Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

Ah yes, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reselling
I had such a crush on Alyn Shir when I first played this back in the day. Given the chance I would do unholy things to her… Agarth can wreck me too.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is a blast from the past. It’s like World of Warcraft meets God of War. It is the Western equivalent of Dragon Quest: a colourful and nostalgic fantasy RPG from an earlier age of gaming. If any of those comparisons interest you, it is absolutely worth your time. The combat and the atmosphere... Its like straight out of a Tolkien novel. The world design is so magical and the soundtrack makes it even better.
This is a good game that suffers from a lack of variety, poor side missions and repetitive bloat that makes it great to start but very tough to finish. It's not the worst thing that's happened to Rhode Island but it's probably the most 7/10 game of all time. When it came out there were much better options like Skyrim and Dragon's Dogma. It's worth playing if you like the genre but don't expect it to wow you. Felt a lot like a single player MMO in terms of quest design and environments.
Despite the MMO-like gameplay, Kingdoms of Amalur wasn't planned as one. It was meant to be the single-player prequel to an MMO codenamed Project Copernicus with an epic backstory spanning millennia. It's like the most generic MMORPG possible was turned into a single-player game. It's a lot of fun, while suffering from old style game mechanics but it's part of the pleasure I suppose if you have any nostalgia for that era.
Yes at first it appears like they spent more time on coming up with the new title than actually remastering the game, but they actually made a lot of changes. They're just more under the hood and quality of life changes as opposed to big overhauls. The remaster has slightly better graphics and includes all of the original DLC. The new Fatesworn DLC will only work with Re-Reckoning as well. They also changed how areas level with you to make it more dynamic or like how loot is generated and how levels of mobs in areas are calculated. They added a new difficulty, and a lot of smaller changes and details that add up to something better than the original. It's the little things that make a difference.
Amalur isn't hard to get into at all. It's one of those entry-level RPGs that anyone can play. You talk to NPCs in villages and cities and accept quests from anyone with a giant gold ! over their heads. They'll send you around the current zone or a neighboring one, sometimes into linear dungeons to clear, and then you return to them for the reward on top of all the loot you picked up along the way. It's a huge world with a ton of side content and multiple factions to join alongside the main storyline.
You also have complete freedom to build your character however you want. There are seven Destiny class lines to explore, each of which represents a different playstyle. I did Might/Sorcery (a battlemage tank) on my first playthrough, for example. Now I'm looking at Finesse/Sorcery (a glass cannon rogue) next.
The combat is bloody hack-and-slash action in the vein of Devil May Cry, God of War, and Darksiders. There are weapons ranging from traditional swords and bows to twin scythes called faeblades and magical discs of doom called chakrams which turn you into Axel from Kingdom Hearts. There's even a Spartan Rage-style powerup called Reckoning mode that slows time and grants you extra EXP as you execute enemies in especially brutal ways. It's awesome.
I played this remaster with my kids and we all loved it because it's so self-aware of its own cheesiness and has familiar themes reminiscent of swashbuckling nonsense from the last century. The hammy voice acting is also superbly hilarious given the cheesy script, it's a real hoot for sure. Definitely not flawless and definitely not for everyone. The story has neat ideas but is underwhelming, a vast majority of the quests are MMO fare, the zones can be dull to get around it, and enemies are overused. But despite all that, I still enjoyed it.
Playing it is like eating plain tortilla chips. It's not a particularly life-changing experience, and I never find myself thinking "wow I really crave plain tortilla chips right now". However, sometimes I find myself with a bowl of plain tortilla chips in front of me. I eat chip after chip thinking "I should probably go grab some salsa or queso. Maybe heat up a can of refried beans or something". But I don't. Amalur is a difficult game to find time for in my backlog, but whenever I want to just chill for a few hours a bit less than sober it's a solid choice.
For all its flaws, I still don't think Kingdoms of Amalur is a bad game. But I did start thinking of it as the Western equivalent of Dragon Quest. This is the opposite of Soulsborne games. In something like Amalur, you're not being challenged at all; you're there for the mindless hack-and-slash action and traditional fantasy setting. It's video game comfort food.
In conclusion, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is an artifact of days gone by. It can be both refreshingly simple and frustratingly outdated. But for all its flaws, this is still a really fun game. I hope the devs extend the good game concepts to a new game with similar elements in the future.
Finally, remember guys. The Maid of Windemere did nothing wrong.
7/10

