Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star
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Critic Reviews for Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star has a title that makes as little sense as its punctuation to an outsider, but it serves as the glue that holds everything together.
A real treat for anime-action fans, Fate/EXTELLA is a lovably frantic hack-and-slash with a feeling all its own. Appealing characters and an irresistible sense of style draw you into its world, and addictive, satisfying gameplay and excellent writing keep things exciting throughout. It suffers from some common ails of the musou genre, like minimal enemy variety and subpar AI, and it's far from a technical showcase for the system, but if you're looking for a fun, fast-paced slash-‘em-up on Switch — or to seriously complicate your relationship with one of Rome's most infamous sons — Fate is a perfect choice.
Fate/EXTELLA is a fun musou game for fans of the Fate universe that is let down by a lacklustre story and visual inconsistencies.
Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star provides the player of a very intense, colorful and a-little-repetitive musou experience, very advisable to fans of the series.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I enjoyed my time with Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star as it satisfied my craving for a game in the Fate universe. The fighting controls are tight and responsive, and the action is intense. The lack of enemy variation was disappointing, but it didn’t take away from the frenetic fun of pulling off well animated combos against thousands of aggressors. This game might not be for newcomers to the Fate series, but offers a fun and impressive story arc to the franchise.
For better or worse, Fate/EXTELLA embodies everything that makes an anime game "anime." Characters that speak only in exposition. Fan service that creeps you out - unless it doesn't. Gameplay that is more about watching cool stuff happen than actually being fun. Owners of the PlayStation versions need not double dip. If, however, you feel your Nintendo needs a little more anime, this can be the microwave mozzarella sticks before dinner.
Fate/Extella will be a hard sell for most fans of the franchise. If you come into this expecting a setting, cast or narrative similar to any of the anime, you might be left disappointed and confused. It’s still a fun, addictive game with the flashy combat you’d expect from a Warriors-style game, but you might have to tune out the story in order to enjoy it. In a franchise where story is so key, that’s a huge bummer.
For as much as I enjoyed Fate/Extella, I must admit that there simply isn't enough to keep most people interested in it. This is definitely one for the fans.
