Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Reviews

  • iksolokosiksolokos267,194
    12 Feb 2012
    51 5 18
    With RPG's like Skyrim, Fallout, and Mass Effect on shelves, it's easy to pick up a tried and true title and have a blast. Kingdoms of Amalur, however, should not be missed. With a great combat system, fantastic lore, and hours upon hours of side quests, the fantasy RPG genre may have gotten another great title to add to its list.

    Presentation

    While most modern RPG's look to create a world as believable as possible, Amalur has a World of Warcraft look about it that few games have tried. With slightly exaggerated facial features, a bright and colorful world, and lore that could come from any devout Warcraft player, Amalur presents an art style rarely seen in modern games. What’s more is that this is one of the features that impressed me most. To see a world created with such fantasy and wonder is quite a sight and something we are rarely treated to with today’s games.

    While keeping the story spoiler free, I will say that your character is fateless in a world where fate means everything. You are set on a quest to find your place in Amalur’s events and ultimately decided its fate. However, Amalur does not feature a morality system and your decisions will not completely alter the world around you.

    Voice acting in Amalur is fantastic. The actors really bring each character to life, injecting them with a unique personality all their own. Unfortunately, the lip syncing is below average at best and absolutely abysmal at times.

    In my time in Amalur, I have seen very few graphical errors, which is quite a feat in a game of this scope. Outside of a few long loading screens, the world seems to flawlessly transition from one setting to another.

    Gameplay

    Gameplay is an area that I’ve found to be lacking in games like Fallout or Skyrim, but it very well might be Amalur’s claim to fame. The combat system is the best I’ve seen in an RPG and seems to fit right in with the rest of the game’s features. Your special ability, called a fateshift, gives you increased speed and power while slowing down time itself. It ends when you perform a special move on an enemy, in a God of War like button mashing sequence, which is a pleasing sight to say the least. Performing fateshifts grants you bonus XP for any kills made while in that mode, sometimes granting you three times what you’d normally receive.

    The leveling system in KoA is well done too. Placing your talent points in abilities such as lockpicking, blacksmithing, or sneak is common in RPG’s and is featured in Amalur as well. However, KoA features three skill trees that allow you to tailor your character in multiple ways. These three trees, Might, Sorcery, and Finesse, are the standard warrior, magic, and rogue characters respectively. Amalur gives you a twist, though. You can visit fateweavers found throughout the world and, for a small fee, they will reset your stats and allow you to reallocate your points into other skills and abilities. This is where Amalur really sets itself apart from other modern RPG’s. The game never forces you to commit to a certain character class. Also, you are able to mix and match abilities from all three trees to create a character specifically tailored to your style of play. I played through the first two hours as a warrior class, only to completely change gears and play as a stealthy rogue, for example.

    All is not well in Amalur though. The amount of loot that is available to you is overwhelming and your inventory limit caps at just 70 pieces at the start. You can purchase backpacks, however, which increase your carry limit by 10 for each bag purchased, although they seem to cost quite a bit of gold.

    Final Decision

    With it’s immersive world, intuitive and fun combat, and a variety of characters and quests, I could easily see myself sinking 100+ hours into Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. This fantasy RPG might have flown under some people’s radar, but any fan of fantasy worlds or the RPG genre should not miss out on this spectacular treat.

