Fate/EXTELLA LINK (English) · Test

The digital war on the moon has started once again

Fate/EXTELLA LINK is the direct sequel to Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star. For those who don’t know. Fate is an IP that has started as a Visual Novel a long time ago. Now a far cry from its humble beginnings it has now become well known. Just like every other IP, it has started to dip into another genre.

Fate/Extra, an RPG on PSP, was one of them and introduced an alternative digital world. Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star follows up on the story as a direct sequel. And now 2 years later… Fate/EXTELLA LINK continues the saga. Fate/EXTELLA LINK did a major rework on its gameplay, while addressing most of its predecessors concerns. So we are going to do a deep dive into all the improvements. Keep on reading to find out what they are.

Note: This review is kept spoiler-free.

Information

Genre: Action, Hack'n Slash

Players: 1 / 1-8 Online

Audio: Japanese / Text: English

Download size: ca. 7.86 GB

PS Plus: Required for multiplayer

Release date: 22.03.2019

Platforms and Versions: PS4 (Tested), PS4 Digital Deluxe, PSVita, PSVita Digital Deluxe, Nintendo Switch, Steam

Special Editions available on: Official Marvelous Store

Story: Charlemagne takes the Stage

Fate/EXTELLA Link continues where it left off, but in a different direction than you expect. Peace has returned and Prosperity is growing. On a peaceful walk, our Hero, Hakuno Kishinami (Custom Name if you want) or the Master has met once again peril. Desperate times ask for desperate measures, so it’s time to use the Command Spell and summon a Servant. Indeed, a Servant came. It’s no other than the new dashing hero Charlemagne!

Just like its predecessors, it keeps the VN style of storytelling presentation. Unlike last time, there’s only a single plot with branching. At times it feels like there are inconsistencies with its predecessor in the interactions with other characters and specifically the looks of one Servant. This is what confuses me the most because due to them, there are times where I had to question whether it was a direct sequel or not. If it were not for the direct mentions of The Umbral Star happenings.

Unfortunately, our favourite heroine Servants will have to take a rain check this time around. This is Charlemagne’s story. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but don’t expect them to have any major roles within the story.

Story is always in VN style

Gameplay: Better than Ever

Before we go and talk about it, let’s make a short trip down the memory lane.

A quick look at some of the changes for the The Umbral Star veterans:

- Story is no longer locked to specific Servants. On your first ending playthrough you can use any Story specific unlocked Servant.

- After the first playthrough it’s a free-for-all buffet without any story restrictions on ANY STORY BRANCH (Even unfinished ones). Use any unlocked Servant.

- “Money is Power” System has moderate pricing. Hence, you can even use the Tutti-Frutti-Option of using a different Servant for each Stage without running out of money as long as you keep the Mystic Codes spending low.

- The Tug-of-War “Regime Matrix” element is substituted by Mission based design. This means there’s a lot more variation compared to before.

- Allied Servants have also seen improvement and are no longer cannon fodder that dies off quick. Leading to better pacing by keeping your Sectors secure.

- The Action pacing got an improvement by exchanging the time intensive “Extella Maneuver” for quicker options.

- Sectors are also more reasonable safe against enemy invasions. Giving you the feel of steady progress, instead of having a gun pointed at your head.

- Targeting also works on Aggressors and the non-grunts. Making it easier to take down these important targets.

Putting things to perspective. The game has two parts: The Base Camp intermission and Action on the Battlefield.

Mission Select and The Base Camp

You can now select your mission from the mission map. The good thing is, it shows all the story branches. Even if you have already made the choice within the story, there is nothing from keeping you to choose the other routes. It’s a cool decision to keep the frustration as low as possible for replays.

So let’s talk about the big one. The Base Camp.

This is where you make all the preparations. From Servants, Equipment to Skills. What’s new is, that you can walk around in the camp and talk to your acquired Servants. Sometimes they even give you the option to lock down their side missions. I don’t think there is any special bonus to it but it’s nice nonetheless. You can even switch to First Person View for a better screenshot view.

For those who just want to get the deeds done fast, there’s a quick menu that leads you directly to your desired destinations.

You can create Mystic Codes aka Equipment in your personal room, Converse with all the Servants in the Barracks or go right to the Strategy Room to prepare for battle.

Mystic Codes are responsible for Code Casts. Which are instant magic that you can activate on the battlefield for some quick response. They come in many different forms like healing or instantly activating the Moon Drive. You can have up to 4 of them as a set in a Mystic Code. This is only one part of your preparation.

Prep time? Indeed. You can choose your Servant, equip them with Active Skills for the special attacks, equip Instant Skills for stat buffs, change costume and pick your support.

Did I just mention Instant Skills and Support? We’ll leave Active Skills for the action part. Instant Skills are like in The Umbral Star limited to your Bond Level. You can increase it by either using Code Casts from the Mystic Code equipment to help them while in action or finishing the side missions.

The Instant Skill buffs are interlinked and if you choose the same colours they will increase in effectiveness.

Support Servants support you at the field at random times. The thing is. It’s also tied to the Bond Level. The higher it is the more they can do. Like saving you from a combo.

Once you’re done with your preparations it’s time to head to battle…

On the Battlefield

Just as you expect, it’s a “Warriors”-type of game where you mow down thousands of opponents across the stage. I’m not going to bore you talking about the predecessor. Let’s keep it swift and see what improvements Fate/EXTELLA LINK brings to the table.

Off to the next topic. The actual gameplay.

Just as I mentioned before it keeps the standard formula of light attacks and ending with heavy attacks. This is pretty much an axiom of the “Warriors”-Genre. Now, there’re multiple changes we need to go over.

Active Skills

You can Equip up to four of them from the Camp. These are your weapons of mass destruction. By holding R1 you can activate them with the respective face buttons. There’s not much to say about what they are doing. Most of them are strong attacks that can go over big areas or also just strong focused strikes. There are also buffs and restricting skills. Sounds awesome, but where’s the catch? All of them have short Cooldowns, which is clocked at about 10 seconds for normal attacks and 40 seconds for buffs. The Cooldowns are so short there are times you won’t even feel it. So go ham and wreak havoc. What’s great about this change? The Servants can utilise their devastating moves at will, which in turn elevates the past issue of slow characters being disadvantaged. There’s more to the Active Skills.

Some of them are Class Specific and you can even overcome this condition with the new introduced…

LINK System

When you’re in the same Sector as your Servant allies you automatically link up with them. By being linked your Class Specific Skills align with them. Which means you’re much more likely together to initiate the…

Rush Attack

The Rush Attack is seemingly activated randomly and deals free damage. The best thing about it isn’t just the extra damage. Nope. Your Cooldowns are actively recovering while you’re at it.

But what is the Rush Attack? It freezes time and lets you mash Square to hurl a flurry of attacks against your opponent. Linked Servants also appear together in this beat down. There’s no catch, except that it feels random when it activates.

It’s not the only thing that requires mashing though.

Clash

When both you and an enemy Servant attack land at the same time it activates the Clash mechanic. As you already have guessed. You need to mash Square and win it to dish out the damage if you lose you’ll be at the receiving end. Maybe you do and then you find yourself in a worse position. A seasoned Warrior like you always has an ace in your sleeves though.

Moon Drive (Circle)

The Moon Drive mechanic is back but in a different form. Just like before you build it up by fighting. Once it’s full you can activate it for massive attack and defence buff. You can push Circle again to execute the Drive Skill, which deals high AoE damage. Beware, it immediately ends your Moon Drive.

If you’re looking forward to Nero and Tamamo going through the transformation… Sorry, it’s gone and is just a simple buff.

Not that simple though. Because it is now tied to the Noble Phantasm. Your Ultimate Attack.

Noble Phantasm (L2)

In my experience, it takes about 2 Moon Drives to fill the Noble Phantasm Gauge up. If you’re quick you could probably even make do with once. So what does this mean? I have some good news for you. This means you can use the Noble Phantasm more than once per Stage. If Moon Drive isn’t enough to fill it up, there are often items spread around the map that helps you fill your Noble Phantasm Gauge. One of them even instant full.

I expect most people to save it for the final strike against the stage boss for a glorious finish.

Loot/Spoils of War

Loot is back. Just like in The Umbral Star you can pick up Instant Skills after defeating stronger enemies. If you manage to Rank at EX you even get a stronger Mystic Code. A Mystic Code+. For a different kind of loot, there’re the

Extra Missions

They are completely outside of the Story Mode in the main menu. The mission range from single fantasy scenarios or story missions with increased difficulty. Depending on the mission you can some new costumes.

Impression on gameplay

I have to say that I’m really impressed. They turned the prior mediocre gameplay into a solid fun entry. The mixture of changes varies the gameplay loop and helps to keep things fresh. Some of the Active Skills were enders in the prior game. Now you have them now at the push of a button. The Cooldowns are well chosen. Enough to not being spammy and not too long to feel restrictive.

Overall they fixed a lot of sore points. Credit where credit is due. You did well devs.

Take a look at the Screenshots for some extra visual information.

Graphics & Sound: Enemies wherever you look at

It’s certainly a “Warriors” game through and through. The graphics are nothing special. What it lacks in its base it comes in quantity and effects instead. Having a massive amount of enemies on screen is a frequent occurrence while keeping everything smooth.

The most notable things are the Noble Phantasms and the seldom in-game animated scenes.

The Music has a wisp of adventurous fantasy, especially at your camp. Otherwise, I couldn’t find anything noticeable about it. All characters have Japanese voice acting. There are no other language options for the voices. While we are talking about voice acting. The main character is no longer a silent one. They’ve been given an optional voice that you can turn on or off in the options.

Verdict

Fate/EXTELLA LINK is a massive improvement over its predecessor. Most of the issues have been addressed, turning it into a solid and good game. More variation in gameplay and missions, free Servant choice in story mode are huge positives.

If I had to nitpick it would be the stages themselves being very building kit like. They are separated into Sections which leads to a certain amount of disconnect between them. The only thing that keeps everything coherent is the visual design of the stages.

Another possible sore point might be the Story. Before it focused on the Main Characters. Now it’s only Charlemagne and a basic plot. To the point where it feels more like a side story. On the positive side of this, it’s easily accessible for newcomers by having everything rather self-contained.

Fate/EXTELLA LINK is a successful solid second try into the “Warriors”-genre and convinces with the myriad amount of changes.

Wertung

8.5Sehr gut

Kaufempfehlung

90% Kaufempfehlung

90%Absoluter Pflichtkauf