Fate/EXTELLA LINK Review for PlayStation 4

When it comes to JRPG’s (Japanese Role-Playing Games), people sometimes still think of games like Final Fantasy. Usually, when it comes to those type of games, more so back in the day, they were turn-based combats.

However, there are games like Kingdom Hearts series, or Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, which are Japanese-based role-playing games, but their combat mechanics are different. Instead of the olden-day turn-based combats, there is instead “hack ‘n’ slash” combat, which is basically beating up enemies in real-time combat.

If you are a fan of JRPG’s, games with deep story lore, Anime, any games with hack ‘n’ slash gameplay, or any of the above, or in the rare cases, all the above, then you’re in for a surprise.

Take all the combat mechanics in Kingdom Hearts III, along with the more powerful magic mechanics in Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, then add in Japanese voice-acting with English subtitles and a story concerning computer programs, killer robots and more, then mesh all these together. Once complete, you get the FATE/EXTELLA series.

Now that you have gotten a little taste of what’s going to be in store next, let’s take a dive in the developers and/or publishers of this game.

The name of the company that developed the game is called “MARVELOUS!” (Or Marvelous Europe).

Fair Warning: You may want to make sure you don’t see their website at work… unless you want your co-workers checking out what’s on the page and snickering at you … Also, the website doesn’t really explain themselves, which might be typical. Fortunately, Wikipedia provided a good in-depth explanation.

Marvelous Inc. (formerly known as Marvelous AQL) is a company that develops video games and produces anime. It was formed in the Halloween month of the year 2011. Like Frankenstein’s Monster, Marvelous Inc. was formed by a merger of 3 companies: Marvelous Entertainment, AQ Interactive, and Liveware. The rest of the history can be viewed via one of the links below.

The company has produced many video games across many platforms, from the PS Vita and Wii, all the way to PS4, Microsoft Windows and Mobile. One of the games available for PS4 is the FATE/EXTELLA series, which we will be diving into now!

FATE/EXTELLA: Link picks up from where FATE/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star had picked up, which that game had picked up from FATE/EXTRA, but I won’t go that far into detail, lest I risk losing you.

In the FATE/EXTELLA series, you play the role as a “Master”, who can work with “spirits,” which are called “Servants.” The player can customize their “Master” character, by changing their gender and names. That means, you can put your name in the game, if you desire. (Note: the default name of the Master is Hakuno Kishinami).

The Umbral Star and Link both take place after the events of “The Holy Grail War.” The Master (Player) has won and now has control of the Moon Cell Automaton, which allows their wishes to be granted. The rest of the story will take too long, so I’ll skip over to the gameplay and whatnot. 

Starting the game up, I was met with an amazing cinematic of the “Servants” and their powers. After reaching the title screen and starting a new game, I was met with the screen to customize the “Master.” I, of course, chose male and decided to put my PS4 name in the game. Afterwards, I was met with a visual novel-esque cutscene. The voice acting is all Japanese, but fortunately, there are English subtitles to read. I noticed that there are options to allow automatic transitions of the text once it finishes, and other useful features, like this one useful feature: playback. Whoops, did you accidentally press too fast and miss all the important info, or did you want to hear those lines again? No problem! Just press the playback button, and it will show you all the lines that were said, and you can even hear the voices again if you so desire!

Now for the gameplay, it is almost like Ni No Kuni II, so I didn’t have too much of a difficulty understanding the mechanics. Basically, you have your regular melee attack and you have your stronger melee attack, using the same buttons in both games. The game will explain the rest.

Now, it’s time for the non-combative mechanics. Concerning the servants, you can not only choose whatever servant you want, you can also bond with them by completing missions, level them up by fighting or doing the quick method of using currency. You can even customize what they wear!

There is quite a lot to do in FATE/EXTELLA Link, that I would end up losing you, if I even attempt to explain more!

Now, this is when I say my final thoughts on this game.

This game… IS WORTH EVERY CENT!!!! This game is WORTHY of a 10/10 from me! Go play this game if you’re down for beating down robots with many powerful magic attacks or if you want to add another anime game to your collection!

Check Out the Fate/EXTELLA Link Launch Trailer: