Game of Fate 3 Review

In GoF1, a killer was stopped by using a communicator that sent messages back in time. GoF2 transported players back 1925 to assassinate a target and fall in love with a woman named Fang Zhilian. GoF3 begins with you being accidentally transported from 1945 to 2010.

The story in the third entry is hard to summarize, which is a problem. One of the main narrative pieces involves helping a young woman named Fang Xiaoyu, who is related to Fang Zhilian. You do meet Fang Zhilian, who is now much older and has longed to see you return. The player-character never asks Zhilian about their family and his interactions with her are criminally brief. She does have an acceptable emotional conclusion, but it is not enough given her critical role in GoF2.

GoF3’s narrative is all over the place, both tonally and chronologically. Many early scenes are overwritten or confusing. There are consistency issues, like characters not caring when you go missing for years. Unlike the last game, it does not establish a tangible baseline. It does not have an anchoring event or character to maintain focus. It just bounces around, with events in a warehouse, quarry, salon, clinic, arcade, hotel, restaurant, nursing home, kitchen, and more. Fortunately the quality of individual scenes is good and funny moments offset the whiplash.

The story gains strength in the back half, partly because you spend more time with the older version of Fang Xiaoyu (played by Liu Mengru) and the chess pieces get used. There is a neat character reveal, more action, and exciting rescues. Revisiting all chapters exposes an outstanding number of branching paths, which turns a 7.5 hour long game into over 14.

Romance is adequate but some only exists for convention. Many good romance scenes are actually dreams. Some flirting is awkward when your wife, Zhilian, is waiting somewhere else in time, although the narrative does try to make it work. Reporter Jiang Kexin is feisty and likable. Jin Yan can cook up something nice. And Cheng Linqiang is your mysterious sniper companion. There are decent finales for most and a combo ending that tries to put the trilogy together, but it is not quite neat and tidy.

The production values are exceptional, with live audio, a big cast, nice filming, and a timeline that explains how to get endings. A few scenes have broken subs (fix here), but otherwise it is a strong technical release. The 460GB needed for 4k is not really worth it, due to face blurring. Although it is not as focused as the second entry, GoF3 is still a very good drama and better than the first.