Fate Stay Night

The Fate series is pretty darn huge, so much so that I was surprised that Fate/Stay Night, a visual novel game was part of the same series of a game I recently played on my PS4! One of the things that this game is well known for is just how story-driven it is. It is a very well made visual novel style game and one that is well worth checking out.

A Strong Story With Strong Characters

As this is a visual novel style game, as you would expect there is not exactly a ton of gameplay involved with Fate/Stay Night as this is a game that is all about the story. Here is the thing, I really do not want to go too deep in the story as it is the main focus of the game and you do not want it spoiled.

The basics of the story are that there is a mage called Shirou Emiya who is a mage with some serious skills. He is part of the Holy Grail War with other mages and along the way, he meets different heroines and has to deal with other mages. The story has different paths so there is a bit of replay value here. When a decision does require input from the player/reader, this will often lead to a break in the story and it going in a slightly different direction. Dealing with a love interest does require you to think about what choices you make as there is an affection meter that you are trying to build up.

Like Fine Wine

One of the most notable things about Fate/Stay Night is the overall presentation. This is not exactly what you would call a “new” game and I feel that this is one of the first visual novel style games to really go all-in with its visual style. Seriously this is a wonderful looking story that is brought to life with some truly breathtaking art. The voice acting in the game is in Japanese, but this really does help give the characters a ton of personality. I would say that the game is an “adult” game, but it is not as in your face as many other games that bare the same kind of style are.

If you like visual novel style games that are well written, have great voice acting and are well made. Then I would have to say that Fate/Stay Night is one that you will probably have a great time with. The story is strong and the choices you make do feel like they matter and change the story in ways that make playing through the story multiple times worthwhile. Just make sure you get one of the English translations so you actually know what is going on.

Final Score 8/10

Pros:

• Some very impressive artwork brings the game to life
• Has characters that are interesting
• The Japanese voice acting is great
• You get to make decisions
• Multiple story paths to experience

Cons:

• Not a ton in terms of gameplay
• Getting a good English translation is not always easy

Fate Stay Night is an adventure and fantasy visual novel based on a popular Japanese story with adult scenes, where the player as a young boy will plunge into the world of cunning sorcerers and search for a most powerful artifact.

Plot

Fuyuki, a town in the not-too-distant future, lives an ordinary life. Sometimes strange occurrences happen in the settlement, which the crazy hermits call magical. Who would have thought - the madmen were right. There are many sorcerers inside who exercise their magic books. Gandalf from The Lordlord is in total shock at the abilities of the sorcerers from the Japanese city of Fuyuki.

The main character in the story is a boy who is rescued from a fire. His family is dead, now his mission is to master magic and restore justice.

Different clans of sorcerers fight among themselves, and civilians suffer:

• Buildings collapse
• Innocent people die
• Tons of fear and anxiety are poured out on the survivors

Emiya (that's the guy's name) must find the Holy Grail in order to wield an infinite amount of power.

As he develops and grows, Emiya becomes damnably attractive. Girls like him... Try to seduce a few beauties and get them into bed.

Gameplay

The player will enjoy colorful static images in anime style. The beautiful pictures stir the imagination. The bed scenes are very juicy. The user will see what he saw in his best wet dreams.

The plot will be clear from the dialogues. Fate Stay Night was written by professionals - the story is really interesting and well presented. The interactivity of the game will help make each player's journey individual. The story will move depending on the player's answers to the dialogues. Decisions will lead to one of several endings - nice news for fans of rewatching visual stories.