TL; DR A very enjoyable Action RPG with a focus on the fae, determinism and combat. It is filled with content, but a lot of it feels like filler, which is one reason why Kingdoms of Amalur feels like a single player MMO. However, it is definitely worth playing for its varied playstyles and interesting setting.
Note Kingdoms of Amalur has always been buggy, keep multiple separate saves.
Story
You are dead, nice going! However, you are unlike the countless others who perished in the decade-long war against the Fae, you are unlike the other test subjects, you are an anomaly, a success, you have defied fate, and you live again. You are a thing that should not be, a Fateless One, and perhaps that is just what is needed to defeat the Tuatha Deohn.

So, you are the most important person in the Kingdoms of Amalur, your destiny cannot be read, and so you can influence fates that have already been written. That is genuinely a neat and interesting premise but in reality, it mostly serves as justification for why you only you can solve certain issues.
They did some cool stuff with this and the overall mystery of why you are the only successful experiment is intriguing, I especially like how this contrasts with the deterministic culture that has to exist when fate is predetermined.
However, my main enjoyment came from the Fae, eternally reincarnating and reliving the same old stories that they have always done, the echoes of a world that is and has already faded away. Anything involving them is typically good, so it is little surprise that the two Fae factions are some of the most engrossing content that Kingdoms of Amalur has to offer. The other factions are definitely far better than the mostly lacklustre side quests, but they are simply less intriguing than the House of Sorrows, I can join a warrior, mage, or thief guild in so many RPGs, but in how many can you join what amounts to an acting troupe and pretend that you are a Fae hero of legend?
I think that the only other quests I enjoyed as much as these two factions were the two DLCs, the Legend of Dead Kel and Teeth of Naros, both of which are included in this version of Kingdoms of Amalur. They happen in parallel with the main quest and explores different aspects of the setting while also reinforcing the main themes, but I find them to be more interesting and more memorable than the original quests.
Presentation
When they made Kingdoms of Amalur they decided to move away from realistic graphics and instead make things more stylised, this is definitely paying off years after release because the visuals feel exactly the same. Of course, that is also a testament to the artists’ skills.
Each region is visually distinct with its own share of striking locations from the vibrant fairy woods of Dalentarth to the dead, ruined Detyre, and each with imposing, or beautiful zones that stick in your mind and, perhaps, none more than the Midden and its Gallows Tree. There are also the major cities and every one of them is magnificent in their own ways but especially Ysa and Idylla.
Not to mention the beasts of Amalur, the Crudok is one of the more unique designs it has, as are the Scavs, they are lovingly animated and might even make your skin crawl. While those are the most inspired and unique everything is pretty amazing, and it is definitely a joy to find new foes.
Exploring these disparate locations and fighting different creatures is undoubtedly one of the main appeals of Kingdoms of Amalur, so it is good that you can also experience the first two DLCs at no extra cost.
As for voice acting, there is an impressive amount of it, the main cast are the best, obviously, but the rest also did a good job, which is impressive when there are so many quest givers. Of course, when there are that many NPCs to voice some will have the same actor, but it manages to work well.
However, I am more interested in Kingdoms of Amalur’s OST, it has this magical flair to it at times, and at others a more sinister atmosphere. Naturally those moods are very appropriate for a game with such a focus on the Fae.
One of my personal favourites is Detyre one of the most sombre songs in the soundtracks, the more regal yet grave House of Sorrows is another, whereas songs like Gardens of Ysa, and the Plains of Erathell show off the more wonderful aspects of fairytales.
Gameplay
You can describe Kingdoms of Amalur as a singleplayer MMO, it has a ton of quests but most of them are simple kill or fetch ones, it has a lot of areas, and they are divided into zones with different levels &cetera. In fact, there is so much content, quests, dungeons, enemies and factions that it is easy to get overwhelmed which is simply due to the density and the nature of zoning areas.
Thankfully Re-Reckoning fixes one tedious issue with the original game, the level scaling, in the original release a completionist would outgrow—out level—the content, but now you will fight enemies that can put up a better fight when you reach Klurikon and Alabastra on the second continent.
However, Kingdoms of Amalur remains an easy game, best played on Hard difficulty since it offers a modicum of challenge while not being as tedious as Very Hard can be.
Getting the most of out the combat boils down to preference, I enjoy spicing up my tactics every so often, there are some unique weapons each with their own playstyles, so sometimes I am sneaking through dungeons, another I might choose to smash them all with a hammer, and at other times I just do what feels right.
So, I enjoy making liberal use of the Fateweavers and changing my build when I get bored of what I am doing at the moment, which is why I enjoy the different Destines and the buffs they give to their respective playstyles, it is a great addition and makes specialising in Magic and Finesse more interesting than just what skills you use.
There are also Twists of Fates, rewards for certain quests, or accomplishments, that give you permanent increases, they are great and can work as cool rewards for roleplaying or as an incentive to play a certain way. Similar, but individually weaker, buffs can be gained from collectibles.
However, you can do without them, Kingdoms of Amalur is an easy game after all, but that is enjoyable in its own ways. Getting to instantly kill enemies in stealth, juggling them with your Faeblades, throwing volleys of magical blades, or zapping them with lightning, all is good fun. The eponymous “Reckoning” mode is also great, it trivialises any encounter, has some cool animation, and gives you a nice bonus to experience gain, certainly a great tool for tougher encounters or when you are fighting a lot of enemies at once.
As for Kingdoms of Amalur’s best moments, there are several, Alabastra is a short but sweet final area, the Legend of Dead Kel brings with it several new enemies which is a breath of fresh air when you have played a while, the quests focusing on your resurrection are really good, and, as stated, the factions are the most interesting side content it has to offer.
There are certainly several side quests that are intriguing, most notably in the Webwood and Detyre, which make the boring, filler quests, more tedious than they ought to be when compared. Afterall it can be easy to be overwhelmed by Kingdoms of Amalur so focus on what you might enjoy.

