th, 2025, 00:41
I read that its overall budget was around $80 million,
psychic_dream wrote: March 27th, 2025, 00:41
took out a gov-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island to fund it
The answers to your questions are contained within them. :weeb:
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Ripping off libtard governments is funny
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Post by ThulsaDoomer »

It's what you get when an MMO is shredded to pieces and a singleplayer "RPG" is built instead with whatever resources were left. I beat the game and its dlcs, it was average. The fairly tale writing and vibe was the most interesting part about it, but most characters are fairly boring. Still, they actually managed to give nearly every single npc some unique dialogue, which is still far more than most modern games can be bothered with.
Last edited by ThulsaDoomer on March 27th, 2025, 00:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Unhelpful Contrarian »

psychic_dream wrote: March 27th, 2025, 00:41
I've yet to play it , but from what I've seen so far, it doesn't seem to have anything particularly special going for it. The terrains feel empty, with only random animals appearing now and then. The story and writing don't seem very gripping, though I could be wrong about that. That said, the dreamy, fantasy theme does look cool.

Has anyone else tried playing it? Why did it flop so hard? I read that its overall budget was around $80 million, just slightly behind Skyrim, which was already a massive undertaking for Bethesda. The only info I know about the game's development is that it was the brainchild of a retired MLB player , who wanted to create expansive RPGs with rich gameplay variety and compelling stories. He even went as far as to hire renowned industry veterans and took out a gov-backed loan from the state of Rhode Island to fund it
It has the best combat I played in an action RPG. The amount of customization you can build in the classes is staggering. Add the fact it just looks cool the different ways you can mix an match combat styles ( something that Skyrim attempted an failed to do )
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Post by Tweed »

Curt Schilling had to sell his dirty laundry to pay the bills after it flopped.
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Post by Vergil »

I really want to play this as some point as I haven't played it since release and the aesthetics seem very charming.
That being said the development was a complete **** show and taking on millions of dollars of debt from the government requiring your completely new game studio's completely new IP to do triple AAA success numbers pretty much made the inevitable disaster a forgone conclusion.
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Post by Val the Moofia Boss »

IIRC it was notable for being the only colorful artbook fantasy RPG releasing in the West at that time. The only other high production value RPGs coming out, Skyrim, Diablo, and Bioware games, had a grungier atmosphere and more realistic aesthetic that wouldn't appeal to everyone. People including me were looking for alternatives, which pretty amounted to either playing WoW or embracing JRPGs.

I also recall that this was around the time when games journalists were still seething because there was a popular movie reviewer named Roger Ebert who made a comment saying that he didn't think games were art. So some people felt they had a "need" to "respond" to that and upheld games like Shadow of the Colossus or The Last of Us as their attempts to prove "games are art!". The announcement that the writer of the Drizzdt novels would be writing Amalur's story I think factored into that.

But ultimately the game was just mediocre and forgotten.

Vergil wrote: March 27th, 2025, 00:57
I really want to play this as some point as I haven't played it since release and the aesthetics seem very charming.
I would recommend passing on it.
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 14th, 2025, 20:38
I tried the original Kingdoms of Amalur twice. Always stalled out by the time I reached the city at the northeastern tip of the first landmass. The gameplay and setting didn't grab me, which was surprising given RA Salvatore was the writer.. I liked how colorful it was but did not like the bland designs and environmemts. Music was forgettable.
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Post by Vergil »

I thought you were Fin again
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Post by Unhelpful Contrarian »

It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

It was decent. Nothing bad, nothing great.
I tried to play the remaster and bounced off, but I beat it years back. Try to stick with it for a bit if you don't like it at first.
Last edited by rusty_shackleford on March 27th, 2025, 01:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

In fact @Vergil might like it as its story has a very, for lack of a better term, Greek story feeling to it. Actors in an endless play, their roles known, masks donned. :turtle:
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Post by Vergil »

rusty_shackleford wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:12
its story has a very, for lack of a better term, Greek story feeling to it
No ghey
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Post by Val the Moofia Boss »

Unhelpful Contrarian wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:05
It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.
Yeah, a shame. You see conservative figures often complaining about "why is there no good art that pushes our values?", but then they don't want to create it. Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a ****** children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

As for making a new studio being formed and then diving into making a high production value game - which is very complicated - I suspect it might be difficult to do. Lots of people left Blizzard in the wake of WoW's launch to go form their own studios. Dozens of studios. But only two of them have released anything decent, Arena Net with Guild Wars and Runic Games with Torchlight. Everyone else either released crap or didn't release anything at all. That one Chinese guy who was making his own FF15 imitator all by himself wound up catching the eye of Sony and got to build up a studio to finish his game, which is finally releasing this year, so maybe it is possible and Westerners just suck too much. And I guess KCD1 was okay technically.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:19
Unhelpful Contrarian wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:05
It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.
Yeah, a shame. You see conservative figures often complaining about "why is there no good art that pushes our values?", but then they don't want to create it. Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a ****** children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

As for making a new studio being formed and then diving into making a high production value game - which is very complicated - I suspect it might be difficult to do. Lots of people left Blizzard in the wake of WoW's launch to go form their own studios. Dozens of studios. But only two of them have released anything decent, Arena Net with Guild Wars and Runic Games with Torchlight. Everyone else either released crap or didn't release anything at all. That one Chinese guy who was making his own FF15 imitator all by himself wound up catching the eye of Sony and got to build up a studio to finish his game, which is finally releasing this year, so maybe it is possible and Westerners just suck too much. And I guess KCD1 was okay technically.
If you're right of center on any issue your company gets confiscated and you get kicked out.

