Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star Reviews
Aside from the repetitive gameplay, this is a game that Fate fans will absolutely enjoy playing and exploring in an officially released Fate game, since the Stay Night visual novels don’t seem to be coming out anytime soon, including the several other games that spawned from this franchise. From a gaming perspective is a flawless execution of what a Servant would do against an army, but is mechanically challenging.
The AI don’t really pose much of a threat until much later into the game.
I enjoyed my time with Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star on the PlayStation 4 even with its few shortcomings, but I really enjoy playing it on the Nintendo Switch. I feel as if the game was made for the Switch as it's a much smoother and more satisfying experience. While both the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch offerings will serve you well, I definitely recommend the Switch version as the definitive release to go for.
Though it definitely has a few kinks and its story will confuse anyone not familiar with the Fate universe, Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star is a competent Dynasty Warriors-style slash-em-up featuring cool characters and abilities, and it's as entertaining as always.
Fate/EXTELLA is a great hack and slash game that will most likely please fans of the series and please non fans who are looking for a great action game to play on their PS4.
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.
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: The Umbral Star manages to bring a fully-featured Musou game to the Nintendo Switch, and the intense combat and eye-popping visuals make it one of the better games in the growing Switch library.
Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star is a beat em' up done right, but can be repetitive after a long while.
While Fate/Extella doesn't actually break any new ground, it has a lot to offer. Newcomers will be able to enjoy its simple but engaging gameplay, while fans can dive into its shockingly complex story written by non-other than Kinoko Nasu himself. If you are in search for a unique Warriors game, don't look any further.
In the end, Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star serves as a good appetizer for those who want some Musou action now.
The Fate series itself is a combination of strange things end up being cohesive, and this game is no exception to that rule. Fate/EXTELLA the took series in a new direction thanks to an dramatic witch in game genres and, if you ask me, it ended up paying off thanks to a solid combat system, good amount of character depth, and surprisingly large amount of story content.
Fate/Extella offers tons of content, but it’s often frustrating content nonetheless.
Fate/EXTELLA is a fun musou game for fans of the Fate universe that is let down by a lacklustre story and visual inconsistencies.
The Umbral Star changes the usual gameplay of the classic musou style, with a pinch of strategy and fanservice. It's a purchase you can't miss if you love the "Fate" series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I am fully willing to admit that I approached Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star with lower expectations than I probably should have. With limited knowledge of the franchise, it was hard to predict what the game had in store. This is why it was such a pleasant surprise when it turned out to be an extremely competent brawler, with a shockingly expansive, albeit slightly disjointed, core campaign. Despite its narrative shortcomings, the moment-to-moment combat is fast paced, visually arresting and extremely entertaining. If you are looking for a fun mindless jaunt to kick off the New Year, look no further.
Fans of action games and Nintendo Switch owners should go out and buy Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star. It's one of the best third party games currently on the console. I'll definitely be playing this for the foreseeable future.
Overall, Fate/Extella is a fairly simplistic Warriors-style game with a visual novel component and pretty enough graphics. I was impressed that there's never any slowdown, either in tabletop mode or on the TV. As I said, there's already a better Warriors game on the Wii U and 3DS, but so far this is the best one on Switch. If you like anime nonsense and slaughtering robots, you could do worse than Fate/Extella.
If you are already a fan of the Fate franchise, this game will absolutely appeal to you. If you’ve never heard of this series before, but you’ve played previous musou style games, this game will also appeal to you. Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star has a lot to offer for fans that enjoy one or both of those scenarios just mentioned. The intense and quick in-your-face style of combat, mixed with the anime art style and graphics, works better than you would think.