Marvelous and XSeed Games unleashed Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star onto the PS4 and PS Vita in North America following its previous release on PlayStation systems in Japan. The game is a Musou-style hack-and-slash game with some light RPG mechanics and a visual novel-style storytelling setup. Some gamers have begun providing video walkthroughs of the English version of Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star to help new players get acquainted with the gameplay.

Before you get into the game you have the option to choose your gender and the difficulty setting. There’s an Easy, Normal and Hard mode.

In order to unlock the other characters and content you’ll need to do the main story mode. You can start  with the Flame Poem Arc featuring Saber Nero. The first playable mission is a basic tutorial featuring Saber.

‘X’ allows you to perform a jump, R1 is to dash. Square allows you to do a normal attack while Triangle will allow you to do a heavy attack. Mixing and matching the moves will allow you to perform different combos. You can perform Extella Maneuvers by pressing Circle.

YouTuber Blazzer Sora captures the entirety of the Flame Poem Arc chapter, which you can view below.

After some more exposition players are able to input their first and last name.

The story then formally introduces Saber Nero as the Praetor’s servant. Saber will then invite you to her room… which is actually your room. The room works as a hub for the story where you can carry out missions, upgrade characters or learn more about the story.

Saber proceeds to explain that the Moon Cell was used to create automatons in the form of Servants who could be summoned by Wizards. It’s explained that the virtual world of SE.RA.PH allows battles to take place where Wizards can attempt to battle in tournaments against other Wizards and their Servants and eventually earn the right to get a single wish from the Moon Cell.

The story in Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star plays out very much like a visual novel, with plenty of talking in between missions.

Four additional generals are then introduced, including the Lancer Cu Chulainn; the Demon Fist Master Li Shuwen; the Knight of the Sun, Gawain; Last of the four generals is Nameless.

It’s explained that SE.RA.PH is constantly expanding and Saber and the player-character, the Praetor, are set on expanding their lands as SE.RA.PH continues to expand. However, the rules changed from previous Fate experiences and there’s no longer just a tournament taking place. Saber explains that the inhabits of the ever-expanding virtual world are dangerous to the Praetor and will attempt to kill them. In order to stay safe the player-character resides in the Regalia on Saber’s finger.

After 45 minutes into the game, the actual first stage that isn’t a tutorial begins.

It’s explained that each level is a Regime Matrix and has a Boss Servant at the end. You’ll need to collect Regime Keys from around the level in order to summon a boss. You can collect the keys by clearing the sectors. It operates on the same progression structure as Koei Tecmo’s Musou games. Defeating a number of enemies within a sector – specifically the Aggressor NPCs – will clear the sector.

Aggressors also drop skills that you can pick up and add to the character skill menu in the My Room section. Some Aggressors from the main sectors can invade smaller sectors. When an enemy invasion takes place you’ll need to quickly travel to that sector and defeat the Aggressor to prevent them from taking your Regime key.

Phantasm Circuits can also be acquired by looting them from enemies. You can utilize the Phantasm Circuits by pressing the R2/right trigger.

The digital pad will also allow you to select between the different Code Casts that you equipped before entering into a Regime Matrix.

The first major boss you’ll battle after retrieving the Regime Matrix keys is Elizabeth Bathory. Before fighting her you’ll have to take down the Aggressor Plant, which can spawn Aggressors and send them to sectors you’ve already conquered.

Before you can finish fighting a boss you’ll need to first destroy the Plants.

Once every sector is cleared and you earn each of the keys, the boss room will open up and if you travel to the sector you can then fight the boss.

As is typical, there will be mobs to dispense of as well, so work smart and fight and well to take them out as you whittle down the life of Boss Servant.

Upon completion you’ll unlock the next mission as well as a new entry in the combo abilities.

The story moves forward, revealing the Caster, Tamamo. Saber and Tamamo end up at odds with each other. It’s revealed that a second Praetor is also there, working with Tamamo.

Tamamo exclaims that she’s the new ruler of SE.RA.PH alongside her husbando, and that she now rules half of the empire.

Tamamo then threatens to take the rest of the kingdom from Saber and the Praetor. The remaining five chapters in the Flame Poem Arc can be viewed below in the playlist by Geek Sentai.

Each story arc will take around four and a half hours or so to complete depending on how quickly you read or how fast you’re able to burn through each of the levels.

You can also play through the Caster’s story in order understand what the Praetor from her side was like. YouTuber Red’s 3rd Dimension Gaming has a walkthrough of Tamamo’s story. You can check it out below.

And yes, even if you play as a female you’ll still be referred to as Tamamo’s “husband”.

On Tamamo’s side, the generals include Elizabeth Bathory, Archimedes, the Lancer Karna, the Berserker Lu Bu, and the Rider Medusa.

Just like in the mode featuring Saber, you can unlock new abilities, gallery items, crafting recipes and items by not only battling through the maps, but also talking to the characters.

You can also equip skills through the “Settings” menu by clicking on the “Install Skills” sub-menu. This will allow you to equip modifiers for the Servants, ranging from increased defenses to increased attack rates to increased elemental damage. Successfully defeating enemies and picking up items will unlock new skills for you to equip on the Servants.

In order to craft items you’ll need to earn currency along with special parts. Each recipe will list the parts you need to craft items and what sort of stats it raises.

Once you enter battle, the concept stays the same as when playing as Saber. You must battle through each sector to acquire a key. Continue to clear out the enemies, unlock each sector and then battle the boss. Since you’ll be playing as Tamamo’s side you’ll be battling against Saber’s Lieutenants.

It’s identical to the Dynasty Warriors games when playing the story mode from the different sides, such as Wu, Shu and Wei.

Once you defeat the plants and then fight the Boss Servant, the stage will be complete. One way of quickly completing the stages is by moving to the flashing sectors as fast as possible and defeating the enemy Aggressors. In doing so you can help keep your own Lieutenants alive and avoid grinding out the stage for longer than you need to.

Geek Sentai offers the full playthrough of the two different chapters. The second act along with the rest of the playlist can be viewed below.

Each chapter is around an hour long, much of it consists of a lot of dialogue with the actual missions being anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes long.

In the second chapter of the Orchid Words Arc you’ll also learn about occupying neutral sectors by seeking out the nodes by attacking the Lost Matrix node to reveal its location, collect it and then rinse and repeat until you secure the neutral sector.

Completing the chapters will continue to unlock new content in Fate/Extella as you grow stronger and further uncover the latest tale in the ongoing series. The third chapter for The Orchid Words Arc takes on a very different direction, with Saber being disposed off by Tamamo before the Praetor and the Caster face off against two even more powerful foes.