Review: Fate/Samurai Remnant Escapes The Fate Of Mediocrity

Fate/Samurai Remnant breaks the streak of underwhelming Fate titles and is one of the best games the series has seen in a while.

A Samurai’s Journey

Fate/Samurai Remnant takes place in the Keian era of Japan, where we’re introduced to our new protagonist, Miyamoto Iori, the disciple of the legendary samurai, Miyamoto Musashi. Iori gets caught up in a conflict known as the Waxing Moon ritual, which Fate fans will know as the Holy Grail War, that will grant a wish to the victor. There are a total of seven masters and servants taking part in the ritual, with each of them having an objective that requires said wish to grant. Iori, being one of the masters, then embarks on a journey with his servant, Saber, to defeat the other masters and fulfil his wish of protecting the world.

Initially, Iori is clueless as to what’s going on, but more details are revealed as the story progresses. New players will unfold the mysteries alongside Iori as the journey goes on, but veteran fans of the Fate series may be able to deduce some of the mysteries with their existing knowledge of the Fate series, such as the identities of the servants, which includes Saber. Nevertheless, players both new and old will sure to find certain aspects of the story to be surprising.

The rest of the plot is standard Fate fare, being a battle royal between servants with a focus on the relationship between Iori and Saber, but veteran fans will be surprised to see the amount of new content that was added to make the story fresh and engaging.

Instead of watching cutscenes, the game instead gives us a “Digression” mode, which allows players to experience the backstories of other masters and their servants through their respective perspectives, letting the player to control and battle with them in these sequences, offering more immersion by giving us the opportunity to step into the shoes of these characters.

Completing the story doesn’t spell the end for the game too, as there is more content available through New Game+, which provides up to three other endings that are based on the choices you’ve made throughout the story, giving many reasons for players to come back to the game thanks to its replayability.

Due to the complexity of the lore, the Fate series can be intimidating to those who have no knowledge of the series, as the lack of context may discourage players from picking up the games. However, Fate/Samurai Remnant doesn’t have that issue, as the original story detached from the other rest of the series, being set in a new era and serving as a fresh slate that allows fans both new and old to enjoy the story.

It was also nice to see Fate experimenting with a new setting for the story, taking place in an era where we have yet to see Fate explore.

A Strategic Hack And Slash

Being developed by Omega Force, the gameplay does incorporate some elements from other Musou titles, along with some elements from hack and slash games. Despite this, it will be difficult for you to get away with just button mashing, as the game requires the player to formulate an attack strategy, and examine the enemy’s attack patterns, dodge, block, among other things to do damage to the enemies, as going into combat without a plan would result in insignificant damage dealt to the enemy.

Iori has several sword stances that he can unlock and change at will, with each providing a different playstyle. He has two stances to begin with, Earth and Water, with Water allowing Iori to attack more enemies and have a wider range, while Earth is more defensive, making it easy to launch a counterattack. While changing stances, Iori will receive a temporary buff, which encourages diversity in gameplay instead of sticking to one style.

There is also a gauge named the “Valor Gauge” which allows Iori to launch an attack called “Valor Strike”, which is essentially an ultimate attack. The gauge a while to fill up, its not worth using against smaller enemies.

Aside from swordplay, Iori will also be able to use magecraft, which allows him to use spells that consume magic gems. Similarly to the Valor Gauge, it is quite difficult to obtain these gems, so players would have to plan ahead when using them, such as saving them for bosses.

I found the combat to be smooth and full of depth, with the animations being crisp and seamless, even when switching sword stances. The different sword stances and the gauges that have to be managed make the combat more than just mindlessly running into a horde of the enemies and expecting a good outcome like others in the genre, requiring some amount of strategy and planning, making it feel much more rewarding when you clear a mission.

Iori will also be accompanied by Saber and other servants who will also provide assistance. By using Link Strike, you can command Saber to attack. You can also attack together using the system. Occasionally, Saber will be the one calling you to perform a joint attack, which was a nice touch.

