Fate/Extra is a dungeon crawler role-playing game developed by Type-Moon and Imageepoch and published by Marvelous Entertainment. It was first released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on July 22, 2010. The game takes place in a parallel universe to the visual novel Fate/stay night. Aksys Games localized the game for North America and released it on November 21, 2011. Three editions of the game were released in North America: a Limited Edition, a retail standard edition, and a PlayStation Network downloadable version. On May 4, 2012, Ghostlight released the game in PAL territories.
The story follows Hakuno Kishinami awakens with amnesia in a strange virtual world. Alongside their "Servant", they are forced to battle to the death to earn the opportunity to have a wish granted. They both search for a mysterious object known as the "Holy Grail".
Fate/Extra was followed by a companion game, Fate/Extra CCC. Instead of being a direct sequel, CCC is described as an alternate route of the Extra storyline's development.
The game was followed by Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star in 2016. An anime adaptation of the first game was produced by Shaft and aired on Tokyo MX and affiliate stations from January 28 to July 29, 2018. A remake of the first game, Fate/Extra Record, is under development by Type-Moon Studio BB.
Gameplay
Fate/Extra is a single-player three-dimensional Japanese role-playing game in the dungeon subgenre. The game features two main modes: "Arena", in which the player fights against AI opponents, and "Academy", which is storyline-driven.
During battles, the player's character, called the Master, directs their Servant to reduce their opponent's health points to zero. Battles take place as isolated in-game events with a single opponent (either a dweller or another Servant). A fight consists of separate sections, and before each of them begins, the Master is asked to select a sequence of six actions for the Servant to execute on the playing field while the enemy retaliates.
There are three main types of interaction: "Attack", "Protection", and "Breakthrough". After the series of actions is chosen by each side of the battle, they are compared against each other before the defeated side is damaged. In the case of three consecutive successful actions, the character is provided with an additional attack that does not take into account the resistance of the enemy. In addition to the main interactions, servant characters have special types of attacks called "noble phantasms", which require the expenditure of magic energy points.
With the help of permanent effect items and code spells—magic that enhances certain characteristics of the Servants, which allows Masters to maintain their Servants.
The arena is a dungeon filled with AI enemies. When all enemies are defeated, the player is rewarded with experience points and in-game currency. During one game week, the player is offered two mandatory quests, consisting of finding items in the territory of Arena levels. If these missions are completed within the prescribed period, the player is allowed to battle with an enemy servant controlled by artificial intelligence at the beginning of the next game week. When a certain number of battles are held with a certain type of opponent, the player gets the opportunity to see part of the opponent's action combination before choosing their own series of moves. Throughout the game week, the player can gain info on enemy servants through their interactions with their master in the academy. The player may also purchase items in the academy.
The dialogue system in the game is built similarly to the visual novel genre, where there is an extensive system for selecting replicas that further develop the relationship with the Servant. The main narration is also conducted through text information offered to the player, located between the stages of the active game process. If a quest is failed or a Servant is defeated in the arena, the player receives a "bad ending".
Plot The Fate/Extra storyline is set in one of the multiverses (alternate histories) of the Fate universe, and as such, it is not the same world as that of Fate/Stay Night.
In the year 2032, an object surpassing all of humanity's wisdom was discovered on the moon. Known as the Moon Cell Automaton and equivalent to the Holy Grail, it is an all-powerful wish-granting device. As the world outside suffers from magical drain and faills into ruin, organizations and forces from around the world access the spiritual virtual world created by the Automaton, called SE.RA.PH, and participate in the Holy Grail War, which the Automaton conducts to select a suitable wielder for its power.
The protagonist, Hakuno Kishinami(Name and gender customizable by the player), a student at Tsukiumihara Academy, notices something strange about the world. The reality of school life is that it is a preliminary round of the Holy Grail War run by SE.RA.PH, with a rule that if you don't regain your original memories within the time limit, you will be eliminated. The 128 participants, called Masters, significantly rely on entities called Servants, the materialized spirits of mythological or legendary figures. Aside from the mages, all other characters turn out to be NPCs with behavior programmed by a supercomputer, with strictly defined functions for interacting with living people.
