Best RPG since the "old-school classics"!!!!
I've heard some complain that this game is "just another hack-n-slash". My response to that is that if all you focus on are your physical "Might" abilities, then it probably will be mostly a hack-n-slash. However, players have the option to build their character to focus on might, finesse (stealth, bows, daggers, traps, etc), sorcery, or any combination of two or all three of these trees.
I, for instance, have built a 100% sorcery focused character and even though I have only singled out one branch of the ability tree instead of combining it with something else, I have found this game to be everything but "hack-n-slash". I further focus my sorcery tree into the staff and chakram weapons I can make the most useful by working my way around the outside of enemy groups to line up my attacks in a line to deal maximum DPS. To top that off, I have a nice arsenal of weapon moves and spell combos to chose how to land my attack. This really keeps the combat system from getting monotonous.
Some RPG's have gotten old and "lost their luster" after a few days of playing them. I believe the leading cause for this is either the feeling for the need to "grind" for experience points or that the quests or missions are all too similar. I do not believe this to be the case with Reckoning. Almost every quest feels like something different. Sure, there may be a few quests which all require you to go kill something, but even in those similar quests, there are different strategies to killing the target. On quest may give you a target that you need to get close to, poison, then run away and shoot with arrows while the next quest gives you a target that has a weakness to fire spells. Later on you may have a target that is immune to all magic damage which may prove to be somewhat difficult (though not at all impossible) for the mage classes. That being said, I haven't felt the need to just go grind for experience throughout the whole game (although I'm sure one could if that's what they'd prefer). The quests and even the mini stories that go with them are enough to keep the player entertained for hours upon end, and it will keep the player full of all necessary gold and experience points while doing them. Some of the quests are for factions which can also yield permanent rewards for the player if he chooses to complete all of them.
If I had to say one thing about Reckoning that I didn't like (the reason I didn't give it a 10 instead of a 9.5) it would be the absence of multiplayer. I realize this has been a sore topic among some RPG fans in the forums. However if you do a little research, more people actually prefer online RPG's not days and their sells are usually a bit higher. Though this game is more than capable of being amazing while only having single player capabilities, the fact that it's so fun makes some desire to get online to show off their character that they've worked so hard on. If developers wanted to attempt to satisfy both opinions, they should consider a drop-in / drop-out system similar to that of games like borderlands. This would give any player the option of playing single player while still not missing out on anything other than a few trophies, while giving others the option of getting to group up and tackle dungeons while having tanks, healers, and dps. This, however, is just my preference and I realize that everyone doesn't feel the same but I still think it would be nice to offer an option. Feel free to disagree below. Thanks for reading!
-Phat-