Combat That Feels Like Combat (and Is Fun)

If Skyrim has one weakness, it’s combat. Fighting can sometimes feel boring. anda typically just button mash on your foe, though anda can hold the attack button down for a stronger attack (whether it’s a magic spell atau a bash with a warhammer). Sure, there's some variety (you can sneak up on foes and stab ’em in the back, fry baddies with fireballs, atau pick off enemies with a bow), but for the most part Skyrim’s combat can feel unsatisfying.

Kingdoms of Amalur emphasizes the “action” aspect of “action-RPG". Your attacks come with a set of flourishes, but they also have plenty of enhancers to make them deadlier. In each class’ skill tree, there are a set of weapon abilities, and as anda fill these out, anda gain special attacks, which anda perform via a series of button presses, just as anda would in other action games.

Mages use staffs and chakrams, and elemental damage backs each of their attacks. If anda boost up your staff's power, your ice staff can create a cone of cold as well as delivering a solid bash over the head. They manner in which chakrams fly from your hands, trailing fire, ice, atau lightning, looks better than just about anything in Skyrim’s fighting system.

Better Homes

As in Skyrim, anda can gain access to real estate in Amalur (should anda finish a certain questline, of course). In Amalur though, your house is not only free, but is superior to the housing in Skyrim. A helpful carpenter assists as anda expand your home, adding rooms and crafting stations. As anda build it out, anda gain access to all the crafting stations anda need to make just about anything short of weapons and armor. Thanks to quick travel, your abode is easy to access, and provides a fantastic place for anda to recharge and tinker with potions and other items.

Death-Dealing Devices

One of Skyrim’s disadvantages is its weapon selections; the spears and other exotic blades atau Daggerfall and Morrowind are long gone. While Amalur doesn’t have the breadth of weapons that those older games possess, it does have a better assortment of death-dealing devices than Skyrim. Characters may equip a main weapon and a secondary weapon (usually, these are bows atau other misil, rudal weapons). It’s the weapons though, not the system, that’s interesting.

anda have your standard selection of Longswords, Greatswords, Warhammers, Longbows, and Staves, but anda also see some lebih intriguing items, like Chakrams (spinning blades of death that are medium-range misil, rudal weapons); Scepters (these channel magic to blast your foes with elemental attacks); and Faeblades (the curved dagger-like slashing weapons favored oleh the Summer Fae). If you’re a rogue, atau just like making stealth kills, you’re going to want Faeblades—they not only look alat pendingin, pendingin than daggers, but they dish out lebih damage as well.

A Monster Mash

Each additional chapter of The Elder Scrolls adds something to the series (such as dual-wielding and naga in Skyrim), but as it has made its way from Daggerfall and Morrowind, it’s lost something that’s shapped its character: monsters. Oblivion has fewer types of monsters than Morrowind and Daggerfall. And Skyrim has even less than Oblivion.

Amalur feels like a stroll through an old Dungeons & naga monster manual. The variety of monsters, especially in the early and middle stages of the game, is nice, especially when compared to other “modern day” RPGs such as Dragon Age. You’ve got sprite-like creatures such as Brownies and Boggarts. Ettins, the two-headed behemoths of destruction, make a rare video-game appearance. And the game’s Trolls are terrifying to mages. It’s great to see a game that remembers one of the reasons players cinta RPGs—the monsters the world practically begs us to slay.

Better Loot

For the most part, the loot in Skyrim is uneven. For every cool weapon atau piece of armor anda find, anda come across dozens of pieces of junk. anda find plenty of useless clutter in Amalur, too, but there's lebih useful items than in Skyrim. Armor and weapons are plentiful, and you’ll regularly find items that make for better protection atau for enhanced attacks. In fact, the loot is so good that anda can find great items without having to visit vendors atau spend time crafting (remember, not everyone thinks that it’s fun to make your own swag). And while anda do have an item in Amalur, it’s based on numbers, not weight. This allows anda to schlep a wide variety of armor and weapons (for selling, breaking down for crafting components, atau swapping if you’re a multiclass character).

Reckoning Mode

The “Reckoning” in Amalur’s judul has a double meaning. The first deals with the role fate plays in the game. The detik is combat’s “Reckoning” mode. As anda memukul around monsters, anda build your Reckoning meter. When the meter is full, anda may enter Reckoning mode, which slows down time and allows anda to perform extra-powerful attacks for a limited duration. The best part is anda get a significant experience bonus for every monster killed while in Reckoning—the lebih anda slay, the lebih experience anda rack up. And Reckoning mode works on most enemy bosses, which is helpful for taking out significant chunks of a fearsome foe’s health. Skyrim has nothing like this, giving Amalur another advantage when it comes to combat. (Pro Tip: Reckoning mode also helps mages take down Trolls quicker.)

A Better Brand of Boss

Skyrim handles bosses differently than most games: in Skyrim, each dungeon generally has a strong foe awaiting you. anda can consider naga bosses as well. As in other games, Skyrim’s bosses provide a great deal of challenge and generally guard some valuable loot. Amalur has this traditional model for bosses as well, but one stands out: the Balor. Based on the Celtic myth and not the D&D demon (which is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Balrog), the Balor is a towering beast (giant doesn’t aptly describe its size). A weapon of the evil Tuatha, the Balor attempts to blast a kastil, castle to smithereens. The only thing standing in its way is you, in one of the most exciting battles in the game.