Some time ago we told you about Children of Zodiacs, for an GDR tactic that combined the use of cards and dice to continue the missions. Today, however, we offer you Hand of Fate 2 a game that uses similar mechanics but in a completely new context by offering us a single player adventure with a high replay value.
Take your seat at the dark dealer table and begin the game of life and death as the carriage takes you to the discovery of a dark and fantastic world.
Lead the hand of fortune
Once the game has started, the dealer will place the cards on the table and by telling us a story he will reveal our path and the tests we will have to face to complete one of the twenty-two missions available in the game.
Each card can conceal both narrative elements, which will positively or negatively affect the course of the story, and encounters to be solved in combat.
Said this way it may seem like a game totally guided by chance but fortunately we will have on our side the possibility of creating our own deck with event cards, equipment and supplies that will help us in completing the main mission.
For example, in the mission "The Pope" we will need to find a lot of gold in order to obtain information from the characters and that we will find many members of the Guild of Thieves along our path, it will therefore be our task to create a deck with many events with gold rewards and equipment cards to counter the thieves.
Not just cards
To progress in our trials we will often be asked to make narrative choices in the best of traditions GDR, in others the obscure dealer has other tricks in store for us:
- The dice, by throwing the dice it will be necessary to arrive at a certain indicated result.
- The pendulum, this arcane tool will test our reaction times by swinging between success and failure.
- Wheel of fortune, the dealer will spin a choice of cards and stop it at the right time will mark our fate.
- Face down cards, an oversight can be fatal to you.
In some cases, we will be able to take advantage of blessings and upgrades to be able to retry the trials or decrease the chances of failure.
Completing a mission will give us access to new event cards and equipment.
To the fist!
When we face the encounter cards the game will totally change going from card game to action RPG in an instant.
The enemies to face are many and well characterized each with peculiar abilities and specific requirements to be able to be faced in the best way such as heavy weapons for the soldiers of the empire or double blades to fight thieves on an equal footing.
The combat system is very simple, targets are automatically locked when attacking and this can sometimes make it slightly difficult to prioritize one target over another. The commands are few and effective with attack, parry and breakthrough on the 3 mouse keys, dodge on the space bar, F for the coup de grace e R for the power of the equipped weapon. To have the best we will have to react at the right time when we see the indications on the enemies, green for the parry and red for the dodge.
To face the many dangers that the dealer will throw at us we will not be alone because along our adventure we will be able to get to know sodali who will join us to give us a hand in battles.
Each partner has skills that will help us both in and out of combat as well as a series of event cards that will help us find out more about them.
One life is not enough
In some cases, the failure of a mission can be an opportunity to reorganize our deck of cards and face the level that has just defeated us in a new way, knowing a priori the effect of some previously uncovered cards and developing a strategy in the best possible way. avoiding the mistakes made previously.
The failure of a mission can be due to the death of our character (health has reached zero) or to the non-fulfillment of the main objective, for example if, like myself, you sell the artifact with which you had to save the villages to the gnomes.
In conclusion:
Hand of Fate 2 is a game that is 30% card game, 30% RPG, 30% board game and 10% action that files the defects of the first chapter offering a light and fun title that will keep you glued to the screen for find out what lies behind the next card. The setting reminiscent of "The seventh seal" (1955 film) creates the right narrative tension to make the dealer's story and our choices during the game cathartic. The infinite possibilities of creating decks and making choices make the game itself infinite, which presents itself new after every login. The only flaw is perhaps the combat system which at times can be woody and confusing but this does not affect the overall gaming experience.
I thank Defiant Development for giving me the opportunity to discover this fantastic title.