Moreover, you can also play as the servants. When your link gauge is full, the player would be able to control their servants for a short period of time, with each servant having their own playstyle, giving much more depth to the combat as you can come up with some interesting attack combinations.

When fighting opposing servants or larger enemies, they will have a shield that can be destroyed using Magic Gems, Stance Attacks, or attacks by Servants. Breaking the shields aren’t a big deal, but takes a while to do, which can get tiring at times.

Combat was never boring with the flashy, fast paced combat, and the variety in attacks, making it really satisfying cutting through hordes of enemies. The combat may get repetitive at times, but can easily worked remedied by switching up stances or skills to employ a different play-style.

Sharpening Your Skills

Taking ages to kill an enemy might get frustrating. Thankfully, there are several methods that can help increase your combat prowess to cut down enemies even faster, with the most prominent one being the Skill Tree. Iori can add skills to his arsenal by using Skill Points to open nodes on the Skill Tree. These points can be obtained through exploration, side quests, and more.

Some players might think that side quests are a chore to do, but this system makes exploration and side quests worth doing, as it incentivises players to further progress in the Skill Tree.

Each servant also has their own own Skill Tree, which are also important for you to open, as some of Iori’s skills are directly tied to the servant’s Skill Tree. Fortunately, they’re not complicated to open, only requiring you to defeat a certain amount of enemies or use Skill Points.

Don’t expect your blade to be perfect after cutting down thousands of enemies, so your sword has to be maintained. Maintenance can be done by playing a mini-game that requires you to time your taps by stopping the circles at the right time. By maintaining your blade, you can get bonus on your EXP. Maintenance serves as a relaxing pastime while you rest from your duties as a swordsman.

The methods used to increase the strength of your characters never felt like a hassle, as the game incorporates some mechanics that making upgrading feel fun and rewarding.

A Brand New World

The world of Fate/Samurai Remnant is a joy to explore, being beautiful, and packed with stuff to do. I enjoyed exploring the cities the most, where I could interact with other NPCs, collect items, and stopping by the shops to buy items. Plus, you can also pet the animals that you meet along the way, which is the best part.

I found it hard to stick to the main objectives at times, as there are distractions throughout your journey that will make you take a detour, such as when Saber finds something interesting, dragging you along with her, or running into a group of thugs or monsters, where you have to cut them down to proceed. These distractions could feel troublesome at times, but is necessary to stop us from rushing past the story.

Adding to the gameplay are the Leylines that are spread throughout the Spiritual Lands Map. Leylines are a turn-based mini-game where you have to connect and take over a mode called Spirit Font. During this mode, colliding with an enemy will trigger a battle. You can obtain a boost to you stats when you finish a Leyline session. Leylines add much needed variety to the exploration, making it more than just wandering aimlessly.

Throughout my journey in this world, whether it be a nice stroll in the city or though combat, the background music would always change to suit the atmosphere. There will even be different themes for different enemies, making every battle feel special. The music helped add another layer of immersion to the game,  and never got stale thanks to the vast variety in different tracks.

Despite being a hack and slash game, the world of Fate/Samurai exceeded our expectations, with much so much depth and variety of side quests to do, making the exploration aspect of the game surprisingly good.

Verdict

Fate/Samurai Remnant is being packed to the brim with content, flashy combat, a charming art style, and fun exploration, and is a great entry into the Fate series.

A good story is what most fans look for when starting a Fate game, and Fate/Samurai Remnant doesn’t disappoint. With fresh concepts that shift away from traditional Fate tropes, the game has a better narrative than most of the recent instalments, with some content that would even surprise veteran players.

Being an interesting collaboration between Type-Moon and Omega Force, the game could potentially drive away players who are looking for a more traditional Fate combat experience, but the combat is not bad by any means and ultimately falls secondary to the story anyway.

I would recommend Fate/Samurai Remnant to fans of the Fate series, or even to those who are just looking for a new action RPG to enjoy.

Game reviewed on PC (Steam). Review code provided by Koei Tecmo.

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