"There can only be one." Countless forms of entertainment capitalize on this concept. Like the Highlander franchise, the Fate series brings the player into a fantastical tournament.

For those unfamiliar with the Fate series, every so often a war breaks out for the Holy Grail. Masters form contracts with Servants and do battle with one another-- until one lone pair is left. How does this dynamic work? Well, based upon my research of watching the anime adaption of Fate Stay Night, I can provide you with a wealth of information.

In the Fate series, Masters are capable of magic and forming contracts with Servants or heroes of legend. They come in all shapes and sizes with different skills and powers. In Fate / Extra, you can choose one of three Servants: Saber class, Archer class, and Caster class. There are some slight differences between the three, but the players' choice will not change up the way battles are set up; but more on that later.

The game starts off as any normal story goes. The player takes control of jaded teenager sick of the mundane school life. The protagonist does not talk too much, but instead, he or she pushes the story through monologues. In fact, a lot of the interactions and events that happen around the player are explained through the protagonist's thoughts. Because of this, Fate / Extra feels like a visual novel, rather than an RPG. 

As far as story goes, it may be too convoluted for newcomers to the Fate Series. The introduction to Fate / Extra is painfully long and may drive players away. They may experience frequent "what-the-heck-just-happened" moments. As bad as the NPCs and plot goes, Aksys did provide quality localization. I give them marks for translating all that text into a nice package. 

In the War of the Holy Grail, Servants are locked into mortal combat. However, epic battles are done through one of the simplest forms of combat, “Rock, Paper, and Scissors.” However, in this case, Fate / Extra calls them: Attack, Guard, and Break. Players will input the six commands, and they get to see how much damage is done. Enemies have a pattern they follow, and so it's possible to figure it out. However, who wants to use a notepad to help them play a video game? 

Most of the game progresses like any other school-life RPGs. Players will get through the week before they have to do battle with enemy Masters and their Servants. Days are split into three parts where players can gather information on their foe talking to some NPCs. The banter of these lifeless characters is not worth a look. Unlike the NPCs of a Dragon Quest game, it's better just to move on with the story.

In the end, Fate / Extra falls short of delivering a proper offering for fans of the series. It's stuck between a full-blown text adventure and an RPG. Unfortunately, the developers decided to lean towards the text adventure while keeping the RPG elements painfully shallow. However, despite the push towards more text, the story does not deliver like it should. With shallow gameplay and a convoluted story, Fate / Extra fails to entertain. Because of these elements working against the player, I cannot recommend this title even as a fan of the series. It looks good, but that's about it.

GameDynamo's Score for Fate / Extra (PSP)

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