Post Description

First, some backstory. Like many curious Japanese games, Fate/Extra is based on a popular series that you've probably never heard of. Fate/Stay Night is not available through legal channels, but it has been translated into English. It is a visual novel significantly longer than the Lord of the Rings trilogy about a game in which modern-day sorcerers summon famous figures from history and legend to fight over a Holy Grail (but not the Holy Grail) which can grant the bearer a wish. Don't worry about this part: all you need to know is that Fate is awesome because it's about who would win in a fight between King Arthur and Gilgamesh.
 Fate/Extra hopes to tap into this magic, and with a script by the original writer, Kinoku Nasu, it has a fair shot. The plot is good; twentysomethings that watched Evangelion in their teens will have a certain fondness for being mind-fucked, and if nothing else, Nasu is a gifted mind-fucker. The game falls flat anyway, because the combat is a brave but sad shot in the dark and the story doesn't have enough cooking.