Much has been said about Kingdoms Of Amalurs 10,000-year backstory, concocted by fantasy author RA Salvatore to act as a springboard for 38 Studios future projects. The result of all his efforts is that the world of Amalur comes steeped in lore, with NPCs spouting out a wikis worth of info for even the most innocuous kill x rats task. Its certainly as comprehensive as any virtual history in recent memory, and yet arrives in a game intent on cutting through the RPG fat, presenting a more accessible take on the open-world RPG. How do you present an unforgiving fiction in a forgiving world?
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Of course, lowering the barriers to entry can also negate the gratification felt from the obstacles you overcome. Ranged combat, for example, employs an auto-aim that removes all the skill from the player. So while bows and projectile-spewing staves work well enough as secondary support to a stabbing implement, they are deeply unsatisfying in themselves. It doesnt help that target switching is mapped to the right analogue stick, which is nigh-on impossible to reach in tandem with the face buttons. In a way, Reckoning reverses Skyrims dilemma: where the firstperson perspective struggles to mesh well with hand-to-hand duels, it is the true home of projectiles.
Reckoning never quite balances accessibility with the depth expected from an RPG either. Systems are present and correct smithing, alchemy, sagecrafting (think: Elder Scrolls soul gems) but are streamlined into neat little asides. There are too few collectible components to sell these crafts as organic parts of the Amalurian ecosystem. Where Skyrims alchemists have to root around in the countryside in search of mystic barks, their counterparts in Amalur need only walk up to shiny pick-ups dotting the world. This is roleplaying for a thunderously dull imagination.