Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Preview

Another work week kicks off with a two-page preview of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning on NowGamer, where they've drawn some comparisons to Oblivion and Fallout 3 as far as the open-world aspect goes.
While so many RPGs these days are holding our hands to lead us through their narratives or containing exploration in whatever contrived manner they think they can get away with, to see a world so creatively rich as Amalur is refreshing indeed.

It's hard to avoid comparisons with the likes of Oblivion and Fallout 3 in this respect, though McFarlane's vision of Salvatore's world already feels more varied than even the two combined, the full day/night cycle enabling players to drink in a summer's morning in a rustic village and venture forth into more imposing collections of caves and crags to see what manner of horrors come out to play when the sun goes down. Impressive stuff.

With all kinds of clever assists to make the player's life easier without intruding too much on the immersion, be it the camera picking out key threats or implementing simplified inventory management for those too lazy to set up their own loadouts, Amalur should be an RPG that doesn't require a degree in Elvish to enjoy.