hi,
o yes, I've the same feeling with Amalur as you've Alrik ... a little bit too flashy, or how can I explain it
But Skyrim too dark or what do you mean Alrik?
I've the feeling Skyrim will have a nice enough colourful atmoshere ... especially the mountains and the snow I like

... I just buy Skyrim for that:
to walk in the snow, mountain up and mountain down, explore and relax while I go for a sorcerer who let their summoned creatures do the most dirty work

... so I can concentrate on trading, alchemy, quests and other RPG elements beside action (battles)
That, I gonna try .