The Awakened Fate: Ultimatum

 PlayStation 3
Metascore
65

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 20
  3. Negative: 2 out of 20
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  1. Game Over Online
    Mar 10, 2015
    95
    The Awakened Fate Ultimatum is an absolute must-buy for anyone who enjoys dungeon-crawlers.
  2. Digitally Downloaded
    Mar 10, 2015
    90
    Nippon Ichi has provided yet another reason to keep the PlayStation 3 active under the television.
  3. NZGamer
    Apr 20, 2015
    80
    It tells a gripping tale of budding friendship during wartime married perfectly to its fantasy world that had me hooked from the opening moments.
  5. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Mar 10, 2015
    80
    The gameplay — while not perfect, is appropriately difficult and makes you think about your actions even if I wasn’t exactly a fan of having to redo dungeons due to simple mistakes.
  6. Gamestyle
    Jun 10, 2015
    70
    An enjoyable dungeon crawler with a decent story.
  7. Push Square
    Mar 11, 2015
    70
    You'll know with a single glance whether you're interested at all in playing The Awakened Fate Ultimatum. It's a niche hardcore RPG with an undoubtedly Japanese style of storytelling, falling victim to almost every cliché in the book throughout its duration – but doing so unashamedly.
  8. Arcade Sushi
    Mar 10, 2015
    70
    Ultimately, Awakened Fate: Ultimatum does provide a unique gameplay experience that caters to players seeking a challenge.
  9. Hardcore Gamer
    Mar 10, 2015
    70
    It is, however, an experience that leaves a bit desired. Newcomers looking to get into the roguelike genre for the first time though, will probably find this to be the ideal experience.
  10. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    May 26, 2015
    65
    A lot of the ideas we loved in the original have been pared back to nothing. In their place: brutality. [June 2015, p79]
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  11. Vandal
    Mar 26, 2015
    65
    It's a good game if you haven't played another roguelike before, but if you have you'll find a quite simplified experience compared to the best examples of the genre.
  12. ZTGD
    Mar 13, 2015
    65
    I’ve talked before about how more isn’t always better, and that sometimes less is more. However, in the case of “The Awakened Fate Ultimatum”, it feels as though much of what made the original compelling and unique has been ripped out, leaving a hollow shell behind.
  13. SpazioGames
    Apr 8, 2015
    60
    Trying to give birth to a jack-of-all-trades, suited for both newcomers and veterans of the roguelike subgenre, NIS deliver an average game, with lengthy conversations and a so-so gameplay. Just for the aficionados.
  14. Slant Magazine
    Mar 16, 2015
    60
    It leans firmly enough on its heaven-or-hell selection phases to make an impact in both the immediate and distant future of its gameplay.
  15. Game Revolution
    Mar 10, 2015
    60
    It’s a good step in the right direction, and with some tweaking the balance may yet come. Until then, this misses the bull's-eye, but at least it hits the target.
  16. Multiplayer.it
    May 13, 2015
    55
    Despite its cute look, The Awakened Fate Ultimatum is a surprisingly dark and gloomy story which becomes borderline frustrating too soon and gives too little in return.
  17. CGMagazine
    Mar 24, 2015
    55
    Ultimately, The Awakened Fate Ultimatum ends up being a pretty decent dungeon crawler that gets bogged down by a cumbersome story and poor lead character.
  18. GameCritics
    Jun 29, 2015
    50
    As interesting as the moral choices might be, The Awakened Fate Ultimatum is too many dungeons, too few combat options, and too many of the same themes Nippon Ichi has dealt with before.
  19. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 14, 2015
    50
    The Awakened Fate Ultimatum is a far cry from the delicious intricacies of Disgaea and other Nippon Ichi titles, and doesn’t offer anything to make up for its simpler mechanics.
  20. RPGamer
    Jun 8, 2015
    40
    The Awakened Fate Ultimatum draws heavily on tired anime humor and noodling about transcending one's fate. Perhaps a smack with a cake pan or a high-intensity training montage would have fuelled its own will to power.
  21. PlayStation Universe
    Mar 11, 2015
    40
    A shell of its predecessor. All the fun mechanics from Guided Fate Paradox have been removed and changed, leaving a generic but tedious combat system. The story, while potentially interesting, has major pacing and voice acting issues that dull the experience. Only a diehard NIS fan will want to play this game.

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best PS3 Game of 2015
10
#10 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2015
11
#11 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2015

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 26 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 26
  3. Negative: 6 out of 26
  1. Theodoren
    Jun 7, 2015
    9
    - The Game -

    I think that the first thing that should be said about a game, is what kind of product it is, in order to solve the first    - The Game -

    I think that the first thing that should be said about a game, is what kind of product it is, in order to solve the first question any buyer has when he is buying a new game.
    The Awakened Fate is a typical dungeon crawler, which means that it is based on the exploration of a series of labyrinth where enemies and weapons became more powerful as the game progress.

    - The Story -

    The story is focused around the war between two opposite factions: angels and devils. In this context Shin Kamikaze, a human, get killed by some demons because he possess the right constitution to receive the power of the Fate Awakened Crystal, a gem that the angels want to use to turn a human into a powerful being that will fight for them in the war.
    After being rescued by the angels, he joins them, and with the support of the two co-protagonists of the game: the angel Jupiel and the demon Ariel, he will start to fight.

    I believe that the strong point of this game is the story, I warn you, that it follow a very "japanese" way of storytelling ( that you can like or dislike ), which blend together scenes from the daily routine of the different protagonists ( sometimes useless to the main story, but very interesting if you like to follow the development of the characters ) and serius/dramatic moments.
    If you like this kind of stories I belive that you will appreciate very much this game.

    From time to time, during the story, the protagonist will receive the task to choice how he want to change "fate": in terms of gameplay it means that the player will have to select between two given choice, how he want to perform certain actions, in my opinion this is a great feature and even after finishing the game, it will be worthy to start again from the beginning just to see what would had happened if you had selected different choices.
    Not always things will turn out the way we wanted, but I think that it should be obvious, since we are selecting just what "the protagonist want to do" and not what "will absolutely happen". In a certain sense after sometimes you'll really "feel" the pressure of the choice you are making ( it's important to note that sometimes the game become very cruel out of the blue, and even if it is just in the form of textuals descripcions some outcomes are very unpleasant ).

    - Graphic -

    In my opinion there are some games that don't need to push to the extreme the possibilities of a console, instead they just have to fit to style of the game.
    This is one of those cases, the graphic isn't very great, but it suit well with the story.

    The exploration of the labyrinth uses a low poly 3D graphic with bright colours, simple but very unique.

    When the story goes on, instead we have 2D drawing in japanese style of very good quality.

    - Recap -

    This is a very interesting game, with the right difficult to allow newcomers to enjoy it, and a storytelling able to satisfy many fans of j-rpg.
    The post-game contents are few and somewhat easy, so after the ending there would not be very much things to do, but the feature of the "choices" definitely leave the appeal to try to start again one or two times the game just to see what would have happened in different situations.

    However it's important to keep in mind that the game is not a masterpiece ( and neither tries to be one ), but anyway it does well its job to entertain during the time you'll need to finish it.    … Full Review »
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