Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

[Dioneo]

I picked this up to tide me over until Mass Effect 3 came out. Kind of a mistake as this game is HUGE.

It's hard to compare KoA to other RPGs, simply because it borrows from so many of them. The most obvious comparison is to the Fable series. If you really disliked Fable's gameplay then KoA won't be for you. I found Fable tolerable. I like KoA a lot more. I'd say it's like Fable but with more testosterone.

The RPG system is also a lot more in depth than Fable. More along the lines of the first Dragon Age. There are three basic classes - Fighter, Thief, Mage. As you progress in level you get bonuses that enhance those classes. However as you progress you can also choose "Destinies" for your character that are kind of a multiclass system. They have dual class combos for any combination of the three, and even a triple class destiny for someone who wants to be a jack of all trades when it comes to combat.

The combat system is pretty arcadey, and definitely weighted towards offense. It seems pretty hard to break an enemies attack combo once it gets started. What works better is to not let them get off any attacks in the first place by dodging around opponents, keeping them off balance with a combination of melee and ranged attacks. The combat works very well for what it is. I rarely noticed any slowdown with multiple enemies and after a bit of practice combat felt very natural.

There quests. So many quests. Side quests, faction quests, storyline quests. Everybody wants something from you, and if you don't keep up with completing them the map on your HUD will be obscured by quest icons. I mentioned the game was huge, right? Apparently the main storyline can be done in 35-40 hours. They said a "speed run" of all the game's quests takes around 200 hours. That included skipping all the dialogue and cut-scenes. Speaking of dialogue - there is a ton of it as well. All competently voiced by competent actors.

The amount of weapons and armour is also astounding. In this I think they borrowed heavily from Borderlands. Which is a great system to borrow from. On top of the seemingly infinite varieties of randomly generated weapons and armour is a system that lets you partly customize weapons and armour with gems that provide extra traits/bonuses. Assuming that particular piece of equipment has gem sockets available to be used. Creating the gems is another skill altogether, although they can also be purchased a lot of the time.

So, great value for your gaming dollar if you think you have the time to invest.

This is probably going to be a game I pick up and put down between other game releases.