Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review

The action RPG genre gets some much needed action

Words: Hollander Cooper on February 7, 2012

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Baron164 - February 7, 2012 6:04 a.m.

I'm planning on picking this up eventually. I really enjoyed the demo. I didn't mind the graphics, looked more like it was going for that MMO graphic style. All though it doesn't bother me when things don't look photo realistic.
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mothbanquet - February 7, 2012 6:26 a.m.

I thought exactly the same thing but by the end I was actually impressed by the scope of depth on offer, especially with regards to tailoring your character. Sure, there are problems but let's face it, it's not like Skyrim didn't have bugs...
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FOZ - February 7, 2012 7:37 a.m.

I only played the demo on PC, and I really don't get get the "dated graphics" criticism. And did people only play the intro sequence or what? When I looked at the movelist and leveled up once or twice the combat looked pretty promising. Seriously, you're going to judge an RPG's combat by the first 2 hours of the game? Also, the demo was developed by a third party. People have said they played the full game for 40 hours without a single crash or game-breaking bug, which sure as hell is more than you can say for Skyrim.
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fullmetallegend - February 7, 2012 7:39 a.m.

I was wondering if anyone else found this style of combat to be worse. I like Skyrim's combat because it felt a little more real. No matter what weapon or magic I was using, it felt like I was using. KoA feels like any other crazy combo combat game, where the neat looking combos quickly become mashy buttons. And did anyone else feel that the general movement of your character was just... wrong?
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Darkhawk - February 7, 2012 8:26 a.m.

My primary objection is the art style. It's like they took the most generic designs possible, ran them through a cartoony WoW filter, and then highlighted the gaudiest of colours. Compare to the dark beauty of Demon's Souls, and this just looks silly.
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ThatGuyFromTV - February 7, 2012 8:53 a.m.

See, that's why I'm having so much trouble trying to convince myself to try this. It's graphics look like a crap job compared to almost every other game. Hell, the Super Mario Galaxies have better graphics on this. When your game has graphics that could be beaten by Wii graphics (even if they are the best Wii graphics to date), you need to put a bit more time into it.
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ObliqueZombie - February 7, 2012 8:55 a.m.

Not a bad review, Mr. Hollander. Fair, but highlights what the game does best. I'll be having my eye on this, so long as I don't get caught up in SWTOR, The Darkness II, and eventually, Mass Effect 3. I'm also currently beating my controller into frustrated submission over Soul Calibur, so there's that, too.
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comaqi - February 7, 2012 9:25 a.m.

I don't know how finished the game was when the put the demo out but it played terribly and looked awful. I had high hopes for this to. Kind of disappointed.
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Fuzunga - February 7, 2012 10:01 a.m.

I am genially offended by your comments about the visuals. Are you kidding? Imagine for a moment that this was a Wii game. Would you say the graphics look dated? No, because Nintendo always makes up for it with artistic style. This game ought to be praised for it's fantastic style and vibrant color pallet, not criticized because the visuals look "dated". But the simple fact that it's on HD consoles means it has to look as good as Battlefield 3. The constant comparisons to WoW and Fable make me want to punch people.
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Hollander_Cooper - February 7, 2012 10:03 a.m.

It's the art style that looks like WoW, not the graphics.
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Fuzunga - February 7, 2012 10:04 a.m.

* Genuinely goddammit!
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ThePrivateer - February 7, 2012 10:28 a.m.

No, you specifically cited "Graphics look dated" as a con.
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Hollander_Cooper - February 7, 2012 10:40 a.m.

Because they do. That's a separate complaint. The graphics look dated, and the art style looks like WoWs.
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PleaseSitDownICannotSee - February 7, 2012 11:02 a.m.

Typo or not, how are Coop's comments "offending" you? Honestly, video game website comments are almost as hyperbolic as youtube's.
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Hydr0ponicK - February 7, 2012 11:10 a.m.

The demo felt like I was playing an uglier version of Dragon Age Origins.
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BladedFalcon - February 7, 2012 11:40 a.m.

"Skyrim's combat felt more real" Yes, because in reality you totally just swing a sword mindlessly over 10 times to kill a wolf without getting tired, and immediately move to the next foe, and they all just go straight at you without any kind of plan or semblance if intelligence. Totally real. I just laugh at people who say Amalur's combat is button-mashy compared to skyrim. When in Skryrim, let's face it, the combat boils down to pressing one button to attack and pause to just heal whenever the enemy bum rushes you. There are no tactics, no real skill involved. People that judge's amalur combat in the demo are forgetting two very crucial facts: One, you were playing the game in normal difficulty, meaning that it's not as challenging as the game can be. (And let's face it, normal difficulty nowadays might as well be easy mode in most games.) And secondly, you played the very first part of the game, with the easiest, weakest enemies, of course they are not gonna demand much skill from you at first, and you could hack and slash your way trough it because it's simple. But the way combat's designed in Amalur, it seems rather clear to me that the game is eventually going to demand you to block and dodge attacks in order to not die too quickly, and use space effectively, something skyrim never bothered to demand from the player.
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Beoftw - February 7, 2012 11:42 a.m.

I am "genially" offended by your fascist definition of artistic style. Last time I checked style was a relative term. The graphics in this game are still sub par no matter how you fan boy it up. And you said yourself they would look good if on the Wii, which ironically defeats your whole point.
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BladedFalcon - February 7, 2012 11:58 a.m.

Hmm, interesting review, and I liked what I read so far. Honestly, the graphical style doesn't bother me as much, maybe because I've never played WoW. And linearity doesn't normally bother me as long as there is enough story or incentive to go forward. Main question I have though. How is the overall story? Mainly,t he ending? I mean, yes, I know Cooper explained that the world is well made, and the story can get muddled along all the sidequests and factions. But I didn't have a clear impression of how the endgame's story is, does it deliver? does it end in an annoying cliffhanger? Or a predictable cliche? I ask, because after spending hours in Skyrim to find that the overall quest-line stories are rather ho-hum, I currently don't feel like putting at least 40 hours into a game with a crappy conclusion. (This is also affected by the fact that I just recently played RAGE... WHo has one of the obviously most incomplete, anticlimactic endings of this entire current generation of games.)
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MetroidPrimeRib - February 7, 2012 12:22 p.m.

Day one dlc locked out on disc that you can only get with an online pass that you have to get from buying the game new
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EwoksTasteLikeChicken - February 7, 2012 12:24 p.m.

Ha I had the same thought, it made me wonder why create an entirely new fantasy world when they could have put these resources into making Dragon Age 3.
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