Aussie games don’t get highlighted on Steam that often, so when they do, it’s nice to see that they’re received well.
A cross between a deckbuilding game and third-person action RPG with roguelike elements, the Brisbane-made Hand of Fate 2 launched early last week. It was originally meant to coincide with the launch of the Xbox One X, although the Xbox version got unexpectedly delayed.
Nonetheless, I spent about 20 hours with the PC version. For my liking it was about bang on what I wanted from a Hand of Fate sequel, save for some frustrations with the combat and the combat camera in particular.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/11/hand-of-fate-2-almost-does-everything-right/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/11/hand-of-fate-2-410×231.jpg” title=”Hand Of Fate 2 Does Almost Everything Right” excerpt=”Hand of Fate was a bit of a watershed Aussie game. Apart from the fact that it was uniquely difficult to describe – a deckbuilding roguelike with Batman Arkham Asylum combat and tons of RNG – it was also one of the few Australian games to be included in a publisher-approved console bundle.”]
But overall, I had a good time. And that’s been the reception amongst Steam users as well, with Hand of Fate 2 sitting on a 86% user rating from just over 700 reviews at the time of writing.
Positive reviews enjoyed the expansion of Hand of Fate‘s core concepts, while the heightened focus on storytelling was also praised. Other positive aspects noted across reviews included the increased item and encounter variety, the Dealer’s narration, better combat animations, and streamlining of transitions and menus.
The most common criticisms were levelled against the combat AI, the uncomfortable timewarp-esque combat transition screen, and the support for mouse and keyboard controls (which is being addressed in a future patch). Others also noted unsatisfying nature of the RNG elements, and the unskippable nature of
Here’s what users are saying about Hand of Fate 2:
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