Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of 38 Studios, LLC and Big Huge Games All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The FATE Edition contains the Re-Reckoning Main-Game, the Official Soundtrack and the upcoming content Addon Fatesworn that extends the game of 5+ hours and that will be released post launch, expected 2021. The Official Soundtrack features 35 high quality tracks for a total of 70 minutes of music. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is one of those games where its legacy overshadows the actual product. The game failed not because of its lackluster gameplay, but 38 Studio's mismanagement. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a great RPG that had the misfortune of being developed by a novice game company led by an inexperienced founder.
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.
Steam
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.
Kingdoms Of Amalur Reckoning G2a
Pros:
- 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