Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning (Review)

In 2012, Kingdoms of Amalur initially released for the consoles of that time. 8+ years later, the game received the re-release treatment in Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Does it hold up, or did it age through time? Let’s dive into our review.

*Special thanks to Evolve PR and THQNordic for the PS4 review key!*

Intro/Story:

The plot below is a mixture from the wikipedia page and my own experience:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning follows the story of a mortal known as the “Fateless One”, who, having died before the game’s outset, is revived in the experimental Well of Souls by the gnomish scientist Fomorous Hugues. The first and only success of the experiment, the Fateless One escapes the facility when it comes under attack by the Tuatha Deohn, a subsect of the immortal Winter Fae, who are currently waging a “Crystal War” on all the mortal races in the name of their new god Tirnoch.

After escaping the facility, the Fateless One–having no memory of their life before their death–is briefed on the intricacies of the Faelands and the Tuatha Deohn’s ongoing war by Agarth, a Fateweaver. Agarth is astounded and pleased to realize that he cannot read The Fateless One’s future: having already died, the Fateless One’s return from the grave has taken them out of “Fate’s weave”; theirs is the only life in the world without a predetermined end. This power also allows the Fateless One to alter the fates of others, as Agarth discovers when the Fateless One saves him from his fated, “lonely” death at the hands of a native creature.

The fateless one now takes a journey to discover their purpose and what to do in this world…

It is interesting that the player themselves is at the center of the story. They are brought back to life and thrown into this war-torn world. The game revolves around solving their fate while discovering what to do within the world. There are several factions in the backdrop the Player can choose from.

The game is very lore heavy but easy to follow. For those who never played this game, think Skyrim. It gives you the main plot, but then you are free to do whatever you want. This is my first exposure to Kingdoms of Amalur, but I heard great things during the original release. This is a great opportunity to see what the hype was about in 2012.

Gameplay:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning provides tutorials at every single step of the game when introducing new components of the game. It is a welcoming experience to learn all the mechanics the game has to offer as they are brought up. This is a great thing as Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning has several mechanics to learn.

The player creates their own avatar for the game. From there, they choose their class, weapons, fate, etc. There is a great depth as to what is in Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Naturally, I chose to use a sword, drop points in lockpicking, and play similarly to a rogue. It made the game rather simple. The good thing about this though is that players can choose how they want to play the game and at what difficulty they want to play it on. Players are given this freedom and it shows.

The game does notify you about challenging missions and recommended levels, and it makes this valid point. Entering or doing certain missions early can be very difficult. It’s recommended to follow the story as it progresses and leveling up before going on true freedom.

The beauty of this version of Kingdoms of Amalur is that it comes packaged with all of the DLC that originally released. This includes the Commander Shepard gear from Mass Effect. Players can have some overpowered gear from the get-go if they truly wish.

Audio and Visual:

Audio-wise, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning provides a wonderful soundtrack. Additionally, it provides multiple languages and great voice work all around. All and all, it provides to the overall atmosphere of the game.

Visually, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning looks to be an improvement from its original releases. It is claimed to be native 4K, however playing on the PS4 Pro, even with the upgrade, it still looks liked aged graphics. It is not a bad thing because they are still very presentable and not bad to look at.

Replay Value:

This is not really a fair category for these types of games. The reason for this is that in Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, players craft how they want to do the game. This goes from building their own class, how to interact with the world, and such. The replay value is really high because that is how the game was created.

Fun Factor:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning did wear on my about 30 hours in, but it was fun and engaging enough to finish the story. I am glad that it held me to finish the story and DLC content.

Wrap-Up/Conclusion:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is my first exposure to the game. For its time, it was well-received. This time around, the veteran fans will enjoy revisiting the game (with all of it’s DLC), and newcomers to the game (such as myself) will be introduced to a great game. I enjoyed my time with the game, the story, and the fantastic world-building Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning provided.

While it is apparently the age of the game shows, it is not a problem at all. It has aged fantastically and newer RPGs do follow the formula that is in this game. I do regret I did not experience it the first time around, but I am thankful I got to experience it this time. I recommend Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning to players seeking a fun RPG to play, or in general to enjoy. Just be prepared to invest a great amount of time into it.

• Until next time, Mgs2master2 out!

*Special thanks to Evolve PR and THQNordic for the PS4 review key!*