I loved the first Hand of Fate. It was an amazing mesh of tabletop card games, text-based adventures, and that roguelike flavor starting back at the beginning when you die. We even ran an indie developer spotlight on Defiant shortly after it released. Understandably, I itched for a follow up. I wanted to see what else Defiant had in them, and how they could improve on the formula they had so uniquely crafted. Then it happened. Hand of Fate 2 was announced and the biggest disappointment hit when PS4 was not among the logos present. I held out hope though, and my patience was rewarded. I spotted Defiant on the list of developers at PSX 2016 and knew that a Hand of Fate 2 announcement for Sony’s console was around the corner.
Hand of Fate 2 seems to be an improvement on the first in every way. From deeper storylines that intertwine between rounds, to an expanded set of campaigns to undertake, the dealer is back with a vengeance. The new campaigns have requirements that must be met in order to face the final boss this time around, instead of just being difficult. I faced off against an assassin that was notorious for quick and effective kills so I had to get my max health up over a certain amount before finding his card. Much like the first game, various cards offer both benefits and drawbacks, like increasing that max health I needed so badly, or sending a bunch of skeletons at me. As with everything else, combat is far improved from the relatively unbalanced and stiff...