Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Preview

A new hands-on preview for 38 Studios’ upcoming open-world action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning comes our way via IGN, which thinks it’s the RPG for “RPG nerds”. I wouldn’t call a game with combat that is clearly inspired by titles like God of War quite that way, but here’s a brief snippet to make you understand just why they say that:

While I was left utterly impressed by the plot, setting and characters, I was equally impressed by the give-and-take between these various factors and how they all fit in with one another. Like Fallout and Mass Effect, there’s an emphasis on choice in Reckoning. But when I spoke with Benjamin Smith, a producer at EA, about Reckoning’s choice system, he assured me that it wasn’t quite as punishing as what you’d find in, say, Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas. Choices may direct you into different conversation branches and give the game a fresh feeling, but making the wrong choice won’t cut out a piece of content for you like Fallout 3 and New Vegas so infamously did. Likewise, the game’s persuasion system may net you different rewards in a side quest or more experience points for completing a task but won’t lock you out of finding or completing any task in the game.

Reckoning’s leveling and equipment systems are worth raving about as well. As Smith told me in so many words, it sucks starting an RPG as a certain class only to find out a couple of hours in that you’re bored. Kingdoms of Amalur lets you out of this classic RPG bind by allowing you to pivot from class to class by way of a card-like system that never binds you to one class and one class only. An amalgam of classes can be concocted by specializing in whatever you’d like whenever you’d like, unlocking skills, perks and statistical bonuses that contribute to your character’s overall feel. In other words, you don’t have to be a warrior that only wields his sword and shield and acts as a sort of tank. That warrior can also use magic if you want to dedicate the time necessary to build up those skills in him, and better yet, he can be a totally competent spellcaster, not just a warrior that can use some low level magic.

Likewise, the equipment and item system is robust. Encumbrance is dealt with in terms of slots, which can be expanded by purchasing new backpacks and other items that let you hold more gear. Reckoning’s primary and secondary weapon slots allow you to equip two totally different types of weapons, such as a sword and a bow or a hammer and a staff. Items can be mapped to the directional pad for quick-use, and Reckoning places a heavy emphasis on item crafting, utilizing skills such as alchemy, blacksmithing and something called sagecraft.