I must confess that before this game I’d never touched anything having to do with the Fate franchise. Other than a few nonsensical things I’d heard about the series, I went in completely blind to the plot, characters, and basic premise. I do have plenty of experience with Musou styled games however, and the idea of faster gameplay with more character depth was what originally intrigued me. What surprised me most about Fate/EXTELLA LINK is how interested I became in the story I was originally ignorant of, even if it still suffered the faults of its genre in spite of some refinements to the formula.

This world made one heck of a first impression. You fight as digital recreations of great figures from history and legend against evil programs in order to protect a digital world located inside of a supercomputer on the moon. This is the last refuge of humanity after fleeing a dead earth. Needless to say, this is not a premise I run into often. Though I certainly didn’t understand everything that happens during the events of the game, I found that the basics were easy enough to grasp for a newcomer. Equally enjoyable (and far more inclusive) are the character interactions you unlock as you advance each of your Servants. They each have their own personality and stories, and more than a few of them are quite interesting to learn. All in all, Fate/EXTELLA has more of a focus on story and character than I’m used to from games like this and the game is far more enjoyable for it.

Still this is a game about shattering armies on your own and story will only get you so far. Combat is what you’ll spend most of your time doing and fortunately it’s very fun to play. It’s a lot faster paced than your average Warriors game, though the basics of combat remain the same. You have a light and heavy attack and will use both to complete character specific combos in order to destroy lots of enemies. You can block and dash as well, giving you a dedicated way to defend and outmaneuver stronger foes. There is also a gauge that fills up while you defeat enemies and when filled allows you to enter your Moon Drive. This gives you access to your character specific Noble Phantasm, an ultimate super move that does a lot of damage.

A change-up from traditional Warriors is the Active Skill system. Every Servant unlocks a variety of skills as they level up, from direct attacks to stat boosts, and can equip up to four per battle. These can change up the game quite drastically, giving you more utility in combat, but they are on sizable cooldowns and thus must usually be reserved for when they’re most needed. Experimenting with different combinations of skills is fun and helps change combat up. It also makes leveling up Servants much more exciting with more tangible rewards to unlock past a simple stat increase.

It’s not all seizure inducing light shows however. Every Musou game I’ve played always falls into the same hole eventually. You have a fun and addictive gameplay loop, occasionally (but not always) a plot worth following along, plus a ton to unlock, but everything starts to feel the same so quickly you simply stop caring. Ultimately, this is no different here. There is a decent variety of mission types and enemies, and there are random objectives that pop up during fights that do help to make battles feel slightly more dynamic, but it can only do so much. Ultimately, it’s best in short bursts to stave off that eventual burning out.

Fate/EXTELLA LINK was not the game I was expecting it to be. Instead of a generic ripoff of a favored genre branded with a popular franchise, I found a fast and competent action game, that did the source material’s premise enough justice to interest complete newcomers such as myself. While burdened with the same issues that plague every game like this, it manages to be unique and fun enough to play in spite of them. For how long however, is up to just how invested you get.

Graphics: 6.5 The art style’s nice and effects are decent, but nothing special. Backgrounds especially leave a lot to be desired.	Gameplay: 8.0 Gameplay is a solid alternative to the standard Warriors formula. Faster combat, more character customization, and a strong variety of fighters.
Sound: 5.0 There’s little to no voice acting, music is nondescript, and sound effects do their job and no more.	Fun Factor: 7.5 The minute to minute gameplay of massacring your way through hundreds of enemies is undeniably the highlight. However, after a while it can grow quite repetitive.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Fate/EXTELLA LINK is available March 19th on PS4, PS Vita, Steam, and Switch.

Reviewed on Steam.

A copy of Fate/EXTELLA LINK was provided by the publisher.