Press releases

FAQ - Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

September 6, 2020

In the following FAQ section, the main questions around the game will be answered/addressed . This FAQ will be updated as new information becomes available until its release on September 8th, 2020.

Last Update: September 9th 2020; see at the end of the FAQ for all items added on that day.

 

Platforms, release date, loyalty discount, pre-order

What platforms will it be available on?
PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Will it be exclusively available via any PC online retailer?
We don’t have any plans for an exclusive deals.

What is the release date?
September 8th, 2020

Where can we pre-order?
https://amalur.thqnordic.com/#order

We already sold out all collectors edition in the US and EU.

Will there be merch?
As of now, the only merch available will be in the Collector’s Edition.

If we already own the game do we get a discount? 
Sadly, and mainly due to technical limitations on different systems, the loyalty discount is in place ONLY for the PC version and only via Steam.

How this works on Steam: 
If you own the "original" version of Kingdoms of Amalur, you will get a 50% loyalty discount on buying the new version. This is in place for both editions of the new version: the Standard edition, but also for the FATE EDITION which will include the new expansion Fatesworn (set to release in 2021)
This loyalty discount can be stacked with the 10% release discount (amounting to a 60% discount) on both editions of the new version.

The Steam loyalty discount in the amount of 50% will be in place until 2 months after release, i.e. until November 8th, 2020.
The Steam release discount in the amount of 10% will be in place until 2 weeks after release on Steam, i.e. September 22nd, 2020.

What will be the price tag?
The Standard Edition will be available at an SRP of € 39.99 / $ 39.99 / £ 34.99 / ₽ 1929.00, The (digital) Fate Edition retails at € 54.99 / $ 54.99 / £ 47.99 / ₽ 2669.00
The physical Collector’s Edition for an SRP of $109.99 / €109.99 / £99.99.

When does the game release on release day?
Steam/gog/Epic Games Store, Origin: 10am PDT/1pm EDT/6pm GMT/7pm CEST
 

Technical aspects, gameplay, developer

Will there be Linux/MAC support?
We support PC Windows versions.

Will there be ultrawide support or an FoV slider?
Both, yes.

DISCLAIMER: the FOV range on consoles is limited, when compared to the PC version. Reason: for the console versions, there is only a 16:9 aspect ratio available.

What are the new graphics options?
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/718024950975561808/750291474280611851/192.168.2.5_Image_5.png

Will modding be supported?
There won't be any official modding tools but we are looking to make data easier accessible. The game was done in a way that making modding possible is not very straightforward.

Who’s the studio behind the game? Will developers of the original game be involved in the remaster?
The studio behind Re-Reckoning is KAIKO, a long-term partner of THQ Nordic - they already brought you Legend of Kay Anniversary, Darksiders Warmastered Edition, and Red Faction Guerilla Re-MARS-tered. The original devs aren’t officially involved but always happy to support us with a friendly hint or two when we needed it.

Will Xbox One X and PS4 Pro have improved graphics/FPS?
Yes, they will have improved render outputs and a more stable and higher framerate.

Will there be a photo mode?
Unfortunately not, but you can remove the HUD completely if you wish (even mid-game) without issues.

Will old save games work?
They might, however only doable via a third-party converter tool (USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!), but not in an official capacity on our end, as there are too many risks at play.

Will the graphics simply be upscaled or otherwise improved?
We have retouched all textures and improved the rendering engine, as shown here in our famous foot picture - https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/690303192436703343/750352132615569418/wellofsouls_compare.png

Will Re-Reckning contain all DLCs from the original game?
Yes, it includes all DLCs of the original game, including Weapons and Armor packs.

Will you rebalance the game or "only" focus on delivering a remaster as close to the original game as possible?
We are still working on this but we are aware of some imbalances and want to fix those.

Will the game include have achievements?
Yes, the exact same as in the old version.