    Pros

    +Amazing combat system
    +Total customization
    +Intriguing world

    Cons

    -Poor lip syncing
    -Too much loot (i.e. Borderlands or Diablo II)
    4.0
    Showing most recent comments. View all comments.
    Sir StratsavvyI found myself exploring this world MUCH more than i ever did Skyrim. It sucks ya in. Even keepin me off BF3 and thats sayin somethin
    Posted by Sir Stratsavvy on 09 Mar 12 at 03:38
    Phoenix C64imo, the writer puts too much enphasis into how fun the combat is, when the truth is it becomes boring and repetitive before you even finish the first questline... as assassin at least.
    i got nearly all skills unlocked and in the end, if i want to survive, i just use the same 2-3 boring combos...
    Posted by Phoenix C64 on 30 Jun 12 at 16:44
    CovetousCash64Virtually everything in this review screams that KoA was originally intended as an MMORPG (which I believe it was). Talent trees. Paying to reset talents. Purchasing bags to increase inventory space. Interesting nevertheless.
    Posted by CovetousCash64 on 12 Oct 12 at 02:48
  • SgtDigglesworthSgtDigglesworth209,811
    19 Jul 2012 19 Jul 2012
    29 1 5
    Don't bother me. I'm waiting for a passenger -- some suicidal idiot. Can't be caught chatting. I want to make a good impression. It's suicide. Really. Ask the others. Oh, wait, you can't. But don't worry about them. Like my mother said, "Don't weep for the fallen. Even if they could hear you, they wouldn't care."
    -Rast Brattigan

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    As far as Western RPG's go Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, is to say the least, a very ambitious, fullfilling, and all round fun game to sink into. Developed by 38 Studios and featuring handy craftsmenship by Executive Art Director for the project, Todd McFarlane, and Executive Creator of Worlds, renowned fantasy author, R.A Salvatore, begs the question, could the inaugural venture for 38 Studios and Big Huge Games meet RPG fans needs in an already established market? Let's dig deeper to find out.

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    Story:

    Note: I have chosen to leave much of the games storyline out of the review in order to preserve the story, and not touch on any possible spoilers.
    As two gnomes drag your corpse to the slippery slope leading to a, rotting fly-filled pile of bodies, you are introduced to the chaos and lore that surrounds you. At this point you are also prompted to the character customization screen as the two hardworking gnomes inquire about who 'you' really are; we shall touch back with the customizable aspect's of the game later. Once you are disposed of and you begin to awaken, you eventually are met by a little scientific gnome known as, Formorous Hughes. He is but one of the many characters that you will meet during your journey through Amalur. He proceeds to tell you about, The Well of Souls, an invention in the Age of Arcana, said to one day bring life back into the dead. At this point the journey truly begins.

    As previously mentioned, you will engage in a land and story that breaths lore and can easily motivate you to discover more of what this majestic land has to offer. With a multiplicity of races, from the Summer Fae, Winter Fae, Dokkalfar, and the Tuatha, it is needless to say that there is a lot to experience within the world of Amalur. During your travels throughout the Faelands you will encounter other notable characters such as, General Tilera, Alyn Shir, Agarth, and Ligotti Octienne, just to name a few. Each character has their own distinct personality that helps you further indulge in the story and increase your desire to explore the next page of your journey. This game engages you from the start in a land that revolves around fate and destiny, and you, well, are something of a different sort. You are a character that defies these laws of the land and thus are set on a path to harvest your powers and weave the fabric of a different cloth for the people of Amalur.

    If you are looking to immerse yourself in a land filled with magnificent lore, an incredible amount of side-quests, well written dialogue, and basically just a deep, rich, satisfying main story, then Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, should definitely please you in this department.

    Gameplay:

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    Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning falls into the category of an action/RPG, and is not the most challenging of games on the market today. With that said, it does not take away from the gameplay mechanics and combat by any means. When you begin to create your character and choose from the four races that are at your disposal, you are known as 'The Fateless One', a character with nothing but the tattered clothes on their back venturing into a vibrant and chaotic world. Whether you choose to dual wield Faeblades and a bow, a longsword and a mighty hammer, or a staff and a pair of enchanted Chakrams, the way you choose to dispose of your enemies is entirely up to you. The combat is relatively seamless, fast-paced, bloody, and incredibly fun.

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    Much like any RPG, you gain experience and distribute that XP to cater to your play style. Where Kingdoms of Amalur differs, in some ways to other RPG's, are the three styles of combat you can choose from. Some may find it somewhat limited, however one of the beauties of the upgrading system is that it can be altered at anytime, providing you have the coin, by visiting a Fateweaver who will allow you to re-distribute your allocated points. You also have other skills to add ability points to such as lockpicking, blacksmithing, detect hidden and so forth. A lot of the world, from pickpocketing, to lockpicking and blacksmithing is incredibly easy to accomplish. This can be redundant to some gamers who thrive on challenging gameplay, while others may find this a welcome relaxing journey that allows for the gamer to move at their own pace.

