Demo Impressions:

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NeonPink22

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#1 NeonPink22
Member since 2010 • 65 Posts

Alright, let me start by clarifying that those of you interested in getting the Mass Effect 3 extras that are either not interested in Kingdoms of Amalur or don't want to spoil anything for yourselves are in luck as the ME3 extras are awarded for simply booting up the demo. Well, not all the extras but the armor is. Also, a few extras for Kingdoms of Amalur are given to you at the title screen too.

This demo is incredible, as far as demos go. You start in what I'm guessing is the game's introductory dungeon where you can customize your character, including sex and race. From there you play through and the game introduces you to the different kinds of play - by first giving you a sword and shield, then a bow, then daggers where the teach you to sneak and stealth kill and then finally a magic staff and robes.

The game plays smoothly and the controls are extremely responsive. It plays more the Fable did and less like Fable II and III, which is a huge plus to me. This game truly feels like it is what Fable was supposed to be. And not retail release Fable either. It's like what Peter Molyneaux built it up originally to supposedly be, except 10x better. The graphics have a nice fantasy look to them with a almost animated quality. It's hard to explain what I mean. The best way I can think of to explain it is that the characters and their clothing/armor have that graphical flair that the TimeSplitters games had.

Combat is easy to mix melee and magic on the fly and is very intuitive. You block with the left trigger and attack with the right one. You have 2 weapon slots, a primary and secondary weapon. It's cool because you can mix and match what you want where you want it. So you could have a sword as your primary and a bow as your secondary or vice versa.

Story wise, the demo offers quite a lot. There are multiple characters to talk with in the dungeon, each with branching conversation options and various parchments scattered around to read. The dungeon is also littered with breakable objects containing gold and chests, in addition to bodies to loot. By the time I finished with the dungeon, I had like clothing/armor in like 4 or 5 different varities for each of my chest and legs and a few for my feet, hands and even a couple mage robes too.

Now this is where the demo gets impressive; at the end of the dungeon is a appropriate boss fight (complete with finishing move). After you finish it you have to escape the dungeon as it's under attack and falling apart. When you leave the dungeon you expect the demo to end, but it doesn't. They let you run around outside in this beautiful outdoor area very remeniscent of the Kingdom in the beginning of Kameo. You talk with this guy who is a Fateweaver, which as far as I can tell is a fortune teller/oracle. This is where the game lets you make some of the more signifficant choices, like which path you want to actively pursue such as warrior, mage, rogue or the undecided -This choice carries a lot of weight to it as it feels like a permanent choice but you can change it if you want later. After you do all that you fight a little more and they teach you about special attacks.

Now this is where the demo gets REALLY impressive. After all that I've explained to you, which easily took me over an hour, the game says that you have 45 minutes to freely explore the game world and do whatever the hell you like. The timer stops when the game is paused or you are talking to someone. That's pretty freaking awesome. You can go into town and talk to everyone, explore the shops, etc.

My opinion on this game was pretty high going into the demo as I already have it preordered but to play it really got me excited. I will be astounded if ign gives this game less than a 9/10. It has everything going for it; smooth gameplay, enjoyable combat, gorgeous graphics and art direction and the game world feels huge. I already prefer this to Skyrim in every way. My one complaint I have with it is that even though the conversations play out exactly like Mass Effect, your character has no voice. That hurts the immersion to me. Obviously, it's nothing that will ruin the game and in the grand scheme is a minor complaint but there it is.

Also, for those interesed, the demo is nearly 2 gigs.

Also, one last note the first review score is in as well. It recieved a 9/10 from OXM Italy

If the demo is any hint of what's to come then I could see this becoming a big hit. Loved the fable/elder mix personally. Can't wait! What's your impressions guys?