If you set the graphical brightness up to high all the way to Max it really does look amazing even better than the original but if you want the best graphics you'll have to put it the brightness graphics set all the way up to high if that's what you're looking for and it does look a lot better than what it did before
I really appreciate the review and I agree that it's a great game, but I've got to go toe to toe with you about the combat. This combat is fluid, and sure you can button mash but at some point that's going to get you smashed. No big, just reload the last save I suppose, but for me (and some others) that's LOSING the game! Finding a combination that matches your style and fits the enemies you're facing is a deep, strategic part of the game that I feel most "reviewers" don't experience because they don't play it for that long, gotta' go make the next vid. I also wouldn't say this game was better than Skyrim. Skyrim was WAY too easy and had far too many glitches and story parts that ramrodded your character down a predictable path with an all too predictable conclusion, Skyrim was a product and an apology and it FELT like one. Kingdoms of Amalur feels like it was made by people who wanted to make a game they wanted to play. The amount of player agency in this game is unrivaled by other games I've played. I think that's why history will eventually see it as the classic and not Skyrim.
Agreed. Plus the "class" system was awesome. Just build for the skills you want, you unlock the classes when you dump into stealth, magic, or warrior respectively
I never liked chakrams. They're slow and the range is not much more than melee range. But people love them. That's what makes the game great - something for everyone.
Hearing that not only the remastered version came out on PC but will also release a new expansion next year, is a dream come true for myself and the people who loved the 1st one
I left my pc while playing a chakram mage on the highest difficulty. went back and found my little cousin spamming mouse clicks and destroying everything in sight. woop dee doo so much fun...
Champion Destiny. Chakrams, Greatsword, Sphere of Protection. Round everything up, stun them, then unleash Elemental Rage and Chakrams with the increased damage to stunned targets, Good times.
As far as I know the original plan was to make this game and deppening on its success they would then build a mmo off this game. Not really a sequal more like a standalone dlc because they would be expanding off this games map. So it say the sequal was going to be a mmo isnt entirely right either
What he means is Big Huge Games was making an MMO style game (style, not MMO game itself as far as I know but massive style of game) when 38 Studios bought them out due to BHG having financial difficulty and they changed it over to be a version of 38 Studio's planned MMO but in single player form (project coperniucus). Basically Reckoning was not a KoA game originally and was retooled once 38 Studios bought Big Huge Games. So to be clear the MMO by 38 Studios was the only Amalur game planed until the Big Huge Games buyout. Hope the makes sense and helps.
@@PartStupid That's more misinformation. Big Head Studios started developing a single player RPG in 2007 under legendary Elder Scrolls developer Ken Rolston. This led to an acquisition by THQ, who intended to publish the game. THQ fell on hard times, and decided to sell Big Head Studios and the IP to 38 Studios, Curt Schilling's ambitious gaming startup. The project was retrofitted to the story/lore that 38 Studios was developing for a potential MMO. It was released in 2012 as Kingdoms of Amalur. Had that game been successful, 38 Studios hoped to expand the intellectual property into the MMO that was conceptualized since the beginning. "Project Copernicus" was ultimately little more than a tech demo created from code and assets of Kingdoms of Amalur. Leaked screenshots started appearing online a few months after KOAR's release, conveniently right around the time 38 Studios laid off their entire staff.
