14 DAY TRIAL // Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has just been released by Electronic Arts, after being developed by 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.
We’ve already talked about the massive role playing game in our quick look at its demo and we have kicked off this Gamer Diary series by dissecting the opening tutorial that lets you experience the three different play styles.
Now, it’s time to talk about the segment right after you finish the tutorial, when you walk into the world of Amalur, and you’re basically let loose to do anything you want in the massive virtual environment.
Any good RPG should have a world in which you can thoroughly lose yourself. Reckoning takes this concept and runs with it, allowing you to interact in all sorts of ways, from breaking the huge amount of wooden boxes strewn across the world, to fighting enemies or even picking flowers.
All these things result in a sensory overload when you step into this Reckoning’s world but, thankfully, the same spoon-feeding we saw in the tutorial happens. You end up on a small island, which is filled with a few boxes, a couple of flowers, and some NPCs (non-playable characters) that can provide backstory, if you want it.
After you tear down the boxes, pick the flowers and talk to the dwarves, you can use the nearby bridge and start exploring Amalur in any way you want. You can sprint to your main quest objective or take in the sights and uncover some hidden areas, filled with treasures and, of course, enemies.
You’ll eventually exhaust all possibilities in this opening area, but you can easily reach the first actual settlement. Here, you’ll find all sorts of quests, characters, merchants and, for those looking to take out their anger, many, many boxes.
From here on, the world of Reckoning gets bigger and bigger, so you’ll soon find yourself spending tens of hours with the RPG.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is out on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 right now, in North America, and will appear on February 10, in Europe.