    You can choose from three difficulty settings, and even on hard, it is not too challenging. The nice thing about the gameplay is how fluid combo moves and combat truly is. The magic can be fierce and destructive, and wielding any blade can give you a beaming sense of satisfaction when slaying unfortunate enemies. Not to mention, the combination of magic-rogue, warrior-mage, or combining stats in all three creates a varying degree of combat. If you enjoy running through a world and not having to worry about dying every five minutes, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will defintely please the casual side of us, but may not give you the supreme satisfaction you sometimes desire when crushing a foe you have had trouble with defeating.

    With an easy to use combination of buttons to deliever blow after blow, and a fluid directional pad use for spells, the game thrives on frantic, sometimes defensive, combat that is easy and accesible for any gamer to learn. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning does not disapoint in the gameplay department, due to its fun combat, its easy accesible learning curve, and the fluid speed at which your character can move through the world.

    Graphics/Sound

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    From sound design, musical score, the incredibly diverse and colourful landscapes, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a beautiful experience. Even when you begin atop a pile of death, the sound of the buzzing insects, and depth of colour can almost immerse you to the point of actually imagining the smell of your surroundings. Amongst darkness, the colour still is prevelant. At points the scenary could cause a gamer to pause and embrace the environment. During combat or visiting a neighbouring village, the graphics are fluid with limited to no tearing or pop-ins. There were no hiccups during even the most intense moments of battle or large boss fights. The map and mini-map are incredibly easy to navigate to your next destination. The land itself fits the story and lore the game essentially was set out to create. The menu is very easy to use and in no way, is it confusing or problematic. The in-game combat menu for potions or spells is very well constructed and does not bog the gamer down with frantic button presses or the possibility of making the wrong choice.

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    Like other RPG's you will have choices to make that can alter the course of the game or influence a characters descision. The interface for dialogue and choices should not cause any issues to the player. However, even when you make certain choices, it really, as a whole, does not influence the game drastically when compared to other games. Customization, whether it is blacksmithing, weapon/armor selection, or your initial character creation is simple to use. You can add tattoos or scars to your characters face, change his/her hair style, and choose your characters race. It is not the most extensive character customization, yet it still allows you some aspect of creation.

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    Aside from a few hiccups with the dialogue not synching properly with the characters during conversations, the game flourishs with an extensive and well constructed score and voice cast. From the sounds of swords bashing against shields, or the crackling of lightning during a spell, to the witty and somewhat quirky dialogue, the game is only extending its hand further to enjoy the world of Amalur. Side quests, which are plentiful and all over the vast land, allow the gamer to meet a variety surrounding culture and life that thrives within this world. At points the musical score willl disappear and then pounce back in, however, it really doesn't take too much away from the game, due to the fact that enemies and the wild life all have enjoyable and somewhat funny sounds that work well with the environment. There is a variety of enemies that you will encounter again and again, and this can become tedious at points, and almost reminiscent of when games were originally created with a colour palette that had a range of only a few primary colours. This is not a game breaker, yet it does become redundant at points.

    The graphical representation and sound of the game is great and well balanced. From lush environments and some of the best dialogue in any recent game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, aside from a few drawbacks, does not fall short of the mark in this department.

    Achievements::

    The majority of the games achievements are story related and easy to obtain as your progress through the story. Some achievements are faction related. For example, you must take part in certain questlines in order to obtain some achievements, that are not standard to the main story line, but this is not an issue considering it only helps the player benefit further from the games richness and depth. Not much grinding is needed in order to unlock the games achievements either. You can easily look at the list and make that your goal, per say, and then move onto the next. From
    Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningWhere's My Wallet?The Where's My Wallet? achievement in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning worth 37 pointsPickpocket 20 times.
    to
    Kingdoms of Amalur: ReckoningGreen ThumbThe Green Thumb achievement in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning worth 48 pointsHarvest 10 of each type of reagent.
    the achievements presented to the gamer in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is not a challenging completion.