Look, I'll be very blunt. This Re-master with the updated graphics is...well...fine. It really only reinvigorated my interest in the never-to-be-released sequel to this game. This remaster is still just KOA: Reckoning. If you liked the original version you're going to like this version exactly the same, or marginally better if you're big on appearance. However, the heart of the gameplay and what always brings me back to KOA is the combat style and simplified skill trees. If this game was an MMORPG it would be bigger than WOW in my humble opinion, but it's not. It's a single player game, which trust me as an elder scrolls player, I love this style of game. What I'm getting at is I've replayed this game 6 times with different classes, mixed classes, different difficulties, etc. It's an all time classic for me because this combat style has not been replicated correctly in any other game I've ever played. Yes, there are other games like KOA that you can utilize 2 weapons at the same time and cast spells. That's not new to the genre. What KOA does great is the fluidity of their combat scheme. It is seemless to switch between weapons, spells, blocks, etc. It makes the game feel like it's constantly progressing and not stale and subdued like WOW combat. I know they're two separate types of games but I'm just trying to get my point across that the DEVS really knew what they were doing when they put this combat scheme in the game.
Now let me tell you what I don't hate, but don't particularly love about the game. The story overall is just slightly above average or just average in general. I believe the combat scheme was the focus of this game and the story was secondary. It leaves a lot of quests feeling empty or just unrewarding. I do love the whole FAE light side vs. FAE dark side idea because it reminds me of Star Wars in a sense. Moving on, the character creation is very basic but offers plenty of options for a game released during this time period. My biggest gripe is the expansions and overall endgame. The expansions were just side quests and mediocre at best. The last update about chasing Alyn's "secrets" is the biggest letdown of any "expansion" or side quest that I've ever seen. It was extremely lazy and pointless. Thank the FAE gods for fast travel amirite?
In summary, KOA:RR is just KOA:R with sharper images. The base game itself was fantastic and I loved playing it over a decade ago. The biggest issue is the game was overshadowed by the release of Skyrim to the point where it never caught the eye of mainstream gamers, unfortunately. I will always have a place in my heart for this game and I'll always replay it every 5 years or so and there are few games I feel that way about. If you can get this game at a decent price I highly recommend playing it. Just REMEMBER, you're playing an combat based RPG from 2012, not a remade game packaged and delivered like FF7 remake. If you made it this far, thank you for reading this review and let us pray that somehow, someway, there is a sequel or new KOA in our lifetimes. FYI I've played 50 hours of KOA:RR and hundreds of hours in the OG version.
Thank you for reading!

