Before your escape from the Well of Souls, you are instructed by Hugues to seek out a Fateweaver named Agarth. Once you reach Allestar Glade and speak to Agarth, a timer starts counting down and you are left alone for forty-five minutes to do as you please, that is, as long as you keep to the admittedly expansive province of Odarath. The timer pauses when you talk to NPCs, and the game generously encourages you to take your time. Certain quest lines lock themselves out, and you can only see them to the end if you purchase a copy of the game. However, the demo features a nice helping of quests to dig into. These quests are well-written and give you deeper insight into the inner workings of the world. Some of them end exactly the way you'd expect, others... not so much. And before you ask, I mean that in a good way.
So I've spent all this time explaining the world and story of Reckoning, so how does it play? I, of course, like to play the comparison game. If the demo is any indication of the finished product, Reckoning is essentially Fable with a similar but far superior combat system. The quests are better-designed and better-written, as well. Combat is fast, responsive, and violent. Juggling between your primary, secondary, and spells is easy as can be, and enemies rarely go down without a fight. And when they do, experience and loot are there to reward your efforts.
Reckoning features a number of skill trees and similar character customization plots to help you carve out an identity. I could go into the specifics, but at this point I'll just say that the number of possible permutations is mind-boggling.
One thing I appreciate about Reckoning is how there doesn't seem to be a morality system in place to judge your actions. Sure, you can switch off safe mode and kill civilians, but you won't start glowing red or sprout wings or anything like that. If you choose to do the honorable thing, you might not be rewarded as justly as you might hope. And it's entirely possible to act like a complete bastard and be all the better for it.
I strongly urge you to check out the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo. Taking your time and playing it to the end guarantees a slew of unlockables once you cross the finish line. Most are for the final retail release, but some are actually for Mass Effect 3. Even if you go in only for those unlockables, you'll probably still be blindsided by how much fun this demo is. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will be out February 7th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.