Fate/EXTRA trilogy, of dreams and heroes

During some time I've been thinking on how to make a good post both for anime fans and for gamers worldwide, it was really difficult because I wanted to search for something that had both great gameplay and a great anime that added value to those who had played the game... after much consideration I decided that the best game/anime I could review is the FATE/EXTRA trilogy.

Source. Fate/Extra Main characters.

Introducing the Fate Franchise

The Fate franchise is owned by Type Moon. Some entries in the franchise share the same world or some characters and are related in one way or another while others are really different and only share some core concepts.

All fate entries are about the Holy Grail, a magic artifact capable of granting a wish to its holder and how mages fight for control of the grail using heroes of the past as servants. The mages make a ritual using fragments from an object closely related to the hero they’re trying to summon. The heroes fall into one of seven categories:

1. Saber: Proficient in close combat using swords and resistant to magic, considered the most powerful class.
2. Berserker: Devastating attack power and resilience, loses part of their memories or their being as part of the pact for becoming a berserker.
3. Archer: Proficient in extremely large distance combat using bows and other projectile weapons.
4. Caster: Skilled in magic, summons and rituals, weak in physical combat.
5. Rider: Specialized in combat using beast, animals or other means of transportation.
6. Assassin: High mobility and stealth capabilities, they’re often skilled in close combat as well.
7. Lancer: Skilled in close combat using lances. Resilient and devastating.

Source. Fate class cards.

The representation of the heroes is pretty unique and while they represent most historical or mythical events correctly, the character itself may or may not be like the one depicted in legend, like the case of King Arthur which is depicted as a busty blonde woman.

Source. Fate's representation of King Arthur.

There are many entries in the franchise and all are worthy of a five star review, fights, friendships, betrayals, love, hate, magic, legends and more make the backbone of this franchise and many entries in the franchise have both games and anime.

Taking part in the war in Fate/Extra

Disclaimer: I’m writing this from my memories of almost 10 years ago and I had poor japanese skills back then so I might make a few mistakes here and there, I ask for forgiveness and comprehension beforehand.

I decided to review Fate/Extra because it’s a bit special for me and it’s the most awesome of the franchise in my humble opinion. Fate/Extra was released for the PSP in july 2010 as an RPG only in japanese and fortunately I had nothing else to play at the time and was learning japanese so I decided to surpass my limits and play it anyways.

Source. Fate/Extra classroom, conversation with Shinji.

Fate/Extra starts as you decide whether to use a female avatar or male avatar and then you’re introduced to the moon cell, a virtual space inside a giant supercomputer where magicians (aka programmers) call upon a hero from legend to serve them and fight for the privilege of obtaining the Holy Grail and fulfill a dream of theirs.

You don’t start as one of these great magicians however, you’re more of an NPC with amnesia that due to certain events is forced to enter a zone where you’re able to make a pact with one hero and become their master, effectively granting you the power to participate in the war for the Holy Grail.

Source. The pact is made.

You’re given a choice of three heroes:

1. Saber class: Emperor Nero Claudius (the emperor of Rome)
2. Caster class: Tamamo no Mae (japanese mythology)
3. Archer class: Emiya Shirou (Fate/Stay night)

This choice is very important because it defines both the difficulty and the scenes and endings depending on the combinations of your gender and the servant’s gender, giving 6 possible routes, though there isn’t much difference if you’re a man or a woman, just some more intimate conversations at some points.

Enemies, friends, rivals and the bloody path to the grail

After making the master/servant pact you will start facing enemies and fighting them in a turn-based fashion. You can pick an attack choice in a paper-rock-scissors manner, so it’s important to understand the personality and patterns of your enemies. For example, the tutorial enemy only uses the same type of attack, so after being hit once you’ll know what he’s going to do the rest of the turns. Bosses have certain patterns too but it’s really difficult to detect them, like the berserker class uses tons of heavy attacks and at least one special every 6 turns.

Source. Combat interface: your choices at the top, the enemy's choices at the bottom.

