It’s time for another Retro Ad Replay article, this time focusing on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as it’s been 10 years since its release date! This is the series where we head backward in time to reminisce and celebrate the anniversary of some of the most significant moments in gaming. If you find yourself wanting more content like this, be sure to visit Mandatory.com.
In this February 7 edition of Retro Ad Replay, we’re heading back 10 years in time to when Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning first launched on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. That’s February 7, 2012. Of course, this RPG eventually received a remaster in the form of the “Re-Reckoning,” which is available on most modern platforms.
GameRevolution awarded the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning an 8/10 in our review, praising the “well-written dialogue by R. A. Salvatore,” “The House of Sorrows”, “strong voice-work,” “strong hybrid of combat and exploration,” “lush, vivid environments,” “60+ hours of content,” and “complementary skill system.”
KINGDOMS OF AMALUR: RECKONING is a restless buffet of fantasy RPGs: a healthy serving of WORLD OF WARCRAFT’s graphics, a scoop of FABLE III’s continuous world, a hearty slab of GOD OF WAR’s combat, a sprinkle of DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS’s loot system, a slice of skills from THE ELDER SCROLLS: OBLIVION, and bits and pieces from every other title in the genre. By the time you finish surveying the game’s tutorial dungeon, you’ll be crammed with a magnificent mishmash of ideas. RECKONING, like most buffets, aims to surprise you with its sheer size of options rather than its sophistication, and though it may not be as original as you might expect from an “original IP”, you will most certainly be full.
…
[This game] is a taste of what happens when a developer decides to contend with nearly every good fantasy RPG idea. It’s an astoundingly extensive—and foolhardy—task for an original IP, whose largest mistake is not that it’s unpolished in spots, but that it, of little fault of its own, comes only a few months after THE ELDER SCROLLS: SKYRIM. Knowing this well ahead of time likely propelled 38 Studio and Big Huge Games toward a cel-shaded, casual, jack-of-all-trades design, but all things considered, RECKONING carries enough momentum to sustain its lengthy journey and sweeping world. It will not change the way you think about fantasy RPGs, but it certainly fits right in.
Check out the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning launch trailer below:
