| Hand of Fate 2 | |
| Developer: | Defiant Development |
| Publisher: | Defiant Development |
| Engine: | Unity[1] |
| Platforms: | |
| Released: |
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| Genre: | Action role-playing, deck-building |
| Modes: | Single-player |
Hand of Fate 2 is a 2017 video game developed and published by Defiant Development. It combines action role-playing games with deck-building video games. It is the sequel to Hand of Fate.
Players progress through an overworld consisting of twenty-two levels, each of which has different goals. Each level must be cleared by facing challenges posed by cards dealt by the Dealer, a mysterious antagonist. Players also have their own deck of cards, as in deck-building games. Players can augment their decks with recruited companions, each of whom has their own story and associated quests. When cards indicate combat, players engage in third-person action sequences, as in action role-playing games. If players die, they must start the level over from the beginning.[2]
Defiant Development released it for Linux, macOS, Windows, and PlayStation 4 on November 7, 2017; for Xbox One on December 1, 2017; and for Switch on July 17, 2018.[3]
Hand of Fate 2 received positive reviews on Metacritic.[4] Although PC Gamer felt the combat was weak and repetitive, they said the strategic elements and storytelling make up for it.[2] IGN called it a major improvement over Hand of Fate and praised the added depth, though they said it can still be repetitive.[5] GameSpot said it is "a realization of the first game's promise" and praised the combination of genres. However, they said some quests rely too much on luck, and dying during a quest can be frustrating.[6] Game Informer said the combat is "often boring or laborious", but they called the gameplay otherwise "fantastic and unique".[7] Rock Paper Shotgun said it has more variety than Hand of Fate, but they said they missed that game's larger role for the Dealer.[8]