Fate/Extra

Did You Know?

• The game's official theme song is 'Ranse Eroica', performed by Ali Project.
• A four-volume drama CD series titled Sound Drama Fate/EXTRA was released starting from winter 2012.
• The companion game Fate/Extra CCC is described as an alternate route of the Extra storyline's development, not a direct sequel.

Plot

The Fate/Extra storyline is set in one of the multiverses of the Fate universe, not the same world as Fate/Stay Night. In 2032, an object called the Moon Cell Automaton, equivalent to the Holy Grail and capable of granting wishes, was discovered on the moon. As the world suffers from magical drain and falls into ruin, organizations access the virtual world SE.RA.PH to participate in a Holy Grail War conducted by the Automaton to select a wielder.

The protagonist, Hakuno Kishinami, a student at Tsukiumihara Academy, notices something strange about the world. The school life is a preliminary round of the Holy Grail War, with a rule that participants who do not regain their original memories within a time limit are eliminated. The 128 Masters rely on Servants, materialized spirits of mythological or legendary figures. Other characters are NPCs programmed by a supercomputer.

The protagonist collapses in the final stage of the preliminaries but is saved by a Servant, forming a contract and advancing to the main tournament. In the knockout format, the protagonist faces Shinji Matou, Dan Blackmore, and Alice. Hakuno does not regain their original memories and does not know why they are fighting, but they aim for survival and defeat the opposing Masters.

Development

Kazuya Niinō, a producer at Type-Moon, initially worked with Imageepoch CEO Ryo Mikagi on a joint project. He then approached Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi about developing a new Fate game, but Nasu had to turn down the producer role because the studio was finishing Fate/hollow ataraxia and had other short-term plans. Niinō kept the idea alive and, in 2007, put together a more detailed proposal for a Japanese role-playing game featuring a completely new Holy Grail War, unrelated to Fate/stay night.

The setting was a near-future moon, an element Nasu had briefly mentioned in the Tsukihime series, with a supercomputer running the Holy Grail inside a virtual reality world. Niinō wanted a text-heavy RPG similar to a visual novel, and the team chose 3D graphics with seamless third-person camera transitions. To set this game apart from the rest of the Fate franchise, Niinō brought in an artist called Arco Wada, even though Takeuchi had done all previous character art for Type-Moon.

Wada was asked to design a character that looked similar enough to provoke the audience, keeping about 30% of the original design. Niinō specified that the main heroic Servant should be based on the Roman emperor Nero. An initial sketch that copied Takeuchi’s style was rejected, and Niinō insisted Wada use his own style without extra detail. When Type-Moon’s leaders saw the new offer, they had planned to stop expanding the Fate franchise and work on new projects, but they were fans of RPGs and had considered making one from a visual novel since Fate/stay night. They approved the project because it was a spin-off from the original game.

Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Fate/Extra received mixed or average reviews from critics. Some viewed it as a work using Japanese role-playing game and visual novel elements. Reviews focused on the plot, which was considered engaging. The quality of the text was praised, with Dark Zero's Dominic Shird comparing it to Lost Odyssey.

Heidi Kemps of GamePro noted that the exposition was prolonged and the manner of transmitting characters' thoughts corresponded to traditional visual novels. Critics highlighted decision trees, relationship points, and nonstandard endings. Digital Fix reviewer Lewis Brown felt the visual novel elements were well-implemented but noted the story would benefit from more dramatic components without everyday school life. The availability of three different Servants was positively received, encouraging replay.

However, GameSpot's Shiva Stella found the need for a New Game Plus mode controversial due to the main story's immutability. Brown emphasized the use of furigana in the localized English version. Critics praised the in-game system for collecting information about enemy servants, which influenced battle tactics. Zack Welhouse from RPGamer compared the atmosphere to The Hunger Games and Battle of the King. Reviewers noted the prologue was unnecessarily stretched due to time needed to unlock gameplay elements.