    Conclusion:

    Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a well-crafted, very fullfilling, extensive experience, that will take the gamer, not only on a visual pleasing, but excellent world of story and lore that will should deliver a very pleasing journey for any fan of RPG's or action in general. This game is a good purchase with over 50 hours of campaign, and thats only if you touch base with the general quests and sub-questlines of the game, and a definite rental. The DLC is really good, eventhough I have only played the Island of Dead Kel, which is truly fun and diverse, but also allows you to traverse between the lands of Amalur and does not restrict you just to Gallows End.

    Ultimately, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a solid 4.5/5 or 9/10.

    4.0
  • All the TigersAll the Tigers561,894
    15 Mar 2012
    26 12 12
    Most people probably heard about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning when EA announced that playing the demo for this game would give you unlocks in Mass Effect 3, and vice versa. Many of those people in turn then played the demo, and more than half of them went and bought that game, either through preorder or at some point there after. With great visuals, a good soundtrack, and a well told story, the game is almost worth playing to the end.

    To begin with, the story comes primarily from pulp fiction-fantasy author R.A. Salvatore. Many of the internet savvy will remember him as the author who "killed Chewie" in the later Star Wars novels. Putting aside the issue of whether or not Lucas ordered the big walking carpet's execution, Salvatore puts his experience with the Drizzt novels to use in making a tried-and-true, by-the-books fantasy story that's well-told but often-told. None of the story is poorly written, but you'll have a better drinking game spotting the cliches than you will taking a shot whenever the story surprises you. Much like the James Cameron's Avatar, you can comment on the presentation, not the originality.

    Visually speaking, the game has a rich appeal. It all has a very Fable, World of Warcraft quality to it, of lifelike but not like real life. Everyone has a very cartoony appearance that lends to the fantasy setting and brings out their character, all of which look pretty and speak to the developers' leanings toward an artsy style. The animation is relatively smooth with only a few problems as far as clipping goes. Again, it gets repetitive whenever you actually look at the characters realize that you can't tell one fae from another in terms of face, hair, or clothing. And as you'd expect, forestfolk wear leaf-themed armor; the humans are either rogue-, peasant-, or knight-type; the bad guys are in black; and good luck telling one gnome from another.

    The voice work, soundtrack, and sound effects are all well-done, though somewhat bland. You won't notice the background music while you're playing, but an hour later you'll wonder where the song stuck in your head came from. You play the silent protagonist who asks a lot of questions, but everyone around you speaks enough to make up for it. Like Mass Effect 2, you'll get tired of passing through markets where stock NPCs repeat the same conversations over and over again, but unlike ME2, you'll hardly spend any time in town, passing that one Volus who wants to pimp his suit but can't afford it.

    The game play, though, will kill this game a long time before you kill the final boss, or even before you come face-to-face with him. The bandits, bad guys, and random wildlife aren't too bad to handle. If it had just stuck to a hack-n-slash of your Fateless character against humanoids and random wolves, the game would have been fine, but in pursuit of a grand epic you face a myriad of palette-swapped enemies that simply take too damn long to kill. That in and of itself wouldn't have been a problem if you only face one troll or one pair of giants every now and again.

    Sadly, you face one troll and/or pair of giants every now and again, and again, and again. You'll have just finished rubbing the migraine out of your forehead for the third time when you feel another one coming on as the camera switches to a blank landscape and then a troll-base appears half a second before the troll-skin appears. That or one of the other creatures you got tired of killing five fights ago. Binge drinking Master Damage Potions won't make it seem any faster, though. The attack pattern you fumbled through at the beginning of the game is the same one you've developed muscle-memory for at the end, plus or minus a different spell or two.

