Lots of Reckoning Linkage
I realize that I’m risking turning this site into a Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning site by posting about Ian “Tiberius” Frazier’s upcoming open-world RPG as much as I do. What can I say? I’m stoked for the game, especially since its lead designer is the guy who led Team Lazarus, which (in turn) just happened to craft the best damn Ultima remake out there.
But there is a larger point to it. As has been pointed out with respect to the phenomenal success of Skyrim, the gaming market seems ripe for the introduction (or, more correctly, the re-introduction) of large-scale, open-world, sandbox-style RPG titles. Or, it could just mean that people love them some Bethesda, regardless of the kind of game that is produced thereby. Granted, there won’t be a direct link between the success of Skyrim and the market viability of a new Ultima, nor will such a link exist in the case of Reckoning. But, indirectly, if both games succeed, it will more solidly demonstrate that yes, gamers are looking for involved, immersive RPGs that just plop them in a world and let them figure it out.
So, yeah: I’m rooting for the game to succeed.
To start this round-up of links off…G4TV posted a three-part video series, shot with some of the Reckoning development team (including Ian Frazier) that they’re calling a “Developer Walkthrough”. I’m not sure what that means, and I wouldn’t dare try stream this video for myself on this crappy hotel internet connection…but here’s the first part:
Some place called Brigands Hall...oh, and dialogue and loot.
Dungeons, traps, and combat.
Stealth, the Fate system in the game, and Reckoning mode.
Meanwhile, GameBanshee links to an interview with the man who defined Reckoning’s visual tone and style: Todd McFarlane. Here’s just a little taste:
“The genre in and of itself is a little flowery, you’ve got all the armour and the detail and all that. I think everybody has been influenced by Lord of the Rings. That set the standard for the kind of fantasy we have our heads wrapped around. I think there’s plenty of obvious stereotypes that we have, things like King Arthur and anything that’s a couple of thousand years in the past. We sort of have a mindset of what it’s supposed to look like.
“The goal wasn’t necessarily to go in there and invent any of that. To say all of a sudden ‘Trolls are going to look like sci-fi guys from the move Alien’ because it’s a little too disruptive. We still had all the same trappings of elves, trolls, mages and wizards, and all those things, but the question is, can we design them in an interesting manner? Can they move in an interesting manner, and exist in an interesting environment?
“If we’ve got those ten categories that we’re dealing with — spellcasting, sound, music and all those things — if we take them and add a couple of percent to raise the bar, we’ve got ten categories times 2% becoming a 20% lift overall
“All I want is for players to put down the control pad and say ‘That’s cool as hell’. In the end players shouldn’t have to be in a position to explain why. Either it strikes you in the gut, or it leaves you flat. In this case, I hope they come away saying how cool it was and tell all their buddies.”
Our friends at the Banshee also point out that the official Reckoning site has a handful of wallpapers available.
Okay, that’s it for now.
I’m just starting to watch the first video and must say one thing immediately. Ian Frazier sounds exactly like Richard Garriott when he describes things. I have this weird sense of deja vu. Have I said that before?
Looks like a solid game. Unfortunately for me I don’t like solid games anymore unless they’re near simulations like GT5 or from the 80’s or 90’s.
I think I’m burned out on AAA titles. They make you feel way too self important by displaying crazy animations after doing something as simple as pressing a button in the right context. There’s a disconnect between what you’re doing and what you’re seeing done that is unsettling. Physical sports don’t have that, nor do simulations (good ones, anyway). Strategy games (turn based) generally put more thought into the action-reaction gameplay since they’re not preoccupied with looking like a feature film with no option to pause.
The action-RPG hybrids/convergences of late just seem to be weird mish-mashes of disparate genres which fail to convince you of the basic mechanics of world interaction in a familiar and inherently logical way. Arcade combat is awesome. Not being able to build a home and defend it from random encounters is not.
Haven’t played Skyrim, but it looks like Oblivion with some tweaks. No one’s mentioned anything radically different from previous titles yet.
Maybe I’m being an old fart, but I really can’t see how any of these titles raise the bar for excitement and adventure. They’re amazingly complex works of computer science and art, but that doesn’t make them compelling on a fundamental level like Beethoven or a religious experience. (Or an Ultima.)
He looks like him too.
Garriott has gone to space, who’s to say he didn’t have himself cloned?
Tibby is is either Lord British’s clone or his long lost son (the one with Nell perhaps ? :P). He truly is. I wish I still had that pic he took when he visited Garriott at NC Soft, the two of them standing together was… uncanny.
Regarding open world RPGs and such, the success of Skyrim is just crazy. It sold over 3.5 millions in 48 hours which I think is a number unheard of in RPGs. Now of course this number also comes from the growing success of Bethesda with Oblivion and Fallout 3 – but it proves without the shadow of a doubt that there IS a market for big open/virtual world RPGs.
And I would argue Ultima fit within that category even if it handles things somewhat differently from Elder Scrolls.
Now will it make EA magically create a big AAA Ultima ? Of course not. But I’m thinking such a success would give any RPG developper some pause in term of what kind of game to create.
Now if Reckoning ALSO happen to be a big success (and it could because it is having a growing hype as well as some famous names attached to it), well perhaps this will make EA consider at one point (especially since they publish Reckoning) that the “cinematic Bioware RPG” approach might no be the only worthwile endeavour for their RPGs studios.
We’ll see, but I think personally if TES can succeed like this, there is no reason a quality AAA Ultima game could not be meet with sales and success.
Tibby does look alarmingly like Garriott, and y’all are hardly the first to remark on the similarity.
He’s also, I’m told, one of only a handful of people to personally receive a David Watson crossbow as a gift from Garriott.
Actually the David Watson crossbow Tibby got upon completion of Lazarus was bought to him by a group fans (both within and without the Lazarus Team) as a thanks for his hard work on Lazarus.