After finishing the tutorial you will start exploring the moon cell in all its splendor, going through virtual hallways training and developing your skills as a mage and master as well as fostering relationships with your servant. These interactions are a pretty important part of the game as they bring a great deal of backstory and give you choices as to how to proceed in your relationship.

Eventually you will start climbing your way up to the top of the moon cell and will meet other mages who will face you in combat and reveal YOUR backstory and how you came to be in the moon cell in the first place.

Most bosses’ stages and fights also have special conditions and rules; and the bosses themselves need preparation in order to beat them, especially if you’re playing with Caster. One of them is actually so difficult they made a reference to it in Fate/Extella; when facing Berserker (Lu Bu) there is a moment where he charges an attack and then uses his ultimate technique, if you’re using Caster then you’ll need to have and use her defensive ability at max health and hope for the best… he’ll often one-shot you if you make a mistake.

Depending on your choices and the interactions you made with your characters then you’ll have the possibility of unlocking their true power near the top where you get betrayed, find friends in rivals and ultimately obtain the holy grail; many things happen and your backstory is explained as well as the truth behind the moon cell and the fact that humanity has perished (or is in the brink of extinction, I don’t clearly remember)…

And that’s it for spoilers about the story and the review of the original Fate Extra, moving on…

Fate/Extra CCC

Unless my memory betrays me CCC isn’t exactly the successor to Fate/Extra, it’s more of a parallel world or alternative route. In fact it happens on the opposite side of the moon cell and while they're related they aren't directly connected.

There are too many changes with the original so it’s best to see it as a standalone game. This time however you have 4 heroes to choose from; the three from the original plus:

• Archer class: Gilgamesh, the king of kings (Ancient Mesopotamian myth)

Source. The 4 servants of CCC.

Combat remains the same, but it’s more balanced and you’ve got more skills and abilities to choose from. Enemies are similar but some changed their AI patterns and there are different bosses all around.

The biggest changes however, are in the story. There are 9 routes, one for each hero * gender of the main character and one special CCC route.

I honestly don’t remember as much of CCC as I did of the original, despite playing it three times; but in CCC when you finished the stages and bosses you would go inside them, to the very core of their personality to try and fix (or not) their problems.

It was complicated because some people had very conflictive personalities, specially the AIs born from the moon cell, where one was a masochist with complex due to her huge breasts.

Source. Secret garden.

The other greatest change is in your base of operations: this time you remained most of the time in your school and had your room, could talk to other NPCs and some of the people you meet during your travels during the dungeons. You would cooperate with several other mages as well while trying to advance further and had many more choices than in the first.

Many choices were more mature and in some cases they even were sexual-oriented, in fact the game got a rating of CERO (17+), though there is no adult scenes in the game itself, just some underwear images at most. These choices again led you to the ending, but this time it was pretty different overall due to MANY reasons, especially due to who betrayed you and who the final enemy in the game was.

After beating the game you’ll get access to new game+ and then it’s highly recommended to play it again to get access to the CCC route. Technically the CCC route is available from the start but its better enjoyed by those who beat the game first due to the story content. The route itself is easy to get in new game + due to some options having butterflies surrounding them, marking them as the choices for the CCC route.

The CCC route is arguably the TRUE ending route where your full backstory is explained, including the reasons why you were so lacking in skill and power as a mage; where good and evil mix in a series of fights to rescue your loved one and the Holy Grail literally makes the impossible possible.

Due to HEAVY spoilers I will only disclose that at the end of the CCC route after the credits roll you’ll wake up in a kind of… stasis shell back in the real world and you don’t wake alone, someone is there to wake you up and back into the world you fought for…

An English patch got released for these games, I would highly suggest playing them if you find them and if not… well, there is always the anime:

Fate/Extra: Last Encore

Source

In case it wasn’t obvious above, I loved both games to the point I still remember them after all these years, so when I saw an anime was being released I was worried they wouldn’t live up to my expectations and would betray my feelings. I lowered my expectations radically but once I saw the first episode I understood something… the ones behind this anime were the same people that made some of my other favorite anime, even the opening song shows how Fate/Extra isn’t just a standard shonen or battle anime but something more deep, more focused on sacrifices, on complex human feelings and relationships.

