Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star

 Switch
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Worth Playing
    Sep 28, 2017
    80
    In the end, Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star serves as a good appetizer for those who want some Musou action now. The action goes at an almost non-stop clip, and there's rarely any time to breathe before you have to unleash triple-number combos again and again. There's a ton of content to go over, and while the story can be nonsensical at times, it remains entertaining for those who aren't averse to anime or a visual novel style of game. Overall, Fate/Extella is a solid game to bide your time with while you await some of the bigger titles this year.
  2. We Got This Covered
    Aug 9, 2017
    80
    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 titles in the growing Switch library.
  3. GamingTrend
    Jul 31, 2017
    80
    Overall, I’ve had a great time with Fate/EXTELLA thus far. The presentation is a bit rough around the edges, the story is incredibly confusing (I’m only really understanding bits since I’m familiar with the universe — I can’t imagine what it must be like playing this game with no context at all), and of course, Warriors-type gameplay can get repetitive and rarely is anything new done to shake up the general formula. However, the game provides plenty of ways to break up the monotony of the basic combat, and even if I need to take a break between sessions, I still have a blast just feeling like an overpowered one-man-army and defeating scores of enemies at a time. At the very least, it will tide me over until the more polished Fire Emblem Warriors arrives later this year.
  5. Nintendo Life
    Jul 21, 2017
    80
    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.
  6. Gamers' Temple
    Oct 4, 2017
    77
    All in all, I really enjoyed Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star. The plot made less than no sense, which, I understand, is probably more my fault than the game's, but everything else was pretty solid. The warps and keys added a fresh twist to the seemingly deathless musou genre, and the sense of speed kept my interest long enough to finish the entire game pretty quickly. There are a TON of unlockables for those who don't think one playthrough is enough, including outfits, characters, modes and more, but with Fire Emblem Warriors on the horizon, I decided one solid musou playthrough was plenty for now. If musou games are your thing or you are just passing the time until Mario Odyssey and Fire Emblem Warriors, you could do a whole lot worse than Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star.
  7. NintendoWorldReport
    Jul 31, 2017
    75
    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.
  8. Nintendo Enthusiast
    Jul 31, 2017
    75
    As a huge fan of Dynasty Warriors, Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star is an exceptional video game. Although the graphics on the PlayStation 4 version of the game are superior to that of the Nintendo Switch, this port feels like the definitive version of the game. 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.
  9. Everyeye.it
    Jul 21, 2017
    75
    In addition to including all DLC releases up to this point, Fate / EXTELLA: The Umbral Star for Nintendo Switch does nothing to improve what you've seen on other platforms. The real difference is again the console, which in fact guarantees the best portable version of the game.
  10. Atomix
    Aug 29, 2017
    74
    Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star for Switch could be considered as the best version of the title. Thanks to the technical aspects of the console that let it run with a better resolution in its portable format, it performs better that the one of the Vita. Also and even though it has less framerate in its TV mode, all of its gameplay runs smoothly, the amount enough that make it not be outclassed by the PS4 edition. Also and as an aesthetic bonus, it has all of its DLC from the beginning.
  11. 4P.de
    Jul 21, 2017
    71
    A very clean port of the best musou brawler outside of Omega Force’s Warriors games.
  12. Gameblog.fr
    Aug 2, 2017
    70
    Quotation forthcoming.
  13. Digitally Downloaded
    Aug 1, 2017
    70
    Fate/Extella is a near perfect port of an excellent PlayStation 4 game, and the best Warriors game that hasn’t been developed by Koei Tecmo. It’s likely to be the only game of its kind on the Switch until Fire Emblem Warriors lands, and it’s the perfect kind of game to have on a portable console to unwind with on the commute home after a long day of work.
  14. GameSpew
    Jul 30, 2017
    70
    Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star makes for an entertaining hack and slash experience which feels right at home on the Nintendo Switch. It’s admittedly a little pricey at £49.99, but for those looking for some Dynasty Warriors style action, it fits the bill quite nicely.
  15. Cubed3
    Jul 21, 2017
    70
    A worthy debut for not only the series but also the genre on Nintendo Switch, Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star combines a solid foundation of enemy wave eliminations and territory domination with a surprisingly developed and engaging narrative, despite the various camera issues and regular jargon blockage. It is definitely a slow burner that fits well into a mindless brawler or an intriguing fable on demand.
  16. GameGrin
    Nov 21, 2017
    65
    The bloated and often confusing narrative might be a bit too much for those that aren’t already fans of the Fate series, but for those willing to brave the ridiculous amount of dialogue a satisfactory Musou game awaits them underneath.
  17. CGMagazine
    Jul 31, 2017
    65
    While it isn’t the worst, I wouldn’t suggest that anyone plays Fate/Extella unless they’re starving for more time with the Fate universe.
  18. FNintendo
    Aug 10, 2017
    60
    Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star is an action-packed hack n'slash-style with plenty of RPG elements and a lifespan and plot that put it among the elite of content-loaded games on the Nintendo Switch. Pity that the same effort was not put into making the combats and the background story more interesting and captivating.
  19. COGconnected
    Aug 6, 2017
    60
    While Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star is a solid experience during combat, the overly complex plot is paired with some juvenile and cringe-worthy dialogue that mars the experience.
  20. Game Revolution
    Jul 24, 2017
    60
    For better or worse, Fate/EXTELLA embodies everything that makes an anime game different from the ordinary crowd, including characters that speak only in exposition, fan service that creeps you out, and 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 figurative microwave mozzarella sticks before dinner that you're looking for.
  21. Trusted Reviews
    Jul 21, 2017
    60
    Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star is a competently crafted hack ‘n’ slasher that suffers from the same issues of repetition as its contemporaries. While making attempts at customization and depth, the core combat never rises to the challenge to match it. For hardcore fans, there are oodles of playable characters and plotlines waiting to be discovered. For others, there are better games out there.
  22. Nintendojo
    Aug 22, 2017
    25
    Fans of the series might find a lot more to like about Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star than yours truly, because without an understanding of the plot or characters the game barely makes sense and has little interest in giving newcomers a reason to care. This would be much more forgivable if the story got out of its own way and placed more focus on the action, but the developers were obviously far too in love with the story they came up with. Of course, one could skip through the story bits, but then you’re just left with a rather mediocre Dynasty Warriors clone. Taking all that into consideration, outside of its existing fanbase, Fate/EXTELLA can only be recommended to those who simply must have a stop-gap as they wait for Fire Emblem Warriors, or those in desperate need of validation from cute anime girls.