Please support this so that we can get the sequel we so desperately deserve. This was there first game. And the foundation they've laid for a franchise is top notch. Imagine what a sequel and franchise would be like
I want to thank you for this review. I feel it is the first I have seen which is done by someone that actually stopped and looked at the game. Most reviewers are saying there are no graphical changes, which I feel means they did not really even try and just wanted to push out a content video as graphical changes can be seen as early as character creation. Since you did not play the original I will throw in some change points for those that did: - Texture Update - Zones (enemies, drops, chests) now Auto Scale to your Level EVERY time you enter them, in the original they locked to your level the first time you entered them and stayed that way. - New Difficulty Level and Zones adjust per Difficulty. Enemies gain more HP, Damage, Attacks and Speed. Zone Min/Max adjusts per Difficulty as well. - Loot Drops now lean towards your stats/skills. Going a Bow Finesse Build you will see more Medium Armor, Bows, etc. Going Champion you will see more Heavy/Light and such. - Camera Options, in that you can change the cameras location, how far it is, etc. - New Resolutions and Ultra Wide support. - New UI sizes. - FoV Slider - Controller Ability Mapping. In the original you could map 4 abilities on a Controller, 10 on a Keyboard. Now you can do 8 on the Controller, not equal to Keyboard but still great. - DLCs. While minor all DLCs are in the game, with one on the way, and no more of that EA account and key number crap. - Data Structure. While they are not putting out Modding Tools for the game, they did make it easier for modders to access and alter data in the game. I commend your review and noting the game is a Remaster, not a Remake. I feel a lot of people do not understand the difference but you do and instead of just pushing out content you approached the game and did some research about some of the changes. I mean one reviewer I watched today even stated the story and lore and bland and have no substance. Which I just cannot believe as R.A. Salvatore did an amazing job with the story if you get into it and the side quests.
Massively appreciate this info dude. IF anything the fact that the zones auto scale to you when you enter is a serious relief as I had problems with out leveling the zones in the OG. Can't wait to hop back into Amalur tomorrow
This actually sound quite good. The loot was a big problem for me and I quickly found no real desire to do side quests because I thought I would get nothing out of it, and the main story isn't particularly good. So I ended up sort of speedrunning the main game. I might give it a go and check the sidequests now
Even back in 2012 I preferred this style over any other RPG at the time. That and the colors appeal to me so much and make the game so much nicer to look at. I have zero idea why almost every game needs to be dark and gritty/realistic.
So, this game was always a single player release. They were simultaneously developing an MMO based on this universe, but Curt Shilling burned through all his money and went bankrupt. He got a government entity to invest in the game and was later sued by the local government (exact details can be googled). So, this game was never an MMO that was changed into a single player game.
Yeah, I'm getting sort of tired of content creators miss-representing games. Been a lot of it the last few weeks. Same channel that called Wasteland 3 an 'X-Com inspired' game and shit...
This game was made to recoup the money that Shilling burned through making the MMO but it sold poorly and in 3 months 538 defaulted on their first loan repayment and went bankrupt.
It was doomed from the start anyway. Rhode Island gave Schilling like 70+ million dollars to produce the game. I was supposed to be an MMO originally and a pretty ambitious proyect with R.A. Salvatore as one of the writers. The game had to sell a ridiculous amount to even make past the first downpayment on the huge loan. Didnt help that it launched right after Skyrim.
@@casediedwell5094 It is...it has grid-based tactical turn-based combat with a squad, there's ambushes (overwatch), Ranger HQ (base management)...it's very much XCOM-style combat. It just has more to it than that.
Same here. I played a bit on PC but to me this game always felt at home on my (then ps3) console. Being avaliable on ps4 was an instant pre-order from me ^^
@@dr.chungusphd108 I do not think you know what literally means. Go check their FAQ, a lot of important improvements has been made. Do not spread incorrect information.
I think the combat gets better when you really dive in to creating your own builds! Love using magic, stealth and longwords! You can go in to any situation/fight and mix it up!
Should be noted that drm-free edition is on GOG. I'm definitely going to buy to support the idea of a remake from THQ Nordic. Considering it was almost an MMO they should consider adding coop/pvp to the expansion. That would dramatically increase sales.
This particular game was never supposed to be an MMO, that part in the video is wrong. The game was made as a single player experience to introduce players to the world that the MMO was going to be set in and provide some back story for it.
@@Dnote_Z5 gotcha. I think coop in the expansion would boost sales. I beat the game years ago. The largest issue was the main story. I could more easily get over that if it had coop.
@@Dnote_Z5 Yeah I was going to write about that too. KOA was going to be a large open world game like Skyrim, but funding problems reduced the amount of content compared to what it was meant to have. KOA was supposed to be an introduction into the MMO that was going to be made based on the game's success.
That was super helpful thank you. I'd been thinking about buying this game but wanted to know more about the nitty gritty like armor and weapons and this really helped.
The team that put it together had Todd McFarlane (creator of spawn and tons of other great art), Grant Kirkhope (Master sound designer behind a Banjo/Kazooie and tons of other great games), and Ken Rolston (A project lead on Elder Scrolls Oblivion). Its objectively a great game. I highly recommend a playthrough.
From what I've noticed, there are little to no differences from the original release. The graphics, some changes for mob scaling and loot dropping. If you've played the original then this is not a new experience in any way, it's the exact same game that just looks better then when it released. If you haven't played this game when it released originally, it's a very fun game which has the spec building and weapon variety as it's core mechanic and kinda the unique thing that it went for, everything else is very much what you could see in an old bioware game, which is a good thing, the only problem is that later on the depth of the quests and conversations fall off and for me it just made me want to rush towards the end. (Small meaningless spoiler ahead) It's one of the games that gives you a very powerful weapon to fight the last boss with which is very annoying if you're not already specked into that weapon. All in all, it was a great game for it's time, now it's a nice look in the past of what some less popular games were like at that time without micro transactions and greedy practices. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has already played it and I'd suggest waiting for the price to drop for anyone that isn't falling head over heels for this one just from watching small amounts of gameplay.
This is how I felt and still feel about the game, it got boring near the end and I rushed to the end. Cool game, but a $60 to $70 face lifted cash grab, no thanks.
Best combat I've played in an action RPG outside of Dark Souls. Very fast-paced and responsive - all the weapons play very differently and complement each other. The world/characters are nothing original but the combat is simply superb.
Let's not get overly dramatic. The game got perfectly acceptable reviews which reflect it's reasonably acceptable quality. Plenty of other games have gone waaaaay worse under the radar.
@@feridad1928 Everything by Spiderweb Games. As KoA came out there were a bunch of other action-RPGs around. Two Worlds II, Venetica, Jade Empire, whatever. Nobody remembers these either. Whether they are better or worse really is a question of taste. And with the indie games now there are so many, everyone can decide for themselves what they like. Just saying calling KoA the "most underrated game ever" is laughable.
@@Sp4mMe This game is indeed under rated. Just because it reviewed decently, doesnt make it not under rated. It never recieved the love or attention it deserved. Its the definition for an under rated experience.... By the way, im not sure if you have ever heard of opinions? The guy has an opinion and that triggered you, he was obviously excited and you have to be a negative nancy
As a person who has sunk at least 3 characters (puritan Might, Finesse and Sorcery builds) from start to finish in the original, how is the combat bad? Like there are 3 major weapon types for each main class path. Each one has it's own attack chains. Each main class path has passive abilities that unlock different charged, from block, from dodge and from counter moves that add to the weapon move list. Each main class path also has active abilities that can be used to mix up your combos in more ways. Lastly you can have 2 different weapons equipped and swap them mid combo for even more enemy juggling action. That's just surface, that's not even to consider weapon and gear builds to exploit enemy elemental weaknesses, getting the most out of your passive fate card bonuses, or even the passive bonuses on armor pieces. Like I don't get when he says there are no fancy moves, you can no hit every encounter if you're good enough at the game, and you have god mode I'm going to steal your soul for more xp. That's not fancy enough?
I think he means it is kind a button masher.... Personally, I didn't play the game, so I'm making assumptions here. Anyway I've seen some attacks and I agree with the fancy moves...there are a great variety of cool moves and destructive spells.
I'm glad to hear a positive review, a lot of others are giving it a "Meh." I'm wondering, did you find the world empty? Seems like I remember that was a big complaint of the original game. Anyway, it looks like it could be fun, but I may wait for a sale.
Empty is never really an impression I got from the game. And honestly I'm sure most of the 'meh' is coming from people who were expecting more than a few minor graphical tweaks and a few console QoL changes. It's still a fun game, but some people can find the price hard to justify at the moment.
I definitely never understood why people said the world felt empty. I love Skyrim more than is probably healthy, but honestly I think Amalur had a more filled-in world to explore. It always felt very magical and there were always cool things worth finding, like Lore Stones. It is a really fantastical landscape to play around in, and I can't recommend it enough.
You _could_ say empty... the zones obviously look like they were designed to accommodate player traffic. Occasionally you'll come across NPC's out in the field that give quests, but it's mostly just monster encounters in between gapes of "empty space" with nothing much but maybe some plants to collect. There are no radial NPCs , events or things like that. Towns are fairly lively, faction strongholds probably have the most population. You can get an empty feeling from it, but for me it lends more toward the atmosphere of being a lone adventurer. But I will say it's an experience to traverse through almost every zone (they have that classic WoW appeal) and for me it's taken many hours for them to become mundane. One of the high notes that promote exploration are lorestones, which are basically audio logs done right. You get hilarious commentary from ancient denizens about the history of the world. Also they give massive exp. But to sum up your concern about how the world feels. Imagine how you feel playing Skyrim, then imagine any of the Zeldas OoT~onward. The feeling imo is more Zelda.
I loved this game when it came out. I got it for my 14th birthday and had only been getting into RPGs for the past few years so it came out at the perfect time for me. Also the chakrams were just coolest thing to me since Tron Legacy came out just over a year before that I thought that movie was great when it came out. Well part of it was also that chakrams just aren't a weapon you see often in games or really media in general and they played well but being similar to the Tron identity discs was probably the main thing for me.
Something I remember about KoA was that for the first time (or at least one of a few times) crafting an armor or a weapon actually payed off. I remember crafting a very powerful Greatsword for my warrior and not finding an equivalent or better weapon until very later in the game. (also the universalist build is just hilarious)
Actually this game crafting system is just too rewarding, except if you aren't pass blacksmithing beyond basic level. One armor piece could contains a stats that comparable to a whole sets (especially if you have an epic gem) is just too much. Usually, I just made an OP weapon and shield/talisman while use epic or sets armor for the looks.
Hi, noob question. Which main quest do i need to follow to beat the legitimate final boss/to start the Fatesworn DLC? As of now i have 3 list of main quest 1. The Hunters Hunted 2. Old Friends, New Foes 3. The Teeth of Naros Pls answer. Thanks a lot!
Honestly the best channel for this simply because you understand that it's a remaster and not a remake. Other larger reviewers are hitting it constantly over it not being massively different. They fail the remaster not remake understanding. Good job on this one 👍
This game was AMAZING! No joke! The class system is REALLY AWESOME!! There are gradual stories, that all work with building up the world and the lives of the inhabitants. No joke, this game is something you should get! The combat is lethal, powerful, gory, brutal, and fun!! You can make so many builds in this game! You are helped out by these “cards” that tell you what you need to put points in, in the 3 talent trees. Give this game a chance!! You can be good or bad..
Fextralife any recommendations on what to play on ps4 in 2020? Just finished divinity 2 and rdr2 and loved the exploration, investigation and the challenge(dos 2). Any recommendation o very good games? Thanks!
Day9 did some interviews with people before the release of this, notably Todd McFarlane and his talk about the animations and feel of the combat is very interesting.
I put so much time into the original that I can’t bring myself to get this. Too many other games out. I’m glad others will get to play this updated gem. It’s great.
With your playstyle, yeah you’re right about the combat being slightly repetitive, but the way i play with longsword and greatsword, i absolutely have to time the special moves in the proper order based on the situation, as well as aiming my strikes, holding the buttons for different amounts of time to do different moves, and even juggling combos like a fighting game. So the amount of depth can vary wildly depening on the playstyle.
I have a huge tip: Under "Options" go to "Resolution" and set the Fullscreen Mode to "Exclusive"! After that the whole game looks much better for me! I'm playing only in 1080p/60 so I switched to "Exclusive" >> "1920x1080 60hz". Try it for yourself because on default the resolution is at 900p!
Something that you should have added to your review is that all zones are now unlocked and are fully explorable. Where as the original game many were locked because of level restrictions. Also, they have added some nice new Camera options to the game.
Just bought it today on Steam... It had a 10% sale, but they made me an additional discount to me, as I already owned the OG kingdoms of Amalur (that costed me 5 bucks when it was on sale), I got the deluxe version for 20 bucks or so... And it was totally worth it... This game feels more complex than fable and mor fun to play than skyrim... I hope that with this remaster the game gets the credit it deserves...
I've been checking it every day for the last week. Spelling it differently to see if it pop ups. It's a bit sad really, and seeing people playing it on RU-vid just makes me jealous. It was my first platinum and holds a special place for me.
