Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning “has the best combat of any RPG”- Ken Rolston

Big Huge Games’ Fable/Elder Scrolls like RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, is almost here, and the devs and publishers have been amping up the hype a lot, recently. Lead designer of the game, Ken Rolston, is saying that the game’s combat is awesome, and better than anything else you’ll see in the genre, mirroring what many others from the development team and himself have said before.

He also says there’re plenty of similarities between Skyrim and Reckoning, but what sets the latter apart is that its combat is much better.

“What makes Reckoning differ from Skyrim?” said the legendary developer while speaking with Gamefront. “

The simple answer is that Reckoning has the best, coolest, fastest-paced, most tactile and silly-exciting fantasy combat of any video RPG.

“The pace, fluid movement, tactical richness, and physical and visual theatre of fantasy combat has always seemed the weakest feature of video RPGs, and Reckoning offers a fresh new answer in that department. There are a couple of other obvious contrasting features, like Reckoning’s more vivid, colourful art style, and easy-to-pick up, faster-paced gameplay in general.”

“They have a lot in common.

Both games are way too big and and have way too much to do, and they both seduce you into playing for hours and hours and hours.

“They both have whacking big epic storylines, and elaborate faction quest lines, and boatloads of quests, and lots of characters and books, and lots of crafting and alchemy, and lots of ways to customise your character.

“But in many large ways, and in many small ways, Reckoning tries to take a fresh look at the RPG genre, and is trying to be what RPGs will look like and feel like in the future utopia.”

For those of you who do not know, Ken Rolston was the lead designer on Elder Scrolls games, Morrowind and Oblivion, and was brought out of retirement 4 months after he left the industry by Big Huge Games to develop Reckoning. He has been working with R.A. Salvatore, bestselling fantasy author, and Todd McFarley, fables comic book hero, on the game.

A demo for Reckoning is currently available on XBL, PSN and Origin.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning releases next month on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.