Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I looked at all the RPGs I’ve played this year, trying to pick the one of them all that would be the best of the year. Several stood out, but I couldn’t pick just one. I guess if there were a game that I felt worth spending hours of my life playing, that proved its quality, maybe? Outer Wilds (PS4; finished January 26) This indie game about a hapless astronaut who is trying to stop their sun from exploding in (looks at watch) 24 minutes made a huge splash when it came out last year for all the right reasons. The clockwork solar system our astronaut lives in is full of puzzles everywhere you look. The lore is amazing. The physics are on point. And every 24 minutes, the sun explodes and you start from the beginning again, but you still have retained all you learned. ...

I finished Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning today at 51 1/2 hours, making it one of the shorter RPGs I’ve finished. According to the Steam achievement, only 2% of the people who purchased this remake on Steam have killed the final boss as of today. Achievement%Destiny Defiant (final boss)2.0Hero of Mel Senshir (reached final continent)5.1Turning the Tide (completed the Adessa plot)7.1No Destiny, All Determination (midgame point)17.7Reborn (started the game)87.9 I’ve played the original twice before, but never finished it. From my Steam achievements on the original game, I can see that I got past the “No Destiny” point, and was into the desert area leading to Adessa when I stopped playing. Interestingly, according to Steam achievements, only 2% of the players of the original game reached the end – same percentage as in the remake. ...

Rathir and Mel Senshir are twin cities, on either side of a strait that separates the lands of mortals and Fae from the land of the Tuatha, fallen Fae who seek to destroy the mortal worlds. Mel Senshir holds back the evil horde, but just barely. Like Minas Tirith, everyone feels the fall of Mel Senshir is the will of Fate, and after the bulwark falls, the Tuatha will cross the strait to Renthir, and then their victory will be assured. ...

I’ve uncovered some unsettling truths about this game, or rather, the original version of it that I played when it came out in 2012, and then again a few years later in 2016. I was pretty sure I’d made it to near the end of the game in my first playthrough, and then had made it quite far in the second playthrough before again getting distracted by a new shiny. ...

This post today isn’t actually about Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Mostly. This post is, how can I talk about Kingdoms of Amalur – and going forward, other things I might play? There’s a few things that are stopping me from being a content creator. For one, I have a slow internet connection. And according to the Twitch app, my video card is of poor quality, even though it’s of the current generation (though not a 3080). I don’t have a webcam any more, I often leave the keyboard to deal with RL stuff, I don’t feel like doing hair and makeup and I don’t like the way my voice sounds on video. ...

When I started Kingdom of Amalur: Re-Reckoning yesterday, though I haven’t played for six years, it all came rushing back. I immediately remembered why I’ve never actually finished the game – the aching loneliness of running an MMO by myself. I remember really wanting, back in the day, a version of EverQuest without other people, just me and a party of NPCs, killing stuff and camping camps. Games like KoA remind me that something like that would be really boring. ...

Yesterday, “Kingdoms of Amalur: The Re-Reckoning”, an update of 2012’s “Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning” was released. It’s a refresh of a game that seemed groundbreaking at the time, being a single-player experience that would familiarize its players with the world of the MMO at that time known as Project Copernicus. The story of Project Copernicus and its developers, 38 Studios, would fill books. Its failure left Kingdoms of Amalur in a weird spot: An MMO-ish single player RPG set in an MMO world that would never exist. While playing KoA, it’s easy to imagine other people crafting at the quest hubs, teaming up for the dungeons, and bringing the world to life. As a single player game, it plays like an MMO just after the servers come up. ...

Recipe screen I’ve really been impressed with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’s crafting. The whole game has actually impressed me more than I thought it would, so good job, Big Huge Games, 38 Studios and Electronic Arts. There’s a couple kinds of crafting common to RPGs; one is where there are fixed recipes and the same item is produced every time – EverQuest, World of Warcraft and Skyrim share this model. This turns crafting into a commodity. In MMOs that use this model, there’s no particular reason to go to any specific crafter to get something made. If they have the skill, they can give you the item, identical to that produced by anyone else. ...

EA released a day 1 DLC (downloadable content) pack for their Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – the Weapon and Armor Bundle. In it are unique weapon sets with cool looks and powerful effects. The video above from Gamer King Tarheel shows them off well. So is this stuff going to change your life if you buy it? Put the game in easy mode? Well, since you can already set the game to easy mode, you probably don’t need to spend $5.00 to trivialize the game. Which is good, because these sets are only appropriate for the level in which you get them. If you buy them at level 1, this will be fantastic level 1 gear for you, but you’ll pack it away in a few levels. ...

Your basic fighter/rogue I really have come to appreciate Reckoning’s adaptability. I started out as a pure fighter-type, all my points into Might. This gave me fantastic scores in blocking and swordfighting, eventually making me a master of the greatsword. This was all very cool stuff. The armor looked amazing. My ranged skills were sub-par, though, even though I gave up the chakrams for a bow. I really would rather play a stealthy type. ...