Kick Ass Kickstarters: Hand of Fate
3/1/2016, 2:00a
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Hand of Fate is a 2015 action adventure game by Defiant Development.
Hand of Fate pits the “hero” against a series of challenges in the form of cards set on the table before you. The cards are randomly selected from your deck, which is composed of cards you collect over the course of the game. Each card has a challenge which varies from battling monsters to making wagers with otherworldly forces. All of this is presided over by the mysterious dealer.
While the game seems like a dry concept on paper, every aspect of the game drives home the feeling of a fantastical tabletop game. The dealer speaks to you directly thought the entire game; he comments on your choices, shows disdain for your victories, brings up his thoughts about specific cards. He is a constant companion for conversation as well as your adversary. His constant dialogue gives you a real sense of purpose to finish the game, not only to finish your quest but to spite him. This paired with the well written descriptions of the challenges and quests on the cards, makes it easy to immerse yourself in the game as well as the “game.”
The enemy and level design is impressive and looks great at the game’s price around $15. There are four major enemy types – bandits, rats, skeletons, and lizard men – that make up the bulk of the game, with a few side bad guys that were added in the games many free updates. The actual combat plays very much like the Batman: Arkham games (press Triangle or Y to counter). The combat is solid and all the attacks and counters are very responsive but outside of a few magical spells and passive effects this can get fairly repetitive. As the game progresses, enemy attacks begin to vary more and more. But once you’ve gotten the hang of it, even the hard setting on the combat can feel like not much of a challenge for someone used to that sort of gameplay.
However, unlike the combat, the card system allows for much replayability. Throughout the course of the game, completing challenges the right way will earn you new cards that can be added to your deck. Before each stage, you can choose cards of various types gain, encounters, blessings, or reward to be added to the pool of things you can come across during that level so you can customize the way your adventure could go. With the freeplay mode, you can go on some truly unique adventures.
While it may not be very fast or flashy overall, Hand of Fate is a great and very unique experience outside of combat. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an atmospheric tabletop style experience. The dev support for this games early access was phenomenal and I eagerly await Defiant Development’s future games.