Did you update the stash with more slots?
Yes, instead of only fitting a shoe, it can now fit an entire Boggart! (Serious increase to the cap)

Will we have some of the old armor such as Mass Effect still available?
The Special Delivery crate will have 63 pieces of items including some old fan favorites that we know you guys have been asking for.

Will there be more balance to the game in terms of difficulty? it became too easy in the end
We've added a new difficulty called Very Hard, explained like this by the devs:
 

"First, we added a difficulty mode like all the others. They module damage output of enemies, health of players and allies and the amount of attacks that enemies may do at any one time.
Secondly, we fed the difficulty into how enemies level in respect to the player. On Very hard mode, levels will be higher, level cap for areas will be higher than on easier modes."

Are there any new HUD options?
Hud scaling options include: Default, small, hidden

What exactly does "refined gameplay" mean?
Mostly balancing tweaks to make the game ‘feel’ better. More details

Any changes to controllers?
Yes, you can bind 8 abilities now instead of 4, a massive game changer for people using controllers.

Will we get the original Mass Effect items and so on in the game?
The special delivery crate will have 63 items including some old fan favourites that we know you guys have been asking for (Yes, Mass Effect, too)

Performance improvements on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X
PS4 Pro: 60 FPS @ 1440p (we are working on further optimizations here)
Xbox One X: 60 FPS @ 4k

Will there be any gameplay shown soon? If yes.... when?
Finesse trailer - https://youtu.be/FC7JwcWRA6I
Might trailer - https://youtu.be/fCCY1tO9XHQ
Sorcery trailer - https://youtu.be/GjZsRTUCXdE

Can we get wallpapers?
Yes, but no ETA yet.

 

Update September 7, 2020

What additional gemplay changes have been performed?

  • Level lock has been removed
    • The original game determined the level of a zone on first entering, this was stored in the save file. In Re-Reckoning we re-calculate the level every time entering or re-entering a level
  • New zone Level calculation
    • The original game has all zones marked with a minimum and maximum level. on entering, the current player level was clamped into this minimum / maximum range and stored as level
    • We now use the current difficulty level as a means to determine the level before clamping into the minimum / maximum range. On Casual difficulty, the player level is reduced a bit, on hard and very hard it is increased. We also increase the maximum values for hard and very hard difficulty
    • The XP gain has been reduced to cater for the increased level of enemies and we made sure that XP is not increased when playing on harder difficulties due to the effect of beating higher level enemies
    • The result is that you can still out-level zones – which is desirable if it doesn‘t happen too quick. It is part of the power fantasy to be able to come back to initial zones and be over powered – but out-leveling zones you play for the first time should only happen rarely
  • We also made the zone Level calculation easier to modify by modders (PC only)
  • Loot level lock of Containers removed
    • Loot containers now only store their generated loot when they are opened while before they used to store it when entering a zone and were generated to the current player level
  • Loot generation was changed
    • In Re-Reckoning loot generation rules are altered so that you will more often get items that fit your characters skillset. Loot is mostly randomly generated but we increased the weights of loot that matches the players skill lineup better and we have a virtual counter that increases the chance of better loot drops when you didn‘t find anything good

 

Update September 8, 2020

  • When does KoA release today?
    • PSN: 3pm CEST worldwide
    • Steam/gog/Epic Games Store: 7pm CEST worldwide
    • Xbox: 5pm CEST worldwide

 

Update September 9, 2020

  • PC

    • Information for users with the software “Rivatuner Statistics Server (RTSS)” installed: we heard reports with Rivatuner Statistics Server preventing the game from even booting.
      Workaround: deactivate Rivatuner Statistics Server

    • Information for users with the software “MSI Afterburner” installed: we heard reports with MSI Afterburner preventing the game from even booting or resulting in random crashes.
      Workaround: deactivate MSI Afterburner

  • Xbox One​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

    • Day 2 Patch (formerly known as Day 1 Patch, sorry again) is now live on Xbox One

      • Very Hard Mode added

      • Gameplay & Balancing Tweaks as per the info in this FAQ implemented

      • THQN splash screen sound issue fixed

      • Achievements work now