Back in November 2011, a game that would put all other RPGs to shame for years was released. This was, of course, Skyrim; the expansive praise magnet. It changed the landscape of not just RPGs, but gaming. If you released an RPG around this time, you were pretty stuffed. Nobody would be foolish enough to compete with it, right?
Well, there was one that tried in February 2012, a mere four months after Skyrim. Its name was Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, and I absolutely loved it. The Xbox 360 was an amazing console for RPGs, and Amalur is a standout. So, when I saw the remaster, Re-Reckoning, was on sale, I had to dive back in.
That common old corpse pile origin story
The tale begins where most end: you have died and are being dumped on a corpse pile by two gnomes. However, due to exposure to the Well of Souls, you become the first mortal to resurrect. This thrusts you into the war against a faction of Fae named the Tuatha. The Fae are already immortal and revive after death, but the Tuatha despise humans and don’t want them to have that power.
We won’t get much more into the lore; it is an RPG, after all, meaning there is tons. But I really enjoy this story. It revolves around Fate, and since you cheated yours and revived, you are the Fateless One, a wild card. It catapults you onto a grand stage and makes everything you do and everyone whose Fate you change feel so impactful. Yes, you do that in every RPG pretty much, but none have really woven it into the story so successfully before.
Kingdoms of Amalur gives you a lot of build options
This being a war, you are going to need to fight. There are three paths to choose from for combat: Might, Finesse, and Sorcery – your standard trinity. Each tree has a set of Classes, or Destinies, to choose from that offer passive buffs. In addition, you can also mix trees and get a Destiny that benefits two combat styles, or even all three.
Add to this the fact that each style has three weapon types, and you get a lot of choice. You can main Sorcery and throw spells with a staff, or mix in some Finesse and become a ninja with a poison teleportation dodge. That is my build, and I love it, Daggers and Chakrams. I am like Xena: Warrior Princess if she preferred stabbing people in the back.
Speaking of stealth, we are not finished with the customisation. There are nine skills you can level up depending on how you want to play. You can focus on Alchemy and Blacksmithing to create your own Arsenal, or uncover the wonders of the world with Detect Hidden. And then plunder said world with Lockpicking.
Your race also offers some passive boosts to these, but they basically boil down to Human or Elf. That is where the customisation suffers a little bit: in the character creator. There aren’t that many options for cosmetics. It is certainly serviceable, but I would have appreciated a few more races or hairstyles.
It pains my heart to say a basic combat system
Whatever way you’ve decided how to play, it is time for combat. And boy, let me tell you, this combat system certainly is passible. All the usual ingredients are there: blocking, dodging, stabbing. And I do truly love playing Amalur, but even so, I have to admit it feels a bit basic.
There is nothing all that involved. You throw some spells, dodge some easily telegraphed attacks, do a bit of stabbing, repeat. It might be the two-weapon system. On Xbox, the X button is for weapon 1, Y for weapon 2. Great for swapping quickly and covering all ranges, but it limits the potential for special attacks. You can learn additional moves for each weapon type and skills from the trees, but nothing apart from the sustained buffs felt useful to me. It was easier to just spam Daggers at short range and Chakrams against groups.
Part of my problem is that it just felt a little too easy. Even when I stubbornly stuck to some low-level armor just for the Stealth bonus, and had three different curses I didn’t bother to clear, I barely took damage. Add to that the Ring I had equipped that healed 2 HP and Mana a second; I was functionally immortal about an hour or two into the adventure. I know I could remove that for an added challenge, but you shouldn’t have to nerf yourself to make a central mechanic fun. Plus, almost every enemy could be stunlocked to oblivion by a basic attack combo, which shouldn’t happen.
The art has a delightful charm to it
Despite this, I still do enjoy the combat, and the monster design definitely helps with this. You will face off against a huge range of enemies, from remarkably off-putting spiders, hulking two-headed Jotunn, and the most demonic-looking Sprites I have seen. You can definitely see the work of artist and Spawn-creator Todd McFarlane in this, and I mean that as a massive compliment. He’s done some fantastic comics.
If you break Kingdoms of Amalur down into its components, I can see why it was overlooked. Especially the combat: there are much better systems. But when it is all together, I adore it. It just had the temerity to come out when everyone was still playing Skyrim. Of course it didn’t get a fair shout.
On that note, though, I would still choose Kingdoms of Amalur over regular Skyrim. I love Skyrim, and I still play it, but I have mods coming out of its ears. If you pitted vanilla Skyrim against Kingdoms of Amalur, I would step into the shoes of the Fateless One every single time.
