I Finally Finished Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Well, it took…114 hours, 30 minutes, and 5 seconds, but I finally finished Big Huge Games’ epic fantasy RPG, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. And what a finish it was…the story wrapped up in grand fashion, escalating the stakes and tension pretty much throughout the final area of the world. The game very handily conveyed the sense of making one last, desperate push through enemy territory with what few troops were left, battling to the end in a suicidal attempt to stop the mad king Gadflow and the fearsome — and ancient — dragon Tinroch.
And it was in the endgame that the main plot of the game really shone through. I’ve previously argued that Reckoning’s best storytelling was to be found in its side quests concerning the Fae Houses, but in the final hours of the game, the main story all came together and wrapped up in a quite suitably epic fashion. A grand story, for a great game; in some respects, I’m sorry to leave Amalur behind.
I’ve got to write a full review of the game anyway, and I’ll probably write an expanded version of it for the site here, but…for now, I think a note of thanks is in order. To Ian Frazier and all the team who worked to make this true epic of a game, thank you. This game deserved more, deserved better than to be the only entry in its series. But even so, it was an incredible romp through a living, breathing, fully-realized fantasy world that, not unlike Britannia, I now wish I could walk through and see with my own eyes.
I feel like I’m becoming the Ultima Codex’s resident curmudgeon, lol, but I was not wowed by Kingdom’s of Amalur: Reckoning. That’s not to say it was terrible, it just wasn’t great (to me). I thought it was a lot of fun for the first 10 hours or so, but then started to get kind of stale. To me it felt like a mix between The Elder Scrolls and Fable, but not really as good as either series.
I feel like I’m becoming the Ultima Codex’s resident curmudgeon
It’s a valuable role.
To me it felt like a mix between The Elder Scrolls and Fable, but not really as good as either series.
Well, it certainly had the bloom and vibrant colour that Fable did, and the art was about as stylized…though not particularly alike to Fable’s even so. And similarities to The Elder Scrolls are to be expected; Ken Rolston was the game’s executive design director…check out his rap sheet.
I thought it was a lot of fun for the first 10 hours or so, but then started to get kind of stale.
Opinions of the game seem to divide in about the way that ours do; people either really dig and get in to the game, or they burn out on it kind of quickly.
I suppose I can see why that might be; the game is very MMO-like in many respects; apart from its wildly kinetic combat, it is a very slow-paced and methodical game. Wandering from place to place is key; the fast travel system only permits travel between places already visited, so you’ll walk everywhere at least once. And many of the NPCs are on the generic side, either having nothing more to say than a cursory greeting, or offering fairly straightforward fetch quests.
I don’t mind these things, but…others do. And it’s only a bit later on that things like the Fae Houses or the Warsworn are encountered; these are side quests, but excellent for their stories and lore. And, of course, the main plot really only distinguishes itself in the second half of the game.
So…mileage, variance, etc.
I love the game, Not enough people gave it the Shot it Deserved. Your thoughts are like mine. I wish I could venture in this realm. I wish they had a chance to make more and grow.
Microsoft should grab it. Open world and a blast through out.