Was Fate/Samurai Remnant Worth It?

Take up your sword and servant in this TYPE-MOON side story. Was Fate/Samurai Remnant Worth It?

Background

The Fate series has been trucking along for decades, with a variety of tie-in and spinoff content. The latest of these, Fate/Samurai Remnant, takes place in Edo-era Japan. You might think that a story set a few hundred years ago would be hard for this franchise, but it actually works well because Saber in any time period is a bumpkin. This is a lesser version of the Holy Grail War in other Fate narratives, but it follows many of the same story beats.

What does Fate/Samurai Remnant do well?

Without a doubt, this game nails the TYPE-MOON formula. The series tropes are all here, even if the faces are a bit different. You have similar story beats, and while you know going into it that there will be some curveballs, the game is cunning enough to hide its hand. There is some legitimate foreshadowing though, so savvy viewers can put the puzzle together pretty quickly.

Iori is a solid protagonist with a strong sense of self, as opposed to being an “I wanna be the guy too” character like Emiya or a blank slate. The protagonist Saber is on-brand, serving attitude as often as she serves up the carnage. Seeing their relationship develop felt organic, especially when Saber comes around to Iori’s way of thinking on topics. I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions between characters, with the stoic Iori often playing straight man to the other masters’ or servants’ antics. The story is also written maturely. Characters take realistic actions and have believable motivations.

Servants are fun to play as and definitely pack a serious punch. However, I wish I could have played as them more. The selection of servants is interesting and some of them greatly benefit from being able to interact as rogue servants. I won’t spoil it, but it was fun to see familiar faces from other Koei Tecmo titles in this game. Fate fans be pleased to see some excellent and refreshing representations of the other classes.

The combat is quick and punchy, though Iori is perpetually outnumbered and almost always outmatched. At least the game is polite enough to round up enemies when you use a skill so that it actually hits them, which is a nice way to keep from wasting limited resources.

Leyline battles are a fun, different way to play. They feel very much in line with the series. What appears to be a straightforward battle is rarely as it seems, with the possibility for situation to spiral out of control.

What could Fate/Samurai Remnant do better?

This is a nitpick, but I wasn’t impressed by the spellcasting. In terms of DPS, a few normal attacks are generally always better, and there’s even a sword style that weaves in AOE magic attacks. Magic runs on gems (ammo), which aren’t scarce, but I never felt that spells were good for anything except healing. It’s serviceable if you want to roleplay as Rin Tohsaka, but it’s not optimal.

Equipment

The equipment system is very basic. You’d never catch a mainline musou being this straightforward. You have four item slots that correlate to decorations on your sword, and each one increases a single stat, be it attack, defense, etc. Loot drops may come with additional skills, such as increasing the strength of normal attacks. Don’t bother using the skills that give HP restoration, as the amount healed is so low that it isn’t anywhere near worth it.

Realistically, you’ll dismantle most of your drops. I lucked into some strong equipment relatively early in late chapter 1/early chapter 2 which I proceeded to use for quite some time. Don’t necessarily be afraid to upgrade equipment either, especially if what you’re using is better than the drops you’re seeing.

Caveat about Player Power

This leads into a further issue with progression. It’s just hard to feel like you’re getting any stronger. The shell gauge that most big enemies have is thematic, but it takes a while to get through. Servant battles can feel especially tedious when they refresh their shell gauge multiple times.

I get that these enemies aren’t to be trifled with, but it feels like it takes just as long to get through some of these fights no matter where you are in the game. There are some sections in the narrative where it turns into a boss rush. The absolute horde of healing items I had accrued kept my HP topped off, but my attention span began to wane. I have to disclaimer though, and admit that it’s not all bad. These sections are long and can feel like a marathon, but they’re important peaks in the story. At one point after a series of boss battles, I realized that I was audibly exhaling after a particularly tense section. I have to give credit to the game for drawing me in.

Was Fate/Samurai Remnant fun?

This is an interesting game that does tend to drag at times. For the most part, I had a good time. I did a single run, and will probably revisit it once all the DLC is out.

Is Fate/Samurai Remnant good value?

If you’re a one-and-done person, then you won’t get the full experience. This game is meant to be replayed, not only to complete Iori’s skill tree, but also to get all the endings.

Who is this game for?

I was excited for this game as both a TYPE-MOON and a musou fan. I think the content might be a little esoteric for someone unfamiliar with the Holy Grail War concept, but it’s still a solid action game. While the Marvelous Fate games (Umbral Star and Extella Link) are just traditional musous, this is more in line with the direction that Koei Tecmo has been going in with titles like Persona 5 Strikers.

Was Fate/Samurai Remnant worth it?

This is a relatively substantial game with an easy 30-40 hours of gameplay. The extra endings and digressions (side chapters) encourage multiple runs. This game pays homage to the series

What about the DLC?

I would hold off on the $40 season pass for now. The equipment it provides isn’t game-breaking, and the extra episodes aren’t scheduled to be released until April, July, and September of 2024. Considering that this pass is 2/3 the price of the full game, I would recommend waiting to see if the extra episodes add anything good first.

Also, kiss the preorder DLC goodbye. I wasn’t able to get my DLC code from Amazon or Koei-Tecmo.

Looking for more?

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