By Jade Entien

When the original FATE came out back in 2005, I was only a year old; video games wouldn’t be relevant to me until I was five, as that was when my parents put me onto JumpStart. But though I wasn’t old enough for (or aware of, for that matter) the FATE series, it would be with me and it’s long-time fans as we grew up. Six years later, in 2011, FATE developers WildTangent put out three more games in the series, further delighting action role-playing game fans nationwide. 

Come 2024, WildTangent decided it was time for a change, a brand new look, and now it’s finally here. FATE: Reawakened was released on March 12th and includes all four games in the FATE series, but with a fresh re-vamped look and UI that’s easy to follow for both returning fans and new ones.

I’ve been playing role-playing games (RPGs) for a while now – Skyrim, Path of Exile, World of Warcraft and Dragon Age, just to name a few – and I honestly thought I had seen it all. The value in these games, for me, is in their endless replayability. There was always something new to do, different choices to make, different armor to wear, different spells to cast. I could easily find an escape in these games, since regardless of the choices I made, I could always start over. A few of these RPGs also had multiplayer connections, allowing me to enjoy the game with friends. I thought I was satisfied. Until I encountered the FATE series. 

All games in the FATE series, including FATE: Reawakened, use an overhead gaming style, and I was initially wary of it because of this. I’ve never been too fond of that style, since I was used to the first and third-person gameplay of Skyrim, another RPG or role-playing game. RPGs are a type of game where players take on the roles of characters in a mostly fictional setting. Like all overhead POV games, it took me a while to get comfortable with Divinity and Path of Exile, since those games, like FATE, use an all-seeing  point of view. That style is helpful when it comes to being aware of your surroundings, but I appreciate the element of surprise that comes with first person. But after a few minutes playing FATE: Reawakened, I realized I was enjoying the game as it was and rethought my preferences. 

FATE: Reawakened offers multiple character customization options, which I was very excited about. I will admit I spent an embarrassingly long time creating my character, as I couldn’t decide between a Cogger, a machine-based species not unlike the robotic Foggernauts of Wakfu, and a Half-Orc (the name speaks for itself). I’d be shocked if anyone into video games wasn’t familiar with those green-skinned baddies – my first introduction to them was through Lord of the Rings. I eventually decided that for my first playthrough, I should stick with the basics, so I chose to play as a human. Then came the challenge of designating my animal companion, with relatively few options: ordinary pets like dogs and cats, or a boar, a fox, a phoenix or a drone. Keeping it simple, I elected to play with a cat companion, reminiscent of my feline companions at home. 

The first 3 minutes of gameplay gave me some time to get comfortable with the controls and user interface. After playing so many other RPGs, it took me a while to get used to the different UI but it soon became second nature. I familiarized myself with my slots and abilities. I started with the base game, intending to treat myself to the sequels once I’d completed a few missions. Since I had never played the original, I didn’t have much to compare the remaster to. But the fresh graphics were incredible and up to par with game graphic quality today.

You start in the town of Grove,  where you’re given quests that send you to explore the Dungeon Gate, a subterranean land filled with monsters and riches. Completing your tasks means retrieving an artifact or taking care of a handful of monsters. At first glance, these seemed simple enough… until I started to delve deeper into the dungeons. Enemies got harder and faster, although fortunately my inventory never seemed to get emptier regardless of all the loot I was dropping as most of my slots refilled when I found something cooler. Giant rats that I could usually take out with one hit on level one turned into grotesque brain beasts on level three that would destroy me instead.

As a newbie, I was prepared to start the quests over after being downed, ready to accept my fate for being greedy and descending further and further when in truth I didn’t have the skills to match my confidence. And then I was sent an absolute blessing. In the FATE games, death is never the end. I was given three choices: I could be brought back to life in the same location I was downed, at some cost of my EXP; I could be brought back to life and transported to another level of my choice in exchange for a tenth of my hard-earned gold; or I could be brought back to life and transported back three levels at the cost of all my gold (but with the chance to retrieve it if I made it back to the level where I was downed). I reluctantly accepted defeat and returned three levels upwards in order to return to Grove and buy some better weapons. I returned to level four as an absolute unit and reclaimed my gold, while also slaying the basilisk, a bipedal reptilian creature, that had taken me down prior. 

One reason – maybe THE reason – I enjoyed FATE: Reawakened so much was because it proved that even in a world of multiplayer games, the single-player experience can be just as exciting and memorable. The only downside that I can see is that even after 20 years, there’s still no consistent voice acting, which only adds to the feeling of emptiness the game brings to the single-player experience. Most single-players allow you to engage in meaningful dialogue with the NPCs while in the FATE series, NPCs will talk as you greet them, but they don’t read what’s stated in the rather plain text boxes that show up on the screen. It’s just quiet, and it makes the game feel lonely.

And while yes, there is also a narrator who drops some commentary now and then, he’s not always around. So the games in the FATE series are truly single-player, which can get too solitary at times since most RPGs these days have moved to including multiplayer gameplay. But you are never completely alone in FATE since you have your trusty pet companion who’s willing to take a few hits for you or run back and forth to town to sell what you no longer need. You can also employ hirelings to help make more complicated dungeons easier to navigate. It would be nice if, in a future update or rework, WildTangent decided to include some more dialogue for the characters I often run into in Grove. Perhaps this will be an interesting challenge for fans to possibly mod or fandub the game themselves. 

FATE: Reawakened revisits the charm of classic RPGs, proving that a well-crafted single-player adventure still has a place in the gaming world. Throughout my playthrough I was wowed by the remastered graphics, intuitive UI, and engaging gameplay backed by a wonderful soundtrack. While WildTangent stays true to its series roots, the absence of consistent voice acting and multiplayer might make modern gamers expect more. To me, FATE: Reawakened’s rich world, rewarding progression, and countless customization options promise an experience that’s both nostalgic and refreshing for longtime fans or newcomers like myself. It’s well worth the journey into the depths of the Dungeon Gate.

Jade Entien is an NYVGCC senior intern, a Junior at SUNY Cortland with a major in Communication studies and passion for Theatre as a minor.

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