Dhruin
SasqWatch
While I put together another Reckoning roundup, I'll post the Rock, Paper, Shotgun review because I'm sure many readers are fans.
Jim Rossignol calls it "generous but uninspired" but also "surprisingly compelling":
Jim Rossignol calls it "generous but uninspired" but also "surprisingly compelling":
...and let's toss in Worthplaying's review with a score of 8/10:I think it’s important, at this final-third-of-review stage in the proceedings, to point out that I’ve found Amalur surprisingly compelling. It’s a sugary, guilty sort of compulsion, though, because Amalur’s formula is one that has ultimately entangled the part of me that wants to see the next pleasing monster design, or the next level of magic powers. The delightful contrast of stabbing someone with razor-fast daggers versus clubbing them to death with a half-tonne battle-hammer is good too, but what it does not offer is anything with serious meat. No grand vision, no technical triumph, no opera.
Despite the open structure, it’s not really providing much for the digital explorer or the mystery-hungry reader. There is no pretension to a true sandbox, let alone any kind of living world. From a purely aesthetic point of view, the series of enclosed valleys it is guiding me through display none of the majesty of Skyrim’s frozen peaks, while the quests and over-arching script interest me a fraction as much as almost any other seriously conversation-heavy RPG I can think of. The overall visual fidelity often disappoints, too: after The Witcher 2′s artfulness, the dead-eyed (but still enormously friendly and characterful) mannequins of Amalur do not impress my inner graphics-card purchaser.
More information.Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an ambitious RPG that mostly delivers on its promise. The main quest is as lengthy as RPGs of yesteryear, while the amount and variety of quests bring an MMO flow to a single-player experience. The story is interesting, even if it lacks elements that people have come to expect, like a morality system. The graphics and sound are flawed but are more than acceptable this late in the console life cycle. For those looking for a deep action game or a more hands-on RPG experience, Reckoning fits the bill perfectly. For those recovering from — or still in the middle of — Skyrim, be warned that this game is just as deep.