INTRODUCTION AND DISCLAIMERS
Relevant information before reading this early impression article:
Relevant information before reading this early impression article:
- I was not given a review copy.
- I have no affiliation nor contact with anyone at Defiant Development.
- Specifications of the system used for this first impressions article can be found here.
- At the time of writing this article, I had played the game for 9 hours
- This game is still in Beta and as such comments made in the article regarding performance and/or bugs may not be relevant to the state of the game at full release.
It's not often that I dip into the murky waters of Early Access on Steam - to persuade me to do so usually requires two things: First, that the game is close to a final state, and second that the game has an interesting premise that is fairly unique.
Hand of Fate, by Defiant Development of Brisbane, Australia is certainly an intriguing spin and meshing of the Roguelite, Card Game and RPG genres. Perhaps you could call it a collectible card game that doubles as a choose-your-own adventure.
THE PREMISE
Hand of Fate uses a theme of a tabletop game in a Mystic's tent - complete with magical control over cards, cryptic advice, veiled threats and a rather creepy looking spider that wonders around the table. The game is driven entirely through playing cards. Thematically, Hand of Fate is very strong - and the Dealer's voice acting is particularly well done by Anthony Skordi. Hearing him complain about the amount of time you take to make a decision never gets old.
Hand of Fate, by Defiant Development of Brisbane, Australia is certainly an intriguing spin and meshing of the Roguelite, Card Game and RPG genres. Perhaps you could call it a collectible card game that doubles as a choose-your-own adventure.
THE PREMISE
Hand of Fate uses a theme of a tabletop game in a Mystic's tent - complete with magical control over cards, cryptic advice, veiled threats and a rather creepy looking spider that wonders around the table. The game is driven entirely through playing cards. Thematically, Hand of Fate is very strong - and the Dealer's voice acting is particularly well done by Anthony Skordi. Hearing him complain about the amount of time you take to make a decision never gets old.
MECHANICS
Hand of Fate has two game modes; 'Story Mode' and 'Endless'. In Story Mode, the aim is to work through 4 tiers of bosses from the different suits; Dust, Scales, Plague, Mages and Skulls. Endless mode is an unrestricted and bottomless-dungeon style offering that serves as a high score chase.
Hand of Fate has two game modes; 'Story Mode' and 'Endless'. In Story Mode, the aim is to work through 4 tiers of bosses from the different suits; Dust, Scales, Plague, Mages and Skulls. Endless mode is an unrestricted and bottomless-dungeon style offering that serves as a high score chase.
Selecting story mode will open up a cabinet (above), presenting you with three tiers of boss encounters that must be defeated before opening up the next in line. At the end of each row you unlock one of the Dealer's possessions, which boost your starting resources and equipment. It's a thematically reinforcing way of selecting which level you want to play, and it's clear here that Defiant Development have paid a great deal of care and attention to this area.
From there, you can either choose to start the game or go into the deck builder. There are two parts to this - the one shown above allows you to select which pieces of equipment will be in play - although not your starting equipment - while the other half lets you choose which encounters you'd like to include in the level. The Dealer will add his own batch of encounters, indicated by a purple colouration.
While this allows you to have some control over the content of the levels, the real strength of this system is that goes a long way to preventing player frustration if they're stuck on a level. Failed it three times? Completely swap out all of your encounter cards and the level will be radically different. Only certain monster and environmental encounters are fixed per level.
While this allows you to have some control over the content of the levels, the real strength of this system is that goes a long way to preventing player frustration if they're stuck on a level. Failed it three times? Completely swap out all of your encounter cards and the level will be radically different. Only certain monster and environmental encounters are fixed per level.
New cards are earned by successfully and fully completing encounters - when you die or successfully defeat the boss, you will get to open the 'tokens' that you've collected along the way, in a very Hearthstone-esque manner (shown above).
When you enter the game, you're presented with a layout of cards that serve as a map. Your three main resources - Health, Food and Gold are displayed in the bottom left (shown above) - all of which can be both increased and decreased through encounters and combat. Hidden behind the three resources are active blessings and curses - cards that can also have a dramatic effect on the way game plays. For instance, I came across one curse that made your character eat gold rather than food whenever he moves a tile.
Food will decrease by 1 per move, and when you're injured your character will recover 5 health per move. Equipment can be gained through encounters. Some encounters will reward you with a specific piece of equipment, while others will allow you to draw one at random from your deck. Equipment can be managed via the functional inventory screen shown below.
Food will decrease by 1 per move, and when you're injured your character will recover 5 health per move. Equipment can be gained through encounters. Some encounters will reward you with a specific piece of equipment, while others will allow you to draw one at random from your deck. Equipment can be managed via the functional inventory screen shown below.
