If there was one thing I heard people make fun of from elementary school to present day, it was people that played Dungeons and Dragons.  It was limited to the nerdiest of the nerds, where people would dress up and role-play as their character in this made up story. I’ve never had the opportunity to play a full on game of D&D, but I’ve played plenty of board games and video games that were inspired by it. One of the biggest struggles in playing (in my experience, and partially why I never got to) was finding a Dungeon Master, and a party with a schedule that matched your own. So what if a video game could provide that piece for you?

Hand of Fate 2 doesn’t exactly fill the role of DM, although it does something close. The game is played out based on the cards you select prior to starting each mission, which determines the encounters, equipment, characters, and spoils for your journey. The DM character then explains the situations, and you read each card’s situation as you go. If you are completely oblivious as to what you should be choosing for each level, you can have the game auto-select for you. But as the game points out, the AI is only so good when compared to an experienced player. It can mean choosing an encounter with great equipment as a reward opposed to a “freebie” card where you don’t lose anything, but don’t earn much else either.

You’ll have card stats such as hit points and food that determine whether you live or die. Run out of food, and traversing the map will kill you unless you find more as each step damages you. Other stats like fame will allow you to wield equipment that required you meet a certain threshold. You’ll have gold for purchasing things such as healing, food, weapons and armor, as well as for the various encounters you run into during your travels. You never know when money will serve you better than your sword. Everything is easy to keep track of, as it’s always shown on the screen.

Quite honestly, the card based part of this title is more fun than I expected. You’ll run into encounters where you’ll have to roll dice to succeed, use a pendulum to avoid combat, or choose the correct option in a dialogue tree. But the section you see throughout this review in the screenshots is the combat. This is a pretty large part of the game, albeit not always the best choice depending on the situation. Diplomacy is often not best executed on the battlefield.

Combat is simple enough if you’ve played AAA action games in the past few years. In particular, it reminds me of Rocksteady’s latest series. You have a normal attack, a counter/defense button when you see green, and an evade button for when you see red. There is also a bash button to lower defenses if the enemy is covered in stone or has a shield up, for example. Earn enough hits without taking damage and you unlock the equipped weapon’s special ability, which can be merely a critical hit, or it can be something like an AoE attack. There will also be times when you’re prompted with a button to finish the enemy, and you get a neat little animation dependent on the weapon you you’re using.

While the fighting works, it could definitely use something to make it stand out. I appreciate the different characters that you bring into battle, and the skills they offer against your own, but having more options in this mode would be nice. Something along the lines of Shin Megami Tensei‘s battles, where demons can give up or you can befriend them through a dialogue would really set this apart. The combat works, but adding something to make it a bit more unique compared to what other action games offer would really drive this game home.

If you enjoy story based games mixed with action and lots of luck, this may be the perfect game for you. With a story you create yourself each time you play, mixing so many things people love about the physical board game with present day action games, it’s hard to not fall in love. Hand of Fate 2 is going to be overlooked by people because it’s card-based – don’t let that prevent you from trying this. There’s plenty to keep you coming back, and you never have to worry about anyone’s schedule to play it, other than your own.

9 out of 10

Pros

• Unique Gameplay
• Replay Value
• Choose Your Own Adventure

Cons

• Standard Combat

Hand of Fate 2 was developed and published by Defiant Development. It was released on PC, PS4, and X1 November 7th, 2017, for $29.99. The game was provided to us for review on PS4 and X1. For more on Hand of Fate 2, visit its official site.

 

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