Not a fan of musou titles but this one is fairly unique in that regard. Iori is far less powerful than the standard character in the genre, fighting smaller waves of enemies with less outright brokenness, causing things to feel more like an ARPG at times.

The stances and skill system give combat a nice sense of progression, though I did start to get bored of it by the end of my first run. Bosses were similarly engaging at the start, being very punishing and showing the difference in a normal human and a Servant, however by the end some of the encounters felt so long and dragged out (on hard at least) that I began to lose interest in those as well.

Unfortunately the game necessitates a NG+ run so despite not caring for the combat much at that point, I continued for the sake of the story, which is well worth experiencing. This game serves as a great entry point into the franchise for those afraid to read Stay Night, and a good entry in the series regardless. It has everything you'd want from a Fate title, though its pacing can be a little off at times. The cast is especially great, while some of the characters feel underutilized the main cast is plenty memorable and there are some excellently choreographed cutscenes along the way. The true NG+ ending is especially worth playing for.

Even if you're not a musou fan this is still worth a playthrough if you are a fan of the series or have been wanting to get into it.