Kingdoms of Amalur hits different. I don't really know how to describe it, so let me paraphrase some of the things I've heard others say that have stuck with me. I've heard numerous people who say they don't like RPGs say they love this game--and some of these people can't even place exactly why they love it, which is a testament to how much this game has to offer. On the same token, I've heard plenty of people that say they normally hate fantasy say they love this game and the world it's set in. Someone described the combination of open world, breathtaking environments, spectacular, epic combat, and unique setting as "a formula no game had ever done before." I don't know if that's 100% true, but I've never played another RPG that hits like Amalur. And considering I'm writing this for the remaster that was made so many years later, that's really saying something.

Amalur isn't for everyone, I will readily admit that. Some RPG fans might be turned off by the solo adventure aspect. To those people, I say: give Amalur a chance. The characters are wonderful, the story is great, and the setting is amazing. No, you don't get to have campfire dialogues or have followers, but Amalur is all the better because of that, and I say that as someone who thinks Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect one are among the greatest RPGs ever made. The best way I can describe it is this: Amalur created an awesome, winning formula and they stuck to it. Everything they did, they did extremely well--especially the world building!

In an effort to keep this review short, I will conclude by asking the question that might be on a buyer's mind: is the remaster worth it? Yes, it absolutely is. Compared to the original, you get the awesome DLCs included, some quality of life improvements, additional content, and some nice graphical changes. I'll admit, a few of the graphics changes I was hoping for didn't make it into the remaster, but overall the remaster improves upon Amalur's iconic environments and style without ruining the original feel, which is always a tough task for remasters. Plus, supporting interest in Amalur is a really good thing to do. This is one of my favorite worlds ever, and it's an absolute travesty that it was abandoned until recently.

This game is perfect for the Steam Deck; it runs smoothly, offers a lengthy experience, and is suitable for playing in short sessions

This is one of my comfort games. I pick it up whenever I want to scratch the RPG itch without feeling overly committed to story/rememebering controls. The combat system is incredibly fun and yet I can go months without playing, start this up, and have all my moves/combos back in memory in < 5 mins. The combat system is where the game shines. The cartoony gfx help it age well even being as old as Skyrim. Story is okay - I have yet to finish it despite 100 hrs but I'm a side quest junkie. It's worth getting and is fun when you just wanna beat up some baddies and veg.

: If you've got the original Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, you really don't need to buy this as it is basically just the same game again. I'm recommending it only because the original was a good game and this is just the most recent version of it and is a TINY bit better... maybe.

This is just one of those cases like Skyrim where a good game got another release... but in this case the differences to the original are so minor as to be unnoticeable in most cases. About the only thing that really stands out so far is that map areas are no longer level-locked forever at the point you first enter them. They haven't done anything about the levelled loot issues with set items though.
Apparently there is a little extra endgame content as a DLC, but I've not got that far yet and I honestly couldn't care less about it.

So yeah: I "recommend" this because KoA:R is a good game and KoA:RR is basically a copy of it... but you don't need two copies.