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Games : Recommended
Ranking:
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Release Date: March 17th, 2015 Movie Release Year: 2015

The Awakened Fate Ultimatum

Overview -

Another month, another Nippon Ichi title graces are Western shores. This month brings players 'The Awakened Fate Ultimatum', a rouge-like that is a spiritual successor of sorts to the PlayStation 3 title 'The Guided Fate Paradox.' Sticking with genre conventions of ever-shifting dungeons and harsh punishments for failure while injecting a healthy dose of storyline in an otherwise mechanic-heavy genre, 'The Awakened Fate Ultimatum' attempts to appeal to a wider (but still niche) audience.

OVERALL:
Recommended
Rating Breakdown
VIDEO
AUDIO
Tech Specs & Release Details
Release Date:
March 17th, 2015

Video Review

Ranking:

There are two distinct visual styles in 'The Awakened Fate Ultimatum'. The first, and the one the player will arguably see more, is within the cutscenes. Scenes within the game are played out with character portraits standing on a still background, with little changing other than the characters' expressions. The character portraits are well-drawn and animate their emotions pretty well. It's serviceable, but may be disappointing for those that wanted a little more action in their scenes.

The other style is used when exploring the dungeons. Like many roguelikes, dungeons are shown in a top down view. Shin's model, as well as the models for monsters and items, are simplistic, but they get the job done and the player can typically easily tell what alignment a monster falls in with a single glance. However, the title is not afraid to use the same dungeon design for multiple missions, which can make repeat trips rather dull visually.

Audio Review

Ranking:

In terms of music, 'The Awakened Fate Ultimatum' is a bit hit or miss. Some of the tracks are quite good, but others can easily grate on the nerves and loop too often, making specific dungeons more annoying to get through than they should.

On the other hand, the voice acting is pretty solid. 'The Awakened Fate Ultimatum' offers both Japanese and English tracks, and in both languages the personalities of the characters and the emotions behind the plot are conveyed quite well. I personally preferred the English track over the Japanese one, but it's really a matter of which one each individual player enjoys more.

Final Thoughts

'The Awakened Fate Ultimatum' may not be the most exciting game gameplay wise, but the title makes up for it with an intriguing story that forces tough decisions on the player. The rouge-like base of the game shouldn't scare those intimidated by the usual difficulty found in the genre, as overall the title isn't very difficult. If the premise of the game and its forced decision making intrigues you, it's worth picking up.