Kingdoms of Amalur: 'Skyrim and Oblivion are the same game. We want to take RPGs in a new direction'

Big Huge Games on why it's about to take the RPG world by storm...

[Rage_S90]

I actually agree with them there, the only difference that really stands out are dragons, dual wielding, better graphics, some flashy finishes and a change of setting.

Kingdoms sounds like an ambitious game, but of course I'll hold off the PR talk till i see some actual gameplay. God knows how many game's I've seen talked up only to disappoint.

[Baka-akaB]

Only partially true . They had enough refinement , changes or plain "dumbification" for someone like me who couldnt stand the elder scrolls (except the truly revolutionary daggerfall back then ) to change its mind .

And i know it's the same for many others

[Army_of_Darkness]

And already, I think its better than skyrim and dragon age in every way. Not much demos impress me enough to get excited for a game, but KOA did and I can't wait!

[Baka-akaB]

I dunno , i await Amalur only because i could see more of it beyond the demo .

The demo was very generic hack slash fanfare and starts with a very annoying mini tutorial sequence a la Fable 3 , and it didnt make it feel like a must have game , while later parts are much better .

Add in numerous bugs that arent even in later builds of the game , and you've got a demo imo that disservice the game , and could ultimately harm its release . Hoping i'm wrong however

[lastdual]

The problem is that, by these standards, the same generalizations can be made about almost every sequel. If Oblivion and Skyrim are "the same game", then the same must also be said for virtually every series out there.

Amalur looks promising in many respects, but I honestly wish it borrowed a bit more from games like TES in respect to freedom of exploration.

Things like the invisible walls, lack of jumping, and inability to cross a low patch of rocks or swim in certain pools unless they are designated swimming areas leave the world feeling very constrained and artificial to me.

[Spydiggity]

I don't think their intent was to say that as if it's a bad thing. I think what they are trying to do is just grab attention from western RPG fans that might be tired of the Elder Scrolls formula. Or are just looking for something different.

[Zha1tan]

The interface, The number of dungeons, The quality of the dungeons, The dragon shouts, The plotline, The side Quests, The Quests, The Characters, Werewolves, The Creatures, The vampires, The lore.....The Spells, The skill system, The fast Travel....

Sorry There is a whole lot more which is "different."

These people who underexaggerate how a game is not different.....really what did you want them to do? completely change the base gameplay? Well then it wouldn't have been an elder scrolls game.

Kingdoms demo is good but Skyrim is SIMILAR (obviously being so since its part of the series) but NOT the same as Oblivion.

[Captain Qwark 9]

-most dragon shouts were spells before anyway, spells that were now cut

-the interface is decent but its just an interface, nothing to get excited over

-dungeons were lame, they looked better than they used to but the were still boring to explore and in most cases only had one trap which was a swinging door

-plotline is okay

-side quests were beat, factions quests were short and the worst they have ever been

-vampires and werewolves were done in morrowind, 2 games ago but i did welcome their return

-the creatures? there about 7 different things to kill total, and no 15 variations of bandits and mages dont count

-skill system? they cut too many but it was an improved design

-fast travel? been there in oblivion and it was in morrowind too to some degree, you just had to ride the giant creatures

not much different dude, and what was was not very important or impressive. duel weilding was nice but the melee is still weak

[Zha1tan]

Sorry brah we are talking about how Skyrim is SIMILAR to Oblivion.

- Most? sorry exaggeration spotted

- DIfferent though, we are talking about differences right?

- Thats a subjective opinion

- Once again subjective

- Once again subjective

- You could not be a werewolf in morrowind

- Still new and different

- Skill system, they cut what was useless like acrobatics & Hand to hand combat which btw nobody used but as soon as they were cut....que...nerd rage.

- Did I say fast travel was not in those games? was it different? yes it was.

You seem to be confusing "different" with what was and was not there, Different could be the same thing done in a alternative way.....

U mad brah?

[Captain Qwark 9]

@zha1tan

you couldnt be a werewolf in morrowind???? weird becuase i was, it was added with an expansion bloodmoon. it was not however in oblivion

[Zha1tan]

Exactly!!

Added in an expansion to the original game, has there been an expansion for Skyrim yet?! No there has not.

Invalid point sir.