    It's around the time you finish the third faction quest that the sense of oooh, ahhhh amazement you had playing the demo seems like a distant memory, something hazy like it's from another life. At that point, or somewhere between the sixth and eighth troll + minions battle, multiple enemy wizards, and/or whatever the Gaelic word for "repetitive battle" is. Then you'll run through the last two faction lines before charging past the storyline and wish the lorestones would shut up so you could hear the story dialogue you half-care about because you remember most of it from when you first played Oblivion.

    All in all, the game's on the better end of average. Good enough that you probably won't regret buying it at on-sale price. But like the saying "Dragon's head and snake's tail," it starts out grand and with a bang and ends mediocre with a "meh..." Once the cosmetics wear off, you'll wonder just how long it is between "Hero of Mel Senshir" and "Destiny Defiant/Dominated."
    3.0
  • dudecrazy108dudecrazy108444,711
    14 Mar 2012
    15 7 7
    Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Xbox 360 Game Review

    Released : Feb.7th, 2012

    Reviewed : March 13th, 2012

    Genre : RPG



    Review :



    With many big names RPG’s either coming out or having already came out it would be easy to forget KOA in the mix of things. This is one game that shouldn’t be missed though.



    Now for a RPG this story is paper thin. You play a un-named hero (for it being 2012 you’d think they’d give him a name) and you go on trying to figure out who killed you. Now other than that they main quest story is horrible. Many of the side quests and factions gameplay are also pretty bland and simple but gameplay makes up for it.



    Now this game is a third person almost hack and slash RPG. It works amazing. The controls and simple enough and work perfectly when needed. You can build up power to perform a “Fateshift” which makes the game go into slow motion also giving the chance to rack up some insane XP. At the end of the “Fateshift” you perform a finishing move and a button mashing sequence similar to games like God Of War. Leveling up is simple enough giving you the chance to put your points into general skills such as lockpicking, stealth, blacksmithing, etc. It also then gives you points to add into a class which is Might, Sorcery, and Fitnesse. Adding your points into the last three will depend on what magic skills you’re character gets and what type of guy he turns out to be. Also by added “x” amount of points into either one or multiple of those gives your guy a fate card which adds a extra bonus onto you’re character.Throughout the world you will also meet “Fateweavers” who for a cost will take away all your skill points and let you re-assign them therefore giving you a chance to try something new.



    You will end up facing many different enemys throughout the game but environment wise about halfway through I started to notice that they were starting to look similar sometimes in dungeons and such. You will come across enough places though that are wildly different since the world is very big including all the towns and dungeons.



    Onto loot which plays a huge part of the game. Let me tell you there is a lot of loot. I’d say a good 75% of it is USELESS. Somewhere around halfway through my playthrough (all main quests, all factions, at least half of the side quests) I had weapons that were insanely high powered. The only thing I would change was my armor.



    Graphics for this game are good though. It almost reminds you of WoW because of how they arrange the colors throughout the world and how instead of aiming for real they went for cartoonish. The sound however is average. The voice actors are good but the soundtrack really is just average. Glitch wise there was a few times enemy’s would be unreachable or I would get stuck in the ground or environment. Also a few times the game would freeze during loading (Also TONS of load screens). Thankfully you can save whenever so that’s a huge place.



    Achievement wise you are looking at around 500-600 easy. Those are just for completing the story/factions, exploring, leveling up, and doing just normal things. The rest are for creating things, beating the game on hard, and doing “x” thing “x” amount of times.



    Overall the game is a lot of fun and in the 45 hours or so that I spent playing I did get a lot done though by the time I was finished I had grown tired of doing stuff in the game since there was no room to progress other than doing the same types of side quests for no reason. Other than that it was a great playthrough.



    Score : 9/10


    This review was taken from my site :

    www.dcmetal108.wordpress.com
    5.0
  • BigFriendlyGeekBigFriendlyGeek230,593
    15 Mar 2013 15 Mar 2013
    8 2 4
    Let me start off with a disclaimer that I love lengthy open-world RPGs. Love them. I dread to think the amount of hours I have lost to games like Skyrim, The Witcher, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, Fallout, and The Ultima Series, I could've probably have studied for a doctorate in the time I've spent playing these games.

