I am interested, mostly for the Combat, because most huge RPGs have pretty shallow combat but this does seem quite good.

I heard something about the game having an online pass dispite being entirely offline, which pisses me off.

I read that too, despite it being a single player game. I heard it does give you access to the first piece of DLC though. I was also watching a preview from one of the game sites (might have been IGN), but they mentioned that originally the game was designed to be an MMO, and that there are plans to add that to the game in the future. Not sure how true that is but, if they do plan on changing it into a semi MMO game I could understand the reason for the online pass. As it stand now though the online pass for a single player game does come across as a shallow attempt to control used game sales on a single player game.

The game doesn't feel like an RPG IMO, it feels entirely like an action game, which is pretty awesome. Plus one of the previews I was reading said you can pay to wipe you skill tree, and reallocate all your skill points, changing how you character plays, which sounds cool. I really disliked being locked into 1 play style with Skyrim without having to restart a new game, because there weren't enough skill points to max out all skills.

I was interested, but for some reason the demo won't work on my PC. I installed it, made a character, but I get a black screen instead of cutscenes and in game I have a UI over a black screen.

Ninja_Mime i downloaded the demo and had the same poblem but i fixed it. try going to the options men and turn some stuff off and other things to low and have the res to 800 by 600. this worked for me it might work for you. it's worth a shot. hope this helps. it's a fun game.

IGN was reporting that for a lot of players the demo was actually broken no matter what system you tried to play it on. Apparently the demo was handed off to a third party, and wasn';t put together by the developer. I actually had no problem playing the demo on the 360 sans some small graphic/clipping issues, but nothing that made it completely unplayable.

Also IGN's review of the game is already in and they are giving it a 9/10.
And here is a quote from IGN's review that I think best sums up the game experience:
"Reckoning's strongest point is its gameplay, but what does that mean, exactly? It means, quite simply, that I've never played an action-oriented RPG that plays better. Amalur's arcade-like, action-heavy slant to combat made me feel like I wasn't playing a rigid RPG at all, a refreshing and most unexpected experience for me. With a plethora of weapons and armor at your disposal, you can create any number of amalgams to best suit your play style. Battles happen in realtime, and with a combination of attacking with primary and secondary weapons, parrying and rolling out of the way, raising your shield to protect yourself and flinging spells at your foes, the utterly satisfying combat of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning simply can't be understated. "

This one has been on my follow list for a minute now largely because of the reasons everyone mentioned (Combat design, leveling system, aesthetic design, etc). My only reservation though after playing the demo is that there will be this "corridor" MMO feel to the game world and level design because of it's design roots. Other than that though this game looks to be a lot of fun.

Haven't tried it myself yet but I'm willing to download it when I am off work.

I've been playing alot of Dark Souls lately, close to finally beating it. Honestly it's my first RPG and I am so addicted to D.S. such an amazing game.

This is better than Skyrim by a thousand, imo.

So I'm on the fence with this one still. Anyone mind giving me a breakdown of strengths and weaknesses? I know a lot of the enjoyment will come out of the combat system so I have a few questions:

- Does combat involve button strings into cancels like a fighting game?

- How viable is the Finesse line and stealth attacks?

- Is the a parry/counterattack system?

- How entertaining is the main story?

I was totally uninterested in the game because the cashier at Gamestop would not SHUTUP about it, which means it's probably an overrated game that I will end up hating, like Skyrim, for example. That said, the demo was a very good first impression and I think I'll end up buying it.

I only heard about it because of Mass Effect, and to be honest, while playing the demo I was like

I already have both Oblivion and Fable III, So I'm not interested.

I mean really. It's bordering on clone, if you ask me.

The game feels more like a God of War+Fable 3 hybrid with other RPG aspects thown in. I can see where some of the reviews say it has a generic feel to it, but I'm having a ton of fun with it so far regardless.

Reinstalled the demo, it still didn't work. Any interest I may have had has disappeared anyway, it all looks very generic. I'll stick to Dark Souls and Skyrim for now.

Generic is what the fantasy genre fans have been begging for. They want to play the same games, all derivative of the same thing, all trying to recapture that classic feeling from years ago that no game can ever replicate authentically again. Orcs and elves are tired and ready to die, but no one is ready to move on yet. It's infuriating.

I'm really enjoying the game, and I'm noticing references from other sci-fi media not just games:
Helmgard Keep=Helms Deep (LOTR) .
Also the side quest to get into the city of Ysa there is reference about the Fae which is similar to the elves race from LOTR.

The game really feels like God of War+Fable3 with elements from Skyrim, Diablo and MMO's incorporated. Just because it has a semi-generic design to the game, doesn't mean it's not fun. Also Compared to Skyrim I think they did a considerably better job at varying quests in Kingdoms of Amalur. I've completed 2 of the faction sotrylines and about 15 hours into the game and I haven't come across a single redundant quest.