When THQ Nordic revealed that it had acquired the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning IP in 2018, many fans were ecstatic. The 2012 game had been well received by critics and gamers, even if it released at an inopportune time and was caught between much bigger games. Then, various events around the original's release ultimately lead to then-developer 38 Studios shutting down, with Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning being THQ Nordic's attempt at re-capturing that lightning in a bottle.
Feb 22, 2012 Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning Tweaks Guide. The PC version of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is quite well made I have to say, as it performs decently and has little hardware demands. May 16, 2021 Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning Wiki Guide. It's time for a re-reckoning in Amalur - The hit RPG returns! From the minds of the bestselling author R.A. Salvatore, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston, comes Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning.
And to be clear, this is a 'lightning strikes twice' moment for Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Every reason fans had to love the game in 2012 exists in the updated version, with the game not feeling wholly dated compared to its contemporaries. For a 2012 game brought to 2020, that's truly impressive.
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Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning's story is as eventful, fun, and simple to follow as it was in the original. Players manipulate fate, as they attempt to change events and the role of fate in the world around them. Because of this, several plot points come with a familiar, yet strange feeling, even for those playing it for the time. It's a very classic, perhaps even cliched approach to fantasy, but one simmered to near perfection through the mind of well-known fantasy author R.A. Salvatore and others. Whether it's the depictions of dwarves and elves, the general overall aesthetic, or the events as they unfold in the world, this game is quintessential high fantasy. More importantly, the way the story manifests in gameplay is as intriguing as the story itself.
Unbeholden to fate, the player can frequently change 'destinies' that give them certain buffs. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning players can go in to be the best, most grizzled warrior they can be, or they can go into be the wisest, most studied mage. They can choose to focus on being a stealth-based Rogue with high-speed weapons, or they can combine these elements in various ways. Building characters in Kingdoms of Amalur is a smooth process, one influenced by their destiny and how the player chooses to play. They can specialize in one area, they can mix and match two, or they can be a generalist who dabbles in everything—the possibilities seem endless (especially with the variety of non-combat skills thrown in, too).
This freedom of choice directly manifests itself in Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning's fun combat. Players can swiftly swap between weapon types, making the use of a Greatsword, a staff, and bow an easy process, while also giving players enough weapon types to have multiple stealth or magic-based weapons, should they choose to specialize. All of this goes a long way in making Re-Reckoning as fun as the original, but that comes with a big caveat: it's almost identical to the original.
THQ Nordic fixed a lot of the common problems in the original with Re-Reckoning, including a wide swathe of technical limitations and issues. It further made some tweaks to the loot system, as well as a few other small, behind-the-scenes QOL changes, but this doesn't really do much for the game. These are the types of changes that sound good on paper but don't necessarily identifiably manifest in the game. The original Kingdoms of Amalur released in 2012, and for better or worse, Re-Reckoning embraces that.
In Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning's graphics, there are few drastic improvements compared to the original. This is the remaster's most noticeable shortcoming, but there are plenty throughout the game. The menu system and UI feel outdated, there's still plenty of technical bugs (but none game-breaking that we encountered), there's nothing new for those who played it before, and there's nothing that feels 2020 for those who haven't.
That's also not to say there isn't anything new for dedicated fans, just nothing yet. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is getting new a DLC called Fatesworn, but it isn't releasing until 2021. It would have been nice to access this content sooner, but at the very least, Re-Reckoning does come packaged with the game's original 2 DLCs. On the one hand, this is a fair amount of content for a game sold at $40, but it needs to be pointed out that Fatesworn only comes with the Fate Edition of the game, which is $15 higher. That means players should expect Fatesworn to be a paid DLC for a remaster of an effectively 8-year-old game. Of course, the content may justify that price, but it's harder to picture that than Re-Reckoning at $40.
For its price point (coupled with a steep discount for PC owners of the original), Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning may genuinely feel like a steal. To expect a remastered or remade experience, however, is perhaps expecting too much. At the end of the day, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is little more than an decent port of a really great game that can still carry itself as a solid RPG experience.
Hopefully, this is just THQ Nordic's first step with the new IP, and that could perhaps be the biggest selling point for the game. Back in the day, there were big plans for an MMO set in Kingdoms of Amalur's world, while potential sequels were brought up in fan discussions from time to time. While it may not be perfect, Re-Reckoning would be a great way to finally lead that charge and realize the grand vision that 38 Studios once held.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided a PS4 code for the purposes of this review.
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Our Rating:
If you are looking for a really solid RPG, you cannot go wrong with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The version I am talking about today is the original 2012 release which I feel holds up very well to this day. During this time, we gamers were a bit spoiled when it came to RPGs that were made by Western developers and I feel that this one is truly great and well worthy of your time, especially if you love fantasy.
You Are The Fateless
As you would expect in an RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has you creating your character. You have a choice of four different races and eventually, you will get to pick from one of three available classes too. Strangely, the plot is probably the weakest aspect of this game. I know in an RPG story is important, but I felt that the plot here kind of just scrapes by.
The world of Amalur is fantastic and almost like a character in its own right. This land is driven by destiny and fate, but you are the fateless, a character who has no fate or destiny and this makes you very special. The story gets a bit long-winded and your character's motivations are never really that great at driving things forward. What is here is ok, but it is far from great.
Ground And Pound
Where Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning makes up for the less than engaging story is with the combat. This game has some of the most satisfying combat of any RPG that I have played. It just feels so good the way you can hack and slash away with your melee attacks. You have a decent variety of attacks and there is a pretty full-on skill tree too which comes into play as you learn new and special abilities. It is just so much fun to play, that you will find yourself never running away from a fight.
Do Me A Favor?
The game is set up like a typical RPG. You have many different main quests that you have to do, but there is a ton of side content such as quests, fights, and things to find in the game. Many of the side-quests are fetch quests or helping out an NPC and these actually flesh out the world a bit and I found them to be rewarding not just for getting loot and XP, but for making me get more invested in the world of Amalur.
A New York Times Best Seller
While the story did not win me over, the world of Amalur and the characters who in habitat it certainly did. The game world was actually created by a renowned fantasy author which is cool. I love the way this game looks and even now, it holds up pretty well. There is a fair bit of diversity to the land and the way you can be walking along and see a castle or mountain in the background is really cool.
The character models look good too, but what really makes them shine is the voice acting. This game features some well and truly fantastic voice acting and it is something the game does not get enough credit for in my opinion.
I think that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a truly great RPG and one of the best of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era. It is a game that has a ton of content and I would say you are easily looking at 50 to 75 hours of gameplay here depending on how you play. As great as this game is, it was surpassed in 2020 by Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning which is a remaster and, in all honesty, it pretty much makes this version of the game obsolete.
Pros:
Kingdoms Of Amalur Reckoning
- The world of Amalur is fantastic
- I loved the way this world looked
- It has some truly engaging, addictive, and well-designed combat
- This is a game that will keep you busy for a long time
Cons:
- The story is not the best
- The Re-Reckoning remaster makes this original release kind of pointless