Kingdoms Of Amalur Re-Reckoning developed by 38 Studios, Big Huge Games and published by THQ Nordic is available now on Playstation 4, PC and Xbox One.
Now, I’ve never played Kingdoms of Amalur before, I never got around to it on the Xbox 360 so I took this as my chance to finally see what people were talking about and honestly I’m very glad I bought it. Kingdoms of Amalur follows the story of the Fateless One who died during a bloody battle. You are the Fateless One who is revived in the experimental Well of Souls by a gnomish scientist named Fomorous Hugues. You are the only successful result from the Well and as soon as the bloodthirsty Tuatha Deohn discover you it all gets destroyed and you must forge your path while trying to put an end to the chaos. I found the story unique, there are some powerful minds behind all of the lore and story-line and I am a sucker for anything time travel or apocalypse related and being the fateless one who can change peoples fates and having characters throughout never meet the fate they’ve been given was quite interesting and engaging. It felt like your character had a lot of control in this vast and expansive Universe and I was hooked from the get-go. The world of Amalur feels so alive and full of so much detail that every little thing about it made me want to keep exploring further and further.
The gameplay to me doesn’t feel overly aged at all, the combat is some of the most satisfying combat in an RPG I’ve played in a long time, it holds weight to each move and feels like a lot of investment went into it, I enjoy my warrior/mage build, I’ve called him the elemental badass. That’s the great thing though, about Kingdoms of Amalur, it encourages experimentation with builds until you find the right one, with so many different options to chose from it’s a welcome feature. Each time you level up you have the option to speak to certain characters to change your fate which lets you redo all your stats without costing too much. This makes it great for if you feel you chose the wrong build leading on and makes sure you’re not forced to start over again. The loot has had an overhaul since the original it was reported and I can say the looting game is strong, I love finding really rare stuff and kitting my guy out and seeing how it all looks and plays out as I progress, the freedom this game gives you is stunning. As a remaster goes, not too much has changed, some are disappointed by this but as a person who has only played this time around, I can’t comment on those feelings as such other than say I still think this game holds up in 2020 as quite a unique game.
Being a huge RPG what would it be without a wealth of interesting characters to interact with, mysterious quests and all sorts to discover? Luckily Kingdoms of Amalur ticked all those boxes for me, sadly yes some of the quests have that MMO feel of fetching this, go kill this but each side-quest felt that it still had interesting narrative behind each one, and interesting enough to keep me speaking to people along the way. It isn’t a game that fully feels like everything is alive and each NPC does there own thing as such and that’s most likely due to technology back in 2012 and before but on the opposite end, there is something about all that is being told that makes it feel alive in another sense. It’s very 50/50 it’s more a game that comes to life with the lore and what you’re doing rather than seeing an NPC need to go and hunt for his/her food. I was very torn on how it felt in that respect as shown in this segment of the review, there’s just so much that keeps me coming back but other things I wish the remaster could have gained. The controls feel solid and aren’t hard to learn at all, I’d say the only disadvantage is the X button on the PlayStation 4 controller being sprint, talk and loot. On my journey, I didn’t come across that many bugs and none that ever broke the game or destroyed the immersion.
The graphics and design too look aged yes but I see the art style that the original devs have gone for and I love it, it all reminded me of a World of Warcraft style and I think it works for this game. I do wish a few more assets had been reworked like distant trees high up in the sky look a bit dodgy sometimes and some textures look a bit out of place but overall I think what has been done is enough to warrant the £27 I paid. Overall I still think it’s a game that looks great now and I can’t wait to discover more as I go and take on different paths with new characters. The music fits in with fantasy games, it can be very loud in the games action scenes and nice and sombre when exploring a beautiful forest and seeing what lies beneath and I’m all for it.
Verdict
Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is a joy to play, it is rich in lore, there is so much to see and do and I can’t wait to play more. I’d say that perhaps more could have been added to modernise certain aspects and design choices but I can say this was worth the money I paid for it. If you’re looking for a new big RPG to play, this is it.
8/10
Nerdy Bird Games 