I know it's a long shot, but do you run in 4k at all? There was a bug where the questlog in 4k would vanish permanently and there was no fix for it. I'm just wondering if it's fixed in this version.
Thanks for making this and being honest and actually doing the due diligence of comparing it. I can't wait to get it tomorrow and play it all over again... also can't wait for the new dlc expansion next year.
What due diligence? You can right now buy the original game for $5. What this review doesn't address is why you should instead pay $40 for the remaster. This is a review of the game, which is a good game. But it doesn't review the comparison of the original as they didn't play the original. They looked at some 8 year old footage. They didn't install the original game and actually compare playing that right now compared to playing this. They compared a game they are running and playing now on modern hardware to 8 year old youtube videos. That's not a comparison.
@@bockchow - I was referring to the review by Gaming Bolt that did not have any of this info in it (like that it included all dlc expansions., new difficulty added, and new expansion coming next year just to name a few things that review did not mention). Also that review did not seem to even look up footage and compare and just made claims based on memory (so I meant visual). - Sorry if that confused you I just did not want to call them out directly I guess but I still wanted to say this review at least researched the info and actually looked at the old game to compare. - To your point there is no reason to play the old one as they both play the exact same in terms of core gameplay, the changes are not to gameplay itself but to things like getting rid of area level capping and other quality of life changes (though some changes do slightly change the gameplay like balancing enemies a bit better ect but overall nothing you need to go play the old one for).
Well, the reason to go play the old one is that you already own it, or you can own it for $5. This remaster needs to justify buying it again or buying it for eight times the price, and so far I haven't seen that justification.
@@bockchow - That is your opinion. Again I think there is very little reason for the review and that is what we were discussing. - As for a justification of buying this I can give you a few but whether they matter to you or not is another story. - Firstly if you play on console this remaster lets you play on current gen. It includes all past dlc expansions so with the regular game if you do everything there is it is well over 200+ hours of content. Regardless of what some say it does look better. They added a new "very Hard" difficulty mode. They got rid of area level capping so enemies can now to a certain extent level with you. They added more storage space. Also this was a dead IP so this will help fund a sequel. They are making a new DLC Expansion for this game coming out next sometime year. If you own it on Steam you get 50% off plus a 10% launch bonus off too I think. Support a publisher who is saving these IP's from death. There is more but these are the ones off the top of my head. Again could be none of this matters to you but to me the porting it to PS4 was ll I really cared about so all that extra stuff was a massive bonus (especially the new Fatesworn Expansion planned that I hear will further/continue the main story).
Any idea about leveling on the special delivery chest? Or if leveling throughout the world is similar to the previous in which areas lock or will it be continuously dynamic?
This is one of my all time faves. Enjoyed the hell out of it on PS3, and am re-living those memories on the 4. Has held up really well, it’s charming (if not quite next gen), and the action is up there with a pure hack and slash. Plus the new free DLC was a pleasant surprise. Great review.
Wow that's pretty amazing. I was always bummed out there was no expansion so that's great news. Also the music in this game was really nice and relaxing. I'm sure I still have the ost on cd somewhere.
I'll add for the people who played the original; DLC is included which is great, but most importantly the issue with levels has been fixed so areas will level with you and thus you'll never have to deal with gold armor being underleveled. It's a huge plus for me, and if I hadn't just played through the original then I would probably would have gotten this new one already.
Super Pumped to play this starting tomorrow!! Wish graphics were more updated, but still excited for New DLC coming out, and maybe if enough people like it they could make a Sequel!! 😋 Elden Ring.........yea when is that happening ugh!
Kingdoms of Aamalur and Dragon's Dogma were those two aRPGs I played and over Skyrim back in the day. I just really enjoyed the combat, even if Skyrim offered more content overall. Ironically; Skyrim as been re-released over and over again, and even Dragon's Dogma got its Dark Arisen ports to most systems (Switch on-the-go DD was some awesome shit). Glad this game gets a second chance for a lot of those who never gave it one, or those who overlooked it because Skyrim was the big aRPG game on the market at the time.
Agree with the World of Warcraft aesthetic. It always reminded me of WOW, but didn't know the game started development initially as a MMORPG. and then changed to a single player experience.
