Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

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Leisher
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Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

Post by Leisher »

Got this in a Humble Bundle and it contains all the DLC. Holy content Batman. I haven't seen this much stuff in a game since Witcher 3. How much stuff is there? I had beaten the main game, all three DLCs, finished all but two quests (one failed early in the game due to something making it impossible to finish and one later due to a bug, but they were both side quests) and I still had 17 chaos portals I could close. Each involved closing 3-5 exterior rifts and then completing a dungeon for each one. Additionally was a moving arena where I could get into different rounds of massive fights for loot. The problem is that at that point I was invincible and everything was just a slog. I just couldn't keep going for just two additional achievements. Think of it like not continuing to play BL2 to find and beat each of those hidden legendary bosses.

The main game is an action RPG where you are in the role of the Fateless One. A person whose mere existence is defying fate due to your resurrection. You don't know who you are, but you do know that you have been put on a path of restoring this land that is currently under constant attack by the Tuatha. Those same Tuatha really want you dead.

The lore is deep. Sometimes too deep and it seems a bit convoluted, but the core story is pretty solid.

Choose the way you want to play: Warrior, Rogue, or Sorcerer. Craft/repair weapons, armor, potions, gems, etc. or just buy it all. Be as evil as you want or a paragon of virtue. If you change your mind initially, mid game, or even late game, you can completely change your style and move all your skill points around. There are also factions (three) who each have a story line for you to complete. There's also house building in various areas that doesn't get too deep with the exception of one of the DLCs. There are also "Tasks" that are never ending quests where doing what is required simply resets the task.

So fucking much to do it's insane. I have 300 hours of play time in this thing. Granted some of those hours are just me leaving the game running while I ate, worked, watched YouTube, etc. but still, I cannot overstate how much game play is in this package.

The world is massive, but thankfully, they have a quick travel feature so you're not constantly running around. It's a hell of a time saver.

Does it get repetitive? Sure, but the fighting is fun. There's some pretty cool features added in that allow you to activate some cinematic kills, but save them for baddies worth a lot of XP because you mash spacebar, mouse 1, mouse 2 depending on an on screen prompt to get bonus XP for those.

There are some memorable characters too. My favorite was a blundering ship captain who makes it quite clear that you're her boo and she's going to fuck you a lot.

The first DLC has you in a land of giants. It's basically the same as the main game. The second DLC has you going to a pirate island and it's the most interesting of the DLC. My biggest complaint here is that the quick travel doesn't work to/from the island, BUT you do get to talk to Captain Horny each time, so that's cool. The third DLC is Fatesworn and it's more of the same, but with a very annoying mechanic of new weapon types being needed for "chaos" infused baddies. This is the least popular of the DLCs. I'm thinking because it's a lot of long fetch quests and by the time you play it, you're basically unstoppable.

A game this large and with so much stuff packed into it will have bugs. They're not horrible, and a lot of them were patched out, but the biggest bug will come from your inventory. Many items move into your limited inventory and never leave. You, literally, cannot remove them in any way. Other items show up where you accepted a task or not. Some appear due to bugs. The only time the game ever crashed for me was when I was selling items AFTER my inventory had gotten insanely large. It was so big and full of bugs that late game I couldn't even scroll all the way down while at a vendor. Everything was still accessible though, so that never becomes an issue.

I had never even heard of this game until playing it, but I genuinely enjoyed it and would recommend to any heavy RPG fans. You will get your money's worth and then some...and then some more...

A sequel may be in the works. I really hope they improve upon things like the housing, the economy (I was RICH by midgame, but as a completionist, I usually am in games), and make character interactions a bit more intelligent based on what's happened in the story. You see hints of it here and there, but it was usually limited to certain characters. For example: One city guard was usually rude to me, but after finishing a certain faction storyline he started being much nicer, while other guards maintained their normal treatment like I was some nobody. When you've saved an entire land, basically taken control of all factions, and so on, people are going to know who you are, so they should act like it.

Great game with tons upon tons of things to do, a solid yet convoluted (thanks to factions) story, some memorable moments, decent action, and some non-game breaking bugs mainly in the inventory.

UPDATE: Was just reading that the studio that made this was founded by Curt Schilling, yes the MLB pitcher.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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