Category: Fantasy

Lord El-Melloi II Case Files: I’m Apparently An Important Demographic

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hisui_icon_4040_round The Lord El-Melloi II Case Files is such an odd show because it mainly seems to be a show whose audience is pretty much me and maybe a dozen other people. It is a mystery show set in the Type-Moon universe in which lore and magical systems are used to solve crimes. The Type-Moon name is solid enough to sell quite a bit but damn if that does not seem to be a pretty niche pitch to someone who is not me.

I remember discussing the show with my roommate and both of us realize that while everything about this show should make it the one entry that Kate might have liked in the Type-Moon universe there was no chance in hell she would ever enjoy it. It has magic, mystery, style and even an extended case on a train. Even the handsome, nerdy, and snarky detective would not win her over. The fact of the matter that all the solutions revolve around lore and magical systems pretty much makes this one DOA for Kate.

The thing is I would have assumed that would be the case for many people. There is a bit too much magic for the mystery people and not enough action for the Fate fans. Then again this is a fandom that has sat through some long lore dumps and explanations of magical systems with nothing more than a nice pair of Tohsaka legs to help them along so a little scene or two of deductive reasoning is not enough to turn them off.

With that said this is still a story that is seemingly tailor-made for me. The question is did I love it? The obvious answer is of course I did otherwise this post would undoubtedly started very differently. So really this is just an examination of why I did. Let’s go! The game’s afoot!

WARNING: I will drop some spoilers for the show so you probably want to watch the whole thing before you read this. 

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Fate/Extella LINK: You Lied To Me ELO

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hisui_icon_4040_round I was told by the Electric Light Orchestra song Twilight (An otaku classic thanks to the Daicon IV opening animation) that, “It’s either real or it’s a dream. There’s nothing that is in between.” Fate/Extella LINK clear proves that statement is completely false. Just when you think you could believe in English rock bands you find out that you can’t really trust anyone.

I have seen more and more anime games following the Musou game formula. Overall it is a decent fit for any anime series that has a large cast of mostly combat capable characters. It has a simple framework where you can plug in a huge cast of character without having to worry too much about balancing them like you would in a fighting game. The games generally have a low bar for entry so they can get a wide variety of players although you might turn away hardcore gamers as they often can be rather mindless especially at lower difficulty levels. They are the sort of the game you put out when you want to put out a game but you don’t want to try too hard. They are more work than say an endless runner but hardly the complexity of an original RPG.

As I mentioned in my two part review of the original Fate/Extella while the Fate/Extra games did fairly well the studio making them went under. This was before the days of Grand Order to give a home to any and all Fate Servants so Type-Moon needed a way to capitalize on the overwhelming success of new Servants like Nero and Tamamo. If nothing else Takashi Takeuchi has always been the sort of guy who has been able to ride a popular wave when he finds one. So Type-Moon teamed up with the publisher Marvelous games again and took the story of the odd rock paper scissors based RPG of Fate/Extra and moved it into a Musou game framework.

Fate/Extella did very well so it only made sense to follow up on that success. Fate/Extella LINK basically continues the story of Fate/Extella while improving some rough game play, adding more playable Servants, and introducing two new Servants.

Since it is my duty to talk about everything and anything Type-Moon related I figured I would talk about the value of this game to Fate Fanatics. I’m going to spoil a major plot point about Charlemagne in this review as it lets me talk about a major element of the game. If you just want my overall opinion the game is an improvement but still very much more of the same. The plot is more of an important side story than a true Fate/Extella 2. The game is good but not essential.

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Alderamin on the Sky Is Actually Pretty Good

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hisui_icon_4040_round I have been catching up on series that had some promise from SWAT reviews but I never finished for one reason or another. There are some shows we watched as a group thanks to SWAT Reviews and others that we stayed away from like the plague after seeing a single episode. But there are a few anime that were in a decent middle ground where they looked promising but due to time we just could not fit them into our schedule. Alderamin on the Sky was one such show.

Let me be up front. Alderamin on the Sky is not a MUST SEE HIDDEN GEM THAT ALL THE SMART PEOPLE ACCIDENTALLY MISSED. It more a surprisingly strong show that is easy to dismiss because of its flaws. A fairly brief if a little minimizing summary of the show is “A very simplified fantasy light novel version of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.” It was a show that Kate and I saw a good deal of potential within but also saw some major warning signs that could easily sink the whole concept. While the flaws of the show never go away they also never grow in a way to ruin the strong points. Also, Alderamin on the Sky actually goes to some interesting places that you might not guess from the start.

So what I’m saying is let me make my case on why this show is pretty good but not excellent.

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