I heard a lot of it, is it really that interesting?
Fate/stay night game Review
Fate/stay night was originally a game developed by TYPE-MOON, and is also the first creation which TYPE-MOON made after going into business (instead of being a group of Doujinshi artists).
Seven Masters, Seven Servants. Only one can correspond to the Holy Grail.
In the legend, the Holy Grail is an artifact that can make your wishes come true, in order to summon the Holy Grail, a ceremonial is required. The seven Masters chosen by the Holy Grail will be granted the seven Servants chosen by the Holy Grail: Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. The Master must prove him/herself that he or she is the only one qualified to use the Holy Grail. In other words, he or she must defeat all the other Masters to prove him/herself.
Shiro Emiya lost his parents in a fire when he was young, and was adopted by a magician, even though he denied teaching Shiro magic, the un-talented Shiro still master a little. When the magician died, Shiro remained a worthless magician. Entangled with the "War of the Holy Grail" by accident, Shiro was granted the Servant "Saber" and was chosen to be one of the seven Masters.
Credits: kulthuzard
NOTES:
- Alternative retelling from the perspective of different characters will be merged here.
- Tag only what you see! e.g. do NOT add the "Saber" tag if only Saber Alter is in the image.
Story & Playability
This is a Review of Fate/Stay Night ~Realta Nua~ :
Story Introduction :
Seven Masters , Seven Servants , One Holy Grail War.
A Master dragged into the battle for the miraculous power of the Holy Grail.
What would he do? His actions would affect his future and the future of the world itself.
Terms Sypnosis :
Magi / Magus :
Magi are essentially people capable of performing Magecraft but their not the performers of True Magic.
Master :
Masters are Magi who are chosen to take part in the ritual of the Holy Grail War.
They also have a Command Spell on their hand which allows them to control their Servants.
Servants :
They are Heroic Spirits from the distant past , summoned to take part in this ritual , this battle for the powers of the
Grail.
There are a total of Seven Classes , Saber , Archer , Lancer , Berserker , Caster , Assassin and Rider , each with their
own special traits and abilities.
Noble Phantasm :
The weapon which a Servant uses. It is also a trump card as each Noble Phantasm holds a secret ability of some
sort.
Main Character Sypnosis :
Emiya Shirou :
Emiya Shirou was a orphan who had survived a disaster 10 years ago. He was saved by his foster father , Kuritsugu , who
took him in and started teaching him the arts of Magecraft. However , his father died 5 years ago and ever since then ,
Emiya has devoted himself to becoming a hero , just like his father. Emiya was later then dragged into the Holy Grail
War to fight against other Masters.
Personality :
His personality , as Rin would put it , horribly distorted. He places the life of others before himself and lacks
self-awareness , only concerning himself to helping others. He cares little for his own well-being , only seeking to
becoming a hero he wants to be , a hero of others and the saviour of the lives of many others. Shirou can get pretty
stubborn about his ideal as well.
Saber ( Fate Route Heroine ) :
Saber is the Servant summoned by Emiya Shirou in the Fifth Holy Grail War. She swore loyalty to him , despite him being
an improper Master. She is also an extremely skilled Servant with the way of the sword. She is also described to be
extremely beautiful and despite her short stature , she is more than a match to other Servants.
Personality :
She is proud , yet not irrational. However , she would get impulsive at critical moments and act without thinking ,
particularly if Shirou's life is at danger. Her instincts , however , allowed her to get through some tight
situations and her courage does not waver even in the most dangerous of situations.
She is ruthless against her enemies , yet not unkind , she's described to be graceful , yet lethal. She treasures
those whom she care over the dreams she regret.
Tohsaka Rin ( Unlimited Blade Works Heroine ) :
Tohsaka Rin is in charge of the Fuyuki City of Japan and she lives in a large English Mansion. She is also an idol
student of the school where Emiya studies in , but she is also secretly a Magus , keeping her distance from people yet
maintaining a certain level of closeness to keep those people around her safe. She then summoned Archer in order to be
part of the Holy Grail War , despite her intentions of summoning Saber.
Personality :
Tohsaka , on the exterior , is the perfect and beautiful student which everyone looks up upon. However , that is simply
a cover as her real self have a pretty sharp tongue and can get pretty aggressive at times.
However , she would not go against her moral values in order to win and she is kind enough to help Emiya , despite
knowing that they would be enemies one day.
Despite her somewhat self-centered personality , she can be quite cute , not to mention caring at times.
