Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Besides my PS Vita, the latest and greatest game that I've been playing is Kingdoms of Amalur.  When I first read about this title I imagined that it would be just another Skryim knock-off and not worth my time.  I was wrong.

Boggart

I later learned that the character design was done by the great Todd Macfarlane, creator of Spawn.  That alone was enough to draw me to the game, but the story was also written by my favorite author, RA Salvatore.  After I knew both of those facts, I was freaking sold.  Before I knew it I was immersed in a brand new fantasy world with fantastic creatures and new exciting visuals.

No longer was I limited to realistic scenery like in Skyrim, the design leans more towards WoW and has a semi-cartoon feel to it.  Many point that out as a flaw, but I call it blessing.  We have too many games that are looking towards real-life as inspiration.  I say screw it and go for the wackiest shit you can come up with; we play video games to escape, how can we escape if we create our world within the game?

Comparing the game to the current RPG king, Elder Scrolls V, is difficult but can be done...and overall Skyrim is definitely a more well-designed game as far as the mechanics are concerned.  KoA has less customization for your character and the combat trees are pretty limited.  Sure there are three different ones to work with and you can combine any of the skills you want, but all of them are pretty lackluster after you beat the game a few times.  The crafting is sub-par, but can be fun and makes for some easy achievements.

My number one complaint with the game is that it all comes down to button mashing.  Now I love button mashing as much as the next person, but that's all the fights amount to if you're not on the hardest difficulty; and there it's all button mashing save for the occasional potion drink.  I found myself beating the living crap out of every single monster every time I saw one.  I couldn't walk 30 feet before I had to fight the next stupid wolf or sprite, and the battles were never particularly rewarding.  The good loot was very scarce.



Niskaru

 Even though I'm harping on the game quite a bit, I still enjoy playing it.  I'm on my third run now and the environments still feel fresh.  Along with a story that I can really get into, the character and environment design gives a really good game experience.  No longer are you fighting Draugr or skeletons or goblins for the 700th time.  Instead, you're given a chance to look at some really crazy creatures like the Niskaru or simplistic, yet fanciful creatures like the Boggarts.  This is what this game all comes down to for me: a good, fantastic world.  I'll take that over a snowy mountain any day.