Fate/Extella Link Reviews
While there’s quite a lot to understand about Fate/EXTELLA Link in the end your enjoyment is likely to hinge on the frantic and crazy combat...
Fate/Extella Link is a solid musou, but how much enjoyment you derive from it will depend on how familiar you are with the lore. Fans of the franchise can jump right in; however, newcomers would do well to check out previous material before giving this a whirl.
Despite a shorter campaign, Fate/Extella Link feels considerably better to play than Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star with some great gameplay improvements and smart quality-of-life features.
Fate/Extella Link is a major step in the right direction for this Dynasty Warriors spinoff series. It takes the ideas of the original and executes them all even better than before. Unfortunately, the story still flounders a bit, putting too much focus on new hero Charlemagne and not enough on the beefy supporting cast, and it's still a little repetitive at times, but the new Skill systems help ease that monotony a lot. Fate/Extella Link is fun and flashy as hell, and even though it still has some issues and annoyances, it's guaranteed enjoyment for any Fate fan.
Fate/EXTELLA LINK has taken the top spot on my list of non-Musou; Musou titles thanks to its fluid gameplay and interesting story. As you use each of the Servants your bond with them will grow, this leads to new conversations, costumes, and attacks which can be used in battle against the onslaught. With a total of 26 playable characters, there’s bound to be one for everyone out there as each one lies within one of the eight combat categories. The story isn’t as long as we’ve seen in previous games like Dynasty Warriors 9, but the timeline aspect with multiple choices is interesting and offers a new take on various situations.
With the big Nintendo-related hack and slash franchises (Fire Emblem and Hyrule Warriors) already present on Switch, the Fate/EXTELLA titles don't usually get a lot of attention. But the Fate series is sneakily popular, largely due to the popularity of the Grand Order mobile game, and fans of Fate will find a good time here. For everyone else, your enjoyment of Fate/EXTELLA: LINK will largely depend on your tolerance for anime stereotypes.
As far as Warriors-style action games go, Fate Extella Link is near the top of the pile on PS4 -- it's a robust and refined sequel that fans of the genre shouldn't miss out on. The process of levelling up, collecting skills, and bonding with your favourite Fate characters is both satisfying and rewarding, and although repetition does become a factor later on, the flashy combat has enough kick to keep you engaged. While it could be argued that Link should do more to evolve beyond its predecessor, it's still hectic hack and slash fun from start to finish.
This entry is a giant leap forward with what we saw in the previous game, and with some slight revisions and changes to certain mechanics, we could be looking at a contender for the best Musou around in future installments. For now, Fate/EXTELLA Link is a great game and exists for that core purpose I mentioned at the beginning… let’s just have some fun!
The hard thing about review a Dynasty Warriors game is how important is the mindless fun aspect. For Fate/Extella Link, it just feels so robotic that it's hard to get excited. Defeat countless enemies to see numbers go up, just for the sake of seeing numbers go up. Online will help fight this, as the human element will at least shake them up, though it's hard to say how many people will actually play. In the end, you have a hollow game with a confusing story, making it hard to suggest, unless you're a big fan of the series or just want some mindless fun before doing something.
While more playable and mechanically sound than the original Fate/Extella, Fate/Extella Link fails to tell an engaging and memorable story, thus falling short of the standards set by other spin-offs.
Even though Fate/Extella Link feels a lot like its predecessor, it's still a much-improved game that'll keep you hacking and slashing for hours.
Overall Fate/EXTELLA LINK improves on the first game with more characters, more things to unlock and solid combat.
While the core gameplay is more or less the same, all of the extra added features, not to mention the added 10 playable characters, Fate/Extella Link is a remarkable experience and one I thoroughly enjoyed. In terms of story, writing and visual effects, fans of the Musou genre should definitely check this title out.
Fate/Extella Link is a delight. It takes beloved characters from a beloved anime franchise, and then appropriates the Koei Tecmo Warriors gameplay structure with such style and panache that Koei should be taking some notes itself. If only the developers hadn't gone with the ham-fisted sci-fi elements. Fate doesn't need that stuff.
Fate/Extella Link is a great game, reassuring its own identity in the hack-n-slash/action genre, with a very fun combat system and a story on par with other things in the franchise, allowing it to go toe-to-toe with similar games and even claim a few wins on this war for the player's attention.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Fate/Extella Link is well worth your time; we’d recommend you add it to your Switch collection at some point.
You won’t find the same epic scale of storytelling here as in its predecessor, but Fate/Extella Link excels with superb battles and sets down the groundwork for what could be an even better sequel.
If you are into this kind of game (musou + visual novel) this is a great example of the genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fate/Extella Link doesn’t provide an experience that’s a million miles away from Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star, but pretty much everything about it is just better.