Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning - The Legend of Dead Kel Review

                                           A Journalistic Review by DefiantParrot

                                                   *Warning: Contains Spoilers*

                                                  Originally Written 04/12/2018

                                                                                             

*Insert Pirates of the Caribbean Theme*

Developer: 38 Studios, Big Huge Games  

Publisher: 38 Studios, Electronic Arts

Platform: Xbox 360

Genre: Action RPG

Release: March 20, 2012

                Been waiting a while on this one haven’t we? Yes my friends I believe it’s time we journey back into the world of Amalur with its first piece of major DLC that wasn’t locked behind an online pass.

The Legend of Dead Kel apparently involves an undead pirate and island of mystery and the chance to make untold riches… So let’s do this.

For this playthrough I created a brand new character who I named Emma Darkwater and focused on magical abilities, some grinding later and my Level 10 Emma made her way to Rathir to start the quest.

You had one job cuntwaffle

So after meeting up with Captain Brattigan said to be the worst sailor imaginable we set off to the island of Gallow’s End where we immediately crash because this Knife Ear is terrible at her fucking job.

So having been washed up on a strange island with apparently the only other survivor being Madame Fuck Up over there things don’t look that great.

The most important thing to know about this DLC is that it adds more to the game, without fixing any of the problems the core game has. Most of these missions are side quests, NPC’s aren’t that interesting with one exception etc.

It does add some new enemies however such as the disgusting scavs, undead members of Dead Kels crew. Also there are Root Golems which really do not like Emma here.

Dead Kel himself and the quest line around him is somewhat interesting I’ll admit. Being a scurge of the waters when he was finally killed he was resurrected by the god Akara.

Furious over being forced to live against his will Dead Kel swears to steal the power of the god by any means necessary, of course who can stop him? He can’t die he has no fate.

But neither do you.

So that’s pretty interesting and the boss fights against his… lieutenants I guess are pretty fun if standard, and they drop some pretty sweet weapons.

Spooky scary skeleton

My one complaint with Dead Kel is that this DLC was building him up, for 4 hours. We’re led to believe Dead Kel is going to be a tough boss fight this is going to be epic.

One relatively easy boss fight later and it’s over. No second phase, no real challenge it’s done. And I’ll remind you that I was a brand new character, and I was playing on Hard mode.

Aside from the main quest line, and side quests the other major addition to this DLC is Gravehal Keep. See there’s a mansion on top of the hill that you can claim as your own. First you must kill the enemies within and begin renovating and fixing the place up.

It functions just like a house in the main game but the upgrades give you access to an animal trainer which can train wild animals to be pets for you such spiders and wolves and bears Oh My!

Having pets adds a buff to your character, spiders for instance gives you a resistance to being poisoned, which can be leveled up upon feeding your pet, although not very far which was annoying admittedly.

Home away from home, away from home?

You’ll get a throne upon which you can gain new quests, an ambassador to bargain deals with other entities, Gravehal Keep will be your  base of operations on Gallows End as until you acquire a ship you’ll be stuck on the island with no way to leave.

So with the main quest being 4 hours long, and completing the DLC clocking in at about 5 ½ to 6 hours The Legend of Dead Kel did not run me nearly as long as the main game, but is it worth it?

Well with the price being $10.00 I believe that The Legend of Dead Kel DLC is a decent time sink for those who loved the first game.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – The Legend of Dead Kel receives my Bronze Seal of Acceptence

For when I'm in a forgiving mood

The same seal I gave the main game.

By not fixing or addressing any of the main games flaws, this DLC suffers from the same drawbacks and irritations. The additions of a decent quest line, new enemies and weapons and Gravehal Keep save this DLC from being ranked any lower.

There is another DLC for this game that I plan to review in time, not sure if I’ll be as nice a second time if it does the bare minimum.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this review of the KoA DLC then you may enjoy my review for the Main Game if you haven't read it already.

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