Fate/stay night Game discussion (Warning: Spoilers)

[Blade_Lord]

As far as Hercules Berserker using Nine Lives; as long as he has mad enhancement he CANNOT use it because he dose not have the mental or hand eye coordination to pull off such a technique.

Too bad Zarxs-san, Illya didn't used ME on Heracles until the second fight against Saber in Fate Route. So he can use Nine Live unless ME is activated.

[Zarxs]

Originally Posted by Blade_Lord

Too bad Zarxs-san, Illya didn't used ME on Heracles until the second fight against Saber in Fate Route. So he can use Nine Live unless ME is activated.

"It can't be. You were just taking his reasoning away? You have not been using his berserker abilities all these times!?"

I interpret this as being quit obvious that Ilya had berserkers reasoning taken away the whole time but had not used the state boost before that fight. This is supported by Berserkers' all over stupidity throughout the Visual Novel before and during this fight. Also in Fate/Zero Berserkers' rank C mad enhancement, which only limited his ability to coherently speak, always limited his speech regardless of being mad enhanced or not; from what I have read so far. Also Fate berserker can not use his A+ bravery because of the fact he is mad. It is told right in the statues screen. I don’t know what you think but that wouldn’t make sense to me if he was not always mad.

[Kagerou]

Alright, finally picked up this game as it seems to be some odd sort of rite of passage for the OC thread on the Nanoha boards in that "YOU MUST PLAY FSN." Or something.

Anyway, I got it, installed it, and...
Oh god fuck you Type-Moon.

Let's get this out of the way: Before this, my knowledge of F/SN amounted to:
Saber = Badass; Archer = More Badass; and Shiro = Archer. Or something like that at any rate. I also heard it was a visual novel with ero scenes, which kinda turned me off cause I'm not really into that. Nontheless, here I am, talking about this game.

Also, Spoilers ahead. Duh.

The game seems to force you down the Fate route on your first go, so I just rolled with it, using the conveniently prepacked flow chart that comes with mirrormoon's EN patch for the game. I hit every +Saber point I could find, gleefully unaware that these actually mattered, only that as soon as I saw her in normal clothes I decided that Saber was the most adorable creature ever and thus sought everything I could that would lead to what I assumed would be a good end.

Of course because this is Japan, and Japan is fucking weird, things never work the way you expect them too. Thus whereas I was thinking that getting all these Saber Points would lead to a good end with flowers and sunshine, instead I was greeted with an ending that did the rough equivelant of ripping your heart out and putting it in a blender for five or six minutes. And that's just the ending; I'm not even talking about the sometimes touching and always saddening bits and pieces you get of how Shiro thinks about Saber and her history. If I were to guess, I'd say that someone on Type-Moon's writing team needs to take some anti-depressants before they go any further.

That's not to say that the game does not have a good storyline however. In fact, F/SN's storyline is quite possibly one of the best things I've seen all year, and given that its December, that tells you something. In a windstorm of the cliche JRPGs and the plotless First Person Shooters that have been coming out in recent memory, playing this four-year old game's - wait, actually let's back up.

My own personal gripe so far with this visual novel is just that; it's a bloody novel. The choices you get are few and far between and usually end up to who you get a point with when the game is being friendly, or playing a game of "guess the not bad ending" path when you're given a list of two to three options. If you're going to thrust choices into a game like this, at least give us a few more. Granted, there are two points in the game where your choice will send you wildly careening down an entirely different storyline, but it would be nice if at least the default Fate Route would give you more than two options a chapter.

At any rate, Fate/Stay Night's storyline is very well written although it suffers from being morbidly depressing, at least on the Fate Route. It's either a sign of good storytelling or pandering wangst that makes me want to cut my own hands off so I don't keep clicking and/or pushing keys to further the storyline, and now that I've finished the Fate Route, I'm hesitant to start over again and go down either the Heaven's Feel or Unlimited Blade Works Routes, because I'm afraid Saber will die again.

Perhaps I'm just biased but when I choose a particular character as my favorite I would prefer it if she survived to have a happy ending with the rest of the cast. Although it might add to the "True Ending" factor, I had enough of that with Gurren-Lagann and most other anime that have come out in the past decade, in which apparently the only way to have a real ending is if you kill off at least one or two beloved characters. And as I chose Saber as my favorite character early on - which is amazing for me as I usually head for the Tsundere-type characters - I had no idea what was in store for her until I realized that no, she wasn't coming back, and that her final words to Shiro at the end of the Fate route only struck home and made me want to fly to Japan and punch the script writer in the face. With a brick.

Speaking of favorites, in my rundown of characters I came to realize that, at least while playing the Fate Route, I do not see the appeal of certain characters. Tiger is positively boring as a character, and even her comic relief moments are overshadowed by Rin's Deadpan Snark ability, which always made me laugh. Most of the supporting cast is completely forgettable, and even those who get Main roles in the other routes are rather boring. I do not like Sakura although I do think she's cute, and realizing that Heaven's Feel is centered mostly around her makes me hesitant to play that route. Ilya, while also adorable, seems to serve no other function than being the story's MacGuffin to the point where if they didn't place the Grail in a loli-body no one would really care.

