Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning Review
Release date: Sept 8th, 2020
Developer: Developer: KAIKO, Big Huge Games, 38 Studiios
Platforms: PS4 (Review), Steam and Xbox One
Price: $39.99
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’s original release was in 2012 and was highly praised for its gameplay and story. Re-Reckoning attempts to get the game up to modern standards. While the attempts are good, there are some parts of the game that have not aged well. This game be be best suited for those who were really big fans of the game.
Let’s start with the good. There is plenty of content. The game will take 40 hrs at least and all the DLC is included. You can respect the skills anytime, which at the time of release in 2012 was a crazy, unique idea. The combat is very action heavy and has held up well. The graphics have been updated but it's more a refresh, some have compared it to what a 360 game looks like on an Xbox One X. The controls are still easy to use and there are few modern options to make it better.
But there is some stuff that hasn’t aged well. The inventory system is aging and there are too many menus. I thought the Witcher 3 was a pain, Fallout 4 was a nightmare for the most part for KoA is terrible so not friendly. Every NPC you meet has a story to tell and the dialogue is very long winded, I don't think I remember the game being like this, or maybe I was used to that. The game crashed a few times for me on PS4. The hud and maps seem a lot smaller than I remember and I wish there was a way to change this or make it larger.
The story isn’t very exciting. The basics are players are brought back from the dead via the Well of Souls and are tasked with using their new abilities that are tied into fates must rid the world of an ancient enemy. The game has a lot of side quests which players can skip if they like. I keep thinking that there are so many good things that the game did well back in 2012 that are now commonplace in action RPGs
I really liked the game back in 2012 mainly due to the collectors editions with the neat McFarlane statues. So final thoughts if you haven't played this game, maybe wait for a price drop or when it end up on gamepass. Thanks to the publisher for letting us review the game.
Pros:
Long game with lots of content
Combat is still fun
Cons:
Some elements have not aged well
Not enough new updates to the game