Alright what's all this then. You got a ps2 era shoddy action rpg with a emphasis on servicing the fans of the IP attached to it. This will likely be a 6/10 type game at best but I might still fuck with it

Month of on and off grinding goes bye and my expectations are somewhat satisfied. The playing the video game part is sub-par and so is the story. Both are somehow perfectly paced in a way that both can never gain any momentum to get you to pay attention.

The story is alot of repeating elements and beats from the stay night but since it gets interrupted every minute by having to fight a guy, I'm somehow more engaged but also less interested. It's a weird unhappy middle ground this game strikes and it never brings anything to the table to really sell itself on something good.

Except for the 2 main characters. They aren't particularly in-depth or interesting, but they have decent banter and are just the cutest little things. Saber in particular makes me want to pull on their cheeks till they come off.

You should really not get this unless you are invested in the IP or have weird psuedo niche tastes. I'll hit this again when the DLC is dirt cheap.

Omega Force continues their trend of successfully adapting the musou combat style to the quirks of other franchises, and Samurai Remnant is no exception.

Set in 1600s Edo, Japan, Samurai Remnant follows Miyamoto Iori as he is drawn into the Waxing Moon Ritual, an off-shoot of the series' Holy Grail war. Masters are selected and servants are summoned, and they must fight for the Waxing Moon to grant their wish. For being a musou game, the game actually is fairly text heavy (as is known for the series). Battles are smaller scale than you might expect too (usually no more than 30-40 at a time) as you hack, slash, and use magic as both Iori and a wide range of servants who have their own playable moments.

Overall, as a fan of Omega Force the combat is pretty fun. Iori has numerous different blade styles to choose from for different situations and a huge skill tree to improve them. He can also tag in his servant when the meter is full to temporarily play as them and dish out big damage. To compensate for the smaller enemy counts, some magical enemies have a 'shell gauge' that must be broken which prolongs fights to last more than ten seconds. It works well enough, and reinforces how strong certain foes are.

Instead of traipsing across large battlefields, the game consists of a huge number of districts across Edo. Visit shops/food stalls, complete little trials for the townspeople, and pet animals. Enemy encounters (outside of the plot) are clearly marked on the map, so the player really can go at their own pace and decide how much extra combat they want to engage in. There are also periodic 'Font Battles', which are tactical territory capture battles that take place across the map. Try to capture all the spirit fonts you can while routing enemies and going into mini-encounters. It's fun, if a little bit easy to outsmart the AI.

My main detractors however unfortunately come from the narrative. There are certain aspects I love (Iori's dynamic with his servant is certainly the highlight), but a lot of stuff just feels undercooked. There are a couple choices you can make during the game to change the outcome pretty significantly, but depending on which route you are on, some characters are inexplicably absent. This feels more like an excuse to add more replay value than there should be, but I guess I really just wish the character development (of characters who aren't the main pair) could be on the same level as Stay Night or even Extra.

Still, if you are into the Fate series or even just like musou games, this is a solid entry for both fans and newcomers alike. No prior knowledge of the franchise is needed to jump in, and if you DO like it, I highly recommend checking out the aforementioned Fate games. This is as good a place as any to start.

Fate has always topped my list of favorite anime series, drawing me in with its clever mix of historical figures and rich, mythical backstories. So, you can imagine my excitement for a standalone game set in Edo Japan—a period brimming with intrigue and drama. Unfortunately, "Fate/Samurai Remnant" didn't quite hit the mark for me narratively.

The game trips up most notably with its protagonist, Iori. While he’s meant to be a central figure, Iori feels bland and static, especially when you compare him to Saber, who completely steals the spotlight. Saber’s evolution is the real draw here—she’s not only charismatic but shows significant growth, making every one of her scenes a treat. Iori, on the other hand, only starts to shine way too late—it’s like he finally shows up just as the party’s winding down, making it more awkward than impressive. While the masters each have fascinating backgrounds that could offer a deeper dive into Edo’s various societal roles—whether they’re a fierce warrior or a crafty tactician—this potential is largely unexplored. We only really get a good look at one master, leaving me craving that broader narrative exploration both historical and character depth wise. And while the servants do get some side stories, I wish the game would delve deeper into their individual tales and their interactions with the historical landscape of Edo Japan.

What makes the game occasionally sparkle is its master-servant dynamics, which echo the engaging essence of the Fate series. However, the overall narrative feels inconsistent, with many subplots that seem more like filler than compelling content. The game sets up some promising story threads that are either left unresolved or superficially tied off, leaving you with more questions than answers. There are moments where it delivers the complex character dynamics and historical depth we expect from Fate. Yet, these moments are sporadic and often drowned out by the overarching issues of shallow storytelling and uneven character development, particularly noticeable in the early to mid-game sections.

I think the game shows us a glimpse of what could be, a glimpse of brilliance, but it falls short of maintaining a gripping narrative or developing its characters evenly across the board. It’s like getting a beautifully wrapped gift that isn’t quite what you hoped for inside.

I swear, I'll definitely return to this asap. But it's already objectively the best Fate game. I know the competition isn't much a challenge since all we have are:

- a hated gacha
- two atypical (rock-scissors-paper) RPGs
- two serviceable musou
- the VNs I guess

This was initially on my backlog as "hell yea more Fate trash" because I can't help but be soothed by it. But then I stepped it up earlier in the backlog because people were saying it has a surprisingly good story!

And I agree, I think that for the kind of game it is, the story is really competently done. It's just done in the same way Fate/Apocrypha is -- and of course, the two share a scenario writer -- where the mechanics of the narrative framework are explored in a really interesting way, but the emotional beats are hit just for the sake of hitting emotional beats. Fate has a bit of a late Star Wars problem where as we actually define the mechanics -- "Saint Graphs" and "Spirit Origins" and so forth -- our characters themselves become aware of these concepts, and define themselves more mechanically. None of these words were in the Bible (i.e. Fate/stay night). At the time, they were handwaved concepts and gradually were made law based on the needs of the narrative for the emotional impact.

And like Fate/Apocrypha it sacrifices the emotional climax in favour of a more action-oriented approach. It is indeed quite Cool to watch, and our choice of Servants in this story are also well-picked. So why did I not really get all that into them as people? It kind of had a "damn...that sucks" feel whereas every moment in Fate/stay night ripped right through me. The setup for what these people were feeling was done in excruciating detail. We don't really have room for that in action games nor in 24-episode action anime.

All that said, the game starts out so strong. I think I spent the first 14 hours of this game in two long, long sessions of play. It's just that the loop is not deep enough to carry through the back half. There's mechanics, but they function more as ways of breaking up what is effectively button mashing. As you learn the later stances, you get a lot more from just hitting the X button than you do anything else. It's just walk in a room, see some spawns, hit X, go home. The bosses have some interesting opportunities for Ripostes, and one or two boss fights had me hitting reset and going in for another round (I tried facing Rogue Berserker kinda early).

Omega Force is in a great stride at exactly this: button masher tie-ins to narratively-strong IPs that deliver a great additional narrative within a real basic game loop.

But really I don't know what I'm complaining about. I had a great time! I think I just started out like "holy shit" and I felt sad that I was getting tired of it by the end. I didn't even want to NG+ to do the other story routes.