When THQ Nordic revealed that it had acquired the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning IP in 2018, many fans were ecstatic. The 2012 game had been well received by critics and gamers, even if it released at an inopportune time and was caught between much bigger games. Then, various events around the original’s release ultimately lead to then-developer 38 Studios shutting down, with Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning being THQ Nordic’s attempt at re-capturing that lightning in a bottle.
And to be clear, this is a “lightning strikes twice” moment for Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Every reason fans had to love the game in 2012 exists in the updated version, with the game not feeling wholly dated compared to its contemporaries. For a 2012 game brought to 2020, that’s truly impressive.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning‘s story is as eventful, fun, and simple to follow as it was in the original. Players manipulate fate, as they attempt to change events and the role of fate in the world around them. Because of this, several plot points come with a familiar, yet strange feeling, even for those playing it for the time. It’s a very classic, perhaps even cliched approach to fantasy, but one simmered to near perfection through the mind of well-known fantasy author R.A. Salvatore and others. Whether it’s the depictions of dwarves and elves, the general overall aesthetic, or the events as they unfold in the world, this game is quintessential high fantasy. More importantly, the way the story manifests in gameplay is as intriguing as the story itself.
Unbeholden to fate, the player can frequently change “destinies” that give them certain buffs. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning players can go in to be the best, most grizzled warrior they can be, or they can go into be the wisest, most studied mage. They can choose to focus on being a stealth-based Rogue with high-speed weapons, or they can combine these elements in various ways. Building characters in Kingdoms of Amalur is a smooth process, one influenced by their destiny and how the player chooses to play. They can specialize in one area, they can mix and match two, or they can be a generalist who dabbles in everything—the possibilities seem endless (especially with the variety of non-combat skills thrown in, too).
This freedom of choice directly manifests itself in Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning‘s fun combat. Players can swiftly swap between weapon types, making the use of a Greatsword, a staff, and bow an easy process, while also giving players enough weapon types to have multiple stealth or magic-based weapons, should they choose to specialize. All of this goes a long way in making Re-Reckoning as fun as the original, but that comes with a big caveat: it’s almost identical to the original.
THQ Nordic fixed a lot of the common problems in the original with Re-Reckoning, including a wide swathe of technical limitations and issues. It further made some tweaks to the loot system, as well as a few other small, behind-the-scenes QOL changes, but this doesn’t really do much for the game. These are the types of changes that sound good on paper but don’t necessarily identifiably manifest in the game. The original Kingdoms of Amalur released in 2012, and for better or worse, Re-Reckoning embraces that.
In Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning‘s graphics, there are few drastic improvements compared to the original. This is the remaster’s most noticeable shortcoming, but there are plenty throughout the game. The menu system and UI feel outdated, there’s still plenty of technical bugs (but none game-breaking that we encountered), there’s nothing new for those who played it before, and there’s nothing that feels 2020 for those who haven’t.
That’s also not to say there isn’t anything new for dedicated fans, just nothing yet. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is getting new a DLC called Fatesworn, but it isn’t releasing until 2021. It would have been nice to access this content sooner, but at the very least, Re-Reckoning does come packaged with the game’s original 2 DLCs. On the one hand, this is a fair amount of content for a game sold at $40, but it needs to be pointed out that Fatesworn only comes with the Fate Edition of the game, which is $15 higher. That means players should expect Fatesworn to be a paid DLC for a remaster of an effectively 8-year-old game. Of course, the content may justify that price, but it’s harder to picture that than Re-Reckoning at $40.
For its price point (coupled with a steep discount for PC owners of the original), Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning may genuinely feel like a steal. To expect a remastered or remade experience, however, is perhaps expecting too much. At the end of the day, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is little more than an decent port of a really great game that can still carry itself as a solid RPG experience.
Hopefully, this is just THQ Nordic’s first step with the new IP, and that could perhaps be the biggest selling point for the game. Back in the day, there were big plans for an MMO set in Kingdoms of Amalur‘s world, while potential sequels were brought up in fan discussions from time to time. While it may not be perfect, Re-Reckoning would be a great way to finally lead that charge and realize the grand vision that 38 Studios once held.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Game Rant was provided a PS4 code for the purposes of this review.
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