The protagonist collapses and nearly dies in the final stage of the preliminaries, but is saved by a certain Servant (which a player can select from a list of three) who sees their unwavering determination, and a contract is formed, allowing them to advance to the main Holy Grail War. In the main tournament, which is conducted in a knockout format, the protagonist first faces Shinji Matou, a boy who was given the role of his best friend in the preliminaries. Their next opponent is Dan Blackmore, one of the favorites to win and a skilled soldier, and in the third round, Alice, an innocent girl who is not even aware that she is participating in the Holy Grail War. Meanwhile, Hakuno does not regain their original memories, which should have been returned to them, and they don't even know why they are fighting. Nevertheless, they set their sights on survival and defeats the opposing Masters.
Amidst all this, the protagonist happens to witness a battle between two Masters who have always looked after them, Rin Tohsaka and Rani VIII. They are saved by the protagonist, although they lose their Master status. In the fifth round, the protagonist struggles against their sworn enemy Julius Belkisk Harway, but with the help of Rin and Rani, they manages to defeat him. However, in the sixth round, they find themselves fighting against the girl who was his ally.
In the final battle, the protagonist faces off against Leonardo Vistario Harway, and his Servant, Gawain. The protagonist forms a deep bond with their Servant and finally defeats them, becoming the victor of the Holy Grail War. However, waiting for the protagonist in the heart of the Moon Cell is Twice H. Peaceman, a man who, like the protagonist, had previously survived the Holy Grail War. It is also revealed that both the protagonist and Peaceman are actually NPC AIs that became self-aware. Twice argues that it is essential to use the power of the Holy Grail to wage war for the advancement of humanity and asks the protagonist to help him use his wish for this purpose, but the protagonist refuses. After defeating Twice, the protagonist obtains the Holy Grail.
Characters In addition to characters from Fate/stay night, characters from other Type-Moon works and new ones were added to the game. While familiar characters from Fate/stay night and other Type-Moon works appear, they have many differences from their original iterations.
Masters
Hakuno is the protagonist of Fate/Extra. He or she is the Master of Saber, Caster, or Archer, depending on who is chosen in the game. The gender of Hakuno is also unspecified, and chosen by the player at the start.
A member of the Resistance who joined the Grail War to stop the Harwey family. Master of Lancer, Cú Chulainn.
Homunculus created by the world's last alchemist. Master of Berserker, Lu Bu. She is encountered on the second floor and assists Hakuno and Nero.
Leader of the plutocracy that owns 60% of the world's wealth and called the strongest Master. Master of Saber, Gawain.
Gaming champion of Asia of 2030 and best friend of the protagonist. Master of Rider, Francis Drake.
Knight of England who was sent to the Grail War to win the Moon Cell. Master of Archer, Robin Hood. Antagonist of the second floor.
Cyber ghost of a little girl who is already dead, but her soul is connected to the Moon Cell. Master of Caster, Nursery Rhyme.
Illegitimate older brother of Leo, an assassin sent to ensure that Leo will win. Master of Assassin, Li Shuwen.
A zealot who mixes various religions and views his Servant as his god. Master of Berserker, Arcueid Brunestud.
A twisted woman who only wants to eat things she loves, like her pet, parents, and even her own child. Master of Lancer, Vlad III.
A man who wishes for the perpetuation of war for the continued advancement of mankind. Master of Saver, Buddha.
Appears only in the anime. Her servant, Vánagandr, appears only int the drama CD.
Playable Servants –
Nero is the lead heroine in Fate/Extra. – (Japanese) – (Japanese)
Other Servants –
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Others
A Nurse who works in the nurse's office, she plays a much larger role in the CCC sequel.
A supervisor of the Holy Grail War, who also acts as a game guide and helper to the player.
Development Type-Moon producer Kazuya Niinō joined Imageepoch through CEO Ryo Mikagi to collaborate on a project. Niinō later contacted Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi for a proposed collaboration on the development of a new game in the Fate series, which, according to the producer, was to implement various genres. At the time, Type-Moon was involved in the finalization of Fate/hollow ataraxia, and had short-term plans to develop other projects–for which Nasu was forced to refuse the role as producer.