Technically no Skyrim, but lots of fun
Now that all of that is out of the way, on to the review. Kingdoms of Amalur is an open world, high fantasy adventure game. Graphically, the easiest comparison is probably Fable 3, with beautiful otherworldly art direction and lots of light bloom. Many people have knocked the graphics by comparing them with Skyrim. Undoubtedly, Kingdoms of Amalur does not compare with Skyrim in any kind of technical sense when it comes to graphics. That being said, it's obvious from the start that the makers of Kingdoms were not going for the ultra realistic feel of Skyrim. Depending on your personal taste, this may or may not be a problem for you. Skyrim did an amazing job of making the player feel like they were running around a living, breathing world. I think one of the reasons they did this so well was that much of the world was familiar, it could be our world with a little imagination. The world of Kingdoms of Amalur would never be mistaken for ours. It is the High Fantasy theme taken to the max. There are tons of amazing and bizarre things to explore in Amalur, if you just give the enchanting world a chance.
The gameplay is another area where you can't help but make comparisons to the Elder Scrolls games. For those not familiar with previous open world adventure games, the idea is to give the player tremendous freedom in creating the type of character they want to play. The player is left to explore pretty much as they see fit, accepting to pursue the copious quests given at every turn at their convenience. New weapons and armor are vomited by virtually every enemy in the game, leaving it to the player how they want to equip their character. Besides completing quests, players can gather weapon and armor components and craft their own stuff, as well as collect herbs and plants from the game world to make their own potions. The crafting and potion making systems are fairly robust, players can spend hours just playing around with crafting.
When it comes to engaging enemies, players can choose between three archetypal approaches to combat: Fighter, Rogue, and Sorcerer. Players are free to mix and match skills and powers from among these different paths to create the kind of fighter they want. Unlike many rpg's, investing in multiple disciplines is actually a workable approach, you don't have to specialize in just one area to have access to the best abilities.
Combat is fast and fluid. The combat is really what differentiates Amalur from the Elder Scrolls series. Even wearing full plate armor and carrying a ridiculously huge warhammer, your character can dodge and roll with the best of them. Anyone who feels the combat in other adventure games is clunky and slow, will appreciate the agility of their character in this game. That being said, if you are looking for realistic feeling combat, this won't be your cup of tea. You can switch between primary and secondary weapons on the fly, as well as cast spells and use abilities, without interrupting the flow of combat. This keeps combat feeling fresh and fun throughout the game.
There have been many complaints about the various quests given by NPC's. I have read many reviews stating the endless fetch quests undertaken. I question whether these people actually played the game, or whether I somehow got a different build of the software, because this hasn't been my experience at all. I have found the quests to be mostly entertaining, with even the sidequests from random villagers having multiple steps and surprising twists.
Ultimately, I have found Kingdoms of Amalur to be a fun game. But as I said at the beginning, that is just my opinion. I think if you are looking for a more lighthearted open world rpg, you could do worse than this game. Not to mention the staggering amount of content it offers.
Peace