Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Review in Progress

Welcome back, RPG nerds. It's time for the second update to IGN's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review-in-progress. Last week, I told you a bit about my first impressions of the game. This time, I'm going to delve a bit more into specifics. Even though my work week ended up being far crazier than expected and I didn't get to spend the outrageous amount of time with Reckoning I had initially intended, I still got further into the game, got a better feel for everything, and have much, much more to say.

Most importantly, though, I delved into the reader comments (of which there were nearly 1,200 at the time I wrote this) and pulled out 15 questions to answer. You'll find those following my updated thoughts of my time with Reckoning below. I will again delve into the comments next week, so be sure to keep leaving questions. I'll do my best to pick out the most pertinent ones to answer.

Speaking of next week, there was some confusion in the comments about the update schedule on this review-in-progress, so allow me to fill you in on that. This is the second of three updates, which will ultimately culminate with my final verdict in our full review. You can look for the third and final update -- which may very well be the most robust one of all -- during the afternoon of Friday, January 27th. The final review goes up Friday, February 3rd.

Now that I've set everything up, though, let's get into the nitty-gritty and talk some more about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Note: To quickly navigate to the first update of this review-in-progress, head to page 5 in the bar at the bottom of the page, or click here. To quickly navigate directly to the reader Q&A;, head to page 3 in the bar at the bottom of the page, or click here.

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As I browsed the notes I've been taking as I play Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, what immediately struck me was how many positive comments I jotted down. Most of what I've seen and done in Reckoning so far I've enjoyed thoroughly (even though I still feel like I've barely gotten anywhere in the greater context of the sheer size of the game). In short, I'm becoming more and more confident that RPG fans looking for something deep, immersive and satisfying will be very pleased with Reckoning.

I find myself in awe as I explore the world, and I've barely seen some of it yet, nonetheless all of it. The Faelands is huge, but its layout somewhat tempers the gigantic nature of the map. Unlike the Capital Wasteland in Fallout 3, Reckoning doesn't tote one huge, wide open space. Rather, it consists of smaller sections that are very specifically interconnected.

The Cradle of Summer, for instance, is surrounded by mountains on all sides except for the path that leads to the Forsaken Plain to its east, a more wide-open area with water hugging it to the north. Accessing the areas around it requires you to follow roads to The Wolds and Tala-Rane to the south, or navigate around more mountains and follow the water as you walk further east to Galafor. Like Fallout or Skyrim, discovered points of interest that you can fast-travel to litter the map, but exploring feels decidedly different. It's just as non-linear as the Bethesda greats, but at the same time, it feels more focused.

Exploring these maps, of course, brings you across all sorts of interesting things, whether it be a town, a dungeon, a building or a person. This, in turn, gives you innumerable options, as you'll find your quest menu drowning in side quests, tasks and more. It's actually overwhelming because of the sheer density of the story. Following every character, location and name thrown at you in this fictional world will be difficult to do for just about anyone, but for those that love deep, fleshed-out tales, you'll find plenty to enjoy if you have the focus necessary to take everything in.

Questing is, naturally, a major part of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. I've been going through the typical RPG motions as I complete side quests in particular. An injured character needs help. A woman's husband has gone missing. A shady fellow needs a specific item to become well again. I've not encountered anything radically different from other RPGs in terms of quest types and quest structures, but they are still fun to go through.