Fate/Stay Night (2004)

Fate/stay night has three routes with three different heroines. And yet, the story is essentially centered around the main protaganist Shirou at its core, regardless of the route you are on.

Avoiding spoilers, this VN offers a rich cast and asks you to get invested in their relationships and moments of triumph and sorrow. With all three routes in mind, there is a LOT of dense text that may be overwhelming for first timers to the genre. I know it was for me, and I took definitive breaks between route completions.

Some may be whelmed by the prose but I believe emotion is what really drives stay night and propels the plot forward. Shirou is a frustrating character to many, but really diving into his ideals and why he is the way he is serves as a fascinating case study that evolves alongside the story.

Overall, would recommend this to anyone looking to get into the genre. Very accessible and a strong litmus test as well as just being a great story to enjoy.

HF > UBW > Fate (writing) Fate > UBW > HF (order the game has you play in) Saber > Rin > Sakura (personal taste)

As it turns out, this game does not deal with time loops and was mis-categorized on Wikipedia. A follow up, Fate/hollow ataraxia, concerns time loops, so I've added that to my list this year.

It's clear from playing through this game (with a walkthrough, skipping some of the text) that the creators care deeply about their characters, story, and the visual novel medium in general. Yet, I could not find a foothold to become invested in the story. I was also aware that, as an eroge, there would be nudity somewhere but I was still surprised when it showed up (and you can optionally see it, censor it, or skip it). I assumed there would be story intertwined but it seems safe to skip it.

Visual novels just don't appear to be for me, but I'm finding more appreciation of the craft as I play through these.

Putting my adoration to this excellent piece of work into words is difficult to say the least.

For one, I think it's an incredible delve into a character's complex and ideals, working around with the machinations of said ideals, deconstructing them, spitting in the face of them, evaluating them, and then bringing in characters about as interesting and three-dimensional as those ideals all tied neatly into a plot that never falters or grows old. Said plot is even spectacularly structured around world rules that are never broken (although definitely weirdly explained at the start, some real D4C instant retcon level) and perfectly reflect the motivations and passion behind those motivations onto each battle.

Secondly, it's astonishing how well Nasu writes dialogue and has a great sense of pacing, making sure to intertwine moments of calm and creating a central emotional point of ground zero to return to after each bombdrop of a story event. From the breaking apart of Sakura's inferiority complex all the way to the well worded exposition spouts that write in the rules of the world and turn the tides of the reader's perspective, Nasu understands exactly how to space these out.

Lastly, it's probably the best piece of work I've personally read this year, and probably my favorite read just in general. That's probably hyperbolic praise, but even still I didn't regret a single moment from Fate to Unlimited Blade Works. (10/10)