Game Review: Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning

What is this game about?
Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning  is an open world role-playing game created by R. A. Salvatore,  Todd McFarlane, and Ken Rolston and his team at Big Huge Games. The story takes place in the world of Faeland that is engulfed in an epic war called the 'Crystal War'. This war has been on going for over 10 years, taking countless lives until one day a fallen hero awakens in the Well of Souls.

How is the gameplay?
The first few levels will be a tutorial adventure designed to teach you how to play the game. It starts off with a cinematic introduction. Afterwards you are taken to a character creation screen to determine your sex and race. There are four playable races you can select from, they are:

Playable Races

• Ljosalfar are regal, steadfast, uncompromising and proud people, who strive to preserve nature and shape it to their will that revere the principle of justice to defend Amalur against chaos and darkness.
• Varani are human clans not as culturally refined as the Almain, and are often seen as traders. mercenaries and wanderers that brought commerce and a degree of civilization to the wilds of the Faelands.
• Dokkalfar are charismatic, intelligent, seductive and respected as sophisticated students of magic and diplomacy, yet they are the ultimate manipulators, controlling the actions of others from the shadows.
• Almain are noble, honorable and brave humans who embody the ideal of Order in all things and are proud of their long and illustrious military tradition.

Playing as a female or a male does not grant additional bonuses. Selecting a specific race will, granting racial bonuses to compliment your skill set and gameplay style mentioned below:

Racial Bonuses:

• Ljosalfar - Racial Bonuses: Alchemy +1, Sagecraft +1, Dispelling +2
• Varani  - Racial Bonuses: Lockpicking +2, Detect Hidden +1, Mercantile +1
• Dokkalfar - Racial Bonuses: Sagecraft +1, Stealth +2, Persuasion +1
• Almain - Racial Bonuses: Alchemy +1, Blacksmithing +2, Persuasion +1

After you have completed your selection you will need to choose a patron. Patron bonuses will be granted depending on what you select. You are given six patron options to choose from, they are:

Patron Bonuses:
Ethene - Goddess of Wisdom and Art.

• Patron Bonuses: +10% Mana

Aryllia - Goddess of Love and Beauty.

• Patron Bonuses: +5% Health, +1% Chance to Critical Hit

Belen - God of Death.

• Patron Bonuses: +1% Chance to Critical Hit, +8% Critical Hit Damage

Lyria - Goddess of Fate, Magic and Luck.

• Patron Bonuses: +5% Mana, +5% Mana Regen per Sec

Lupoku - God of Mischief, Patron of Brewing.

• Patron Bonuses: +6% Poison Damage, +6% Poison Resistance

Beholden to no god, your self sufficiency yields its own rewards.

• Patron Bonuses: +1% Experience Bonus

Next you will begin customizing the look of your character. The game allows you to change the face, hair, and accessories with a few slide bar options for each setting. Once done. you will enter a short cinematic, then enter the name of your character. You will then enter a final cinematic and begin your tutorial adventure. At this point the tutorial adventure will educate you on how to interact with the world, to equipping your character using your inventory, to using your skills and abilities in combat and looting items. Moving your character is pretty straightforward, just move the left analog stick in the direction you wish to move. On screen you should see a radar map to the top right. an HP and Mana bar to left. Hitting select will open your map. Hitting start will open your Inventory and character info.

Destinies:
At some point in the tutorial adventure you will unlock your 'Destinies'. This is when you define what type of class your character will be. In the beginning you will only be able to select a Tier 0 card, called:

• Fateless card - Newly resurrected, your Fate is blank, formless, and ready to be forged into the shape of your choosing.

These 'Destinies Cards' are classes that grant your character additional bonuses, which are structured from Tier 0 to Tier 6. How you unlock new Destinies are determined by the number of skill points in three different abilities, they are:

Abilities

• Might - Master the brutality of melee combat and heavy arms to crush your enemies and deflect their blows. Spend Ability points here to channel your inner rage, gaining access to earth-shaking spells, defensive bonuses, and unparalleled skill with swords and hammers.
• Finesse - Explore the fine arts of subtlety and precision with Finesse Abilities. Stab, slice, trap, poison, and bleed your foes with blades, bombs, and traps. Slip into the shadows to strike your enemies from afar, or dart among them with acrobatic quickness.
• Sorcery - Devote your studies to Sorcery to fully embrace the magic awakening in Amalur. Smite your foes with devastating elemental spells, heal yourself with restorative spells, and summon other-worldly creatures. Wield sceptres, staves, and deadly chakrams as conduits for your arcane power.

Tip: I highly recommend looking at the 'Desitinies' page by hitting the start button, and selecting 'Desitinies' to review the requirements of some of the classes and bonuses they provide. This will help to plan your character growth for these additional bonuses will greatly help in your adventure and play style.

Once you complete your tutorial adventure you will enter the world of Faeland. At this point you are free to explore the world. Pay attention to the color of  the names of your encounters to determine if you are capable of defeating. Usually when you see an orange colored enemy, they will provide you a great challenge, so be cautious. The game also provides skills that you can invest points into, which you earn one point per level and invest up to 10 points to Master a skill.  Here is a list of skills available in the game:

• Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Detect Hidden, Dispelling, Locking picking, Mercantile, Persuasion, Sagecraft, and Stealth.

Some of these skills influence the skill level of a craft, like Blacksmithing, Sagecraft and Alchemy. These are the primary three crafts in which the player can make items.

Tip: I recommend investing in 'Detect Hidden' for it will reveal hidden treasures and doors early on. A point in 'Mercantile' for extra gold when selling items, and one or two points in 'Lockingpicking' for I found I could still open the hardest locks without higher skills. Just make sure you have plenty of lockpicks. The game provides a ton of loot, so you will not have enough inventory to carry everything. I recommend checking the Inn in the City of Gorhart to buy a backpack upgrade to extend your inventory space. Keep an eye out for more backpack upgrades as you adventure. To obtain a more permanent solution to your inventory problems, make your way to  the City of Canneroc and complete quests there until you earn your own place. This will greatly help your inventory problems early on.

What makes this game different from other games?
One of the best features that separates this game from other games is the freedom to choose what abilities you want. You want to use a rogue ability, then use a spell ability, then attack with a weapon ability, you can, for you won't be restricted. The other special feature is the free form combat movement, for the control scheme (Xbox 360) allows you to quickly initiate attacks. Hold down the right trigger to pull down the spell wheel to hit an enemy with an ice barrage, then hit Y or X to attack with the mapped weapon you selected, then block an incoming attack by hitting left trigger, then rolling out of the way by hitting B all in one battle. This brings a unique combat experience not many games can provide.

Why should I be interested in playing this game?
If you enjoy role playing games that provide free form combat movement, endless ways of mixing and matching skills from different ability sets. Along with a rich lore, lavishing open world environments and interesting monster encounters. Then do not pass up this game for it provides an epic dungeon crawler, hack and slash experience. Check it out!

 

 

I give Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning 5/5 (5 - Truly epic adventure not to miss!)