i was talking to ganon about this last night but after more playtime with kingdoms of amalur there are three major flaws that come to mind that prevent me from enjoying the game without breaking it

1: i previously mentioned that the quest format is very much based on mmos and that continues to be true even 20-25 hours into the game. the quests are very cut and paste - find x of y, bring y to z, discover z. there are a few unique quests but nothing that’s that derivative of the same dry tasks handed to you over and over. this leads into the next issue

2: they do nothing to try to involve you in the plot nor in your own character. starting as an amnesiac leaves a lot of room for character development regardless of how cliche it is but they thrust you into conflict immediately upon starting with no impetus as to why you should care or why anything is happening other than the big bad finds you and wants to kill you. even beyond that, things that could have been interesting like what you were in your past life or the ripples of your first death and subsequent resurrection are rarely played with even with people who recognize you from your previous life. the quest format and gameplay does not lend itself to harboring any feelings about the world that they’ve crafted at all and that failure to make me invested in the story ruins its chances at being a decent rpg

3: the combat is incredibly stale. as an action rpg i expected combat to be fun and exciting, particularly since the rpg element is more than a little lacking. greatswords and hammers, the two heaviest and slowest weapons in the game, are rendered impotent and ineffectual by virtue of their speed and game mechanics - any damage, no matter how small, interrupts your swing. completely interrupts it. that wouldn’t be such an issue if you could dodge or block with any haste but those too are made slower. you are then forced to use average-to-fast weapons and that leads to another problem. enemies are affected by same swing interruption that you are and can be easily stunlocked the entire fight. the only options that you have for combat are either easy as to make you bored or completely infeasible

it comes off as a very mediocre, very average game. the skill system was sort of interesting and the abilities are many and varied but the game itself leaves so much to be desired