Developer: Defiant Development
Publisher: Defiant Development
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Tested On: Nintendo Switch
Hand of Fate 2 (Switch) – Review
Right before Hand of Fate 2 began, the previous dealer fought his way back to the surface which is way beyond the thirteen gates, to seek the ultimate revenge on the one who beat him hundred years ago. This sequel brings you a much darker deck of cards and the challenges that await you will make you struggle for survival. This time around it is quite simple, do you beat the game or does the game beats you?
Story
Hand of Fate 2 starts off a hundred years after Hand of Fate ended. The previous dealer had been defeated by a violent and cruel man named Kallas. As of now, he asks for your help in defeating him because Kallas has reshaped the game world into something far too dark. During the past century, he built his own empire which is obviously corrupt as fuck, with farmers starving, a rebellious North, persecution of mages and an overall chaos in the game.
Some mages are plotting to bring Kallas down and cast him out of the void he entered when he won the game. Challenge by challenge you will proceed in your quest and meet those mages and other companions. Don’t forget, nothing comes for free in this game, so you need to earn their trust by helping them accomplish their goal. In one of those challenges the current dealer, Kallas, will be cast back, at that moment you will start to prepare for your battle with him. Your final battle, everything you’ve worked for will be decided there.
The story proceeds step by step throughout the challenges, which makes it kind of easy to get carried away by this game. There is no time for breaks if you want to unravel the full story.
Graphics
When you keep in mind that this isn’t an AAA game, you’ll really appreciate its graphics. The scene where the game is played is visually stunning, Kallas is portrayed just right for the image he has to present and the card drawings are simple but brilliant. The game board, where you can pick your challenges, is maybe a bit simplistic, but in our opinion, it perfectly represents the idea the developers were aiming for. When we search for the least beautiful part of the game it will be the fighting parts, but even they are enjoyable to watch when you play. Maybe some different environments would be in place and a different loading screen because the flashy flairs are getting repetitive after the seventeenth time.
Sound
The sounds of the game are mostly atmospheric, as the game focusses on the noises outside of the carriage you are riding in while playing the game. So you’ll occasionally hear horse noises or the wheels underneath you. Also when you are playing the game you’ll hear the cards shuffle, the dices when you roll them and in the fight scenes the clashes of weapons and now and then the grunts of you or your enemies. The only thing that really bothers me is the voice acting. The dealer in front of you has an arsenal of lines but could be completely voice acted if they just wanted to. It is surely an investment but nonetheless a good one for the game.
Gameplay
Hand of Fate 2 is an action adventure game set up as a card game, where the dealer and you decide which cards or adventures you will encounter in your next challenge. You start off with the first challenge, ‘The Fool’, where the dealer will go a little easy on you and explains the game. The mechanics of this game are quite simple, the dealer shuffles the deck and afterwards, he puts the cards on the table in a constantly changing pattern.
Your pawn starts on the starting card which is already turned face up and you need to decide which way you want to go to, this will lead you to your next card which will also turn face up when your pawn lands on it. Each card can have different abilities. Some will give you the right to participate in mini-games, some are giving you extra skills or blessings and others let you fight against the games’ minions. That’s not all, in later levels you will have cards to ascend to the next level or pattern of the challenge, this can be accessed even when not all the cards on the first level are turned.
When you play the game you’ll have access to four different stacks. Your life points, food, gold and fame stack. They all have a different purpose. When your life points hit zero you’ll die and you’ll have to start the whole challenge all over again. When you are starving in the wilderness, your food stack will decrease and if it hits zero or below zero, you’ll get punished by losing life points. The money stack is necessary for helping friends in need or paying for services which are granted to you. And last but not least you have your fame stack. This will give you advantages from persuading, the ability to wield better weapons or reaching a goal.
There are three main mini-games which the game throws at you. First of all, there is the card shuffling mini-game, here the dealer will shuffle four or more cards, with their face down, and you need to pick one. Mostly you’ll have success, failure, huge success and huge failure cards; they decide your or an NPCs fate at that given moment. Secondly, there is a mini-game where you need to throw dices. You’ll get three dices and need to reach the given number for succeeding in your current adventure, if you don’t reach the number the first time, you’ll get a second try. But after the second attempt, you just fail and get some sort of punishment. The last minigame is a wheel of fortune with cards. These cards can add to your life, food or gold stack or can be used in little adventures where you need to spin the wheel and get the right cards for that given adventure or you get cards which will result in fails or punishments.
From the second challenge on you’ll have a say on which cards will be shuffled in your deck. You can add a companion, different types of equipment, adventures and supplies. When you complete a challenge you get a reward token. This token includes cards that will aid you in your challenges. The rank of the token depends on whether you succeeded in your bonus quest or not.
Conclusion
Hand of Fate 2 will take you on a journey in a game that reaches beyond your imagination. Good graphics, sounds (besides the full voice acting of the dealer that’s missing) and a thrilling storyline will keep you interested until the end. This game is not for quitters, because you will have to start some challenges over and over again. The mini-games and fights are a fun addition which makes the card game even more immersive. Overall Hand of Fate 2 doesn’t disappoint and is a worthy successor of Hand of Fate.
Hand of Fate 2 (Switch) - Review,
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