This fast-paced, combo friendly fighter is mostly fought on a 2D plane; although you can sidestep (which isn't as effective as it should be, for the record). There are three standard attack buttons, Weak, Medium & Heavy, as well as a parry button. A well timed parry will allow you to counter your opponent's attack, but a failed parry will take away 50% of your super meter (which is a standard 3 max super meter). The parry button is also useful for extending combos, which the gameplay is heavily based around. 


Once again, I'll say with confidence that sidestepping is pretty much useless in the game... meaning it plays much more like a 2D fighting game, contrary to it's appearance. The gameplay is quite speedy and reminds me a bit of the memorable PS1-era Battle Arena Toshinden series, but with a much better and friendlier combo system. I really like how aggressive you can be during battle, especially with some of the faster characters. The animation is reminiscent of Project Justice and has a sped-up, anime-like tone. Characters have some pretty sweet attacks and poses that simply say "badass," and overall they animate very smoothly.
  

 
The 17 strong character roster is diverse and each character has a nice variety of alternate outfits. Each fighter has an assortment of standard and special attacks (some of which are quite cool) along with some ultra-flashy super moves. The super meter in this game is known as the "Holy Grail" meter, which fills up as characters take damage and when full, allows the character to perform their EX move if they have 3 max supers... unleashing a very devastating attack. Also featured in the gameplay is a "Burst" system (not unlike that of Guilty Gear XX) and an air recovery system, which can be used to escape from air combos. At the end of the day, Fate isn't anything "revolutionary" in terms of gameplay or graphics, but if you like the characters and the setting; there's a solid and potentially fun gameplay system in place.
   

Page Updated: September 23rd, 2024 Developer(s): Type-Moon Publisher(s): Capcom Platform(s): Arcade, PlayStation 2, PSN, PSP Release Date(s): June 11th, 2008      ( Arcade) Dec. 18th, 2008      ( PS2) Q3 2009                      ( PSP) Characters:  Shirou Emiya, Rin Tohsaka, Berserker, Saber, Sakura Mataou, Archer, Assassin, Rider, Caster, Gilgamesh, Luviagelita Edelfelt, Kirei Kotomine, Lancer, Lancer (Fate/Zero), Bazett (console), Dark Saber (console), Leysritt (console) Featured Video:   Related Games: Kenichi, Project Justice, Rival Schools: United by Fate, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core Plus, Battle Arena Toshinden, Soul Calibur 4, Street Fighter 4, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Aquapazza, Under Night In-Birth, Sunday X Magazine, Dragon Ball FighterZ    Gameplay Engine  7.0 / 10 Story / Theme  8.0 / 10 Overall Graphics  7.0 / 10 Animation  7.5 / 10 Music / Sound Effects  7.0 / 10 Innovation  6.5 / 10 Art Direction  7.0 / 10 Customization  7.5 / 10 Options / Extras  7.0 / 10 Intro / Presentation  7.5 / 10 Replayability / Fun  7.0 / 10 "Ouch" Factor  7.5 / 10 Characters  7.5 / 10 BOTTOM LINE  7.6 / 10  Review based on PS2 (Japan Import) version       Final Words: Fate/Unlimited Codes is easy to pick up and play, and it's even fairly easy to start hitting some badass combos on your first play-through if you're a veteran fighting game player. However, in the few hours I tried out this game, I found some incredibly devastating combos and loops... which I'm pretty sure you can't escape. On that note, I'd almost call the gameplay broken, but of course that doesn't mean it can't be fun.  The super moves and combos are indeed pretty epic in this game, and some of the air combos are just sick! Though I'm not very familiar with the novels, the characters seemed to have translated very well as fighting game characters. The art style, characters, and even the gameplay reminds me a lot of the Toshinden series. If you're a fan of the series or "anime style" fighting games, you should check this out. ~TFG Webmaster | @Fighters_Gen    .   Click Here for all Box Artwork / etc. Click Here for all Screenshots! FOLLOW    ON:                             TFG NEWS CHARACTERS GAMES