Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning delivers exactly what it promises: an awesome fantasy RPG, with visceral, intuitive gameplay that is easy to pick up, wildly flexible and just plain fun, in a way that had previously not been seen in the genre. Many people compare it to action games, but it's really more like an updated 3D variation of a Seiken Densetsu / Secret of Mana game. it's an action RPG with exploration, but no real platforming elements, such as no jumping. Lots of neat weapons skills, talents, spells, and combat styles to try out, and a big loot system on top of it that the Mana series only wished it had.

{A General note. I pre-ordered this game when it first came out and thus played it on Origin, where I still have a copy owned. I have three full playthroughs there each with over 130+ hours played, and one has mastercrafted equipment that made me literally invincible [unless I was afflicted with Bleed status]. And a forth playthrough done "fast" with over seventy hours on it. So my time played stats here on steam should be added to those for Origin playtime of an additional 450+ hours.}


SETTING

The world is accessible and vast, offering genre fans plenty to sink their teeth into. One gets the sense that they are watching an entire world unfold before them, one rich with history and lore and life. Amalur opens itself up to the player in a way that is both familiar and refreshing, then empowers the player to do incredible things.

It is important to note that much of the setting lore is in books and scrolls found along the way in the various nooks and crannies of the game world, and discerned from NPC conversations, rather than thrown at you in raw exposition, except for a few areas early on, during, and near the end of the main plot line.

It's basically optional, and people who prefer to play it as an action game can sort of do that, which is where all the "Bland" complaints come from, I think.

I'm really big into exploration and character immersion, and since much of your character is a blank slate at the start, it's easy to create a persona and stick to it in your mind, similar to the style of silent protagonists in the JRPGS of old. Your characters gets no voice and you choose his/her lines as you play, precisely so you can decide which of the options fits your character best, and the game deas a pretty decent job of allowing one to express personality, even if only to rarely alter major outcomes. [But there are a few surprising places where you can indeed make some pretty big or even downright horrible decisions and major setting consequences, but none of them block the mian plot line, just alter the outcome of that particular subplot.]


GAMEPLAY

Amalur looks, plays, and feels like a Secret of Mana / Seiken Densetsu game loaded with combos, super powers, and general badass attitude. Usability and player satisfaction were clearly at the heart of the vision for this game, and it shows. Even without a proper targeting system, your avatar quickly shifts between multiple enemies, flinging all sorts of death dealing nastiness around the battlefield. You never feel weak or hindered in combat. Enemies fall to your reaping as you deal a hurricane of destruction, be you an acrobatic Dervish, stoic solid Warrior, or serene Mage.


CHARACTER PROGRESSION

The flexibility of the system is truly remarkable. You have access to three talent trees based on your standard warrior, rogue, and mage archetypes, and you assign talent points provided you meet the requirement for each allocation. This allows you to make a straight mage, a fast archer or stealthy stabber, a rough brawler, or any combination in between. The developers even encourage these types of cross-class creations, as statistical bonuses for your potential Hybrid Death-Dealer have already been planned out. Trust me, you can play Amalur any way you want. Better still, re-specing your hero requires only a small investment that is a chunk of resources early on in the game, but gets easier to bear (despite it's escalating cost) as you level up and gather more cash.


EQUIPMENT & CRAFTING

Then there's the loot. Sweet Lord, is there a lot of loot! Reckoning plays quite similar to Diablo in many ways. You can scour the countryside and find a staff that easily outclasses your current weapon of choice. Maybe you find a turban that gives a massive boost to your mana pool, or perhaps a shield with a substantial bonus to your health regeneration. The character progression and loot acquisition is enough to keep you playing, and that's something I can't really say about a lot of games out there today. In essence, Amalur serves the purpose of providing you with ways to make your virtual death machine as powerful as possible.


COMBAT

Mechanically, Reckoning stands above most current RPG releases in interface and reliability. As mentioned above it's much more similar to a real time spectacle action game with strong RPG elements in a manner similar to the Seiken Densetsu / Secret of Mana game series from Squaresoft, rather than a western free roam or a standard JRPG or ARPG. Add in all the build complexity of character development, random loot, and legendary hand-placed items and self made crafted items, and the amount of flexibility offered is on a very high level.


USER INTERFACE

The menus may appear dull to some eyes, but they are easily read and quickly accessed. A junk button for loot allows you to quickly sift through armaments without any hassle, and this needs to be standard in every game, period!

The PC version isn't exactly optimized for the mouse and keyboard format however. I suggest using a controller if you have one because Reckoning was clearly designed for the consoles. Still, the game looks remarkably better even on a modest machine. Seeing the world run at 60 FPS certainly helps with the slightly cartoony graphics.

38 Studios and Big Huge Games have created a world worth saving, and they have given us some pretty damn cool tools with which to get the job done.

[Updating my review, edited for clarity.]