    So, when I say that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (henceforth known as KoA) is a game that suffers from being too long, it's a major thing. Upon finishing the game's storyline I put in approximately 83 hours of gameplay, and that was skipping the majority of the side quests from the last two areas of the game and running past the majority of the enemies. I just wanted the game to be over with.

    That is not to say that that KoA is a bad game. It's not in any sense of the word. It's just that it suffers from a repetitiveness that doesn't lend itself well to having 80+ hours worth of content. While 38 Studios have created a huge, colourful, diverse world, unlike Skyrim, Fallout or their ilk, your actions won't have any effect here, nor indeed is there any branching of storyline and whether you choose a good or evil action (with no in between), it won't make any difference to your standing in the world and you'll move onto the next side quest - of which there any many.

    My initial impression of KoA was that I had fired up a single-player version of World of Warcraft, and that was an impression that stuck with me throughout the game. From the colourful, chunky graphics, to the fetch and kill mission structure, right down to the yellow exclamation marks floating over quest givers heads. If you stripped out the MMO of WoW, this is probably what you'd be left with.

    The game wears it's influences on it's sleeve, and it's clear that the structure of WoW, the dungeon-crawling of Torchlight and the never-ending loot system of Borderlands all played a part in KoA's conception. These influences serve KoA very well for a long period of time. It's very enjoyable discovering new loot which includes weapons, armour, potions and ingredients for the crafting portion of the game, which includes alchemy, blacksmithing and sagecrafting (the construction of gems.) The combat is solid - if not spectacular - and you're able to choose between taking a warrior path, sorcery path or a rogue path, or combining all of these three paths to unlock 'destinies', which are for all intents and purposes different classes that give you varying perks and bonuses. This all ties in with your character being brought back to life after death and being freed from fate, and therefore being able to shape his or her own destiny. During the game, you will come across various fateweavers who can usefully reset your skill points and allow you to reassign your skill points for a small fee. So you can change your approach throughout the game and switch between a hack 'n' slash warrior, a magic-wielding, pet-training sorcerer, or a lock-picking, back-stabbing rogue, which does help towards keeping the game interesting, and it does need that helping hand.

    The whole being dead and being brought back to life, while not an original concept, is a useful story mechanic that allows you to customise your character from the start, and bring the gameplay and the story together. It's not going to win any awards and it's nowhere near the scale of, say, Mass Effect, but it serves it's purpose well enough, although I will admit after ploughing through the mountains of side quests and faction questions (there are four different factions whom you can choose to do quests for) I kind of lost track of where I was with the story. Had the story been more compelling, the game may have become less repetitive a lot later. It could almost be worth running through the game doing just the story-related quests so the plot doesn't lose it's flow, and you'd probably cut the game's play time down by three quarters.

    In it's essence, KoA does a hell of a lot right - it's got a vast array of locales ranging from forests, deserts, plains and swamps, it's attractive and colourful, the questing system is solid, the combat is good, the class system is well thought out and easy to get to grips with, and the loot system will give you a variety of armour and weapons to play with ranging from longswords, greatswords, daggers, hammers and magical staves. But for all of the things it does right, the quests are ultimately pretty shallow, and don't stray far from the kill X, collect Y and take to Z. The nuances of the quests may change, but the ultimate goal does not. Plus the enemies that you will encounter on these quests and the myriad of lands do not change. Once you've got through half of the areas in Amalur, you would have seen all of the enemies the game has to offer. They might change in name and difficulty slightly so that you encounter a Prismere Troll instead of a Rock Troll, but the means to defeat it will stay the same, just with a bit more perseverance. Honestly, once you reach the 30 - 40 hour mark of the game, you'll find yourself willing yourself through the quests in order to see what the end will bring.

    To it's credit, you will want to finish KoA. There is a lot of enjoyment to be found, and any game that can keep you entertained for 30+ hours before it starts to get dull can't have too much criticism levelled at it, and if you see it for the right price then it's definitely worth picking up. But for all of the solid gameplay, lush presentation and fluid combat, there's not enough depth to KoA's story or any consequences to your actions to make an impact on the world. The whole game is a means to an end and if it could be summed up in one word, it would be 'generic'. Which, in this day and age of epic RPGs, is not enough for me any more.

