Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an action/adventure hack and slash game that was the only only title released by the now bankrupt 38 Studios. Set in the Faelands, one of several regions of Amalur, the world featured many beautiful and diverse environments as well as intriguing characters and a compelling story. The gameplay was fun and dynamic, albeit too easy to advance and hit the level cap at 40 about halfway through the game. This made for a much less challenging second half, but the storyline was so engaging with surprise twists and turns, that it wasn’t too hard to overlook the ease of the later portion of the game. There was a lot that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning got right and could have improved upon in a sequel. Alas, that wasn’t meant to be. A sequel was originally in the works, but then 38 Studios went bankrupt and Kingdoms of Amalur got lost in an avalanche of legal issues. However, there may be hope on the horizon as THQ Nordic recently purchased the rights to the franchise in September 2018, so perhaps the fascinating world of Amalur will have more stories to tell after all.
What would happen if you turned Mass Effect into an espionage RPG? You get Alpha Protocol a hidden gem from the 360 generation. Developed by the legendary Obsidian Entertainment and written by Chris Avellone, Alpha Protocol got way too much hate, admittedly some of it deserved. The RPG elements and non-linear structure to the story provided some amazing moments. You have complete freedom build your character however you want; a stealthy sneaking type, a combat focused fighter, or even a hybrid of the two. However, saying the core gameplay lacked polish is a total understatement. AI was a bit too terrible, camera was a battle in of itself, and the cover system was awful, but I still enjoyed my time with it because of the RPG elements. If a remaster was ever going to happen I would love to see some gameplay improvements above anything else.