Archer :
Archer is the Servant summoned by Tohsaka Rin in the Fifth Holy Grail War. He was reluctant to be the Servant of Rin ,
but after witnessing her power , Archer took pride in being her Servant and helped her out at many of an occasion.
He also bears a mysterious hatred against Emiya Shirou.
Personality :
Archer is cynical , calculative and rational. He takes everything into the matter of profit and loss , and does not go
out of his way to help others , saying that it is pointless to do so.
Yet , despite his seemingly twisted personality and sharp tongue , he went out of his way to help Rin. On the exterior ,
he is an unfriendly , sarcastic and anti-social individual but deep down , he cares for those he wants to protect ,
despite him teasing them at times.
Matou Sakura ( Heaven's Feel Heroine ) :
Sakura is the Kohai ( Junior Classman ) of Emiya Shirou. She often visits him and takes care of the meals in his
household. She is also the sister of Matou Shinji , a self-centered and arrogant man who often picks on her.
Despite her difficulties , she tries her best to go to Shirou's house.
Personality :
Sakura is understanding and helpful , particularly towards Shirou whom she looks up to.
She goes out of her way to help others , though not as extreme as Shirou , she goes out of her way to wake up early in
the morning to make meals for Shirou and Taiga ( Shirou's guardian and teacher of the school ) .
However , as time passes , she starts to break down under the strain she's facing and the curse she's bounded
to , causing her to become bloodthirsty and savage. ( A Yandere )
Overall :
Truth be told , the storyline was extremely impressive and well-made.
Though it might prove relatively dry at first , as it progresses , things become more exciting and you'll be
thirsting to know more.
Initially , it was nothing more than experiences of the everyday life that Shirou was going through , as well as
Rin's in the prologue. However , with this introduction , we got to know know more about the characters and their
history , as well as what their childhood was like to craft their personality into the shape of which it is today.
Then , when the excitement starts scaling up , we get more in depth into the background information about the Holy Grail
War and the heroes get into several more conflicts along the way.
Also , depending on the route you took and the choices you made , the storyline would change. Every single little
decision you make would affect your future choices and that itself is enough to shift the storyline. So the player would
get to feel their importance in the game.
It is also interesting to play through each and every storyline. What was not explained in one storyline was explained
in the other. Each storyline holds their own unique element.
I would also like to note that the characters were well made. The design concept and the artwork style has allowed the
medieval heroes of the ancient past to stand out yet blend in into the present era of the storyline.
The game also have characters of every kind. Each and every one of them are likeable in their own way , each having
their own traits to make their own stand amongst the pool of unique characters.
To make it better , the storyline's uniqueness and originality is at the height of excellence , making the audience
indulge in it as it is something they do not see often in other works.
There is also a mix of moralities in this. It is unclear whether this game is focused on the concept of black and white
morality , or a gray one , due to the idealistic Shirou and the cynical Kotomine , who had said facts that had deeply
troubled Shirou , and perhaps the viewer as well.
Moving back to the storyline , the game also have several plot twists which was totally unexpected. Such as the identity
of Archer. However , rather than plot twist , this game mainly lives off it's unique concept and it's cast of
characters.
The Endings , I would like to note , none of them are ever truly entirely perfect endings , as each storyline would have
their own deaths and sacrifices , yet also events which marks it a happy ending.
Generally speaking , this game is not entirely of without flaws.
Firstly , this Visual Novel might prove too confusing for some. Some of it's concept takes time to absorb and their
thrown in casually , as though expecting the viewer to understand immediately.
Secondly , it certainly is quite dry at the beginning.
Thirdly , compared to other Visual Novels , it is weak in it's Romance concept and it is certainly not appealing to
those who look forward to buying a typical Bishonen game or a typical Harem game.
Fourthly , it did not manage to play around the hearts of the player as effectively compared to other Visual Novels.
However , other than that , it certainly is a must-have Visual Novel.
Rating:
Graphics
Artwork Review :
The Artwork is certainly excellent. Each character bears great differences from each other in terms of design.
Each character manages to strike the intended impression that the audience would have upon first sight , to put it
simply , the design concept of the characters fit in well with the characters' personalities.
However , I would like to say that there is something amiss in the artwork that gives me an empty feeling deep down. I
can not quite say what it is , but something tells me that it could be better.
As for the environment artwork , it is like the standard of most Visual Novels. Most of them are hand drawn. Some of
them have a fairly sketchy feel to it to emphasise on the characters but more serious scenes resembles a painting when
no character portraits are on screen.
However , it's environment artwork and character artwork certainly requires improvements at certain scenes , as
they appear to be too sketchy for comfort compared to some other Visual Novels , which features extremely beautiful
environmental settings and not to mention , girls.
