The playstyle is customized through a combination of weapons types, skill trees, and passive enhancements earned through quests and the Destiny character class system.

Production of Reckoning began in 2009 based on the Amalur setting created by 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling and writer R. A. Salvatore for their in-development MMORPG Project Copernicus.

While selling above expectations for a new intellectual property and contributing to Electronic Arts' fiscal profits, it commercially underperformed for 38 Studios and Big Huge Games.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an action role-playing game in which players, taking on the role of the Fateless One, explore the fantasy realm of the Faelands.

[2][11] Character customization focuses on skills and enhancements unlocked through three Ability trees (melee-focused Might, stealth-based Finesse, magic-focused Sorcery), equipment and weapons, and tarot cards called Destinies.

[3][6][9] Completing Faction questlines and story sections unlock Twists of Fate, permanent Destinies granting additional passive enhancements.

[2][13] These are Lockpicking, which allows the player to unlock chests and doors around the world; Blacksmithing, easing the forging and salvaging of weapons and armor; Dispelling, which eases the player's ability to remove magical wards from some chests; Detect Hidden which uncovers hidden item caches and reveals more landmarks on the local map; Persuasion, which can unlock additional dialogue options for some NPC conversations; Sagecraft, used to create gems to enhance weapons and armour; Alchemy, which increases the success and complexity of potion making; Mercantile, which influences selling and buying prices with in-game merchants; and Stealth which eases the player's ability to sneak around enemies and detect traps.

[2] Reckoning is set within the world of Amalur, with the game's events taking place across the Faelands, a land separated into two distinct territories by a great river.

All things in the Faelands follow a destined path dictated by the Fate Weave, which can be read and reported by gifted individuals dubbed Fateweavers.

[2][14] The main protagonist is the Fateless One, a dead person brought back by the Well of Souls−a gnome-made device intended to revive the dead−and consequently severed from the Fate Weave and suffering from amnesia.

They later ally with Agarth, a warrior-turned-Fateweaver who uses drink to cope with knowledge of his death; Alyn Shir, a Dokkalfar assassin and diplomat who knew the Fateless One; and Tilera ap Gwydion, a disillusioned Ljosalfar general leading the mortal resistance against the Tuatha Deohn and their leader Gadflow.

Disbelieving the Fateless One's lack of destiny, Agarth eventually brings them to a Fateweaver temple to find a Fae codex recording all of Amalur's history.

In Teeth of Naros, the Fateless One goes to the titular land of the Kollossae, a stone-like people left demoralised after a tragic misuse of the Hyperian, a magic-amplifying artefact.

In Fatesworn, the Order of Fateweavers reveals that the Fateless One's actions have damaged the Fate Weave, allowing the chaos god Telogrus to begin attacking the Faelands.

[20] Mark Nelson acted as creative director, whose previous work included Titan Quest and entries in The Elder Scrolls series.

[22] During its prototyping phase, Nelson and Rolston wanted to blend different game genres, with RPG mechanics and real-time strategy elements and the large-scale battles of Dynasty Warriors.

Working with writer R. A. Salvatore and artist Todd McFarlane, Schilling had created the fantasy setting of Amalur for an MMORPG dubbed Project Copernicus.

[3][24] The prototype was reworked into a game using the Amalur universe, drawing its characters and events from the lore created for Project Copernicus, being developed under the codename "Mercury".

[25] The game's AI, as described by producer Sean Bean, was designed to surround the player with a variety of enemy types and force a varied playstyle.

Reckoning was Kirkhope's first project working full-time in the United States, having left Rare to pursue a wider range of music jobs.

Kirkhope later described his approach on the game as taking it "a step at a time", writing some tracks such as the main theme early on and several others fairly late into production.

[52] Titled Legend of Dead Kel, it was set on the isolated island Gallows End, included new dungeon types and enemy designs along with unique weapons and Twist of Fate cards.

Murphy recalled that it was challenging finding a suitable accent for the Kollossae, eventually settling on something comparable to "very light mid-Atlantic intonation" with post-processing to lower voices.

[78] By July 2012, the game had sold 1.3 million copies worldwide; this surpassed Electronic Arts' sales projections, and was highlighted a contributor to the company's profits in the first half of 2012.

[27] Revenue went almost entirely towards repaying Electronic Arts's loan to the developer, and negative comments surrounding its sales and the troubles of 38 Studios at the time were partly blamed for the publisher's collapse later that year.

[6][66][68][70][71][83] Joystiq's Richard Mitchell, giving the game a perfect score, lauded it despite noting some issues with repetitive quest design and skills lacking meaning.

[83] Colin Moriarty of IGN called Reckoning a contender for 2012 game of the year awards due to its narrative scope and gameplay design, with his main complaints being artistic inconsistencies and technical issues.

[68] James Stephanie Sterling, writing for Destructoid, noted that the game was enjoyable and expansive for genre players despite lacking original features.

[99][100][101][102] Jon Ryan of IGN felt that while still a solid game, several of its elements had aged over time and were outdated compared to more recent titles.

[103] RPG Site's Adam Vitale called Re-Reckoning "a good introduction to a universe that doesn't have any other entries",[104] while PJ O'Reilly of Nintendo Life felt the game was both lacking in depth and showing its age.