The second game in the "Fables & Fiends" series from Westwood is one of the best adventures from the multimedia PC heyday of the early-mid 90s. As is typical in this genre, a magical land (in this case Kyrandia) finds itself in a quite a pickle (some silly fluff about replacing a waylaid anchor stone), and it's up to our good-hearted protagonist to travel to various colorful locales in order to right what's been wronged. Somewhat atypical of the genre is that our main character is a female, none other than Zanthia, one of the royal mystics of the realm.
Stronger, funnier and less stereotypically "girlie" than some other female adventure game protagonists (Adrienne in "Phantasmagoria," anyone?), Zanthia remains ironically detached from the absurdity that surrounds her, wielding wisecracks like a protective switchblade. And her one overtly "feminine" trait -- the desire to wear the perfect outfit in every situation -- is dealt with in the same chuckle-worthy manner that really sets the tone for the entire game.
The graphics, though low-resolution and clunky by today's 3D-worshipping standards, are very colorful and fun to look at. (To give you an example of how cool they were in their inception -- the fact that the sprites changed from light to dark when they stepped into a shadowy part of the screen like, say, under a bridge
was considered state of the art attention to detail.) The synthesized music is simple and blends well with the images onscreen. And, if you're lucky enough to be playing a CD-Rom version of the game, the voice acting is delightfully silly. When this type of game was all the rage, naysayer always cited the voice acting as the worst aspect, citing how amateurish and overdone it all seemed. But with a game like "The Hand of Fate" such arguments are moot. How can one fault a game for its irreverent voice work when the game by its very nature doesn't take itself all that seriously? Part of the fun is hearing the same dozen or so actors try to twist their instruments in new ways to suit the crazy characters Zanthia encounters on her quest.
Despite all the silliness, it is very possible die in this game, so save often. One of the treats of adventure games like this is to save before you think you might die -- the game practically announces the possibility -- and act recklessly. You'll undoubtedly be treated to an amusing animation of Zanthia meeting a not-so-amusing end. (I recommend pestering the sweet little creature living in the swamp outside Zanthia's hut.)
So, if you're in the mood for a fun few hours/days where you'll think a little and smile a lot, there's no better game to give your aching Xbox trigger finger a rest than "The Hand of Fate."
