Fate Visual Novels

Fate Visual Novels

Fate/stay night

Overview
Fate/stay night is a japanese visual novel developed and published by Type-Moon and the first work in the expansive Fate universe. The game was released for Windows PC on Jan. 30, 2004. The game had an adult rating and featured uncensored sexual scenes. An age-friendly version of the game that omitted the sexual scenes was later released on the PlayStation 2 under the name Fate/stay night Réalta Nua in 2007. In 2012, Réalta Nua was ported to the PlayStation Vita. The PS Vita version of the game included the true ending to the Fate route and new opening animations by Ufotable.

Plot
Fate/stay night takes place in Fuyuki City, Japan, during the Fifth Holy Grail War, a contest between mages known as Masters and Heroic Spirits known as Servants who work together to fight to be the last pair standing and claim the coveted Holy Grail, which is said to grant any wish. Shirou Emiya is a high school boy who lives on his own after the passing of his adoptive father, Kiritsugu Emiya. He is the sole survivor of a tragic explosion that killed many people in the city 10 years ago. Due to being a survivor, he has a strong will to help people and wants to become a protector of justice to fulfill a promise he made to Kiritsugu. One day after staying late at school, he witnesses a fight between two powerful warriors, one of whom tries to kill him. With help from his classmate Rin Tohsaka he lives but is pulled into the Holy Grail War when he accidentally summons Saber.

Routes
The story of Fate/stay night branches into three separate routes: “Fate,” “Unlimited Blade Works,” and “Heaven’s Feel,” each of which has its own main heroine and storyline.

・Fate
The first route focuses on Saber. The Heroic Spirit of King Arthur, Saber fights in the Fifth Holy Grail War as Shirou’s Servant. Over the course of the war she begins to bond with Shirou and realizes that she has feelings for him. However, she is set on her goal of obtaining the Grail and going back to her time to fulfill her obligations as king, which upsets Shirou who wants her to stay with him in the present. It is revealed that Saber fought in the Fourth Holy Grail war with Kiritsugu and that he ordered her to destroy the Grail, which caused the explosion that almost killed Shirou. In the end, Shirou and Saber decide to reject the Grail and they destroy it, sending Saber back to her time. In the Réalta Nua version of the game, a new ending is added to this route in which Shirou becomes a Heroic Spirit in order to meet Saber in Avalon.

・Unlimited Blade Works
The second route focuses on Rin Tohsaka as the main heroine and gives more backstory into her Servant, Archer. It is revealed that Archer is actually an adult version of Shirou from an alternate universe in which he becomes a Heroic Spirit. During the war, Rin and Shirou team up, and in the end the Holy Grail is destroyed by Archer and Saber. In the True Ending, Shirou and Rin become a couple and move to London to study magic.

・Heaven’s Feel
The third route focuses on Sakura Matou as the main heroine. In this route, Sakura is revealed to be Rin’s long-lost sister who was raised to be a magus by the Matou family. She is also revealed to be Rider’s true Master. She becomes infected with Angra Manyu and turns into Dark Sakura, and Shirou, having fallen in love with her, fights to try and free her. In the True Ending, the Grail is destroyed by Illya and Shirou’s soul is placed within a puppet body by Rin, who goes on to study magic in London while Shirou, Sakura, and Rider enjoy a peaceful life together.

Gameplay
The game plays out through dialogue between characters and text narration with little input from the player, save for dialogue choices that influence the plot and can lead to better endings. Players can lose the game if Shirou or one of the heroines dies.

Other Media
Fate/stay night would go on to launch the rest of the expansive Fate multimedia franchise which includes light novels, manga, anime, films, video games, and more.

Fate/hollow ataraxia

Overview
Fate/hollow ataraxia is a sequel to Fate/stay night and takes place six months afterward. It was released on Windows PC in Japan in 2005 and later on the PlayStation Vita in 2014.

Plot
The story of Fate/hollow ataraxia follows Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a member of the Mage’s Association, who wakes up as a Master on the fourth day of the Fifth Holy Grail War with no memories of his past and a new Servant, Avenger. Meanwhile, Shirou returns to his normal life, but after an experiment gone wrong by Rin that tears space and time he ends up in a time loop repeating the same four days. Together with Bazett and Avenger, he must uncover the truth behind the time loop and escape it.

Gameplay
Fate/hollow ataraxia plays differently than Fate/stay night in that it doesn’t follow a route-based system, and instead, players are free to choose which interactions to play through in whichever order they choose. Days are divided into morning, noon, and night, and different interactions are available depending on the time of day. Some interactions progress the main story while others expand on a character’s story. The game also includes several minigames that can be unlocked by progressing through the main story.

Other Media
The game has received a manga adaptation by Medori and Type-Moon that was published Kadokawa in 2013 as well as several manga anthologies including Fate/hollow ataraxia Anthology Comic, Fate/hollow ataraxia ~ Comic la carte, and Fate/hollow ataraxia Comic a la carte Happy Life hen.