Setting and Writing:
Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning places you in the world of Amalur as the Fateless One. A customizable character brought back to life in a world of people and creatures whose fates are already known and written. But as the fateless one you are not bound to your destiny. With this strange condition you are thrust into a war with a faction called the Tuatha. The Tuatha are a hostile sect of Fae who worship the god Tirnoch and threaten to take over the world. With your given freedom, you are seen as a weapon. Unbound by destiny, able to lead the charge to take down the Tuatha. Amalur itself is a melting pot of races with their own views and morals. From the Fae of the Summer and Winter court who represent life and death respectively. To the Gnomes that continue to be at the forefront of technology and science. Then others such as human and dokklafar who are sprinkled throughout the world. As the Fateless One you will travel through varied lands building up your contacts to take down the Tuatha. Everything from humble farm towns to bustling cities will be logged in your travel book. Big Huge Game/Kaiko knew how to make a high fantasy world. All the ingredients are there during the journey. Helping the weak, political intrigue, a sprinkle of betrayal and voila --- high fantasy story.

Gameplay system & Bosses:
Gameplay in Kingdoms of Amalur is probably one of its strongest suits. Even though it gets repetitive, it is highly diverse. Skill trees are broken down into fighter, rogue and mage. On level-up you gain points to throw into the skill trees that allow you to dive deep into a specific class. Or grab from various trees to mix and match your gameplay experience. There are numerous weapon types in this game that you can choose from. You can have two equipped at any given moment and switch between in the flow of combat. These weapons are typical such as a long/greatsword, Hammer, Daggers, bow, staff and wands. Then you have the unconventional weapons of this world. Chakrams and faeblades are weapons that offer a unique playstyle. There is a lot of mix and match available. Thankfully the developers are well aware of the charcuterie board of options they give you. Character respec is available and encouraged simply off the length of the game alone. Want to dive into being a warrior-mage sure. Done with that and want to wield daggers and a chakram (like me)? Respec and distribute those points into rogue and mage. And so on and so forth. This is outside of putting points in RPG classics such as persuasion skills, lockpicking, blacksmithing, etc. For a game developed back in 2012, there was a lot of agency given to the player to build and play that should have been more commended.

Quest, Mini-games & Challenges:
Maybe to its detriment, this game is filled to the brim with quest, side quest, faction missions, and task. That’s all the categories. Quests are your mainline narrative. Side quest helps flesh out the world and regions you’re in. They don’t grant you much outside of experience, gold, and mediocre equipment. Side quests are probably my biggest gripe because I felt as though I wasn’t rewarded enough. I’m thankful that the side quest were, more often than not, interesting. But if you’re going to have my running back and forth through this world where fast travel only works in specific instances (EVERYTHING IS FOOT TRAVEL!!!!!), please give me more for the journey. Faction quest like guild quest in games like Elder Scrolls have you embark on diet quest. The player is given small stories that stretch a portion of the game that see you help the faction through their problems. In the end the player is rewarded with entry into the faction, but more importantly, Arcana cards. Task are the lowest priority of mission that serve as fetch quest for the most part that span the entirety of the game

Miscellaneous (art, music, etc.):
It’s a 360 ass 360 game. So character models aren’t doing anything unique and special by today’s standard. But by yesteryear, this was some good stuff. The landscapes are varied between lush jungles, sprawling cities, barren desserts and ancient caves. Sometimes assets are reused, but for the sheer scope of this game, its understandable. The musical score is classic high fantasy but nothing worthy of note to me