The Encounters are all delivered with a narrative, and appropriate voiced comments from the dealer. Some of the more special encounters have a good amount of lore in yet another sign that the developers were really keen to make the theme as strong as possible (example below).
When you enter combat, the game changes completely. Your cards are visualised in a full 3D environment and a mini-game is started, where Hand of Fate temporarily becomes a basic but functional third person action-combat game. Weapons can have special attacks, you can dodge, counter and block melee attacks and reflect ranged attacks. Artefacts that you gain during the game are powerful combat skills that need to be charged before they can be used - but they're powerful enough to change the tide of not only the individual battle, but your success in the level - depending on the artefact.
But the combat is not perfect. Performance issues during larger battles aside, some of the animations still need some work. Obviously, the game is still in beta and there's still time for these to be improved - but at the moment executions are severely lacking in weight - the animations looks more like you're gently waving your weapon at a prone foe rather than actually hitting it. If this were the entire game, it would be decidedly lacklustre - but as its main purpose is to provide a change of setting to the tabletop, it does enough to be challenging and rewarding. There's even a basic rag-doll physics system included to add a needed level of polish.
Should you fall in combat (or starve or otherwise die on the tabletop) your progress through the level is lost - but you retain any tokens you've earned, and at the end of the game you'll still get to open them. This again allows you to customise the next play through of the level. What should be noted here is that this can not only be used to make the game easier, but the right selection of encounters and equipment can also make the game significantly more challenging.
JACK-OF-ALL TRADES, MASTER OF.. MOST?
When I first looked at the blurb for this game on the Steam store, I had the feeling this was going to be one of those games that tried to do a bit too much without really being good at anything (Brütal Legend springs to mind). It's a pleasant surprise then to find out that the ambitions Defiant Development had for the game seem to be on course to being met. After 9 hours, I haven't managed to finish story mode yet.
The combat starts to become a little repetitive, but the chase for new equipment and the desire to unlock some of the rarer encounters isn't fading. The ability to change the deck, completely swap out encounters and equipment before attempting to defeat the boss again adds a great deal to replayability and takes the edge of the frustration that can creep in from repeatedly failing a certain level (damn you and your rats, Queen of Plague).
The narrative is excellent, the single character in the game, The Dealer, is well fleshed out, brilliantly voice-acted and entertaining enough to hold your attention. The lore of the game, the various encounters and creatures you'll encounter as you go through the game are engaging, and when you realise that certain encounters are linked to each other, the game reveals several layers of complexity that weren't there at the start.
FINAL SAY
At the end of these articles I will finish with a single line that sums up my recommendation - Worth a buy, wait for fixes, wait for sale, wait for more content or avoid.
Hand of Fate fortunately looks like it's going to be an Early Access success, and when it's released I'll have no problem giving it my worth a buy recommendation. If you're feeling particularly brave, the game is available now, in Beta for a €19.99 asking price. There is no set release date or retail price yet, although given the state of the game at the moment, release can't be too far away.
Should you fall in combat (or starve or otherwise die on the tabletop) your progress through the level is lost - but you retain any tokens you've earned, and at the end of the game you'll still get to open them. This again allows you to customise the next play through of the level. What should be noted here is that this can not only be used to make the game easier, but the right selection of encounters and equipment can also make the game significantly more challenging.
JACK-OF-ALL TRADES, MASTER OF.. MOST?
When I first looked at the blurb for this game on the Steam store, I had the feeling this was going to be one of those games that tried to do a bit too much without really being good at anything (Brütal Legend springs to mind). It's a pleasant surprise then to find out that the ambitions Defiant Development had for the game seem to be on course to being met. After 9 hours, I haven't managed to finish story mode yet.
The combat starts to become a little repetitive, but the chase for new equipment and the desire to unlock some of the rarer encounters isn't fading. The ability to change the deck, completely swap out encounters and equipment before attempting to defeat the boss again adds a great deal to replayability and takes the edge of the frustration that can creep in from repeatedly failing a certain level (damn you and your rats, Queen of Plague).
The narrative is excellent, the single character in the game, The Dealer, is well fleshed out, brilliantly voice-acted and entertaining enough to hold your attention. The lore of the game, the various encounters and creatures you'll encounter as you go through the game are engaging, and when you realise that certain encounters are linked to each other, the game reveals several layers of complexity that weren't there at the start.
FINAL SAY
At the end of these articles I will finish with a single line that sums up my recommendation - Worth a buy, wait for fixes, wait for sale, wait for more content or avoid.
Hand of Fate fortunately looks like it's going to be an Early Access success, and when it's released I'll have no problem giving it my worth a buy recommendation. If you're feeling particularly brave, the game is available now, in Beta for a €19.99 asking price. There is no set release date or retail price yet, although given the state of the game at the moment, release can't be too far away.