Whimsical is probably the word I'd use for the art style. And yeah, toooons of playtime in this game. I remember having 90+ hours played and still had a full to bursting side quest tab
Did they increase the difficulty of the game? Because I remember playing this game on hard mode and felt really easy. I know is not supposed to be a over challenging game... but it never felt like you had to put any thought to your actions in combat.
I played the original and loved it. But with this version the loading times are impossibly slow but it seems no body else complains. So if it's just me, what can I do? Will re-installing it make a difference? Thanks in advance.
for the combat...(if it is like the original), it is possible to combine different attacks with each others, from different skill trees. which makes the combat not repetitive at all :)
Finally a well thought out review. And I agree this is a fantastic remaster. It's not a remake. I got so sick of the toxic Steam community that I bought my copy at GOG. The community on Steam is just garbage now. They are trashing the game with one line write ups. That is not a review. And steam should remove them. One even claimed you can't remap your keyboard and down voted it. Even though it not true.
I remember when this game came out. This game was a masterpiece when it was released and hands down the best game to be released on ps3. I definitely going to buy this game again for ps4 cause it was one of my all time favorite games, even to this day it’s better than any game I played.
I do hope that this game will get a sequel where we can explore other parts of Amalur and play as the other races that were planned for the MMORPG that should have been.
Is it worth it? Yes. I have my digital copy of the Fate Edition (PS4) installed, I played the original release, and I am enjoying KoA just as much as I did first time round. KoA Re-Reconking looks and sounds great, and no noticeable issues so far. Happy Me!
I love that this game finally got a remaster. I picked it up years ago, not knowing anything about it, all I saw was that R. A. Salvatore helped in the making and that's what sold it for me. Now its one of my favorite games, can't wait to get my hands on this.
The main issue of the first game was that it completely lacked challenge. A few hours in, like 3 hours, you where already overpowered and nothing posed a threat. Is this something there changed in the remaster?
Most of the reviews that I have seen of this game are downplaying it. This game looks fantastic to me and when I get paid again, I'm going to buy it! Thanks for your review video! 😁
Wow how the standard of games have fallen... I remember playing this game when it came out and it was so mediocre. So much so that I can't remember anything from it. And now people are saying that it is an excellent game. Sad...
I'm hoping the game eventually gets a sequel; there's tons of lore that's only hinted at and, after 150 hours on one and a half playthroughs, I'm still eager to learn more about the wider world outside of the Faelands.
I loved the original a lot! Only thing that concerns me with this game is it looks graphic wise just like its on ps3 still. Like they gave zero love to “remastering” the graphics. I’ll probably still pick it up and see if it holds my attention but mostly looking forward to the expansion.
A lot of that will depend on your build, squishies are exactly that. Beyond that, once you get reasonably good at timing your blocks/ dodges life gets a lot easier. One thing KoAR always had right is that the combat is *smooth.*
@@TheLastGarou Thanks. Thats reasonable. Definitely look to give this another try. Had the original on 360 but wasn't into back then. Now looks more my speed.
Well that's a pleasant surprise that I can get a discount since I already have the original on Steam. I wasn't that impressed with the look of re-master so far but, I'm not mad at a 50% discount!
@@shadow99917 If it's your first play through I think it's worth it just to be able to experience it on current gen. This is like the 3rd time I bought the game (X360 -> Steam -> Steam re-release) so I'm pretty sure I spent more than 55 on it and I'm not mad...
Finally an honest Review! I loved the original and it was way ahead of it's time for the time... Thanks bro. I will be getting the new one now. Everyone else is bashing this remaster because they got the wrong idea.
What??? You never played the original?! That just blew my mind lbs you of all people I thought would’ve been a fanboy 😂 I’m glad you enjoyed it seriously!!
I think they changed the areas, they will not stay at the level you first enter but i think you can always overlevel, maybe not as much. They added another difficulty as well, very hard difficulty.
Mash buttons for attack eh....someone didnt get very in depth with the combat system. You can do charged attacks, evade attacks, delayed combo attacks, block attacks.
2:36 i agree games arenr focussed on fun anymore. Im still reserved on this remaster though love the old game but imo they couldve made it way better w current tech.
