Fateforge Chronicles of Kaan
Fateforge is a co-operative adventure game in which we will traverse dungeons, fight hordes of enemies, collect loot and level up our heroes. The game consists of 3 chapters, and in each of them we will go through a story part interrupted by numerous fight scenes. Everything is based on an app that will guide us through our adventure and save the progress of the game.
Did Fateforge meet all my requirements for dungeon crawlers?
Compelling storyline
The first factor that is very important to me in such games is the story itself. I also care that I feel the atmosphere of the game and that my choices have an impact on the fate of my protagonists.
Let me mention right away that I managed to play through the entire Fateforge campaign over the Christmas holidays. In my review, however, I will not include any spoilers so that you can discover for yourself what awaits you in this game. If anyone wants to talk to me about the game’s plot, feel free to dm me.
We are heroes from the Forest who arrive in Easafir the Capital of the Kartacol Empire. We must free the druidess Naske, who has been kidnapped by the mysterious, immortal Emperor Ilkral. The game’s story is divided into 3 acts, in which we will explore the city, meet new npcs and make many story choices.
What can I say. I got heavily drawn into the world of Fateforge. Every time I played I wanted to know what would happen next. That’s why I sprinted the gameplay. Which is quite strange considering that role-playing games generally take me several months to get through.
I really enjoyed the world of Fateforge and all the exploration of the city and its surroundings. Especially the Micro Macro fun on the map. The story of the game itself is full of twists and turns where our decisions influenced who could become our allies and who could become our enemies. Although there was one such turning point in the campaign that slightly suggested to me who might have malevolent plans.
As for the ending itself, I am slightly surprised, but I expected there to be a sequel. That’s why, after a few scenarios, I ordered the expansion, which supposedly elaborates on everything. I will drop the review of expansion next year.
Character development
I’ll honestly admit that I’m one of those min/maxers who has to have a perfectly polished character. I like to make the most optimal builds so that everything fits together neatly. Fortunately, Fateforge provided me with this and, most importantly, I could develop my heroes in several ways.
In my adventure, I played as a Mercenary and a Wilderness Guardian. I developed the Mercenary as a charging DPS who could tank a bit if needed. The Wilderness Guardian was my sniper, who took down many enemies at once with his volley of arrows. I had a great time playing with this duo. There may not have been any synergy between them, but at least they were able to efficiently clear chamber after chamber of enemies.
Our heroes can also be varied with equipment we can find or purchase during the campaign. It also influences our style of play and increases our converting combos. In general, the creators have used a sensational character modification system here. It is literally a paradise for players like me.
I also tested the other heroes in combat mode. The nobleman is a swordmaster who has 2 different combat stances allowing him to move or defend his comrades with lightning speed. The rogue sneak attacks enemies by hiding on the battlefield. The shaman supports his companions.
This interesting character development makes me want to play the game again to test the full potential of the rest of the team.
Varied scenarios
I hate it in games if I only get missions that involve exterminating all the enemies on the map. Shots got fired in the direction of Gloomhaven. The missions available in Fateforge are very varied and each one is coolly introduced by the game’s storyline. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but escorting a certain individual was just great. Some of the side missions also surprised me a lot. Especially the one with the change of form. I just purred with delight.
In addition to interesting missions, I also expect a variety of opponents. In Fateforge we get mercenaries, archers, skeletons, pets and other various degenerates. The enemies have their own behaviours, different stats and many abilities that made our lives miserable. Especially the skeletons, who refused to sleep. The enemies also get stronger, and in this aspect I’m glad it’s not another Assassins Creed.
The game also has elite enemies and bosses to fight. Here, however, I feel somewhat let down in this aspect. I don’t know if I’ve developed my Wilderness Guardian that well, but he was able to One shot everything that moves. Particularly disappointing was the final battle, which took me a whole 2 rounds to finish.
In terms of difficulty level, it varies quite a bit. Some of the missions were too easy, and some of them required me to plan my moves perfectly.
Dynamic fast-paced combat
While we’re on the subject of combat, I’ll say straight away that it’s fast-paced, dynamic and there are some nice plays to be made.
Each character has their own dice pool, which they roll during the planning phase. Swords and arrows hurt enemies, boots allow you to move, and focus will be used for various actions. We can also use the results on the dice to fire our special abilities. Each character can have six such skills, which significantly modify what we can do. But the best part is that we can convert the results on the dice to create strings of interesting combos. That’s why a good character build is so important, as I wrote about earlier. I’m also glad that we can even use misses for certain effects. On top of that we still have a lot of dice rerolling possibilities. As a rule, nothing is wasted in Fateforge.
After the dice phase, we ourselves determine the order in which enemies and players are activated. We know what the opponents will do in their turn, so we have to position ourselves so as not to get too many blows.
An interesting twist and a touch of uncertainty is the enemies’ reaction phase. This is when the app will tell us what two enemies are going to activate. Often with altered attacks too.
We felt this satisfaction as we managed to avoid the enemies’ attack. However, when the damage went into us it hurt a lot. Especially since in Fateforge we don’t regenerate to full after each clash. We will have to wait for full regeneration in the rest phase. However, it will still cost us some gold, which is worth collecting during clashes.
Time pressure
The plot is great, the various missions are sensational, the development of characters full of possibilities and dynamic clashes. We got it. And then there is the time pressure. I love the fact that we have to finish most of the fights in 4 rounds. It puts us under pressure and motivates us to keep pushing forward. It makes you feel the dynamic of the game. If we fail to meet the target in time, we can play one more round. However, we will get a corruption by this, which will negatively affect our character. Fortunately, we will be able to get rid of it later. Although there is nothing for free.
On many maps we also have loot boxes scattered about. While this sounds tempting they are often not on the way with our objective. However, I loved how I managed to figure out how to collect them to avoid wasting time. Priceless.
Scaling and gameplay time
I went through most of the campaign solo playing two characters at once. Occasionally, I was joined by my wife, who said we had to play the whole thing again, only with her. I have no problem with that statement. Also, we can each easily lead 2 characters at once so I’m keen to see how we play with a team of 4.
Fatefroge is not a long game and it took me about 30 hours to get through everything. Which compared to other games of this type is a huge plus. The main merits are the really fast start and the great segregation of components, which makes changing battle scenes not so time-consuming. Although we still have to search for individual terrain tiles, which I’m not a fan of.
Quality and components
Another big plus is the insert and storage of the game components. This has been brilliantly planned and we even get instructions on how we should put it all together. CMON could finally learn.
The figures look good and have quite a lot of detail. However, the city map deserves my highest praise. It’s very atmospheric, has loads of interesting tidbits and introduced me to this world quite well.
The app
The app, which I left for last, is always a controversial topic. That’s why I’ll just briefly say that I’m a fan of this solution. It makes it much easier to prepare for a game and by saving our progress I don’t have to search for something in multiple books. Although there were some small mistakes in the game such as one of the opponents being slightly off the map.
Summary
Fateforge met all my requirements for dungeon crawlers. The story contained in the game draws you in like old Dragon Age. Our choices influence the story and the development of the world. The clashes with enemies are dynamic, and the time pressure in each mission heightens the atmosphere even more. The game has a simple dice rolling system, which we can combo convert thanks to our numerous skills. On top of this, we also get sensational production quality and a storage system that speeds up game preparation.
Final verdict: Fateforge, one of the best dungeon crawlers I’ve ever played.
Pros
- Compelling storyline
- A paradise for min/maxers
- Varied scenarios and enemies
- Dynamic combat with time pressure
- Sensational insert and game map
Cons
- Boss fights could be a bit more challenging
[Game provided by Galakta]
