Fate

Developer: Wild Tangent
Steam Release: May 2005
Usual Price: £5.59
Hours Played: 8.4
Similar To: Din's Curse / Fight The Dragon / Forge Quest / Torchlight II
Rating: 2/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
If games such as Legend of Zelda and the original Diablo formed the roots of the modern action RPG, and Grim Dawn, Torchlight II and Diablo III are the fruits... then Fate would be the trunk or the branch. In steep isometric view, you look down on your character who starts his or her adventuring from the home village of Grove (Fate's equivalent of Diablo's town of Tristram.) From here, you'll go through a routine of picking up or handing in quests; selling or stashing items; buying weapons, armour, spells and potions from NPCs or grabbing a heal from the healer. You could even have a flutter with the jester. After those chores are over, it's off down into the dungeons to continue your 50-level journey to face the final boss. Basic features include all those you'd expect in a Diablo-clone type action rpg. 
 

BALANCE & PACE
By today's standards Fate is a very stripped down, bog-standard action rpg for players who want to dive into the hack and slash and who don't like to beat around the bush. Dungeons are unnamed, numbered levels and quest-givers generally just give you the name of the boss to kill, the number of creatures to destroy (if any) and the level you'll find them on. Levels are always divided by a spiraling staircase which you find by uncovering the dungeon's fog-of-war. On the one hand this means that your goal for each of the three active quests are clear and simple, on the other hand the "go kill X and report back to Y" formula can seem a bit routine making gameplay seem automatic for some. This really comes back to the type of action rpg you're looking for - Fate is not for those after depth or innovation. 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The graphics themselves, reminding me of Soldak Entertainment's Din's Curse that arrived five years later, will certainly seem dated for those used to those at the top of the chain like Grim Dawn or Path of Exile. The blob-like enemies are particularly dull and bland. Combat might also seem light where the feeling of contact doesn't quite seem solid or chunky enough. On a positive note, the sunny home village of Grove has a bright and pleasant air and contrasts well with the dark and gloomy tones of the dungeons - but I would like to have seen a little more variety with the tile-sets. Features such as the style of the fonts, a pet who can return to Grove to sell unwanted items and even a treasure chest that leaps into action to attack you with its sharp teeth will certainly alert Torchlight II fans where that game got its inspiration from.

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Your ultimate aim is made no secret by the fact that Bremen, an NPC in Grove, tells you the name and location of the final boss. This is randomly generated but you'll be meeting your fate sometime just after Level 50. Along the way you'll gain experience and dinging a level will entitle you to five skill points you can spend on the usual suspects of Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Magic. A further couple of points can also go into one of fifteen skills involving the use of certain weapons or magic. This means that rather than starting off as a melee, ranged or spellcasting character, you build your character's traits and attributes as you go, channeling points according to your style of play. Super-keen players could pick three characters and see how a melee, ranged and spellcaster build compare as well as experimenting with the difficulty setting.
  

CONCLUSION

There is far more to Fate than is covered by the above: a stamina bar forces your speed down to a walk if you continually auto-run although stamina potions alleviate this handicap; there is a decent zoom-in and out feature; there are four difficulty settings (Page, Adventurer, Hero and Legend) from when you create your character and there are three types of spells to purchase from the mage in Grove. This last point though does mean that after buying about a dozen spells (even though you can use hotkeys) it's hard to keep track as you can only assign one to the right mouse button. Still, suiting the whole fantasy setting correctly, you can't beat that husky wizard-like voice of the narrator who announces those important issues in the heat of battle. For a fluff-free no-nonsense action rpg done in the traditional way, Fate is worth a peak.