Developer: Defiant Development
Publisher: Defiant Development
Rrp: £23.79 (Steam) and £24.99 (Gog.com)
Released: 7th November 2017
Available on: Steam and Gog.com
Played Using: An Xbox 360 Control Pad
Approximate game length: Over 30 Hours
For years I have worked on the game, this game of chance and choice. It is but a pale imitation of the real world, but it allows the player to hone their skills for the times ahead. So traveller, why don’t you sit for a spell and play with me?
Hand of Fate 2 is a digital board game and honestly I can see why is has to be digital, there are just too many components and variables to keep track of. I should mention that, yes, I know that there is a real world Hand of Fate board game, I own a copy of it and I can vouch for how good it is, but there are just some things the board game cannot capture that this game does.
In this game you work your way across twenty two challenges (in the adventure mode) unlocking new cards as you go. Along the way you’ll be testing your skills with Arkham style combat, pushing your luck in dice rolls and four card monty, and lastly testing your timing with swinging pendulums and spinning wheels of cards.
At its core this game is near identical to its predecessor, however though the core the may be the same everything surrounding it has been greatly improved, especially the combat.
One major difference in this game is a running narrative. Each of the challenges you face (of which there are twenty two) will link onto the others, even if its just tangentially.
When you enter a challenge the Dealer will lay out the cards face down before you, these cards will act as encounters and will activate as you move your player piece onto them. Just like with the previous instalment of Hand of Fate you construct the deck that the Dealer plays from with encounters, equipment, supplies and companions that you should find in each challenge (with exception of companions who will usually start with you). Of course, the Dealer adds some cards of his own to the deck, you can’t have it all your own way after all. Within the deck that you construct you will find that there are three tiers of card, normal, platinum and brimstone and each challenge will only allow a specific allocation of each.
The challenges you will face can usually be completed to two levels; Silver and Gold. Silver means that you did all that was required of you to complete the challenge whereas gold involves you completing every optional part of the challenge. However I said ‘usually’ for a reason, in some cases there is no Silver completion in which case its an all or nothing challenge.
Within each challenge your piece will move from one encounter to the next and with each new card that is revealed your piece will consume one food. If at any point you run out of food each new card revealed will take ten points of health instead.
There are several mini games (known as gambits) that you will end up facing as part of your playthrough. Some of these gambits were a pain in the butt for me, but my fiancé found them easy so mileage may vary on them, thankfully certain pieces of equipment you can find will make these gambits easier.
A completely new feature to the game is that you can have a companion. Companions provide assistance such as casting spells, and attacking opponents in battle. Most also have a benefit that can be performed outside of combat, such as Malacylpse allowing you to redraw a card during the card wheel mini game. If you accept the offer to use this benefit your companion will be unavailable to you until you reveal three new encounters. In combat your companions are unkillable, however they can be stunned. In the event of that you’ll need to get into close quarters with them to get them to stand back up and rejoin the fight. Thankfully this is a rather quick affair that can be performed in between attacks.
The combat feels a lot less like an Arkham clone and is far more responsive, yes the game still has indicators that appear above your enemies heads allowing you to anticipate their moves somewhat but the enemies won’t always come at you one at a time. While you’re facing off with the Northman Berserker one of the trappers can be winding up a long range attack while a shaman buffs them both.
As you may have gleaned from the last sentence the range of enemies you face has greatly increased from the last game, each of which having their own strengths, weaknesses and unit types that will require a different approach. For example the Empire have soldiers that will use their shields to block incoming attacks while protecting their riflemen who will attempt to hurt you at range. Meanwhile the Northmen never block, but will attack with great ferocity hitting hard and often. It should also be mentioned that not every enemy will be human, most will, but definitely not all of them.
There is an optional mode called ‘apprentice mode’ that makes the game easier by increasing your damage and making the prompted riposte and finishers automatic, everything else is left as is. The offer of this mode will appear if you die a few times, like I did.
Personally I think this is a great addition to the game and even though I won’t use the feature myself, it will allow less skilled (or stubborn) players to play more easily and is easily deactivated in the options menu.
There is now an ‘Endless’ mode to play which changes a few rules, such as making all your equipment degrade overtime with exception of your base weapons and shield. Another thing that is different are the Trail cards, these make your game more difficult but will give you a reward for achieving it. You do all of this to attain ‘Endless’ points, which is just for score attack, however this mode is also a great way to unlock new cards.
I’ve got to say I have loved my time with game, so much so I fully intend on keeping it installed and getting all the DLC’s. It should be mentioned that the game has lots of free content as well as three pieces of DLC that you can purchase. On top of all of that there is also mod support included.
All that being said I can’t claim that this game is perfect, there are plenty of minor issues such as the camera during combat and trap sections being a bit awkward and positioning itself in such a way that you can end up fighting blind.
On the whole though this game is a vast improvement over the original, I really hope they make a third just to see what they do next.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Guild of Dungeoneering
Slay the Spire
Children of Zodiarcs
