Top 10 Things You Need To Know About Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Kingdoms of Amalur!

Looking for a good action RPG? Well, allow us to introduce - or reintroduce - “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning”, a game released in 2012 that’s been recently remastered Kaiko (the studio behind the “Darksiders” remasters) and published by THQ Nordic. Got any tips for new players or any interesting tidbits about development? Be sure to share with us in the comments below!

In case you have never heard of “Kingdoms of Amalur”, it was an action RPG originally published by Electronic Arts before THQ Nordic purchased the rights in 2018. In it, the player takes the role of a mortal who is mistaken to be dead before awakening in the Well of Souls. Filled with mystery, romance, and humor aplenty, the game captured the spirit of adventure, and fans were craving more. Unfortunately, there was never a sequel due to low sales, which is rather a shock given the solid review scores earned and some key people who worked on the game. Developer 38 Studios unfortunately shutdown a few months after launch.

“Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” isn’t your average RPG - there are some really notable people who helped make the game a reality! Those familiar with video game composers may quickly recognize the musical style of Grant Kirkhope upon starting the game. Ken Rolston, who served as lead designer for “The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind” and “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion”, took the role of executive design director. Fantasy and science-fiction novelist R. A. Salvatore is responsible for the game’s lore and world. The gorgeous artstyle, on the other hand, comes from none other than Todd McFarlane, who is better known as the creator of “Spawn”. You could say this was the game’s dream team!

Much of the enjoyment players get from RPGs is through character creation. What better way to create your original character or even go so far as to try and put yourself in the game? “Kingdoms of Amalur” may not have customization as deep in cosmetics as other games, but it still offers plenty of choices in terms of your character’s story, background, and combat abilities. Each time you level up, you’ll be able to spend points to acquire new skills, abilities, and Destinies - Destinies essentially serving as character classes. Invest enough points in certain areas, and you may even be able to go multi-class later in the game!

Like several other remasters and remakes, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning” includes all of the downloadable content released during post-launch of the original game. “The Legend of Dad Kel” came with a whole new region with a plethora of quests to take on as well as new enemies and dungeon types. Along with a new region, “Teeth of Naros” introduced the Kollossae race in addition to new weapons and armor. Speaking of which, yes, “Re-Reckoning” even includes that amazing “Mass Effect” armor. So, yeah, you have quite a bit of game to get through before you can say you’ve fully completed “Kingdoms of Amalur”!

Of course, with older games making their way to modern platforms comes the expectation of enjoying them with modern benefits. During our time with it, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning” ran at a consistent framerate on PS4 Pro, running at sixty frames per second. For the time being, however, Xbox One X supports the game at 4K resolution with PS4 Pro getting this upgrade at a later date (at the time of recording, it only sits at 1440p, but like we said, improvements are incoming). Even so, the game features tons of scenery that is a marvel to look at even at thirty frames per second.

If you’re the type who likes to see more of the game and less of the HUD, you might take a liking to the various options offered in “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning”. For starters, the HUD is a little more customizable, allowing players to keep it on, shrink its size, or remove it from the screen entirely. Sprinting is also adjustable and lets players choose to hold a button, press it once, or hold down one of the analogs. Even the camera settings are flexible enough with a field of view and auto-follow setting.

Over the past decade, the modding community has expanded exponentially in the PC market, and THQ Nordic is aware of this. For the time being, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning” can be modded, but it’s a little difficult for users to access the files. THQ Nordic is aware of this, thankfully. According to the company’s FAQ on the game, the original game was developed in a way that made modding incredibly difficult. While they may not be able to add official modding tools, the company has said they will be working on ways to make files easier to access. You haven’t been forgotten, modders!

It can be frustrating when RPGs continuously hand you armor, weapons, and other forms of equipment that have absolutely nothing to do with your character build. Luckily, “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning” is not like most RPGs and has implemented a method to make your adventures more rewarding. Thanks to a new loot generation system, the game will often reward you with items that are tailored more towards your current skill set. For example, our editor has invested more points into Finesse with a few in Might. So, the rewards he’s been receiving have mostly been daggers and faeblades with an occasional longsword or hammer. Yeah, you won’t have to worry about being overwhelmed with junk often.

With more than a hundred hours worth of content and a hearty amount of DLC to boot, one might think “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning” would take up a good amount of space. On the contrary, the game is relatively small compared to most RPGs, clocking in at around thirty gigabytes. That’s just for one playthrough, too! If you’re curious about playing through some of the other classes, you are looking at hundreds upon hundreds of hours of playtime. In other words, you are getting quite a bit of content for forty bucks! And there’s more to come…

You heard the last entry right - there’s more to come in “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning”. The game will be getting a brand new expansion in 2021 called Fatesworn, and those who own a copy of the game’s Fate Edition will get the expansion at no additional cost. Not much is known about Fatesworn, but given the contents of the original game’s DLC, we could be getting additional races, a whole new region to explore, and so much more. THQ Nordic clearly sees the potential in “Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning”, and we can’t wait to see how this once great game could evolve into the next big gaming franchise!