Just to add on , the animated Opening sequences differ slightly depending on the Arc your playing through , so it's
pretty cool to be honest , though again , it's artwork is relatively inferior compared to some other Visual Novels
I had played through.
Graphical Technology :
The game utilises extremely simple forms of movements of the portraits of the characters and the image of the scene to
enchance it. It certainly is something most Visual Novels have neglected. Though it's not exactly fully animated
sequences , they had bothered to add flashes of light , sparks of flame and the movements of the portraits of the
characters to build up the intended impression within the player's mind eye. A lot of imagination is still needed
to fully image the epic scene within your mind , but the clashes as well as the simple movement of the scenes have laid
out the foundations for that structure to form in your head.
Rating:
Sound
Music Review :
Much as I would like to give it a 9 , the constant repeating opening for all three Openings of all three storylines
kinda annoys me.
What's more , the original Disillusion was inferior compared to the future adaptations , so it pretty much shows
that they did not put in enough effort for the opening.
However , what really makes up for this is the music in between scenes. Almost every scene would have a music looping
through it and their well placed , as some of them enchanced the mood of the scene.
At times , the player would feel at home , at others , they would really feel that their part of the battle.
To enchance this feeling , the scenes occasionally have added sound effects. Ranging from the clash of the sword to
footsteps , they added it. Along with the visual graphical effects , this had effectively built the perfect scene before
the audience , even if it's not animated.
Rating:
Fun
This is a Review of Fate/Stay Night ~Realta Nua~ :
The Visual Novel was indeed a splendid art of work. Though it's artwork and romance factor might be overwhelmed by
other Visual Novels , the concept and storyline is certainly one of the best.
The producers had also added visual effects and sound effects at some scenes , as well as voice acting for most of the
conversations in the game , which makes the scenes relatively more interesting.
Though relatively dry at first , it is interesting to see how the story can potentially branch into three general
storylines , each with their own traits and each as unique as the characters in the game itself.
Certainly , even if you had watched the Anime , and is keen on the storyline , you could buy this game and indulge
yourself in the world of Fate/Stay Night. Naturally , if your not a Visual Novel fan , keep away as Visual Novels are
essentially books with images in it.
Overall ( Others ) :
Age Recommendation : 12 + ( Realta Nua ) 18+ ( PC )
Genre : Action , Fantasy , Psychological ( Mild ) , Romance , Bishonen
Romance :
As I said , the storyline is relatively weak in terms of romance compared to other Visual Novels. Well , that's to
be expected since other Visual Novels are mainly focused on emotions and love , but Fate/Stay Night is much more focused
on it's characters and concept , as well as the storyline itself.
Each Route have their own form of love story , however. Each with their own unique ending , some are bitter-sweet , some
are a relief while others are a new beginning.
Humor :
Generally speaking , this game hardly have any humor content.
The atmosphere of the game is relatively dark , particularly dampened even further by the bad endings.
Gore / Psychological :
Blood can be seen , but in a considerable amount. As for actual gore , one can not actually see the disembowlment as of
such in the more mature version of the game , but explict descriptions were given so it's up to your brain to see
whether you can image it or not.
Personally , I felt a bit sick after reading some parts of the descriptions.
Also , the game can get pretty psychological warped at times , as well as disturbing. Though most of these are usually
reserved in the Heaven's Feel Route or the Bad Endings.
Trivia :
- Fate/Stay Night was adapted into an Anime.
- Fate/Stay Night have a Manga which seems to be adapted off the Unlimited Blade Works Route
- There is a Light Novel called Fate/Zero , which is a prequel
- There are several soundtracks released for the game
- There is , technically speaking , a sequel called Fate/Hollow Ataraxia , but it's not exactly a true sequel
- There is a fighting game released for it called Fate/Unlimited Codes
- There is a chibi fighting game for it called Fate/Tiger Colosseum
- There is a Doujin game for it called Crucis/Fatal Fake
- There is a Doujin game with characters from Fate called Battle Moon Wars
- There is a Doujin game with Fate characters as a DLC , called Mugen
- There is a film adapted off the Unlimited Blade Works route
~ Thanks for reading ~
Rating:
Final Verdict
8.1667 (good)
Reviewed by z827, Aug 09, 2010
Comments
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SchRita Aug 27, 2010
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patriz0 Oct 05, 2010
i like the epic stories and legends they somehow relate in this anime...
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ab12xyz Oct 27, 2010
Good Job??I like it.....
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Warpten29 Jan 11, 2011
Good summarization!
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