Creator of cult RPG isn’t thrilled with the 2024 remake

Almost two decades after the cult classic PC game originally released, FATE's original designer has issued a scathing assessment of the latest attempt to revive the series.

Posting his first impressions of the recently announced FATE: Reawakened to Reddit earlier this week, game designer and author Travis Baldree didn't pull many punches.

Developed by WildTangent's Travis Baldree in 2004, FATE was an action RPG inspired in equal parts by games like Diablo and Nethack. Famously, Baldree built the entire game himself in a handful of months. He later went on to work on several spiritual successors to the game. First Flagship Studios' ill-fated Mythos and then Runic Games' very successful Torchlight.

In the time since Baldree parted ways with the franchise, FATE has gone on to have something of a cult following. Developed in collaboration with Tableflip Entertainment, FATE: Reawakened is the latest attempt by WildTangent's publisher and parent company to capitalise on that enduring appeal.

The remaster compiles the original game plus its three sequels into one package. On paper, that sounds simple, easy and relatively inoffensive. Games get remastered all the time and in the developers behind Reawakened have expressed a commitment to "not fundamentally changing any gameplay significantly" in the past.

Based on Baldree's feedback though, it sounds like FATE: Reawakened is doing more than merely sticking a new coat of paint on a PC gaming classic. The graphics, controls, sound design and gameplay were all subject to the original designer's ire.

Specific flaws that Baldree called out included poor pathing, iffy visibility on breakable objects, a janky player movement and more. He also took issue with was the way that FATE: Reawakened removes the ability to lock-on to a given target by holding the mouse button down.

"Anyway, to sum up, the original just feels vastly superior to play," he said.

Even if he isn't overly-precious about his original work, Baldree is largely unsympathetic to the aspects of the game that this revival fumbles given the likely timeline of its development.

FATE: Reawakened does not have a release date but the demo for the game is currently available as part of Steam's Next Fest. It, and the original FATE, are available exclusively on PC.