Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Didn't expect too much coming into this title, but to be honest some 25+ hours in I am loving the game. Seems from reviews around the web people either love it or hate it, not sure I understand why unless people are coming into this game expecting something that it isn't. Firstly this is not Skyrim. The world is vast but it's not an open world in every sense of the word. Think of KoAR more as Fable's big brother but with more RPG elements, more fun and challenging combat, deeper storyline and lore, with a pretty neat crafting system. I guess there are bits of a lot of RPG's in here, touch of Neverwinter Nights, feels a little like a single player version of World of Warcraft too in some ways.

Graphically again it's more Fable than Skyrim in terms of technical achievement but personally I find it really endearing and easy on the eye with some very nice lighting and art design. Music is great throughout though the voice acting can be a little hit and miss but generally it's pretty good with a spread of accents. The lore is solid and the world begins to pull you in if you give it a few hours.

Now on to what is the master-stroke of this title, the Combat. For a fully fledged RPG the combat is both fun and visceral whilst not being too button mashing or too many combo's (I am an older gamer with not the reflexes I had as a twenty year old). It's a great balance for both advanced and novice players. Again, after a good amount of time playing I still enjoy every fight - that in itself says something. Some people bemoan the camera angles, but personally I have not found it an issue at all.

So why only four stars? well there are a couple downsides - the graphics whilst great are a little dated looking some might say - personally I think it adds to the charm, but if your wanting something to push you system to the max look elsewhere. Again, more Fable+ than Skyrim. Only other thing is the age old problem of the inventory system being a bit fiddly, actually if you learn all the shortcut buttons on items it's not too bad, however there is no printed manual (it's in the game menu system) - bit of a dropped ball there EA for an RPG as large and deep as this, but still you get the hang of things over time. Finally, if you have one, use the 360 controller on your PC, the mouse and keyboard is a little fiddly and non-intuitive. I am sure the expansion or next release will fix a lot of these things and overall they don't detract from the fun of the game.

If your prepared to be open minded and you will be pleasantly surprised with this RPG romp, especially if you enjoy some involving and fun combat. I can't recommend it enough the price for the PC version is well worth the entry fee as you will get at least 40-50 hours doing the main storyline and possible over 150 if you do all the side quests too.

Now back to those Trolls...

Bringing a new franchise into the world of RPG's sounds like a big challenge, one which is being taken on with Reckoning. The game has a fairly typical RPG structure, involving killing stuff for quests, killing stuff for loot, killing stuff got gold, killing stuff cos it wants to kill you, and killing stuff for the sake of killing stuff.

So, to start off, whats good with the game?

Combat is vastly more satisfying than in most RPGs. As opposed to the usual stand toe-to-toe with whatever creature of nightmare/generic human/giant rat-spider-plant that the world has thrown at you and mashing the selection of keys that will bring about said foes demise you're required to take a much more varied approach. To succeed in reducing enemies to piles of loot you'll need to consider defence, timing and positioning much more than you would normally. Running in and just attacking will result in much death. Fortunately the combat system is nicely tuned to cope. You get a dodge roll move, a block command, a primary attack linked to your current weapon and a secondary attacked linked to whatever skill you have selected on your action bar. Primary attacks vary when used in combination with a block, dodge or parry and with length of key presses for some moves, so a reasonable amount of variety. There's also an impressive range of tactical secondary attacks with lots of versatility if used correctly. It does take a little while to get the hang of the combat, especially when dealing with some groups of enemies, but once you get the hang of it the system has lots of depth, variety and style.

The gearing system in the game is also impressive. Each spec can use two weapons of the players choosing, with various talents to enhance the effectiveness of them. These can be instantly switched, given more variety to combat. The specs also benefit from specific shields, ranging from big walls of spiky metal to glowing ethereal force barriers. Gear is often looted and also crafted if you're a blacksmith (which I recommend, mostly so you can repair your own gear. The cost of repairing items later in game is huge and likely to bankrupt you). There's a nice variety of weapon and armour models so far, and the inventory system makes it fairly easy to keep track of your equipment. Once you get your first house there's also storage space for anything you don't want to haul around with you. There's no mouse pointer if you're using the mouse, so looting is done by running up and using a bound key. This is perhaps fast than clicking items all the time, and shares the same range restrictions anyway. The professions system is well thought out and has lots of useful elements to it, as well as being easy to get the hang of.

