izigame.me

I've wanted to write this review for a while now, but I wanted to wait until I got the platinum trophy (103 hours in) before doing so; now that I have it, here it is.
I'm not going to lie, I went into this with lower expectations; I was basically expecting this to be at about the quality level of Extella or Extella Link. Imagine my surprise when it still captures the musou spirit, but actually adds particularly compelling gameplay!
Just for context, my first clear was on hard mode, every clear afterward was on Sword Demon difficulty. Below are my ratings for the various aspects of the game.
Gameplay: 8.5/10
As mentioned earlier, this game falls under the musou category, but it distinguishes itself heavily from its cousins in the Extella family. Extella's gameplay almost entirely revolved around zone capture, and ultimately, every ability the characters had ultimately boiled down to just damaging everything in the vicinity, barring very few exceptions. In FSR, some things make a return such as Noble Phantasms (obviously), but the main difference comes in the form of stances. Each stance offers various benefits while also holding some level of demerit; water stance is extremely fast, mobile, and has a wide range, but the attacks aren't very powerful. Earth stance is comparatively slow and focuses extensively on single targeting, but it comes with a nifty shield that makes it particularly valuable for boss battles. Suffice to say, you will find yourself changing stances constantly to reap the unique benefits each provide. Besides these, the game also provides you with spells, which basically do what you'd expect between damage, buffs, and healing, and combat mechanics including link strikes and ripostes. All of these come into play; there's a ton of spells that are very useful throughout the game, link strikes are amazing for disrupting enemy charge attacks, and RIPOSTES. Oh man, on Sword Demon, you'd better learn the timing on them, but when you do, the game really starts to feel good to play. I personally believe ripostes are one of the most vital parts of the game, and they lead to some of the most exciting gameplay moments during boss fights. It is because ripostes work through dashing that I believe the gameplay captures the ideal of fighting servants better than in any other Fate game to date. I remember fighting Rogue Lancer for the first time, who likewise dashes around the stage looking for you to leave an opening; it really felt to me like what I imagine a duel between two servants would, almost like a dance around the arena where you and your opponent circle each other, trying to get pokes in while also dodging those of the foe. The only real complaint I would have to give here is the NONcombat gameplay. Most of it is honestly fine, it might include going to find some items and bring them somewhere, or talk to a particular person, nothing really crazy, but sometimes you get the Rumor missions. These suck lol. They require you to talk to specific NPCs, but the map doesn't show you which ones to talk to even though it does normally show you which NPCs have dialogue options (since many of them are just there to fill the world and cannot actually be interacted with). It's a slight pain that might leave you wondering where to go for 15-20 minutes, but this is a pretty minor complaint when the combat is as good as it is. There is no question; while the bar is admittedly pretty low, FSR has by FAR the best gameplay of any Fate game.
Graphics: 8/10
I personally found the graphics in the game to be pretty good. I don't think they match up to the highest tier graphics of games out there necessarily, but the world itself is pretty beautiful. I actually really enjoyed exploring all of the cities/temples because of just how pretty some of them are (looking at you, Shinagawa! GLORIOUS cherry blossom display). They remain pretty good through combat as well; enemy attacks are easily discernable and the hitboxes are exactly where you'd think they are (for the most part).
Story: 9/10
If you're playing FSR, there's like a 99% chance you're doing it specifically because you're a Fate fan. As a Fate fan, one should probably expect a LOT of reading, since that is a hallmark of the franchise, and FSR is no different in that regard. I would say that at least on the first clear, the game is 70% reading, 30% gameplay. I like reading, so this is not a problem for me, but I do understand that some people may feel differently. Regardless of that, the actual content of the story is excellent. FSR even steps above its visual novel and mobile game counterparts in one key regard; the game is almost fully voiced. Additionally, the game features an extremely colorful cast including some new servants that I urgently want in FGO, as well as some familiar faces and even fan favorites. I legitimately would like all of the new servants to migrate over, they were done extraordinarily well, and I found myself extremely interested in all of the newcomers. There are also some genuinely emotional moments in the game, such as the tragedy that happens near the end of Chapter III. Most importantly, Iori is a compelling main character. The Ray of Light ending is pretty on-point for what you'd expect on a first clear, but the Entreat the Darkness and Flames of Resentment endings both add a new dimension to Iori (a rather unexpected one, at that). It definitely tries to recreate the type of rivalry Shirou had with Kotomine in the original VN but with Iori and Chiemon, and admittedly I don't think it's quite at that same level of intrigue, but it's still quite good. Regardless, I think the story should overall be an easy sell for existing Fate fans, and whoever is playing FSR that isn't somehow in the rabbit hole already might like it too.
Music: 9/10
I'm pleased to say, FSR channels its best from FGO with an excellent soundtrack. The OST features a lot of new songs unique to the game, many of which are simply city BGMs, but they do a great job of capturing the tranquility in places like Torikoe Shrine, while also capturing the tension in story moments where all sorts of bad things are happening. Most importantly to me, however, the game also features remixed versions of tracks from other Fate properties, like Blood Wind from FGO and Cosmic Air from CCC, and they are absolutely amazing. My only point deduction here is that sometimes the city BGMs can be a little repetitive, since they do reuse themes between certain locations. Besides that, the OST is brilliant, I'm extremely happy I bought the collectors' edition for the soundtrack.
Performance: 9/10
I didn't really have many issues with things like slow down, bugs, or glitches, but I did find a couple. First, the game DOES chug under some circumstances; I found that the game slows down to a crawl sometimes, specifically in cities where there are a LOT of NPCs, such as the main street in Asakusa. The only major bug I found was in Edo Castle during the Flames of Resentment ending; there is an area where you can jump up to find a rare item (I think it was a Pale Moon but don't quote me on that). It wasn't a problem for me the first time around, however when I went into that ending for the second time to unlock Rogue Saber, immediately after pressing the button to jump up a level, Iori fell through the floor all the way down to the moat. I tried to wiggle out of it but unfortunately there was no way out without loading my save. Luckily, the autosave feature brought me to the room right before that, so it was really only about 5 minutes of trouble.
Overall: 8.7/10
The game is great, I think new and old fans alike will find plenty to enjoy. I hope if you read my inane ramblings and weren't immediately repulsed, you give the game a try.