Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning — Teeth of Naros DLC Review

NOT

More of the Same
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a game that can take 200+ hours to achieve 100% completion. For those who have amassed even a fraction of that time may have began to feel the repetition in quest design set in. If that sounds like you, then let me inform you that Teeth of Naros doesn’t provide a remedy for this feeling. The usual fetch quests are back and they’ve arrived in force. Sprinting around the sewer system for fifth time can be a bit tedious, especially when you have to run through the same enemy checkpoints again. The enemies feel too scripted as they tend to always appear in the exact same areas. Teeth of Naro fails to implement exciting new gameplay mechanics to keep the game alive, even after a hundred hours of gameplay, like The Legend of Dead Kel was about to achieve. To be fair, primal weapons are introduced. These cast primal magic on the target which lowers their defenses to magic. This will open enemies up and make them more vulnerable to magic-based attacks. However, I didn’t utilize the tactic much because my Might-focused character didn’t require aid in defeating the enemies of Teeth of Naros. Furthermore, anyone well over level 20 won’t find much loot that’s worth replacing their already high-level equipment.

The moment you enter Teeth of Naros, the story that you initiate never strays far from predictability. The Fateless One is called upon by Ethene, goddess of the Kollassae, and is labeled as the Beckoned, the fabled one who will restore order to the lands. What follows are typical “twists” and betrayals that eventually lead up to a final showdown with the character many figured was the evil one all along. Chances are, once its all over, you’ll walk away with your slightly more powerful character (unless you hit that level cap) sporting some Kollossae-themed equipment and won’t think twice about how you saved the race of stone giants.

Verdict

Teeth of Naros is another exceptional DLC entry for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. It will entice players to dive into the world of Amalur once again, even if it doesn’t exactly provide the most compelling reasons. The environments are beautiful and the unique items are fun to collect for those who are a low enough level to actually benefit from them. Unfortunately, the lackluster story and repetitive missions design keeps this DLC from reaching the same level as The Legend of Dead Kel. However, that doesn’t mean that the adventure isn’t worth experiencing. This is still a superb game that has received an extension so that we can escape from the main portion of The Faelands for a while. Had Teeth of Naros been the first DLC, it would have been hailed as great. But following in the footsteps of The Legend of Deal Kel, it has fallen right below the bar that its predecessor had set so high.

[Editor’s Note: Teeth of Naros was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 platform. The DLC was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]