This happened to the owner of Tripwire, a very milquetoast conservative who had pro-life views. Lost his own company he founded.
See also.the five nights at freddies etc.,.
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Post by Tangerine »

Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:19
Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series
Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

rusty_shackleford wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:21
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:19
Unhelpful Contrarian wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:05
It’s a dame shame what happened to 38 studios it’s not to often you get a wealthy boomer conservative individual making a studio who loves the medium that wants to make a fun game.
Yeah, a shame. You see conservative figures often complaining about "why is there no good art that pushes our values?", but then they don't want to create it. Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a ****** children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.

As for making a new studio being formed and then diving into making a high production value game - which is very complicated - I suspect it might be difficult to do. Lots of people left Blizzard in the wake of WoW's launch to go form their own studios. Dozens of studios. But only two of them have released anything decent, Arena Net with Guild Wars and Runic Games with Torchlight. Everyone else either released crap or didn't release anything at all. That one Chinese guy who was making his own FF15 imitator all by himself wound up catching the eye of Sony and got to build up a studio to finish his game, which is finally releasing this year, so maybe it is possible and Westerners just suck too much. And I guess KCD1 was okay technically.
If you're right of center on any issue your company gets confiscated and you get kicked out.

This happened to the owner of Tripwire, a very milquetoast conservative who had pro-life views. Lost his own company he founded.
First xeet from this very conservative Christian I see is him saying he doesn't care if people are gay. Also has a pinned xeet about how much he loves blacks and latinos.
Got what he deserved.
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Post by Val the Moofia Boss »

Tangerine wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:22
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:19
Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series
Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.
Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.
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Post by rusty_shackleford »

Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:27
Tangerine wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:22
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:19
Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series
Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.
Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.
I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy :)
Last edited by rusty_shackleford on March 27th, 2025, 01:31, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Vergil »

Just checked the character creator and both races of elves look like Drow.
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?
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Post by Unhelpful Contrarian »

Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:19

Doomcock and all of those other people who amassed large followings in the mid to late 2010s for criticizing Hollywood could have used their audience as an opportunity to launch a book series or an indie animated show or indie games and then grow from there, but they didn't do that. I guess Matt Walsh made a ****** children's book, and Shadiversity wrote a one off novel and then never made more.


While these content creators are good at making entertaining or informative videos there’s skills in art and writing are quite frankly mediocre and barely above the quality you see in Hollywood.
I have no problem supporting alternatives but I’m not going to put money on the line solely because they political align with my views.
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Post by ArcaneLurker »

rusty_shackleford wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:31
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:27
Tangerine wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:22


Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.
Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.
I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy :)
In a sewer too... :yuck:
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Post by Roguey »

There was no hype. It was just an okay-ish game.
ThulsaDoomer wrote: March 27th, 2025, 00:55
It's what you get when an MMO is shredded to pieces and a singleplayer "RPG" is built instead with whatever resources were left. I beat the game and its dlcs, it was average. The fairly tale writing and vibe was the most interesting part about it, but most characters are fairly boring. Still, they actually managed to give nearly every single npc some unique dialogue, which is still far more than most modern games can be bothered with.
The MMO and Reckoning were two entirely separate projects. 38 Studios was having difficulties with the MMO so they acquired Big Huge Games with some of the massive amount of money they had and had them repurpose a third person action RPG they were already making into the Amalur setting.
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Post by Unhelpful Contrarian »

rusty_shackleford wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:31
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:27
Tangerine wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:22


Shadiversity launched a book to his audience. I've heard it's dogshit.
Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.
I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy :)
No words can describe my utter revulsion.
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Post by Vergil »

ArcaneLurker wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:36
rusty_shackleford wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:31
Val the Moofia Boss wrote: March 27th, 2025, 01:27


Chances are you are going to suck at anything you do for the first time. The key is to keep doing it and get better. I also respect that he even did it in the first place. And eventually his readership would filter down to the people who actually like his stuff. Lots of people don't like Steven King's books and think he's bad, but lots of people also think he's good, enough to keep buying his stuff and making him one of the best selling authors ever.
I think Stephen King is bad because he wrote a scene about a bunch of children having an orgy :)
In a sewer too... :yuck:
A fella will write an interracial child orgy in a sewer and then make 9000 tweets about how Trump is evil.
I'm just stating the facts.
Question is are you going to gargle the truth or swallow?