Anything else?

http://i.imgur.com/WFScv.gi...

[suicidalblues]

@ zartan (or whatever your name is)

I negged you for writing "u mad brah" just because that is a seriously gay saying. Both of your opinions had merit, but you sound like a tool in your reply.

[schlanz]

The article title is taken out of context.

"As far as Ken competing with his own parallel reality, for him, after Oblivion, I think he was done. Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, they're all great games, and I think they're progressively better, but they're all the same game. It's not like they're radically changing with time. I think he wanted to do something new."

Of course the games are different because there are improvements made to them with each new game, but for the most part they play out the same way. That's not meant to be a dig or jab at the series, its just calling it what it is. And from a designer standpoint, its probably refreshing to take on a fantasy game that takes an entirely different approach, not the same approach with a few different tweaks.

[MariaHelFutura]

@Rage_S90

That could be said about ANY game series.....

[MariaHelFutura]

Thinking about it, the only game series I can think of that has had a complete overhaul game to game is Ico, SOTC and TLG. SOTC being a prequel to Ico and I think TLG is also a prequel to Ico, but the sequel to SOTC. Regardless, between SOTC and Ico they are both entirely different game design and mechanics, while following the same story line.

@Baka-akaB

Spoiler.

At the end of SOTC, he gets reborn into Ico, the woman you brought to the temple to rebirth looks to be Yorda. In Ico, Yorda is always brought back by the "black dust" which ironically is the same power that brought her back to life in SOTC. In Ico, Ico has been banished from his village, for being evil and growing/having horns. What he did to get kicked out of his village, I imagine will be have something to do with the TLG, he looks a lot like Ico. Plus TLG is the colossus in TLG. In SOTC you kill all of the colossi, he I imagine the last one.

[Baka-akaB]

Well it's not even a serie , and the links between both are vague plot points and mostly hints , so yeah ...

[hellzsupernova]

I agree to and with the lag issue im over Skyrim even when they release the patch. this game i will see what reviews say before deciding

[Gamer1982]

Same engine does that to you really Fallout uses the same engine too. Its Skyrim with guns lol in a sense anyway its not literally that but playing it you feel like your playing the same game.

[SP3333D-O]

One huge difference for me: I hated Oblivion but love Skyrim. I'd love for anything to be as good as or better than Skyrim, different or not.

[BiggCMan]

Play Dark Souls.

[Drake117]

lol yet again people trying to compare 2 different games. Dark souls is not "better" it just cater to a dif crowd than skyrim. If u played demon souls then other then a slightly more open world dark souls is exactly the same.
this is also in reply to tanir under my comment.

[Ser]

@Drake117

One thing that Dark Souls DOES do better than Skyrim/TES is COMBAT.

You can't argue that.

The combat in Dark Souls is silky sooth. Whereas in Skyrim/TES...yeah, not so smooth. I feel like I'm swinging two mechanical arms.

[Drake117]

Very true but yet again that is DS main focus.

[TopDudeMan]

Anyone who disagreed with BiggCMan's comment could do with being given a wake up slap. I love skyrim, but dark souls is just the better game.

[Tanir]

yeah dude play dark souls lol. far better than Skyrim. Skyrim is fun, but its exactly the same game as morrowind and oblivion. i mean thats not that bad, but you know, if you want something fresh aswell

[Nintenuendo]

Not to nitpick, but it is most certainly NOT the same game as Morrowind.

Oblivion, yeah, I'll give you that. Though I did like Skyrim more than Oblivion for some reason.

[Baka-akaB]

Both are great and vastly different with their own quality . It would be one thing to argue about one or the other if they had the same content and one of the two played and looked better , but it's not the case here .

[BiggCMan]

I think Dark Souls plays and looks better graphically. I like Skyrim, it's just really easy, and I don't particularly like that in my RPG's, and I think that's why it's so popular, it's easy to get into for more casual gamers.

[Baka-akaB]

I also think DS looks and play better . But it's smaller in scope and doesnt feature as much content . Plus modding is a very important aspect in Skyrim ... heck it's a whole new game .

A meager mod such as "War in Skyrim" transfigure it . it basically insirt random , yet logical skirmishs and battles between the various creatures and npc . Imagine a farming village defending itself against a troll attack ?