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 41
  3. Negative: 8 out of 41
  1. snakekill321
    Jul 25, 2017
    8
    Fate/Extella on the Switch was one of those curve ball games we got that we didnt expect. I honestly am enthusiastic about the game. I got itFate/Extella on the Switch was one of those curve ball games we got that we didnt expect. I honestly am enthusiastic about the game. I got it on the Vita for portability, but playing it on the Switch feels so much smoother. Everything you would expect from a Mosou style dynasty warriors game is there, with the epic servants, wonderful soundtrack, and colorful dialogue, however if you are not a fan of the series, or anime, I would say refrain from this game, The gameplay can be clunky, and it does get repetitive, but as a fan of the Fate series, I was able to look over this, those whom are not, may not be able to do so.

    As a fan of the series, Its a solid 8 for me, but for those who are not, I would say a 6. It is still fun and vibrant, but you may not like the anime tropes invovled    … Full Review »
  2. TheExtraGuy
    Oct 22, 2017
    10
    Never played a Type-Moon game before, so this was my first introduction to the Fate series. I seriously don't see how anyone couldn't followNever played a Type-Moon game before, so this was my first introduction to the Fate series. I seriously don't see how anyone couldn't follow the plot or that it was hard to understand what was going on because they weren't a fan of the series... sure it makes reference to past games, and I think maybe the anime, and the characters are mostly past entries in this series, but the plot of this game is not really a continuation, it's just based in the Fate universe with it taking place after Fate/Extra. You can play this as a standalone game and enjoy what it has to offer. I adored the characters, and I thought the plot in terms of the relationship dynamics was executed wonderfully.
    The gameplay itself is inspired by the Musou series of games (Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi), and it does a great job of adding enough original ideas mixed with that style to feel like it's own thing. There could be some improvements, and hopefully, the sequel will fix that, but as hack and slash, 1 vs 1000 game, it does it's job well, and me being a Musou game fan, I loved it. It also doubles as a visual novel/dating type of game too, as you bond with the characters you play as. I like this idea over the Koei Tecmo games because it adds a more human element to the characters you control, I care for the character I play as because I've befriended them and bonded with them through my interactions with them. I just wish there was more than the three charcaters that you could have this interaction with, because I would love to have that same level of interaction with a character like Artoria Pendragon or Elizabeth Bathory, something which again I hope they improve in the sequel.

    Other than that. Great game. If you like Dynasty Warriors and the various spin-offs (Like Hyrule Warriors and/or Fire Emblem Warriors) you'll probably love this, and with the added visual novel feel with the "dating" elements it's probably gonna appeal to the "waifu/husbando" lovers out there. And this game is certainly well suited on the Nintendo Switch with the fact that you can take this anywhere and enjoy hack and slash action on the go and on a big TV. Can't wait for the sequel!

    *Umu!*    … Full Review »
  3. sex69
    Jun 22, 2020
    7
    Um... I don't know...
    Just a normal game that's not so funny or not so boring.
    I was looking forward to it because Fate was an adult sex    Um... I don't know...
    Just a normal game that's not so funny or not so boring.
    I was looking forward to it because Fate was an adult sex game, but it didn't happen. It would've been more fun if it came out as a 3D open-world RPG game like the Elder Scroll 5 Skylim.    … Full Review »
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