14 DAY TRIAL // One of the leading developers working on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning stated that the development team tried to create an experience that reflected the very different backgrounds of those who had created the core game mechanics.
Speaking to CVG Ian Frazier, the lead designer working on Reckoning, said, “We didn’t set out to do something deliberately Fable-esque. We set out to do good action combat in an open world, and this is where we ended up.
“It’s got a lot of influences in there from a lot of the team, so you get a lot of reactions from the press: ‘It’s like a single-player WoW’. Okay, I don’t feel that personally, but more power to you. I’ve heard it compared to Fable, Dragon Age, even the Elder Scrolls.”
The developers says that before creating Kingdoms of Amalur the development teams have played most of the single-player role-playing games previouslylaunched and saw a clear progress when it came to their mechanics but nothing very innovative.
He added, “We didn’t want to make an action game, we didn’t want it to be like God of War where you have to know, XXYYA or whatever. RPG gamers in my opinion don’t want to deal with that. I don’t want to. I love God of War, but I don’t want that here, and a lot of people simply can’t memorize seven different combos. It’s hard.”
Frazier himself has previous experience working on Titan Quest, which might be seen as an influence when it comes to the actual combat mechanics.
Kingdoms of Amalur allows players to develop a character that can suit their style when it comes to combat, either creating nimble fighters who are able to deliver complex combos or focusing on passive abilities and then button mashing their way through the game.
Reckoning will serve as the basis for an MMO experience that 38 Studios plans to launch in 2013.