    I will end by saying that it's been over a year since KoA has been released, and in that time it's developer 38 studios has gone bankrupt and has since dissolved, so we'll never discover what they could've done with the IP had they got the chance to continue with it, which is harsh on them since they did so much right, which includes the two pieces of DLC that they managed to release. These added a lot of gameplay and story to an already huge game, and showed what could be done with DLC besides just releasing continuous map and weapon packs. There was a lot of sturdy groundwork laid here and had they the chance to develop and grow the Kingdom of Amalur, we could've seen a world full of more depth and character than what we were ultimately given.

    Positives

    + Huge, diverse world
    + Wide range of skills and talents
    + Solid, if unspectacular, combat
    + Hours of gameplay
    + Masses of loot

    Negatives

    - Plot is nothing to shout about
    - Not enough variety of enemies
    - Too many repetitive quests
    - Actions have no effect on world
    - Feels too generic

    -----

    As ever, if there's anything I can improve upon or have omitted, please comment and I'll endeavour to fix it. I want to add more reviews on TA, so I want them to be as helpful as possible!

    This review can also be found at my video game blog: http://bigfriendlygamer.tumblr.com/
    3.0
  • ZalmZalm442,570
    26 Jul 2012
    8 19 6
    To ignore all the over inflated hype for this game, it kinda sucks. Its honestly like a bigger and longer version of the Fable games. They take some crude mechanics from Fable, Elder Scrolls, and WoW and stuff it into a neatly packed piece of crap. For a decently placed breakdown, refer to the following; Graphics/Sound, Gameplay, Story, RPG Mechanics, and Bugs

    Graphics/Sound

    For some, the graphics and sound effect and dialogue are fine, for me personally, I didnt much like the bulbous cartooney style of rendering done for the people. It seemed rather WoW based in the looks department, and honestly, that seems rather kiddy. And given, they details are smooth, but thats just the issue, they are smooth, no real detail to be had. The music, though in a standard for almost all games, was cheesy after the 15th time listening to it. The sound effect were way to loud, and the voice was way to soft. It feels like I had to turn up the vocals and down on the SFX, and then overall turn up the TV volume while blaring music, only pausing it for when I talked to someone. Bit of a pain in the ass.

    Gameplay

    Well...Lets just say its a pretty big deal breaker here. If you played anything from Fable 123, you know how to play this. Button mash to hit enemies, hold a trigger and press a button to lob giant balls of fire at stuff, and hold A to sprint. But thats about the only thing good I can say about the gameplay. I've never had more frustrating times in any game ever picking a lock than in this one. and locked chests are not only EVERYWHERE, but they also RESPAWN! It makes seeing a chest become a tedious affair which somtimes you dont wanna go through. Basic lockpicking mini game was kinda stolen from Skyrim design, but its done way worse. At least in Skyrim, you have a warning before your lockpick breaks. Here? Nope...I flush through an average of 3 lockpicks per locked chest above easy. And dont get me wrong, I was able to pick a master lock in Skyrim at lvl 5, so I'm not some idiot who cant do it. They just have barely any warning before the pick breaks, about .9 seconds then SNAP! It wouldnt be so bad, if there werent locked chests so often. Another one...disspelling. Interesting minigame, but I could have had my 3 year old make a better one. Little circle goes around a big ring and you have to tap 'A' just as the little, barely visible circle passes over a rune. Not as easy as it sounds when the button has to be hit early to ensure that the rune is broken since the game is a little lax on its response time. At least there were only like half as many warded chests as there was locked ones. Oh yeah...Cooldowns...in a single player RPG...fail.

