Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning was always a fantastic open-world fantasy RPG. Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning builds upon the game in an excellent remaster. With tons of new content and updated graphical capabilities, that makes Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning one of the very best open-world RPG’s.
A Stunning Remaster
The Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is absolutely stunning; from the lush forests to the craggiest mountains, the game is breathtaking on the new consoles, especially next-gen. I played the game on Xbox Series S, and the game blew me away on next-gen systems. Having played the original Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning on the Xbox 360, the differences in graphical fidelity stood out.
The open-world game looks breathtaking and shows off the excellent art style Kingdom’s of Amalur is known for. Surprisingly, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning also uses the quick resume functionality, harnessing the next-gen consoles’ power. Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning uses this quick resume functionality to launch you back into a previous save immediately. Regardless if you have switched games in the meantime. The use of the feature surprised me but greatly improved the pacing of the game. It allowed me to jump back into the game almost instantly. But that’s not to say the pacing of the game was initially bad; it was not.
Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning has excellent pacing and perhaps has one of the best pacings within the open-world RPG genre. From completing a story mission to completing several side missions, each task is well-paced with quick and rewarding completion—the story missions and DLC, like before, offer considerable depth and lore to the Amalur universe.
A Universe Steeped in Lore
Likewise, the side missions are also full of folklore and depth, fleshing out the world. They are also exciting and engaging, making you feel like a monster-slaying adventurer discovering new secrets and lands previously undiscovered. A personal favourite was an expedition to the teeth of Nagros as part of the games DLC, a land once forgotten by the creatures of Amalur. What went from a casual outing quickly turned into a monster-slaying story involving ancient gods. Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning’s missions are standouts from a storying telling perspective but are also rewarding.
The game rewards the player for their effort in a fun and challenging way. Like its remastered counterpart, the game offers multiple difficulty levels. It throws you straight into the action. You can complete side missions and explore the world without even having to tackle much of the main story. Allowing you to gain great loot whenever you choose too. Thus, the game opens up the world of Amalur for you to explore at your leisure. Ultimately, this makes the game stand out, making the whole experience fun but challenging due to having limited restrictions.
Furthermore, much like its predecessor, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning has superb gameplay. From combat to exploring the many towns and villages, everything feels fluid and natural. The action itself is exceptional, just like its remastered predecessor with classic RPG combat mechanics, skill trees and class types. Likewise, the addition of quick-time events, when you activate your unique ability, is, as before, brilliant. Making you feel like a monster-slaying machine. Thus, from a gameplay perspective, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is one of the best open-world RPG’s out there.
Furthermore, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is chock full of content, from the expansive story and DLC to the several hours of extra content the game provides as part of this remaster, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning has considerable replayability. From a content standpoint alone, the game is more than worth picking up.
Annoying Dialogue and Poor HUD
Now it is worth mentioning on a more negative note. The mini-map still isn’t that great. Although I eventually found my way to my points of interest, the mini-map is unclear and should have been improved. I often found it difficult to successfully locate a specific store due to the mini-maps lack of clarity. Likewise, I also found issues with the games dialogue choices and rather annoying repetition of dialogue from NPC’s. Although an issue amongst many open-world RPG’s, it would have been nice if this remaster could have improved the NPC’s dialogue or perhaps stopped the constant repetition. Nevertheless, these are small nitpicks for an otherwise outstanding game.
Verdict
Overall, Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning is an excellent remaster of an already great open-world RPG. The game takes everything we love about the previous remastered game, making it look fresh with updated graphics and extra content to create an outstanding remaster. If you are a Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning fan or a fan of open-world RPG’s, pick up this game.
