Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Video Preview and Editorial

Those of us looking forward to 38 Studios' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning have two new online features to pore over, including a three-minute video preview on G4 that covers character progression, the destiny and crafting systems, the combat mechanics, and more. When you're finished with that, there's an editorial on Ten Ton Hammer that dives into the challenges involved with creating a memorable RPG experience that can be applied to both a multi-platform single player title and an MMORPG:
Perhaps the coolest reveal for Reckoning so far is its adaptive class system. Unlike archetype systems that have you choose from a narrowing list of class options as you progress, instead, Reckoning handles things a bit differently. The game tracks how you approach combat, and allows you to essentially create your class as you progress.

That means you'll never hit that point when after 20 or so hours of playing you realize you'll have to reroll if you want to switch to playing a caster instead of a melee character. It's an elegant progression of using a skill-based system to determine combat style and easily the highlight of the demo for me.

However, while I was under the impression that the class system could account for whatever kind of wacky hybrid class you could dream up, the current fact sheet for the game tells a different tale. In particular, it reads (choose one of seven customized classes.) which is a bit of a contradiction from what I understood of the system based on the presentation.

Still, the combat and class possibilities certainly look compelling, and that's really half the battle when it comes to creating a memorable RPG experience.