How playable is Kingdoms of Amalur? I kinda want to get it.
Got a PC controller? It controls and plays great w/ that, combat-wise. It's one of the best RPG's to actually play w/ a controller, combat-wise. Combat feels and looks great, on-screen. Many compare it to God Of War - I ain't played that, so I can't compare it to that. But, for me - combat feels similar and like the action-game The Darksiders - which is excellent for a PC RPG to play + feel like. Never ever does combat feel wonky like Skyrim - or anything of that sort.
I was never not a fan of WSAD - so if you play Amalur on PC, be prepared to likely use those control-format w/ a KB-mouse. It's not wise to move movement controls to cursors - b/c it doesn't work properly, if you move the keypad config there. While you can reconfig keys, that's one of the few things that's not easy to reconfig.
The only problem w/ Amalur out-the-box is: the game's easy, if you do TOO many quests. You can become overpowerful, over-leveled, and the game comes off as too easy. Many felt this is even true, even if you decide to adjust to higher difficulties. While I ain't tested it - the Heart-Core Mod is what many recommend to play the game with, if you want to make the game challenging. Despite its ease, while unmodded - even then, for me, Amalur's combat was never boring - it was always a joy to watch and feel in action, for me.
As for the
Amalur: Reckoning base-game, it feels more like a huge MMO - huge game and huge world to explore. So, like some MMO's, its quality varies. Some of the questing is good + interesting (mostly, the main quest stuff). It's the side-stuff that can vary, ranging from decent to really good. Depending on how much you do - this can be a time-sink. I did a lot - so I spent over 70 hours or so with the base-game.
The Legend of Dead Kel DLC is great and has WAY more personality than most of the base-game! This DLC actually has a story + characters you will care about...and can actually be quite funny and entertaining - for the 10 hours or so that it lasts for. And the villain - he's just awesome; he's more interesting, cooler + a lot more menacing than the base-game's villain.
Teeth of Naros DLC is pretty good, but it is just nowhere as great as Dead Kel - but still, it'll be 10 hours or so that's quite enjoyable. You'll get your time and money's worth here - especially for a DLC.
If you can get
Amalur: Reckoning Complete cheap (which you should be able to, as it's been $5-6 before, IIRC) - I'd say go for it. I've spent over 70 hours w/ the base-game - and thought it was really good. It just, at times, it lacked personality + lacked difficulty (when unmodded). That was my real minor complaints with it. Throw the DLC's on top - and well, you got another 20 hours of gameplay. And the DLC's are worth it, for another 20 hours - IMHO; especially The Legend of Dead Kel DLC.