Some criticism has been levelled at the games graphics. It certainly isn't the most advanced game graphically, with a few glitches here and there. However, I think the graphics are more than enough to provide an immersive and pleasing experience. They aren't going for true to life realism, and have a sort of WoW like style about them. Not quite enough style to be cutting edge, but enough to make the game age better than one going for realism. A good job has been done with the graphics engine however, with all the environments so far being very nice to look at. There are plenty of set pieces in the dungeons and zones as well. So plenty of nice stuff to admire in my opinion.
The world has 4 main stylistic areas split into smaller zones, each of which has enough to distinguish it from the others. Each of these zones is pretty big, often with a town or two and three to five dungeon areas. Happily, exploration of the zones is rewarded, with plenty of items hidden around the entire area along with extra quests. You'll also find lodestones scattered about in each zone which help relay some background for the area, and act as a nice storytelling mechanic as you can listen to them while continuing with game play, rather than having to stop and do lots of reading. You get around by running, sprinting or using a fast travel system to teleport between set locations. This works really well, and helps keep mundane travel time down where necessary but still keeps the world feeling big.

The quest system in the game is fairly typical. Straightforward and easy to use, although it would be nice to be able to abandon quests. Still, quests are split by type so it's always easy to follow the main quest line. Having read previous reviews I didn't have high expectations for the quests themselves so far, but have been pleasantly surprised. There's been a few "go and kill/collected 15 of x" but not a great deal. A number of the quests also involve some choices on your part, which add a nice bit of variety. For all the duller quests there have been some really good ones, with nice little stories of there own (as well as rewards). You often find that what appears to be a small quest often becomes something bigger and much more engaging.

This takes us on to the main quest line and the games story. Two main points here. Firstly, the story is good and secondly it borrows heavily from other well established fantasy canons, so does lack complete originality. For example, Fae are basically elves (although with Irish accents and two hairstyles between them all) and much of the ideas and language around fate can be linked to The Wheel of Time novels. However, it is by no means poor. The game has been given a very nice history, and while lots of the aspects are borrowed effort has been made to put a twist on things. The measure of a good story is its ability to immerse, and I have found that it succeeds to do so here. I've had to tear myself away from the main quest line a few times with some regret to finish off side quests as I've been enjoying it quite a bit. Worth mentioning that the role of the player as one without fate is also nicely tied in to the story, and while your character is silent you do get a nice sense of them being an active protagonist.

There are of course some areas for improvement.

As mentioned, lots of the world's lore is borrowed and modified. There's an elder race that's dying out, humans doing things wrong, a world tree, anything with pointy teeth is evil etc. The game tries to break off from the established norms, but it's more of the same fantasy setting with a new layer of paint. This will mean there is much that feels familiar at times, but certainly what is delivered is done so to a high calibre.
Again tied to the realm of story telling is the character dialogue and expressions. Now, while the dialogue itself is fine, and credit should be given for having all lines spoken, the delivery can often be very flat and wooden. You can hear an effort being made, but rarely will characters break out of a monotone and get some proper emotion out. This isn't helped by the lack of facial expression on the models, who most often have one look reserved for situations of both glee and terror. This is certainly an area to be improved upon.
A final sticking point would be that the game can get repetitive. If you don't make an effort to immerse yourself a bit, then you are basically going to just be killing lots of stuff and running around. Of course, the same is true for many RPG's, but you do find a bit more variety to keep you going. Still, the combat system goes a long way to making killing lots of stuff entertaining and if your willing to get in to the story and quests a bit you should remain entertained.

At the end of the day, I had (and am continuing to have) fun playing Amalur. It has good looks, story and great combat but isn't the most advanced or original game you'll play. For each flaw it has plenty going for it, and I'd happily recommend it.

Fourty-eight hours in and I'm very impressed with this game. The combat system is the reason you'll want to play it, choosing between wizard, rouge or fighter to 'fate-shift kill' the local bad guys with an endless array of special moves. It blend's story and combat well, using a 'feel-good' believeable story line with a good depth of lore throughout. It reminds me a lot of Fable TLC, with bold, colourful styling and a world that draws you into interesting characters that like and dislike topics. This was not unexpected with the shiny star casting team though!
The map is large, and the varied regions are broken with load screens, but the feel of the world is of a place with many secrets to be discovered and dungeons to be cleansed of monsters. The camera has a nasty habit of trying to fly to the best bit of action during fights and when you are being mobbed this does not make for an easy fight, but keep an eye on the health gauge and learn the dodge and block moves and you'll muddle through.
There is a variety of equipment that is far too available from every corpse you make and you'll find yourself going to and fro far too frequently to the nearest available shop, clocking up horrendous amounts of money in no time. Weapon styling is a simple piecemeal affair with the clothing following the same suit (it would be so nice to see a game that gives some control to the look and feel of your armour), but these small niggles do not withdraw from what appears to be a very smooth, bug free game. I can see myself playing this game a lot in the coming days. For a first Big Huge Games title purchase, I look forward to more of the same.
If you like RPG's or the Fable series this is a good investment, if you prefer a more gritty realistic D&D, buy Skyrim.;)
A good week (maybe more) of fun to be had here...
Requires Origin.