Into the Kruthik Lair I knew it was going to be a weird night when everyone broke out the hoodies. That’s something you get when you play face to face (via webcam, but still)… Weird stuff can happen. After some debate, we chose to explore the southern passage instead of seeing what lay behind the metal door. We had mapping to do, after all. The darkness swallowed our discussion. We voted to send Wenner ahead to explore. The vote was 3-1. ...
It was a cursed night when we came across the Pudding… Huh? No, a PUDDING! Mmm closer, not quite there… That’s it. The Battle of the Pudding It’s hard to get a restful sleep in a dungeon, especially when you just KNOW a murderous, stinking, backstabbing (literally) hobgoblin had all the time in the world to go through your things before he took off to undoubtedly lead some sort of hobgoblin insurgency against your humble company of naive adventurers who want only to map some old ruins… ...
The Dig You smelly backbiter, Splug. Splug liked hanging back behind the party, and as someone who usually ranged well in front of the party, Wenner was fine with that. Sure, now that the party had Splug to push around, they’d stopped with the “toehair” jokes, but it still hurt. “The Fat One!” said Splug as the Adventuring Company magically stitched their wounds when the battle was done. “The Fat One – he KNOWS things!” ...
Does this ring a bell? “You all so good people, give all you hug many time,” whispered Splug to Wenner. The hobgoblin moved a little closer. The stench was overpowering to the halfling, and he’d been close to some heroic stenches in his day. “But you my favorite,” said Splug, “you hairy like me. Maybe hobgoblin and halfling cousin, yes?” “I think not,” said Wenner, edging away. “Don’t you have some hobgobbling to do?” ...
Recipe screen I’ve really been impressed with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’s crafting. The whole game has actually impressed me more than I thought it would, so good job, Big Huge Games, 38 Studios and Electronic Arts. There’s a couple kinds of crafting common to RPGs; one is where there are fixed recipes and the same item is produced every time – EverQuest, World of Warcraft and Skyrim share this model. This turns crafting into a commodity. In MMOs that use this model, there’s no particular reason to go to any specific crafter to get something made. If they have the skill, they can give you the item, identical to that produced by anyone else. ...
EA released a day 1 DLC (downloadable content) pack for their Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – the Weapon and Armor Bundle. In it are unique weapon sets with cool looks and powerful effects. The video above from Gamer King Tarheel shows them off well. So is this stuff going to change your life if you buy it? Put the game in easy mode? Well, since you can already set the game to easy mode, you probably don’t need to spend $5.00 to trivialize the game. Which is good, because these sets are only appropriate for the level in which you get them. If you buy them at level 1, this will be fantastic level 1 gear for you, but you’ll pack it away in a few levels. ...
Your basic fighter/rogue I really have come to appreciate Reckoning’s adaptability. I started out as a pure fighter-type, all my points into Might. This gave me fantastic scores in blocking and swordfighting, eventually making me a master of the greatsword. This was all very cool stuff. The armor looked amazing. My ranged skills were sub-par, though, even though I gave up the chakrams for a bow. I really would rather play a stealthy type. ...
FemShep strikes a pose Last summer, Electronic Arts held a contest to decide upon the iconic face for the lead character from Mass Effect 3. Though the lead character, Shepard, can be male or female at the player’s choice, Mass Effect and its sequel were marketed with a male Shepard. Fans had been yelling for a more prominent role for the female version, known as FemShep for short. By playing through the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo, you unlock many items useful for low level adventurers – including FemShep’s famous armored spacesuit. Even though I haven’t actually played any of the Mass Effect games, I wanted FemShep to leave the airlessness of space for the lushness of Amalur for awhile. And so FemShep was born. ...
…and that was when the Death Star landed right on top of us. No? I’ll get to the meaning of the mysterious shadow in the screenshot above in a bit. Chris, the DM, had been cackling quietly to himself in the corner, muttering “kill them… kiiiilllll themmmmm…. KILL THEM AAAALLLLLL!!!!!” for the past couple of weeks. We were thinking he was about to sing a couple verses of “Alice’s Restaurant” or something. We weren’t coming out of Shadowfell Keep until the place was mapped (that being our mission). No popping out for a rest. No coming back to Winterhaven for a shower. Just us, our 10’ poles, and our iron spikes… ...
Cinematic dialog The “Reckoning” is a special mode you can get into where you become extremely deadly and suck the Fate right out of your fallen enemies. Just in case you were wondering what that was. It’s one of the more distinctive bits of a fantasy RPG that Electronic Arts hopes will be compelling glimpse into the world of Amalur for eager fans awaiting its unveiling as a fully-fledged MMO. ...