    Story

    Ok...seriously...I change Fate itself, meaning you cant kill me unless I allow it, and honestly...why would I allow it? Gnomes? Why cant I kill you because you piss me off and you think just because you have laws that disallow it you wont die? Why is it that there is NO WAY to spread the word about how god awful Motus Mining company was? I mean, they killed hundreds of workers, abandoned the rest, and took the profits? Screw that, I make Fate...and Fate says your going to die, right after I disgrace your company. Is that chick at the end of the game serious? Did she threaten me? She knows I OWN Fate, and she says she will have her knives to my back? Plot hole as big as Tirnoch, the dragon at the end of the game. Wait...a DRAGON!? And then even worse, she uses the threat saying I cant tell anyone about it? Bull...I'm telling everyone, and I'll see you on the field of battle, where I will use a sword made of Fate itself to kill you, since you threatened me. And finally...the Ourbacant...secret society that says we cant talk about the dragon? I will burn the city to an ember for denying me my rightfully obtained glory, secret society can burn with it. Oh yeah...Fable gameplay, without the good/evil choices...bad call.

    RPG Mechanics

    To my total disdain for the story and the gameplay...The Ability Tree and Skills were done pretty damn well. You get destinies that compliment your playing style, whether it be Archmage, Gladiator, or Assassin. Or even a mixture of the 3, or hell, even all 3! You wanna sneak around and summon meteors, there is a destiny for that. You wanna stab a guy in the back then turn around and smash his buddy's skull in with a hammer, theres a destiny for that too! You wanna launch a volley of arrows, call forth a storm of lightning bolts, and summon a minion to help you, all the while weilding a huge 2h greatsword....yeah...destiny for that too. And take all this a step further...make your own potions, weapons and armour, gems to sockets in said gear, and use diplomacy to make sure you get it all done at the most reasonable price possible...yeah, you can do all that too. Hell, you can even find magically hidden doors and treasure all over the place!

    Bugs

    Now...stepping away from the excitement of a well done rpg system, there a few bugs that are something that could very well contend with this games playability. None are so game breaking that you should consider leaving it alone, but they are there and something to consider. First is latency issues involving the button presses. Sometimes, the game decides that its ok to kinda release the moron, and when you press a button a few varying effect could occur. Sometimes, it takes a second for the game to react that you pressed something, and it will show, predominantly during fights. Sometimes, the game decided to not register you pressing the button, but will do so if you hold the button. Again, it shows up during fights, and having to hold the dodge for a second before you dodge can easily get you killed. And finally, sometimes, it likes to get confused, and switch button, whereas pressing A actives the button press of B, and vice versa. Second issue is getting stuck in the stage. not a huge issue, as almost every game in existence has issues similar to these in some fashion and at some point, nothing a simple last save load wont fix, and its not even all the often, usually when teleporting, or 'blinking' and sometimes when using a fate-smash on a hill or other similar incline. Lastly, Dren. For anyone who has ever Played this game as well as any other RPG ever, you know who and what Dren is. Most RPG's ever made have some form of 'invulnerable boss' where you cant beat said monstrosity, without some form of pure insanity. Dren is this games version of that kind of situation, only, not only is he a game breaker, he is near endgame. Dren is invulnerable to dmg, but not in a typical sense...he just have a 9999 flat dmg reduction...but thats it. Meaning if you do more than 10k dmg in a hit, you're doing dmg to him, and this is possible, when you make a character properly. I had a mage, and used meteor alot, and did an average dmg per strike of about 13-15k I fought Dren, and killed him, didnt think about it, and saved sometime afterwards...Game was ruined for me...100+hours gone, had to start a new character in a new game entirely. Only reason I even finished the game was sheer determination. But that is defiantly an oversight on a game breaking bug, and something everyone should look into.

    Overall

    I'm not going to lie....I hate EA...they make garbage thats usually rushed to shelves asap and they wheel and deal in day one DLC crap in almost any game, but this is one that is a little less abusive to the gamer. No day 1 DLC, no horribly priced DLC some months later, no online pass. But you do still have to sign into their servers and e-sign some contract or terms of use garbage to even play their game. It was kinda rushed, and it was kinda buggy, even after 2 dlc and a 2nd game announcement. The game was overall 6/10. I've played better, but not to much better.
    3.0
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