And that's only one mod

Things would be different if DS had everything Skyrim could offer on top of the already superior gameplay . Then it would flat out win every times

[fabod86]

can't wait to try it...
it seams promising.

[Brixxer600]

I love Skyrim and i really enjoyed Oblivion , after playing the demo of Kingdoms i know i'm going to really like it aswell , it's all good as far as i'm concerned.

[solidboss]

i remember a friend of mines telling me to play oblivion in his house back in 06. he told me i would like it and after creating my character and playing the intro i just quit to the dashboard. idk what it was but i just plain didnt like oblivion it didnt hook me in. skyrim was the game changer in all of this. literally made my mind do a 180 to the elder scrolls series and opened me up to a world that i love.

[LettingGo]

I'm sorry, but Kingdoms of Amalur isn't very good. It's just another generic hack 'n slash RPG. The story isn't interesting either. :/ I was hoping for something more.

[xPhearR3dx]

Yeah, I wasn't impressed with the demo.

[Baka-akaB]

the demo isnt a good show . The game is better than it's generic demo .

It would be smarter for future games , if devs would instead showcase little bits of their rpg farther than the games dull beginnings and moment . To this day i dunno why they keep doing that ... even for jrpg , when you release such demos , you dont even showcase properly all the gameplay's advanced mechanics

[Kaos_Vll]

yea, because we all know if a game has a good combat system it's not a "true" rpg. You people kill me, stuck playing in a world for 100's of hours and horrible combat.

[schlanz]

Because a 45 minute demo is totally indicative of a 100-200 hour story driven fantasy RPG.

[Arnon]

From what I've garnered, KoA is actually a 20 hour story, with about 5 hours of sidequests.

[aPerson]

@Arnon

Then you heard wrong. Check out IGN's 'review in progress' article (in b4 "lol ign wat do they know"), they mention that there is a ton of content packed in the game.

[Stealth2k]

EXACTLY. skyrim and oblivion are the same terrible game. I agree with that.

I also played the demo and came away not so impressed

but this is the west. They will review the game highly regardless of actual quality

[admiralthrawn87]

kingdoms of amalur doesn't have to compete with skyrim, it has to live up to the best rpg so far the witcher 2

[John Kratos]

Lol, exactly, all this bitching about Skyrim and Kingdoms. When the true WRPG king is the Witcher 2. CDprojeckt FTW.

[admiralthrawn87]

i bet the phantom disagree has never touched the witcher franchise therefore not giving an accurate opinion.

i've played morrowind, oblivion, skyrim, and both witchers. the witcher games are on another level.

[girevik]

I agree! The Witcher games kick ass and the books kick ass!

[schlanz]

Still, very different games. There's room in the industry for a lot of different styles of fantasy RPG.

Witcher 2 definitely doesn't get enough attention. Which reminds me, I still need to play the first one.. and I'm pretty sure the enhanced edition can be had for a paltry $10.

[geddesmond]

I'm always completely honest and as a big RPG player I didn't like the Kingdoms demo. For starters I'm 26 years old and the art design is to childish for my liking(Free Realms childish), topped off with bad graphics and its a big turn off. Secondly the story in the demo was boring and I just skipped all the cutscenes. Theres also a huge learning curve which is always a bad thing in RPGs because it can make you feel overwhelmed which is exactly how the demo made me feel.

The game plays more like Baldurs gate than it does Skyrim. Just my opinion! Don't eat me.

[Captain Qwark 9]

the learning curve really isnt that steep at all, play the first half and you have the basics down.

and how would you know the story is boring in the demo when you skipped all the cutscenes?? im not saying the story in the demo is great or even that good but it only showcases 5 min of the story, nobody has any idea what the story actually is. that would be the equivalent of me escaping capture in skyrim then stopping and saying the story sucks when thats as far as i got

lastly id agree with your last point, it really doesnt have much in common with skyrim at all besides lock picking and their both set in a fantasy world. baldurs gate, world of warcraft, dragon age, or fable are much more fair comparisons. or simply this is kingdom of amalur, afterall its not exactly a 1-1 clone of any of those, just takes inspirations from the best of the rpg world and combines them

[geddesmond]

Eh did I not clearly say the Demos story. Being brought back from the dead by a well of souls and being helped by some wizard dude who dies helping you get out. I thought it was lame. If I was talking about the games whole story I would have said the games story and not the demos story.

