Reckoning Diary: Style Versus Realism in Terms of Graphics and Combat

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was released last week and we’ve already posted our review of the role playing game made by 38 Studios and Big Huge Games in partnership with Electronic Arts.

We’ve also discussed about a few of its features during this Gamer Diary series, from the great tutorial and opening segments to the massive world that feels just like an MMORPG only without the actual online multiplayer aspects.

Now, it’s time to discuss one of Reckoning’s bolder choices, that of using a stylized perspective in terms of its visual design and its combat, instead of a more realistic one, like in other role playing games including The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim or The Witcher.

First up, let’s talk about the graphics and the general design as a whole. While Amalur may not seem that impressive when compared to Skyrim, the game still does an admirable job of bringing to life a fantasy world, which feels that much more surreal thanks to the over the top visuals.

You’re a character without a fate interacting with humans, elves, as well as all sorts of enemies, so the stylized looks contribute to the feeling that you’re taking part in an epic adventure. Sure, Skyrim does almost the same things with realistic visuals but, at least for me, they got kind of tiring as I sunk in more and more hours with Bethesda’s RPG.

When I’m in Amalur, however, I always enjoy exploring and going around massive locations like the Summer Court, pictured above, because they look so nice.

Then we have the combat which, at least for a hack and slash fan like myself, is miles better than the one found in other titles like Skyrim or The Witcher. Reckoning is an action RPG and it really makes you feel like a powerful warrior/rogue/mage when you’re fighting enemies by letting you pull off all sorts of acrobatic moves.

After 30 or so hours with Reckoning, I still enjoy fighting enemies as I can use the variety of different weapons or attacks against them, instead of once again swinging my sword in a boring manner.

What do you think? Is the stylized Reckoning better than other, more realistic games?