Fate/Samurai Remnant (2023)

Fate/Samurai Remnant is a mix of action and story, and for the most part I think those two elements work well together.

I’m really not a big fan of the Dynasty Warriors style of games. While it’s clear a lot of love went into the gameplay systems such as skills, progression, and various mechanics, it still feels a bit plain despite everything they layered on top. Outside of the main story battles, many encounters ended up feeling like a chore, and I often found myself rushing through them just to get back to the narrative segments.

Design-wise, the game clearly has a lot of love put into it. There are many small details, lots of little objects scattered around the environments, and the character designs themselves are beautiful. However, this isn’t always matched by the graphical presentation, which can feel a bit… rusty at times. I don’t usually mind graphics that much, but given the Fate series’ strong visual identity, I did expect something a little more polished and less rough around the edges.

That said, the music is amazing. Some of the tracks will genuinely stay with me for a long time.

As for the story, I’m a huge Fate fan, so I was very entertained overall. It doesn’t connect too strongly to the original Fate story beyond some cameos and references, but it definitely captures the same kind of dynamics seen throughout the Nasuverse. I was especially invested in the Iori/Saber dynamic, as well as Chiemon/Lancer. Other characters also had their moments to shine, such as Dorothea, Rogue Saber, Musashi, and Shousetsu.

I do feel, however, that some questions were left unanswered, or answered too vaguely, such as why there are so many Rogue Servants being summoned.. Also "Boss" is summoned as a Ruler, but doesn't seem to play any role on that lol, which is on point with the character, but still weird. Usually Nasu goes out of his way to thoroughly explain every exception and rule break, but this time the explanations felt surprisingly quiet, and I was left wanting more clarity about how the Waxing Moon Ritual truly differs from a standard Holy Grail War.

Regarding the three endings:

• Flames of Resentment was my favorite, as it provided strong closure to what was happening behind the scenes.
• A Ray of Light, especially on New Game+, adds a lot of important context that honestly could have been included in the first playthrough, but I still appreciated the extra lore and expanded understanding of the ritual.
• As for Entreat the Darkness… I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. I can appreciate how dramatic it was, but emotionally I didn’t fully connect with why events had to unfold the way they did.