I skipped all the cutscenes because they were boring. I watched a 20-30 seconds of each and then skipped which was more than enough time to catch the drift of it.

I'm not here to attack people who like the game. If you like it then far enough. I'm just leaving my opinion on what I thought of the game. As an RPG lover I really would love to be able to like it and I tried but I can't

[Yangus]

Kingdoms of Amalur its medicore crap.

[Faztkiller]

Well the demo was a buggy mess I know they said it was fixed but I've heard developers say that before

[wallis]

THe only reason this guy is saying this is because he left bethesda to work on kingdoms of amalur and now they're frustrated that skyrim is the word on everyone's lips, not KoA:R. And yeah it must be shit but bethesda deserve credit and trying to detract from that for personal non-objective reasons isn't very fair. Kingdoms of Amalur doesn't even look like it hits the same buttons as Skyrim - in fact it looks closer to fable - so why doesn't he just let it go and accept that rpgs take a LONG time to gain momentum.

It took witcher one entry before it became a real powerhouse with a strong fanbase opening up the franchise for expansion. Elder scrolls has been at it for decades it's only sensible they're going to have a strong following and NO skyrim is NOT perfect but that doesn't stop it being an awesome game. For all the complaints of bugginess and animation problems skyrim still offers a very limitless world that just says "pick up what you want, be what you want, do what you want". It's done a lot to remove the unnecessary and arbitrary limitations that are tropes of the rpg experience and has instead replaced them with real life equivalents - an idea that they have increasingly added to and shaped as technology has progressed.

KoA:R looks great, it really does, but the more and more I see articles where the dev tries to pick on Skyrim the less and less I want to give it a go out of spite.

[schlanz]

FYI you can preorder KoA from toysrus.com for 44.99, free shipping. SSX also, same price.

[mttrackmaster38]

Thanks! I'm bout to snatch it up now.

[PsycheMax]

Wait, Kingdom of Amalur is a mediocre game in every way. Play the Demo. Then come here comment about it.
Come on, KoA devs and pubs , there's no needing of crap-talking Skyrim to "look better".

[extermin8or]

Look it's one thing to big up your game but lately most of the developers that have done so and are pretty much unproven in the past release mediocre games, bungie, or ND,Bethesda or rockstar can mouth off all they want because they've released games that were truly brilliant (minus the bugs) from what i've seen of KoA it's a hack and slash that isn't open world so why don't they leave skyrim alone because it appears to be a different style of game entirely.....

[FCOLitsjustagame]

Skyrim was much better then Oblivion. That the gameplay was similar to other edler scroll games is a good thing. Few other developers on consoles have gone the fully open world first person adventure games like the Elder Scrolls has. On the other hand lots of other games play like the demo for Reckoning.

Perhaps the story will be better than Dragon knights (hard no to be) and maybe the graphics and one button sword swing in the full game will be better than Fable (because in the demo it looked like a poorer version of fable) and maybe there will be more freedom to explore than Dragon Age. Who knows, it will probably be a fun game and I will probably pick it up sometime this summer (can't get it now as it is supposed to be sooo long and ME3 will be coming out soon. So in that case the "hey this is a really long game" marketing is not working in their favor).

[Jdub895O]

i just dont get it. Like people say this game is better but i didnt see it. It was okay but definitely not better than the elder scrolls. I say when it comes out it will average a 7.5/10.

[SnakeCQC]

coming from a single player game that comes with a online pass that is quite rich the online pass bs is obviously to prevent people selling their game or to devalue it to another consumer. That tells me thta you are not confident with the game and with that messed up comment about skyrim and oblivion being the same game and your game taking rpgs into a new direction is complete BS

[Arts1000]

Impressive Demo ......... But..........

I was very disappointed with the lack of a jump button , add to that all these silly invisible walls . The Idea of an RPG is freedom so why these ridiculous constraints . If I want to jump off a cliff to my death or leap into a lake for a swim it should be an option . Standard. A doorway is one thing but nothing takes you out of the moment faster than a 3 inch wall that is impossible to jump over . ( the final game may right some of this )

Still , this game gets my full attention come the 7th of next month . Lets see ..................