Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Impressions

It is early in 2012, we are only just coming out of the January dry spell and beginning to get our first taste of what this year will offer us gamers. With Starhawk and Twisted Metal looming ever closer and titles like The Last of Us in the back of our minds. However it’s only two months in and we already have what will probably stand as one of the years best RPGs.

Kingdoms of Amalur is a new franchise born from developer 38 Studios and Big Huge Games (creative name guys) and published by EA. However this is not just any old RPG. This game has a star studded team behind it and one that bears mentioning.

The universe was penned by one R.A. Salvatore. While that name may not sound familiar to some, all you need to know is that this celebrated fiction author has landed 22 books on the New York Times Best Sellers list. The art was overseen by Todd McFarlane, a major name in the world of comics. Finally the game itself was overseen by Ken Rolston a major figure in the development of a little known franchise called The Elder Scrolls. Suffice to say this game has an unfair amount of raw talent behind it!

So that’s all well and good, but is the game any good? Hell yes. Now I can’t post a full review, as I am not done yet. In fact I don’t even know if I am near the halfway point. If we are talking length, the developers have said that their speed run to 100% (That means every side quest etc) took them over 200 hours. Let that sink in. The guys who know this game front to back had to take 200 hours to SPEED RUN it to 100%. I myself am about 40 or so hours in.

So lets talk about what has impressed me so much about this game so far. To start with, this game is drop dead gorgeous. The character models are average, with the usual plastic hair and sketchy voice acting, but everything else in this game looks miraculous. The environments are literally awe inspiring. Many times I have stood still and just stared at the painting that I am walking in (more so then in Skyrim and that is saying something). Along with those lush environments is a fantastic aesthetic. The game maintains a fanciful colorful pallet and animated feeling to it that gives you a feeling of stepping into a truly unique world. The game also has great variety in its locations. So far I have traveled through a lush forest, and am now in a vast open plains area. There are huge mountains to the south. To the east across a vast river lies even more fantatsic vistas waiting to be explored.

What makes this game truly unique is that while it looks good, it plays better. Skryim for all its praise had a shallow and dull combat system. That’s no fault of the devs, it’s just a limitation of a First Person melee combat focused game. Reckoning however is third person, and in fact will whip the camera far out once combat begins to give you great situational awareness.

The combat is where this game shines. Every weapon plays and feels different. Combos are key, blocking and dodging, spell casting, timed parries, abilities, timed attacks, staggering, elemental effects, long range attacks and much much more are all at your disposal form the very start of the game. The combat is fast. It is quick, it is fun, and it is visceral! The game features a “Reckoning” mode. This acts as a typical rage system in any game you have played. Where as you defeat enemies it builds, once it fills up you can go into a super powerful state. Time slows, attacks do huge damage and you cut through enemies like a hot knife through butter. The best part however is the end, once you down all the enemies you can in the time you unleash a BRUTAL finishing move. While doing the move you mash a button to get an XP multiplier. Do well and you get double XP. This makes the Reckoning mode great for not only killing huge groups, but gaining massive rewards for doing so. Quite frankly no RPG has any right to have a poor combat system when Reckoning has crafted one so fine.

Now this is an RPG so lets talk class. Unlike some games, Reckoning is not going to lock you into one class. The game will let you go purely into one of the 3 (Rouge, Mage, Knight.) But if you want, you are fully allowed and encouraged to mix 2 and even all 3 classes. The game will reward you for doing so, and each mix has its own class.
So you have the following options:
Pure Knight
Pure Rouge
Pure Mage
Knight Mage
Rouge Knight
Mage Rouge
Mage | Knight | Rouge

Each class also has 6 tiers. As your character levels up, you gain better and better rewards based on your class.

As if this wasn’t enough, Reckoning lets you respec. Yes respec. A common feature in MMOs but not one frequently found in single player games. So for some gold you can change out from pure Mage to a pure Knight, or any mix of the 3 classes. Your only punishment is buying the respec which does not cost much gold at all. This makes Reckoning one of the most truly open RPGs we have seen in a long time.

Reckoning also has tons of side quests, 3 different crafting systems, lore stones to collect, towns to visit, a huge open world, and so much more.

This is one of my new favorite RPGs. Easily sitting beside The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age.

Look for a full review whenever the hell I finish this bad boy. Until then consider Kingdoms of Amalur a must buy!

Quick fire notes about the game:
Choices without a morality meter. This allows you to make decisions freely and based on what you want to do, not how the game wants you to act. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a game where you can be a truly gray character.
Factions are prominent in the game, with several to join and each with their own set of quests side quests loot and more.
The game features EA’s online pass system, locking out some side quests unless you buy the game new. (Please purchase a new copy to support this game and the people that made it)
The game has 3, Day 1 DLC packs. These are just silly item packs and are NOT worth getting. All they do is overpower you early in the game. This is not something you want to do.
Likewise if you played the demo, the game gives you Mass Effect 3 armor. This is just overpowered Knight armor, and again breaks the game early on. If you get it, just sell it for some nice early on coin.

TotalBiscuit is doing a long first impression series on the game, you can see the first one here: