This week's edition of Critical Reception examines online reaction to Big Huge Games' open-world action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which reviewers describe as "immaculately crafted and beautiful, yet still simple and accessible." Reckoning currently earns a score of 80 out of 100 at Metacritic.com.
Richard Mitchell at Joystiq gives Reckoning5 out of 5 stars, praising its "lovingly crafted world," in particular.
"That love is evident from the moment your character emerges from the first dungeon into the light of day, escaping from the murk into a world of fantastic, vibrant beauty," Mitchell says. "Landscapes are bright and colorful, spanning golden and green forests to arid deserts and mountains that saw at the sky. Cities are gigantic, sprawling places with a sense of scale so vast as to make your character insignificant."
The game is rich with content. "The world of Amalur is bristling with quests," Mitchell assures. "While wandering about to finish a main quest, you will undoubtedly encounter a village on the way. Villagers, naturally, will ask your help slaying beasties or recovering items from caves. Should you make for said cave, you will meet a weary traveler with yet another quest."
Character advancement is similarly complex. "Each class of abilities offers a different experience, but all offer a thrill that isn't often found in an open-world role-playing game," Mitchell writes. In addition: "Interwoven with quests and combat is a whole other layer of peripheral systems, ranging from Stealth to Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Sagecrafting and more."
"Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning presents a world that is immaculately crafted and beautiful, yet still simple and accessible," Mitchell summarizes. "Every corner reveals a person in need, a treasure to collect, a secret to uncover, a battle to wage. I don't know how much more time I'll spend in Amalur (dozens of hours? hundreds?), but I plan on savoring every minute."
Jeff Gerstmann at Giant Bomb gives Reckoning4 out of 5 stars. "In very broad strokes, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is comparable to games in the Elder Scrolls series and, to some extent, games in the Fable series," he notes. "You'll be able to call the names of other games out as you see the various things contained in Amalur, but it has a different style and scope than the games you're most likely to compare it to. That's just enough to give it a feel all its own."
"The main quest line and the world surrounding it is probably the most gripping thing in all of Reckoning," Gerstmann explains. "As the first non-immortal to be resurrected (...), the natural order of things is being upset, and by inserting yourself into various situations, you're literally making a difference in the world. This starts as a quest to figure out who you were before you died and returned -- a detail you've conveniently forgotten -- but quickly blows up into a quest to save the world."
Combat is another high point. "The combat feels active, especially when compared to the slow, block-and-strike moves of an Elder Scrolls game," Gerstmann says. "You can equip two weapons at the same time, and each weapon gets its own button. If you like, you can combine fast-attacking daggers with a slower hammer or greatsword, but I found the bow to make an excellent secondary weapon for dealing with enemies at a distance."
"It's hard not to be at least a little disappointed when you start seeing the various spots where the game doesn't live up to the high bar set by its best content," Gerstmann admits. However: "If you finish it fast enough to prevent those doldrums from setting in, you'll have a much better time than the person who digs through every nook and cranny to finish every single side quest."
Edge Magazine scores Reckoning at 6 out of 10. "Much has been said about Kingdoms Of Amalur's 10,000-year backstory, concocted by fantasy author RA Salvatore to act as a springboard for 38 Studios' future projects," Edge explains. "It's certainly as comprehensive as any virtual history in recent memory, and yet arrives in a game intent on cutting through the RPG fat, presenting a more accessible take on the open-world RPG."
"What arrives on shop shelves is an epic RPG with a user-friendly pick-up-and-play ethos," Edge continues. "This most obviously manifests itself in the responsive player character. If you've hacked and slashed a bloody path through God Of War, you won't need any introduction to Reckoning's combination of button mashing, evasive dodges and timed parries. (...) Combat isn't deep, but it is wide, thanks to multiple weapon classes and the mountains of loot within them."
This streamlining hurts the experience at times, however. "Ranged combat, for example, employs an auto-aim that removes all the skill from the player," Edge's writer notes. "Reckoning never quite balances accessibility with the depth expected from an RPG either. Systems are present and correct -- smithing, alchemy, sagecrafting (think: Elder Scrolls' soul gems) -- but are streamlined into neat little asides."
Edge continues: "Amalur's problem, like so many ideas in Reckoning, is its refusal to ask too much of the player. Clarity should be championed -- in interface, control and item management -- but not to the extent that the world is laid bare. Part of the appeal of RPGs is losing yourself in a virtual place, which is impossible if the entire game is a deliberately beaten track."
"At its heart," Edge concludes, "Reckoning is an interesting tale about disrupting cyclical fate -- ironic, considering the game's largely repetitive nature -- and when the story gets to shine, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games' friendlier design presents a welcome change of pace."
It is a fantastic game for neophyte rpg players with a lot of time on their hands. It is a grind for experienced players looking for innovation and/or challenges.
Having just watched about 7 aggregate hours of this game streaming last night and having gotten a free copy, I'll probably enjoy the game most just powering through the story on hard mode.
The combat is excellent, it's just not very challenging. As you progress monsters and bosses have higher stats, but aren't really any harder to fight. The difficulty scales a lot more like a standard MMORPG than a proper Action-RPG like, say, Kingdom Hearts or Dark Souls, where you actually need a better grasp on the combat mechanics to beat higher level enemies.
IMHO, if it were an MMO, it'd be a 10 star game. As an Action-RPG, it's a disappointment, but there's plenty of potential. I'd purchase a sequel.
Considering that this standalone game is the "starter universe" for the MMORPG that 38 Studios is working on, I think your comment must make them very happy. ;)
I think the game fails to immerse the player very well due to its weak story. A more creative story and decent voice actors would have made this game a lot better but in the end, I found myself bored. Also, not sure how it gets a 10/10 or 100/100 from some reviewers. I have not seen a game in the last 8 years that deserves a perfect score. I thought of Skyrim a little when I played this game and I would not even give that a perfect score. Bottom line, pretty good combat and action wasted on a mediocre and generic story and characters with no life to them.
It's unfortunate this is published by EA and they have "Online Pass" code garbage attached to the title. Maybe next time they can find a different publisher that doesn't pull those tactics.
Agreed. I hope that all games have the online pass in the future so that used games sales finally stop once and for all. That rumored Xbox 720 feature where it will not play used games is very promising.
I have no problem with what EA's done with games like Dragon Age or Mass Effect where you get additional content for buying new, but I would be pretty angry if a console somehow locked a game to just one console. What would I do if I wanted to bring Gran Turismo to a friend's house to play some split-screen? What if I just borrow a game from a friend for a while? Are we going to take the fight against used games so far that we're going to prevent people from playing them in pretty standard and inoffensive ways just to keep a few bucks away from Gamestop?
Used sales is a silly issue, and it's not something worth getting into here. However the practice of locking content with online codes and DLC unlock keys is just making sure that your game will be unplayable in the future. There will be no such thing as "Retro Gaming" in the future because all your games have DRM DLC unlock codes that won't allow you to play once systems go offline. Look at what a mess UbiSoft just went though by shutting down their servers recently. Imagine not being able to play your favorite game 5 years from now because the DRM DLC unlock code doesn't work anymore.
@Jacob
How can you possibly think this is a good idea? I'll never understand people who defend such ignorant stances of money grubbing industry standards. What's in it for you? Are you trying to squeeze everyone for more more more? Do you love nickle and dime DLC? Can you not wait to have to pay $10 every 2 weeks to keep your game from deleting itself? You make no sense to me.
@Adam
It has nothing to do with keeping money away from Gamestop... these companies reward Gamestop with exclusive content and deals... but I agree with the bleak future of not being able to play your games how you want when you want... this industry is even worse than the music and movie industry sometimes.
I've been playing (ps3 ver) this all day & part of last night and i've racked up about 15 hours. So far i'd give the game a 9 of 10. I don't get edges review 6 of 10? It always comes across as kind silly to me when 90% of the things a reviewer says about a game are positive but then they give it a kick in the nads score. Thankfully none of the bugs in the demo have shown up in the full game. BHG did a great job for such an undertaking.imo
I've been watching this game for a while...I'm not as interested as I was before..but I'll still be giving it a try...but have to grind through lots of other rpgs first.
Hoped it would be as good as Skyrim. It's nod BAD exactly, just sort of "meh all over". Skyrim has flaws but it's great at certain things. Amalur doesn't feel particularly great at anything.
The combat is excellent, it's just not very challenging. As you progress monsters and bosses have higher stats, but aren't really any harder to fight. The difficulty scales a lot more like a standard MMORPG than a proper Action-RPG like, say, Kingdom Hearts or Dark Souls, where you actually need a better grasp on the combat mechanics to beat higher level enemies.
IMHO, if it were an MMO, it'd be a 10 star game. As an Action-RPG, it's a disappointment, but there's plenty of potential. I'd purchase a sequel.
Considering that this standalone game is the "starter universe" for the MMORPG that 38 Studios is working on, I think your comment must make them very happy. ;)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/02/07/kingdoms-of-amalur-review-the-
fantasiest-fantasy-out-there/
Agreed. I hope that all games have the online pass in the future so that used games sales finally stop once and for all. That rumored Xbox 720 feature where it will not play used games is very promising.
Used sales is a silly issue, and it's not something worth getting into here. However the practice of locking content with online codes and DLC unlock keys is just making sure that your game will be unplayable in the future. There will be no such thing as "Retro Gaming" in the future because all your games have DRM DLC unlock codes that won't allow you to play once systems go offline. Look at what a mess UbiSoft just went though by shutting down their servers recently. Imagine not being able to play your favorite game 5 years from now because the DRM DLC unlock code doesn't work anymore.
@Jacob
How can you possibly think this is a good idea? I'll never understand people who defend such ignorant stances of money grubbing industry standards. What's in it for you? Are you trying to squeeze everyone for more more more? Do you love nickle and dime DLC? Can you not wait to have to pay $10 every 2 weeks to keep your game from deleting itself? You make no sense to me.
@Adam
It has nothing to do with keeping money away from Gamestop... these companies reward Gamestop with exclusive content and deals... but I agree with the bleak future of not being able to play your games how you want when you want... this industry is even worse than the music and movie industry sometimes.