Familiar faces from the Fate franchise are lining up against players in Fate/EXTRA Record. Aniplex released the "RIVAL's SIDE" character trailer earlier this week (October 15th) during the first Fate/EXTRA Record TIMES program on the official TYPE-MOON GAMES YouTube channel, putting the opposing Masters and Servants of the Moon Holy Grail War front and center. Rin Tohsaka and Shinji Matou lead the group, voiced by Kana Ueda and Hiroshi Kamiya, the same actors who play them in the Fate/stay night anime adaptations.
Record is a full remake of the 2010 PSP game Fate/EXTRA, the first RPG in the Fate series, and it arrives early next year (January 28th, 2027). Check out the trailer below:
The Rival Cast
Aniplex shared the cast for the full slate of opponents along with the trailer. Alongside Ueda's Rin and Kamiya's Shinji, Asami Sanada voices Rani VIII and Romi Park plays Leonardo B. Harwey. Wataru Hatano is Julius B. Harwey, Mugihito is the veteran Dan Blackmore, and Kentaro Ito is Monji Gatou. Ai Nonaka voices Alice, and Yu Kobayashi voices Run Ru-kun. Hatano shared the trailer on his own account, telling fans that Julius appears in it and that he is looking forward to the release.
Each Master's partner is credited without a name. Rin's Servant is voiced by Nobutoshi Canna, Shinji's by Urara Takano, Dan's by Kosuke Toriumi, and Leo's by Daichu Mizushima. Ikumi Hasegawa plays Monji Gatou's Servant, Hisao Egawa plays Run Ru-kun's, and Kunihiko Yasui handles both Julius's and Rani's. Longtime fans will have their guesses, but the game is built around keeping those identities secret until the player earns them.
The Moon Holy Grail War
Fate/EXTRA takes place in an alternate science fiction corner of the Fate universe that fans call the Extraverse. Instead of seven Masters in Fuyuki, 128 Masters and their Servants compete in SE.RA.PH, a digital world hidden on the moon, in a tournament for a Grail that can grant any wish. Every round ends with a battle on the seventh day, and players spend the days before it exploring dungeons, getting stronger, and digging up clues about their opponent's true name. Aniplex's character profile for Shinji calls him an Asian gaming champion and talented hacker with a superior attitude, and it teases that his friendship with the protagonist may not be what it seems.
The remake expands the original scenario and redraws the cast. Arco Wada, who designed the characters for the original game, is back in that role, and fights now use a deck-building command battle system. The soundtrack is by Yoshimasa Terui and Keita Haga, and the special physical editions sold through the TYPE-MOON online store include a three-disc soundtrack that adds arranged versions of the original game's music.
From PSP Cult Favorite To Anime And Back
Marvelous and TYPE-MOON first released Fate/EXTRA in Japan in July 2010, and Aksys Games brought it to North America in November 2011. Its companion, Fate/EXTRA CCC, followed in 2013. The Extraverse later got its own anime when SHAFT produced the 10-episode Fate/EXTRA Last Encore, which premiered in January 2018 and streamed worldwide on Netflix, followed by the three-episode Illustrias Geocentrism arc that July. Marvelous also spun the setting into the action games Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star and Fate/EXTELLA LINK.
Record itself was announced in July 2020 for the original's 10th anniversary. After several delays, Bandai Namco Entertainment stepped away as publisher in March, and Aniplex took over in August with Meteorise, the studio behind Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, joining TYPE-MOON on development. Aniplex's ties to the franchise run deep, since it also publishes Fate/Grand Order and has produced many of the Fate anime.
Release And Events
Fate/EXTRA Record launches early next year (January 28th, 2027) on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam, and pre-orders are open. A physical Limited Edition includes the three-disc soundtrack, a SteelBook case, and an artbook. Fans in Japan can apply until later this month (October 28th) for a 90-minute hands-on event in Tokyo on November 7th and 8th, while the game is also playable at Machi Asobi Vol. 31 this weekend and at Paris Games Week later this month. Here is the English trailer announcement from the Aniplex Gaming Hub account:
Are you excited to hear Kana Ueda and Hiroshi Kamiya back as Rin and Shinji, or are you more curious to see how the Extraverse rivals hold up next to the Last Encore anime?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.