KoA: Reckoning - Review Roundup # 6

[aries100]

More reviews has been forthcoming for this game. I'll quote from two of them and list the rest:
Forbes has a scoreless 4 page review of the game - but notes is an incredibly fun rpg.
A quote about the story and quests:

Meanwhile, the quests are diverse enough to keep things interesting, and you can finish them at will. Different sorts of quests are sorted out in your quest panel. You have main quests, side quests, tasks, and faction quests. This makes it really easy to keep track of each mission. It’s easy to see where each location is on the map, so you can finish them regionally if you want, or work on a task as you complete a faction quest or two. One problem with a lot of RPGs is that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and disorganized. This is taken care of nicely with the quest system in Reckoning. The inclusion of fast travel keeps the pacing at a nice clip.

Game Industry News 4/5

As far as open worlds go, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has a pretty large one, but confined at the same time. This isn't like Skyrim where if you see it, you can go there. In Amalur, anything more than a foot tall in game will act as an unscalable barrier. The same is true for drops. There are a few ledges that are meant to be jumped from, but most, again act as barriers. The world itself within the barriers, however, has much to offer. Stray from the main storyline and you find plenty of interesting side quests and some very compelling factions to join. Completing these quests not only offer great experience, but some give you irreplaceable rewards and benefits, not to mention the interesting story you get to play though during the quests themselves.

Other reviews can be found at these sites:
Total Playstation 8.5/10


MMGN 9.0/10


Brutal Gamer 8.0/10


ZTGD 9.3/10


Techonrati, no score


Complex 8/10


More information.

 

[borcanu]

well, we were whining that it doesn't get Skyrim appreciation. They proved us wrong . See, no need supporting them because they are fresh, they have the mainstream all figured out.

 

[turian]

well...tl,dr koa is better than fable!

 

[Mr Smiley]

KoA: Reckoning is the best big, huge, generic fantasy RPG ever.

It feels like the developers have thoroughly researched most of the successful fantasy games ever released and then implemented almost everything they found that works. And on the whole it's a very solid, working product. Rather polished and streamlined, but sadly lacking in personality.

The overall experience is very much Sacred 2, I think. But the camera is much closer, which is part of the problem here. While both games have NPC:s and quests in abundance, the close up camera of Reckoning reveals that there are just a few faces to go around. Very few. In Sacred 2 you couldn't make out facial features anyway, but in Reckoning it becomes very annoying.

 

[rune_74]

well, we were whining that it doesn't get Skyrim appreciation. They proved us wrong . See, no need supporting them because they are fresh, they have the mainstream all figured out.

What do you care? You pirate them anyways right?

 

[Twotricks]

I am still enjoying it, and i dont see stopping for very long time.

Good game , whenever you feel like some generic RPG with excellent gameplay.

 

[Falchor]

Although predominantly a PC gamer, I'm playing this on the PS3 and have found the experience fairly enjoyable. It is, as everyone has said, a light, non-impactful generic-feeling game. However, the gameplay is solid and I'm enjoying it for what it's worth. When I started playing, I thought it was a solid 8.0 game. Now, I'm leaning closer to 7.5, as it tends to drag a bit the more you play. However, I don't regret the purchase and would recommend it to someone looking for a nice hack-n-slash adventure, especially when the price comes down a few notches.

 

[aries100]

The Danish version of Gamereactor also has a favorable review, noting that the combat system was fun, and they also noted that it took way too long for the game to begin; 10 hours for the reviewer. The score is 8/10...and they liked it a lot...

 

[crpgnut]

I don't think Origin tracks hours played, but I've been playing it several hours a night since release. It does start to drag down occasionally, but I just try to change up what I'm doing if I start to get bored.

Alchemy ingredients are numerous but since many potions require up to 3 ingredients and might need multiple pieces of those ingredients, I find taking a break from questing and just going back to old areas and collecting ingredients can be fun. The creatures can't really hurt you, but they'll all gather around attacking you and it lets you fire off one of the big area damage attacks and take out a ton of monsters in one hit/spell/barrage. There are a few areas that are great havens of ingredients. Probably one of the best areas is Ettinmere. There is a very rare Fate Essence plant there and it respawns frequently.

Another thing that can be done is going back and looking for secret doors, once you unlock that skill. There are some nice secret doors in early areas. Of course the loot is level-scaled at the time you entered the dungeon, so if you wait a long time before going back, the loot will only be worth selling or salvaging. Don't forget that secret doors are found outside too though and those are only level-scaled when you find them.

Finally, you could always respec your character if you get bored. I purposely am not mixing up the classes. If I get super-bored playing a mage, I'll switch over to a warrior or ranger/assassin. Learning the ins and outs of the new class should keep me entertained for several hours.