Developer/publisher: Koei Tecmo/Type Moon.
Platform: PS4/5/PC.
Official Site: https://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/fate-sr/
Release date: 28-9-2023.
I wanted to play this sooner but since it released the same day as Ys X it ended up
being backlogged for the fact that it seemed like it was a pretty long game.
In december this game also got an update with easier/harder difficulties as well as more
servants being playable in a rematch mode which was enough incentive for me to prioritize
it over other games that I still wanted to play, something like now or never I guess?
Sadly I can not talk about this game without spoilers so uh you're warned right here I guess.
Pro's
- Good story & well written charactters(Most of them).
- Takes a while to get going but it does explain everything making it accessible to newcomers.
- Decent graphics and fitting bgm.
Con's
- Basically need to play the game like twice(or thrice without proper saves) to get the full picture.
- Hyper armor is a thing in this game.
- Half assed endings, lacking a proper epilogue.
- MC's personality (not that he had much) takes a 180 on NG+.
Oh hey I remember that Fate/stay night anime also starting like this!
Incase you were wondering, no you do not need to watch any anime or read any VN
as Fate/Samurai Remnant is a stand alone entry with its own story in a different time period.
Which makes this game very accessible if you've never watched or read anything fate related!
I should probably put a warning here or something but this game while fiction is quite
realistic about what old timey japan was like as well as... what it means to be a samurai.
---
I consider myself fairly acquainted with the series as I have watched a few of the anime over
the years, this game did an outstanding job at making sense of the lore of the series.
Due to that the prologue took me 2-3 hours to complete... by 30 hours I was
in chapter 5, its quite obvious to me that this game has VN roots since the scenes could be
on the long side and if you add digressions aka side stories its even longer.
It even has a story branch and multiple endings so be prepared to play it atleast twice
and then reload for the final ending. (There's also a joke end but we don't talk about that one.)
You'll be able to find a guide through google for sure but it is generally recommended to do todoroki/yashiro aka rat route first and then snake route on 2nd play along with the NG+ ending.
Just doing one route especially rat will probably leave you unsatisfied and it is definitely worth
to do another playthrough as IMO snek route was generally better than rat.
There are plenty of new scenes available giving further context to either characters
or lore while going for the other ending so despite it being a trainwreck it wasn't all bad.
---
If I had to rate the endings it would be Snek > Greg > Rat > 3rd end.
At first I didn't really understand why Snek end just cut Iori out of the picture
but the 3rd end explains it very well and the dude is just dead inside at that point.
Idk this game is missing some sort of true end but I guess Iori's a deadbeat samurai 4lyf
that is if you make the morally correct choice and not pursue something for personal gain.
---
While playing the game I generally did like the MC Iori but that kinda changed after the 3rd ending
and now I just can only see him as a deadbeat samurai. Also Iori and his servant Saber weren't off
to the best of starts they would often buttheads early on and while they could work together
to some degree another Master and a rogue servant had to explain all of the basics of
the ritual to Iori. As you can see the story is very slow due to that.
Iori was mostly indifferent and just really wants what's best for the town
so he actually got mad at his servant for destroying a bunch of shacks.
As some NG+ exclusive scenes turns out... Iori is actually a bit of a maniac too
and not much better than your typical ronin he's just more nice about it??? idk how to explain.
If Welkin was one of my favorite protaginists, Iori was one of my least fav's.
Well... Iori and Saber just didn't trust each other very well in the beginning but it did get better.
Because trust doesn't always come so easily and besides I did enjoy their interactions
as well as some of the other characters and the rivalry between masters.
Saber is kind of like a brat, cocky and also a glutton... but does have his heart in the right place.
Also Saber is often described as a woman but I thought she was a guy or like femboy.
Doesn't help that they refer to themselves as boku. >_>; Oh well enough about thatSaber didn't really act like a woman and the game actively shipped him
with someone because of actual history so I am like anything goes amiright.
 |
| That explains a lot, no wonder things turned out like they did. |
depending on the route Chenggong was like the least developed character in the game. Archer
was great but also underdeveloped which is sad cuz Chenggong and Archer had good chemistry
and were voiced by Maeno Tomoaki and Ono Kensho! too bad plot was rude to them.
