GameLight - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Official Site: http://reckoning.amalur.com/

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

I finally found some time to try out Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning with the demo out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.  I unfortunately didn’t get to try it out on console since I ran out of hard drive space on my PS3; however, I got a pretty good grasp of the game’s mechanics and gameplay for the PC.  Kingdom of Amalur is a massive open-world RPG, much like Skyrim.  The game feels a lot like an MMORPG such as World of Warcraft, Rift, or Aion as the game was intended to be one until the developers decided to create a focused single-player experience.  The combat feels a lot closer to games like Dragon Age 2 or Divinity 2 where it’s more action orientated, so action game fans might even be able to get into an RPG such as this one.  One of the game’s aspects that make it a unique RPG experience is that the player can work their character abilities and perks into any skill tree and create all sorts of special classes mixing between skills of Warrior, Mage and Thief (I know this has been done many times before, but it’s cool that it’s in this game too).  This allows players to create a build that fits their play style more comfortably and be able to experiment.  Even if the player doesn’t like what they went for, skill points can be reset and reallocated.  Once the player gets through the introduction and tutorial of the game, they are free to play how they want.

My first impression of the game was that it reminded me of Divinity 2.  What I first noticed and really liked was how the camera pulled back so that it made the character’s surroundings visible.  There wouldn’t be constant surprise attacks from a blind spot.  The combo system felt pretty slick with unique animations for each attack and weapon.  Stepping outside and playing the actual part of the game for the first time can be quite overwhelming for a “single-player” game as it’s much like an MMORPG where you pick up 3-10 quests just walking through a town.  Playing through all the quests is sure to make the game last quite a while.  The game’s graphics and environment has quite the atmosphere and really immerses players into its colorful world.  It is very much a “fantasy” game and doesn’t limit itself to being realistic.  Now that many gamers have had the chance to play the demo, it seems a lot of people are either more convinced to get it or not.  It seems that the juiciest parts of the game won’t be revealed until playing farther into the game.  The game releases on February 7^th, so be sure to pick a copy up if you’re looking for a large, open world, Action-RPG to play.