Saber's fate made me almost want to put this game down if not for the fact that there's an ending in UBW that allows her to live, and for that reason alone will I want to play it again. I do not like it when my favorite character dies, no matter what, and as much as I try to prevent me from going along with it and trying to prefer Rin over Saber, in this case, I find myself failing miserably. Because of this game I understood what made her so popular, and the fact that her fate was so tragic really makes it hit home when she turns to look at Shiro and say the one thing he always wanted her to say, before she's whisked away to die the death that she was supposed to. It's heartwrenching and sad and I got enough angst from watching End of Evangelion back in the day to ever want to see that much pop up in one show for an extended period of time.

But it's not a bad story, in fact it's quite good, and for that I'm grateful. Everything is set up properly although I kept expecting from Tsukihime to pop in just to say hi, and for the most part the artwork is beautiful and it's easy to see why someone would think this would make a great anime. Too bad its Adaptation Decay was atrocious from what I hear, and so I'll stick to the novel.

In fact, out of all of this, the one thing that seems to be out of place is something that actually is bothered to be explained; the ero-scenes. Granted, they are done in such a way that it doesn't feel like a hentai... in fact, that's the problem. Honestly, reading the scene with Shiro and Saber together in his room made me feel uncomfortable because I felt like I was watching something I really shouldn't be, like I was spying on their personal time together, especially because at this point I had finally put two and two together and had a good idea of what was going to happen. They are by no means tacked on but because of the way they are done I cannot read that scene. Perhaps its me.

On the other hand, the ero-scene before that was out of place simply for the fact that it appeared to be more fanservice than plot. That entire segment just seemed to put Rin entirely out-of-character for the situation, but perhaps I misread her and UBW will shed some light on that. As far as I am concerned however the entire scene was jarred by the fact you had an at-this-point Depraved Bisexual wanting to get in everyone's pants. For that matter, I simply gathered that Rin wanted to sleep with Saber more than Shiro wanted to at that point.

I probably wasn't wrong.

So in conclusion, I did enjoy this game and so I leave this review. Tomorrow begins the journey into Unlimited Blade Works, but this time I am going prepared. I have a hardhat, some napkins for tears, and a terrible grudge against anything involving the words "Saber" and "death" in some sort of related context.

After all, I still have my damn brick.

[aldw]

Kagerou, I know the feeling, the problem is that too often authors (particularly many Japanese ones) don't think that an ending is 'true' or 'real' unless something bad happens at some point to characters, even though IRL that's not really the case (more perception than objective condition). Saber's story was indeed angsty (although Rin's my favorite gal ), and I don't care for Sakura that much so her route was just aggravating slogging for me. UBW was the saving grace of F/SN for me, otherwise I'd have done a nuke carpet bombing on the studio instead.

[reaper_unique]

I just installed the fate stay night game but I get an error when I try to run the game. I found something about a patch but can't find a good torrent.

And I got the japanese language support but I still get these weird letters instead of the japanese karakters

[OceanBlue]

What kind of error? Does it just crash or is there an error message?
*Can't really help, but knows [hopes] that this kind of information helps.*

Also I'm curious about something. Applocale works with this game, right?

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by aldw

Kagerou, I know the feeling, the problem is that too often authors (particularly many Japanese ones) don't think that an ending is 'true' or 'real' unless something bad happens at some point to characters, even though IRL that's not really the case (more perception than objective condition).

Japanese authors?

I haven't seen a story intended for non-children with a completely positive, happy ending that isn't totally contrived, from anywhere in the world, in years.

[rastilin]

I just installed the fate stay night game but I get an error when I try to run the game. I found something about a patch but can't find a good torrent.

And I got the japanese language support but I still get these weird letters instead of the japanese karakters

You get a blue box with code inside it and a separate smaller error box?

That's because Fate/Stay Night doesn't support unicode. You need to find mirror moon's site, get the patch off it and execute the patch with the FSN disc in the drive. This will install a version that can run on your machine as well as replacing all the Japanese text with English. I'm sure there are plenty of places where this advice has been given before on this site alone.

[reaper_unique]

Originally Posted by rastilin

You get a blue box with code inside it and a separate smaller error box?

That's because Fate/Stay Night doesn't support unicode. You need to find mirror moon's site, get the patch off it and execute the patch with the FSN disc in the drive. This will install a version that can run on your machine as well as replacing all the Japanese text with English. I'm sure there are plenty of places where this advice has been given before on this site alone.

yep that's it thanks for the name of the site/patch

[aldw]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

Japanese authors?

I haven't seen a story intended for non-children with a completely positive, happy ending that isn't totally contrived, from anywhere in the world, in years.