Fate/Extra last encore is different from both games, though it bears the most resemblance to the original Fate/Extra. It starts in a similar fashion to the original game meaning the protagonist is pretty much an NPC in the school that gets dragged into the war for the Holy Grail…

In the anime the servant who accompanies the protagonist is Nero (the saber class) and it’s represented as in the game: a strong, prideful and beautiful girl who is like a flame, shining brightly before disappearing.

However it’s a helluva lot different from both games because in their journey through the moon cell they face different masters and the depth of the enemy masters’ backstory is much higher. Amongst the new changes there is the addition of new masters and a special support character in the cast.

The anime takes the best of both games and presents a trip to the top of the moon cell, facing enemies and friends in a trip to the top. In order to better understand why this anime is so spectacular I will need to add some minor spoilers, so skip over the next paragraph if you wish to avoid them.

//////////////////////MINOR SPOILER////////////////////////
The protagonist doesn’t have a clear reason to go to the top but feels compelled to do so, and this fact is mentioned by Shinji, one of his ex-friends, when they face each other in the first floor. Shinji betrays him and his really surprised to see the protagonist alive after “all these years” yet the protagonist himself transforms into a dark entity revealing powerful “code casts”.
///////////////END OF MINOR SPOILER////////////////

These small details might seem like mistakes from the author or poor storytelling but it’s all interconnected and they just play with your perspective, making you follow the protagonist as his past is revealed and his connection to saber’s previous master is explained.

Yet the best part is precisely that breaking point where the identity of the protagonist is revealed and his dream takes shape, with Nero explaining to him how similar he was to her past master as well as identifying some key characters and roles for the grand finale. Fun fact: Both of Nero's masters are the male and female genders from the game.

At that point you’ll probably think that you’ve reached the climax and that there is nothing else to be told or no surprises left… until they advance to the next floor.

//////////////////////MINOR SPOILER////////////////////////
In order to avoid major spoilers all I’m going to mention is that friends die, and they die due to a choice forced upon the protagonist. Their backstory is tragic, really tragic and due to the rules of the war the only way to advance to the top floor is to defeat a master, there is no other solution and thus the choice is forced upon the protagonist… the choice to select which friend to let die.
///////////////END OF MINOR SPOILER////////////////

The anime itself took some weeks off after this episode and then came back in full strength for the final floor, blazing away with a grand finale where people introduced in episode 1 (but those who played the game knew him well) made entrances and explained the truth of the moon cell, humanity and who the real villain was, achieving the climax in an special episode of 40+ minutes of supreme animation and soundtrack coolness. The ending, BTW, is one of the most bittersweet endings out there.

//////////////////////MAJOR SPOILER IN THE VIDEO////////////////////////

This is a PV and it's awesome, but it does show some of the most epic scenes that you're NOT supposed to see and know until later in the show.

Conclusions and final words

Ehem, I got a little excited at the end and almost spoiled some really important things but it’s just that it’s really that good. The original Fate/Extra game is good, considering the capabilities of the PSP it had really good graphics and soundtrack so I would give it an 8.4 out of 10; yet CCC goes above that with an even better story and improved graphics so I’d give it a 9.1 or 9.2. Google says that 93% of users liked it, so I'm not that off the mark it seems...

The anime is really good, deserving no less than 10 points, if anyone would say something against it it’s the fact that it’s short, and it’s OK to be short: the brighter a flame the darker the shadow it casts. I personally give it a 10, though I’d love to have seen more, yet by seeing more maybe it would have had less of an impact. I tried my best to be concise and avoid spoilers about the anime because everything is connected so any info I give has the potential to break some of the surprises held in store.

This trilogy however is more than the sum of its parts… it’s not just the maximum 10 points, it’s 11, each part adds even more value to the whole. The anime isn’t just a representation of the game and instead shows real depth and originality and it’s a valuable addition to the experiences caused by playing the game.

Kind regards
Eilder Jorge

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