Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

While not the first game to be called a hybrid of action and RPG, it certainly is the hallmark of the former, with the robust content that's generally expected of the latter. If you were hoping to be connected to the characters like you did in some of R.A. Salvatore's great fantasy novels, you will undoubtedly be disappointed. But Amalur is still a beautiful and immense world with plenty of secrets to discover and combat that is ceaselessly satisfying.

Reckoning is an absolutely engaging fantasy experience where the main story and nearly every side quest winds around the idea that you're character is not just disrupting - but improving - the fate of the world.

No matter what you're looking for, whether it be amazing gameplay, immersive storytelling or perhaps a riveting new world to explore as you fully customize and re-customize your character at will, Reckoning has it all.

This game is fiendishly addictive, it displays exceptional pacing and once you start playing, it's very difficult to stop. The constant flow of quests, the infinite looting, the polished skill tree with the dozens of combinations, the functional interface, its superb battle sequences and the enormous world that challenges you to explore, compose a game worth investing, as you will need more than 100 hours to see everything.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning provides not only fast-action, but also a great story, a cool battle system and beautiful locations. Even if there are a few things you've already seen somewhere else, the developers from 38 Studios did a pretty good job.

For all of these drawbacks, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an intriguing, good-looking, game that has absolutely brought a new spin to the RPG genre.

Kingdoms of Amalur proves that not all RPGs are difficult, slow or boring. Getting to know the world of Amalur is truly a joy and because of the unique combat system, defeating enemies feels fresh and fun.

Developing and upgrading your character and fighting with many superbly-designed opponents are the biggest advantages of Kingdoms of Amalur. You need to stop treating the story as a very important thing and focus on collecting powerful items and leveling up - only then will the game pick up speed and grant you many hours of great fun.

On the one hand Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning features one of the best combat systems I've ever seen in an RPG. It's fast, smooth and absolutely satisfying. The character individualization is quite big and the vast world of Amalur is a great place to sink in. On the other hand its dull story and severe lack of interesting characters are holding Reckoning back from being more than just a nice fill-in between Skyrim and Mass Effect 3.

For all the things that don't work well, the exciting combat and deep world make KAR a very worthy game to play. It's a shame Electronic Arts is doing such a poor job of promoting it, as there is enough here to make the foundation of a very solid franchise.

Polished RPG with all the necessary attributes that bring visually an excellent fighting style. A game we definitely want to see a sequel to. [Feb 2012]

Reckoning provides many hours of good, solid fun based around character development and skill progression. Those looking for a deeply immersive experience should probably look elsewhere, but don't be surprised if your Civic runs nice and smooth while the other guy is busy patching the crap out of his Ferrari.

Ultimately, whether you like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning or not depends on what you want from an RPG: a special story and endless hours of reading or spectacular action, tons of items and great hero customization, but at the expense of the narrative.

Personally, I don't see it winning any awards at the end of the year, but if you like high fantasy and games that will keep you busy for hours with a great number of quests and activities, Amalur is certainly well worth your money. However, if you're already entrenched in Skyrim, holding off on this one for awhile might be a good idea, lest you suffer from open world RPG burnout.

There's a lot to said for visuals these days though, and having played the PC version extensively we're not sure we could then go to the console with a neutral mind-set. Swings and Roundabouts, as they say, but Reckoning is a good game all round and well worth getting – no matter the platform.

Kingdoms of Amalur is good, but it offers an uneven experience. There's a wealth of exciting combat and unique RPG options, but it takes place with characters that are largely forgettable in a world that just isn't terribly interesting.

Deep RPG elements combined with the intuitive action mechanics immediately establish 38 Studios and Big Huge Games as a duo to be reckoned with (sorry, couldn't resist). Like its reanimated main character, Reckoning starts slow and creaky, but give it a chance. Once you start sampling its many action-role-playing flavors, you'll discover a new franchise that delivers like a series that has been polished and tweaked for years.

The battles feel like the ones from Darksiders, the dialogues remind of Bioware titles, and the world wants to be as big and multifarious as Skyrim. Reckoning gets this mixture just about right, but misses its evident types in any discipline. I had fun anyway, which is mainly due to the cool talent system and the fascinating tale. Whoever lets oneself into it, receives a successful action-role-playing game that has found its place exactly between linear story-nuggets (Dragon Age) and open-world adventures (Skyrim).

If you like fast-paced combat and weird-looking worlds, and you're already tired of walking about fjords and snowy forests, move on to Kingdoms of Amalur. It's almost the same as Skyrim, give or take a couple of details.

A "post World of Warcraft" action role-playing game, that blends the God of War combat system with a free roaming world similar to the Elder Scrolls series, resulting in the end quite derivative in style and chaotic in the storytelling.

Kingdoms of Amalur's combat and character advancement are fantastic enough to overshadow how bland everything else is.

Great combat and mountains of loot can't compensate for Amalur's generic world design and familiar story. [May 2012, p.72]

If you treat Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as a shorter, story-driven experience, you'll have a much better time of it than the completionist who chases every single side quest.