I didn't really like Chiemon but Okamoto Nobuhiko did a good job voicing him
and making him really intimidating. His servant was eh... fitting to say the least and despite
not liking him I understand why he did what he did, he's had it up to here like fuck dis shit
meanwhile Lancer is like please accept my affection you are worthy of love and Chiemon
is like no but she will follow him to the depths of hell anyways. How bittersweet.
Takao Dayu was okay but I generally am generally mixed about Yui Shousetsu
who even after the snek route I still feel indiffirent about, mostly cuz they were lowkey
giving shipping fuel at the end but also did nothing with it.
Also this game went too far back with history so some things were lost on me like
Iori's servant saber real identity and everything related to him. I had to google some names
and god I nearly cried like oh no, no no since they sticked to the facts.
A servant even joked about it that it is okay if you don't know who he was... lmao.
 |
| Literally half of this game in a nutshell. |
The story and pacing was pretty slow but had it been any faster I would be overwhelmed?
so I am actually somewhat glad they took their time and I could re-familiarize myself
with the fate universe but I will admit that it felt like it was dragging itself out
and the characters had no idea wtf they were doing or someone got in the way
and oh damn gotta go back to base cuz tired and hungry.
 |
| Saber is a glutton... |
Fate Samurai Remnant was like a game of cat and mouse and while at times fun
and interesting it ultimately overstayed its welcome and I didn't even enjoy the
final chapter, at this point I was about done with the last minute shenanigans.
Moving on the first playthrough ending only brought a sense of relief that it was over
it didn't really wrap itself up properly only setting the player up for round 2.
Well honestly by this point I was like uh what in the fresh hell? it took me 30+ hours
and I don't even get a decent epilogue and yet you want me to play it again?
Ok sure but give me five to recharge. I realized that at this point the only thing I really
liked was the general turn of events and of course the characters. Except
Chiemon&lightning horse. These two got on my nerves so much I kid you not!
Anyway there were plenty of fun character interactions and the story was unpredictable
that you wouldn't know what was really going on which I really liked kept things interesting.
Also because I know fate already I knew who Boss was but in this game he was a rather annoying
side charactter and mostly used as comic relief, I remember he was a bit stuck up
in the anime series by ufotable but not as bad as in this game.😂
 |
| Woah hey there greg, no spoilers please! |
TL;DR
Its a good game if you like to be challenged by the gameplay and if not there's always the newly
added easy difficulty so you can just enjoy the story and the like without worrying of performing well.
Iori did not have much of a personality and most of the other cast just stood out to me
more than the protagonist itself including Iori's servant Saber.
I did like the story,characters and the unpredictability of it all while exploring old-timey japan
and the game had a good sense of humor but yea I just have a few gripes with it all.
Iori definitely grew stronger but everytime I faced enemies with shields it seems like that wasn't
the case. By the end of the game I was kinda done with the recycled enemies, there's NG+ exclusive
mobs but they are just supersized versions. I think occasionally enemies with shields are fine
but not every boss-like enemy. I wanted to like Fate/Samurai remnant more but yea...
I think I liked more than enough and it just kinda overstayed it welcome.
Dodging or countering was the only thing I felt like I was good at, breaking shields was a chore.
Still had shields not been there battles wouldn't last as long either maybe it is ok after all.
While I played on normal I briefly lowered the difficulty for NG+ but realized
it became too easy and actually switched back since I kinda missed the thrill of the fights.
((What am I doing to myself?!))
 |
| Me after every single battle. |
I guess this post is kinda long but this game was long which just leads me to ramble
about the characters a bit and this was only the opening section, whoops.
It may seem like I am kinda mixed and perhaps I am... but it was still
an okay game with a good story and cast, over and out.
7/10
More rambles after the jump i'll just be talking a bit more about the gameplay experience
and characters but the above should be good enough of a TL;DR.
You can skip to my final thoughts to get another gist I guess?
