In recent years, THQ Nordic has taken on the role of a necromancer in the gaming industry. Having got her hands on many franchises that were small, but still popular, she began to revive them by funding the creation of remasters, and sometimes sequels ( Darksiders III , Spellforce III, and so on). True, the quality of re-releases and sequels does not always correspond to the wishes of the fans. Today we’ll talk about Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning .
It’s no secret that Kingdoms of Amalur was originally conceived as an MMORPG, but at some point the development was turned in the other direction, leaving plans to go into an MMO for later. The attention to the game should have been attracted, among other things, by big names: Todd McFarlane – the father of ” Spawn “, Robert Salvatore – one of the most famous authors of books on the Forgotten Realms universe , as well as Ken Rolston – the developer of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion… It would seem an ideal squad to create a masterpiece in the genre, but the problem is that the team had to redo an already semi-finished MMO instead of producing a new RPG from scratch. As a result, the game evoked associations with World of Warcraft and had a bunch of monotonous quests in the spirit of “kill, bring”. Why, even the main storyline is sinning with tasks in the spirit of “activate 3 stones located a kilometer apart on the map.”
However, in all other respects the game was already different from standard RPGs. For example, there is no choice of class, the choice is given to “Fates”, which open with a certain amount of spent skills on one of the three branches – Strength, Magic and Dexterity. “Destinies” are similar to subclasses, but there are a large number of them, and some of them are class hybrids, while others do not belong to any of the branches at all and provide other advantages. Plus, the player is free to switch them almost at any time, thereby adapting to the desired situation and with the right equipment.
Another notable departure from genre standards was the combat system, which the developers described as a mixture of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and God of War models . By pumping one of the branches, the player can open new combinations for the corresponding weapon – just like in slashers. Even the camera is always trying to take a wide view here. The key word is “trying”, because from time to time she either flies in the wrong place, or runs into a wall.
In words, the combat system may sound interesting, and it would be so, in fact, if not for its unpretentiousness and slowness. The speed of performing such simple things as a roll or even a teleport takes too long – sometimes an enemy from a hundred meters will have time to shoot an arrow and hit before the hero dodges. The first frustrations the player begins to experience with a more or less decent number of enemies. The fact is that each blow to the character knocks down the animation, and after falling under a hail of such blows from the opponents, there is every chance to go straight to the nearest save without making a single successful attack on opponents.
Unfortunately, enemies always react to our attacks in different ways, which is why we often have to jump across the battlefield than actually beat opponents, especially in battles with strong enemies. In big battles, the situation is sometimes saved by partners and other allies, but they themselves practically do not cause damage, mainly acting as an immortal shield, although they can be knocked out for a while. But even with all this, the battles can be called the best part of the game, they can be exciting and allow you to wield many abilities and a large arsenal of weapons, including such exotic as chakrams.
The world of Amalur itself is slightly different from typical fantasy. Although there is an ordinary set of races, consisting of elves, humans, gnomes, and so on, they are all divided along one more feature: the ability to be reborn. On this, in fact, the entire plot conflict is built: one of the sects of the fairies – Tuatha – immortal creatures, decides to destroy all mortals once and for all.
Mortals, not knowing how to resist an army that does not bear losses, try to look for alternative ways to win. One of them is the Well of Souls, with the help of which the dwarf scientists are trying to return the soul to an already dead body. After numerous attempts, they succeed in a completely random, as they think, way, and so the main character or heroine is born – a creature that is not affected by the fate prescribed to every mortal, and he can change it by his will. In the course of the development of the story, the protagonist learns his background (after death he has amnesia) and will figure out why the Tuatha sect really decided to attack the mortal kingdom.
The Amalur universe seems really interesting, but there is one significant drawback – in the game it came out incredibly dry. The story could be epic, but in reality it is presented very faded. The characters are not remembered, the plot twists, although not bad, are not surprising, and the world of the game is revealed through conversations with random passers-by who simply give out information like information machines. There is even a dialog box like in the Mass Effect series , though absolutely goofy, because there is really no choice.
The general conclusion on the game is the missed potential. Unpleasant little things and shortcomings did not give Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning a large circulation in its time and gain the desired popularity. After the premiere of the original, the authors planned to take on the MMO, but their plans collapsed as 38 Studios and Big Huge Games, responsible for development, were forced to close. Last year, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning resurrected THQ Nordic by releasing a re-release along with all the add-ons in one bundle.
Graphically, the game has changed slightly. In Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, we slightly tweaked the lighting, made the textures clearer and … that’s all. On consoles, the game runs at 60 frames per second at 4K resolution on the Xbox One X and 1440p on the PlayStation 4 Pro .
Up to eight abilities can now be used on the controller, up to four in the original. The creators of the reissue also made changes to the difficulty system.
In the original, the level of opponents was adjusted to the hero when he first entered a new zone, because of which the player, returning to previously visited locations, felt too strong. Now, the levels of enemies depend on the set difficulty and change every time the protagonist moves to another zone.
True, this does not mean that the hero, returning to the beginning of the game, will suddenly receive strong resistance – the locations still have maximum level indicators, it is just that now everything is better balanced. Well, if even in this case Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning seems too easy to the player, you can choose the new difficulty Very Hard, which will become a real test, thanks to the increased requirements for levels and more active opponents.
The developers also changed the equipment drop system in chests. Now it is not only generated upon opening, but also specially adjusted to the player’s current skill set.
All these changes do not constitute a serious reason for the re-release of a not very popular game, so THQ Nordic has also prepared a completely new addition – Fatesworn . It will continue the story, promises 5 hours of content and will be released in 2021. Perhaps the full-fledged continuation of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will depend on the success of the re-release and addition.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning hasn’t gotten away with its biggest flaws, but if you choose to explore the extraordinary world of Amalur, the remaster offers the most comfortable pass to date anyway. On March 16, 2021, the Nintendo Switch version will premiere.
