Fate/Extra Record Preview: A Card

Fate/Extra hit the PSP in 2011 in North America, and while it wasn’t a massive hit, over the decade-plus since, it has become a cult favorite in the turn-based-plus-cards genre. I dabbled with it back in the day, but definitely didn’t see it through to the end – I was too busy putting spins on my Into The BlueUMD. However, as part of this gig and as a general fan of these types of games, I’m not wholly unaware of the community surrounding the Fate/Extra series, which was followed up with a Pokémon Crystal-esque alternate adventure in Fate/Extra CCC and then Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star in 2016. All of this is to say, I was excited for the opportunity to check out Fate/Extra Record, an expanded remaster of sorts, at Tokyo Game Show this year. 

My demo takes place on the TGS show floor, right across from the Sega/Atlus Persona 4 Revival booth, which is arguably the largest of the convention and, without a doubt, the loudest. That I was still captivated by Fate/Extra Record, even while live renditions of “Heartbeat, Heartbreak” played just feet away from me, is a good sign for developer Type-Moon’s second go at this game. Publisher Xseed Games says the narrative of Fate/Extra has been “revised and vastly expanded, adding new layers of characterizations, enhancing one of the franchise’s core entries with even more depth and intrigue,” but I have to take its word on that for now because my two gameplay demos were focused on combat. 

If you aren’t familiar, combat in Fate/Extra, and now Fate/Extra Record, is turn-based, but instead of selecting attacks and abilities from a typical RPG menu, you utilize cards that are added to your hand each turn, flowing in from your personal and customizable deck. Each card has a cost associated with it, and in this demo, I only have 3 AP to utilize each turn, so I have to strategize how I use my cards. I always start with a 0 cost card that not only damages an enemy but adds a special damage-boosting rose card to my hand (which also costs 0 to use). I use that rose card to boost my next attack, which costs 1, and then chain it right into the next card, which has a chain icon to indicate chaining is recommended. I utilize these chains to maximize my damage output, eventually finding a rhythm that makes using my entire hand in one turn a breeze. The result is massive damage against bosses and one-turn KOs against mob enemies in the underwater dungeon I’m exploring. 

New to Fate/Extra Record is the ability to use both Servant – you select one of three classes for this character and they are your primary method for combat in the game – and Master, which is the playable character that can use pinch-hit moves when the cards don’t line up right. 

Combat is easy to pick up, but it’s clear there is a lot of depth waiting in the wings, with new cards to collect, deck builds, and more. As a Magic: the Gathering player, this demo felt like picking up a pre-con deck, knowing that after I open up some boosters, I’m going to make the deck three times stronger. Outside of combat, the rest of the Fate/Extra Record package has received a big glow-up, including revamped character designs, HD visuals, a new musical score, fully voiced Japanese voice-over, and more. It’s clear this is no longer a PSP game. 

While I didn’t get to experience much narrative at all, here’s a taste of it from Type-Moon: “The ‘Moon Holy Grail War’ begins again… After humanity discovered a supercomputer hidden on the moon, everything changed. Known as the Moon Cell Automaton, this powerful computer created SE.RA.PH, a digital world where 128 combatants are pitted against each other for the ultimate prize, the Holy Grail. An omnipotent wish-granting device, the Holy Grail is capable of fulfilling any desire. Now in the role of Masters, these combatants form contracts with Servants, digital beings embodying historical figures and heroes, hoping to be the final victor in this life-or-death battle. Having lost all memories, unable to even recall why they’re trapped inside this virtual battlefield, one such combatant is thrust into the role of Master and must step into the grueling Moon Holy Grail War alongside a single Servant, driven solely by the will to survive.” 

These two demos took place inside this supercomputer digital world, and that’s very clear from the visual design, which fuses underwater staples like crashed pirate ships and sea creatures with neon-lit computer structures and more. It’s clear the Master I’m playing as is after the Holy Grail, and as part of this tournament, he has seven days to prepare before his next bout with another combatant – defeat them, and you advance. I hope each bout brings with it a new setting or environment to explore, because this underwater dungeon grew stale quickly. 

Thirty minutes with Fate/Extra Record isn’t enough time in this revamped remaster to tell whether it’s doing right by the original 2011 PSP game, but it is enough to know I want more. I’m a sucker for card battles; I’m a sucker for world-ending melodrama; and I’m a sucker for a tournament arc. That Fate/Extra Record bundles these three things with updated visuals, full voice-over, and plenty of secrets to discover means it’s an RPG I’ll be keeping an eye on as we close in on its January 28 release date. 

For more from my time at Tokyo Game Show, check out my Final Fantasy VII Revelation hands-on preview, and then read about why Bloober Team’s Onyx: The Dark Grip is the most Nintendo-sounding game ever. After that, read about how one of Critical Reflex’s games at TGS made me gag.