Hand of Fate 2 Reviews

Hand of Fate 2 is an accurate and bold recreation of a fantasy card game. However, authenticity aside, it jars as a video game due to its insurmountable randomness.

Hand of Fate 2 has stellar writing, fun deck building, and interesting stories. What it doesn’t have, however, is good combat. While I have grown to find the combat manageable, it should be fun and exciting. It stands as an odd blemish that has been carried over from the original while everything else as been prettied up. Still, I recommend giving Hand of Fate 2 a chance, especially if you never played the original. Even with the lackluster combat there is plenty to enjoy here.

Hand of Fate 2 was an excellent spin on the ARPG when it came out in late 2017. It's even better now that it's on the Switch. The same issues are still present, namely that combat can be too simplistic, and there are just so many games on the console that Hand of Fate 2 could easily be overlooked. I hope that instead, Defiant's sequel sees a lot of new players, as it's a series I hope to see continue to evolve.

If the original Hand of Fate was a game that I loved despite its flaws, then Hand of Fate 2 feels like a well-deserved payoff for that love. Yes, the game can be challenging at times, and bad luck is a thing that can cost you a play-through…it just seems slightly trite to hold these against the game when that is exactly how it is advertised.

After giving the first game a try, I’ve come to the conclusion that Defiant has improved on the first game in every conceivable way. They clearly haven’t been content to leave it at that, releasing several patches to polish the game even further (If there were any bugs the patches needed to fix, I did not notice them). They have certainly caught my eye, and I will be looking out for what Defiant Development does next after this experience. This game was a delight to play, and if you’re ...

When the issues of a game are rolled and stomped by its greatness, then it’s something to invest on if you have some spare.

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Combat has also been expanded with new enemies, bosses, and weapon types. AI companions will also become available over time, each with their own unique powers. The fighting system itself hasn’t changed, feeling like a simpler version of that seen in the Arkham series and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. For the most part that actually works in its favour, though there are times where Hand of Fate 2 can feel like a slog, either due to being swamped by loads of enemies or not having the equipment cards to kill them off quickly.

Hand of Fate 2 combines cards, fantasy, and storytelling to make a unique RPG experience, though not in the vein of Hearthstone. In this new adventure by Defiant Development, players travel the world with and through a deck of cards. Cards govern everything: gear, encounters, success. Quite a bit of skill and brain matter is required, but winning isn’t always a matter of “gitting gud.”

Dealt a good hand.

Craft a deck of weapons, armor, trinkets, and encounters and play through a variety of role-playing experiences served up by a mysterious dealer. Don’t be fooled – Hand of Fate 2 is not a collectible card game, but rather a distinctive take on the core tabletop experience mixed with a smattering of real-time action battles. The conceit of maneuvering around a tabletop dungeon crafted by cards is a strong, unique twist on the classic action/RPG, and this sequel improves upon almost every feature found in the first game. Low-impact additions like rolling dice or spinning wheels to determine the outcome of a story are interesting, but Hand of Fate 2 also makes big changes, like companion characters that join you in battle and offer their skills and expertise off the battlefield.

A mysterious dealer sits in a rickety wagon, casting your fate across the table in an ominous game of cards. He offers cryptic insight into the game itself while dictating your destiny as if it were preordained.

Hand of Fate 2 doesn’t change much of the concept that made the first game so appealing, but everything here – whether it's challenges, smarter deck building, companion characters, and better combat – marks a major improvement over what we saw in 2015. Repetitiveness can still be a problem, but it takes much longer for it to show up. This time around, this is definitely a hand worth playing.

You sit face to face with the dealer. Your fate firmly sealed within the grasp of his withered hands. A deck of cards reveals the long journey you took to get to the dealer’s side. Each card a blank moment of your history that needs to be written into existence. The game is new but the stakes remain the same: “Life, death, and vengeance.”

The Dealer returns for another round of cards and combat in Hand of Fate 2.

The original Hand of Fate took a lot of different styles of gaming and brought them together successfully to make something really unique. Hand of Fate 2 improves upon nearly every aspect of the original, providing diverse new challenges that help build the world around the Game of Life and Death. The new scenarios, the success checks that come with them, the companions, and new encounters and gear cards all add hundreds of unique touches to the game that make every card flip an experience. M...

Hand of Fate 2 manages to take everything praiseworthy about the previous installment and make it even better. The challenges players face never look alike and the improved combat system manages to elevate the weakest parts of the original.

Updated graphics, additional gameplay mechanics, and engaging storytelling make Hand of Fate 2 an enjoyable gaming experience.