Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning... almost
Marc Kusnierz | Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 4:06PM 
I really like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. A lot. I like it more than I ever would have expected. I like it, but I don't love it. Reckoning has great combat for all classes and is absolutely beautiful, with color and vibrancy reminiscent of the recent Trine 2 [my review]. The leveling/experience system is well thought out, easy to use, and encourages experimentation with easy access to respecing. The story is interesting and the voice acting is great, much better than the often-compared-to Skyrim. There is a lot to love in Reckoning, but it fails at building character and personality, making me care about the story, or satisfying my desire for unique loot, all of which leave me only liking a game I could have easily loved.
More so than anything else, the lack of character and personality keeps Reckoning from reaching "of all-time" greatness. If the gameplay and visuals of Reckoning were mixed with the story and world (story) of Dragon Age, I'd be in heaven despite not believing in heaven. So many characters in Reckoning lack a personality and even the few who are interesting only stick around for a short time or aren't fleshed out to a satisfying degree. There are characters I've met and wanted to know better—much, much better— but the game never gave me a chance and it wouldn't matter since my character is an emotionless mute who is litter more than a pretty mannequin.
Julius Styles - Julius Styles: The International
Marc Kusnierz | Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 4:44AM 
