Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has a special place in my heart and I would recommend it to anyone - and the Switch version is no exception.

The idea of the open world RPG has greatly expanded over the last several years, and it’s perhaps that aspect where Kingdoms of Amalur has lost a bit of shine. But I think there’s a certain charm to its big-but-not-too-big areas, and the impressive amount of polish and high quality of the creative components combined with the satisfying combat make for a solid adventure that will keep you busy for quite a while.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning brings back to our day a marvelous RPG but instead of remaking it, this remaster adds some improvements to the original formula, rather than trying to rejuvenate its appearance. The result, which includes all the original game's extra content, is an effort whose gameplay experience fits perfectly today, and whose frantic combat and vast world to explore will captivate both the players who know the original and those discovering it now.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning on Nintendo Switch is a decent remastering effort of a game that, while largely excellent for its time, hasn’t aged flawlessly. Some of this is the unavoidable battering of time, but other things, such as the lack of a target lock, feel like improvements that could have, and should have, been implemented. Approaching Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning from an entirely modern perspective, therefore, will likely lead to some frustration. However, if you can put yourself in the necessary headspace, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is an enthralling, though flawed, adventure that perfectly encapsulates a very specific era in game design history.

How much you get out of Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is really going to depend on what you expect from it. It’s a familiar fantasy action RPG, but comforting in that familiarity and easy to just lose yourself in. It may have been overshadowed by the games that have followed in its footsteps in the decade since Reckoning first came out, and Open World: The Game has well overstayed its welcome by now, but Kingdoms of Amalur finds the right balance of simple fun and routine yet satisfying RPG loops to make that format work, even today.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning hasn't aged well when it comes to its presentation, and while the core of the game makes it quite playable, its less impressive elements prevent it from being a must-play if players missed it in 2012. It's not a bad title - the foundation of the game is too good, even years later, for that - but it's lost some of its greatness over time, and for those who haven't experienced it before, it seems like it might be difficult to discern why people enjoyed it back then. Old fans of Kingdoms of Amalur will no doubt enjoy revisiting it on Nintendo Switch, which is the best way to experience it given its smooth processing and portability - but it's a tougher sell for newcomers, who will have to decide if a now-by-the-book RPG experience is worth it for a still-excellent story.

There's nothing wrong or broken about Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning on Switch, it's just an uninspired experience that pales in comparison to the genre greats.