Let Me Be Your Fantasy Game

This year’s gaming calendar is just starting to roll out the big guns, with the latest versions of Soul Calibur and Final Fantasy hitting the shelves last week. This week sees the launch of a potentially ‘major’ new IP in the form of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. In recent years EA have had a lot of success with launching ‘big’ titles earlier in the year than a more traditional publishing schedule would normally dictate. Dead Space 2 did very well this time last year and EA are possibly hoping for a similar success with Reckoning… but those hopes may have taken an arrow to the knee shortly before Christmas.

If you read through Mat’s review, you’ll see how he was a little less than impressed with Kingdoms of Amalur; but the general consensus is that it is a fairly competent RPG with an enjoyable fighting engine. It may not matter how good the game is though. It isn’t Skyrim.

It was always going to be a difficult task to release a new IP into a crowded release schedule – and EA were right to delay the launch until after the busy Christmas period. Most other games, especially those based in the realms of fantasy RPGs, were sensible enough to steer well clear of Skyrim‘s highly marketable 11.11.11 launch date. Is the beginning of February just too soon to expect gamers to be ready to dive into another fantasy experience?

With the holidays representing a good opportunity to cram in lots of gaming for many people and with over a month of little or no gaming releases – it would normally not be too soon. Which may be fine, if it was following in the footsteps of a ‘normal’ game. Skyrim is not a normal game. Skyrim is a giant, mammoth, fire-breathing dragon of a fantasy based action/adventure role playing game.

The breadth of content available in Skyrim is immense. I tend to find that RPGs often require a bit more breathing room between playing one game and diving into the next world. Possibly partly due to the emotional investment in playing your role, but mainly just down to the sheer amount of time taken in playing. If you complete Skyrim in less than 40 hours, you are doing well… and have probably avoided most of the side quests.

I have already heard tales of gamers playing into the 100s of hours. In fact, with randomly occurring dragon battles and repopulating dungeons, Skyrim is, in theory, a never ending story. It may make it very difficult to have any desire to start flicking through the pages of a similar but entirely new book. The ‘hardcore’ Skyrim player may be considering a second (or further) playthrough or just still looking to discover as much of the world as possible. The more casual Skyrim player still has a lot of content to get to. If you didn’t buy or like Skyrim, I’ll assume you don’t like fantasy RPGs. I just don’t see many people left that would be willing and eager to buy another game of a similar genre at this time.

Aside from just convincing people to put down their copies of Skyrim, the other problem that Reckoning suffers from is that of a direct comparison. It was always going to struggle to live up to the level of details that the Elder Scrolls series now lavishes over every inch or the world of Tamriel. The depth of history iterated and built upon across the four previous games have created a multi-layered and positively encyclopaedic level of background detail that gives the world of Elder Scrolls a sense of gravitas and realism.

It is very difficult for any new contender to the fantasy RPG realm to try and measure up to. So is it fair to compare Kingdoms of Amalur to Skyrim? Well fair or not, the comparisons are inevitable. Reckoning exists in a post-Skyrim world and will have to weather some comparisons that are thrown at it. It is trying to do a number of things differently to the traditional fantasy RPG, but even this may work against Reckoning when the memories are so fresh of a great as an example of a traditional form of the genre that Skyrim was and still is.

Kingdoms of Amalur seems like it was creating and setting up a universe that the developers, 38 Studios & Big Huge Games, has further plans for. I only hope that whatever the level of commercial success that they get time to iterate on their world and some of the ideas they have bought to their approach of gameplay. We as gamers often cry out for new and interesting approaches and sometimes fail to support them – It is not necessarily the case in this instance, but all the ingredients are there for a potentially good game series to be passed by.

I fear that in being cast out so soon into the long shadow left by Skyrim, that Reckoning may get left in the dark. As the developers of the game may well have been forced into releasing at this time to avoid running too close to Mass Effect 3, another property owned by EA, it seems only fair that EA take this into account when they analyse the sales figures when deciding to press the “make sequel” button.

And, while you’re at it EA, can I have a Mirror’s Edge 2 please.

Tags: EA, Kingdoms of Amalur, Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning, Skyrim