I guess genre and a person's POV is important as to determining what constitute's a 'happy ending', after all what may be happy for one audience may not be the case for another. However, Type-Moon themselves have done both 'positive' and 'downer' endings in their stories as a matter of course. The thing to consider in any case is that being negative is not the only form of realism.

[stormy001_M1A2]

It is by death that characters become immortal since you can't take their presence for granted anymore. What is the point of Fate route if Saber did not go back and die as legendary warrior king who trying her/his best to save England?

Think of that.

Happy endings are for pussies. Be a man.

[aldw]

Originally Posted by stormy001_M1A2

It is by death that characters become immortal since you can't take their presence for granted anymore. What is the point of Fate route if Saber did not go back and die as legendary warrior king who trying her/his best to save England?

Think of that.

Happy endings are for pussies. Be a man.

It takes more of a man to get to a 'happy' ending than it does to end up with a bad one, earning a peaceful death instead of the martyr's route. History is full of people like that such as Wellington and von Moltke the Elder. The Klingon-type brainbug of immortality through death in a way seems too much of intellectual laziness in story writing.

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by aldw

It takes more of a man to get to a 'happy' ending than it does to end up with a bad one, earning a peaceful death instead of the martyr's route. History is full of people like that such as Wellington and von Moltke the Elder. The Klingon-type brainbug of immortality through death in a way seems too much of intellectual laziness in story writing.

Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb!

*cough*

So yeah, I agree. Earning one's happy ending and actually GETTING IT is far more manly than dying and failing in the process.

[dj898]

Originally Posted by stormy001_M1A2

It is by death that characters become immortal since you can't take their presence for granted anymore. What is the point of Fate route if Saber did not go back and die as legendary warrior king who trying her/his best to save England?

Think of that.

Happy endings are for pussies. Be a man.

I think there must be enough pussies that when they made PS2 version they included the last episode where after eternal waiting and eternal wondering Shirou finally gets to the Avalon where Saber has been waiting for him for eternity... or something like that...

I for one quite like that ending although it's not everyone's cup of tea apparently~

[Paladinoras]

Originally Posted by dj898

I think there must be enough pussies that when they made PS2 version they included the last episode where after eternal waiting and eternal wondering Shirou finally gets to the Avalon where Saber has been waiting for him for eternity... or something like that...

I for one quite like that ending although it's not everyone's cup of tea apparently~

I don't really like that. I like the part when they meet again. .. but not like that.

Just. . no.

If anything, they should meet properly... not when they die.

But screw it, I like Rin more. ..

[ShinMasaki]

Originally Posted by Paladinoras

But screw it, I like Rin more. ..

Seconded

Best ending in the game, in my opinion, is the Unlimited Blade Works True Ending...Brilliant Years.

Most mind wracking ending...Heavens Feel Normal Ending...Cherry Blossoms' Dream...I also felt the majority of the Heavens Feel path was so...inconsistent and thrown together compared to the other paths

Just finished the final path in the game and got all 5 endings...I'm missing 2 images and like 5-10 sound effects...I'm guessing they are in all those "Tiger Dojo" spots that I never went through.

[Paladinoras]

Originally Posted by ShinMasaki

Seconded

Best ending in the game, in my opinion, is the Unlimited Blade Works True Ending...Brilliant Years.

Most mind wracking ending...Heavens Feel Normal Ending...Cherry Blossoms' Dream...I also felt the majority of the Heavens Feel path was so...inconsistent and thrown together compared to the other paths

Just finished the final path in the game and got all 5 endings...I'm missing 2 images and like 5-10 sound effects...I'm guessing they are in all those "Tiger Dojo" spots that I never went through.

Heaven's Feel made my eyes bleed.

Basically, the story is:

1. Bone Sakura
2. Bone Sakura again
3. Kill everyone
4. Bone Sakura again .. .

[ShinMasaki]

Originally Posted by Paladinoras

Heaven's Feel made my eyes bleed.

Basically, the story is:

1. Bone Sakura
2. Bone Sakura again
3. Kill everyone
4. Bone Sakura again .. .

Spoiler for maybe a spoiler?:

I was surprised...nothing happened on Valentine's Day unlike the other routes...guess they figured Shirou had enough by then

I was thinking..."it's Valentines and nobody is around...oh except Ilya...poor girl..."

[Paladinoras]

Originally Posted by ShinMasaki

Spoiler for maybe a spoiler?:

I was surprised...nothing happened on Valentine's Day unlike the other routes...guess they figured Shirou had enough by then

I was thinking..."it's Valentines and nobody is around...oh except Ilya...poor girl..."

Lol, no loli now. ..

And Shirou will be depleted of sperm if he keeps on banging Sakura. .

[Tyabann]

Originally Posted by Paladinoras

Lol, no loli now. ..

And Shirou will be depleted of sperm if he keeps on banging Sakura. .

What? Men can't be "depleted of sperm". They produce more constantly.