It is the Edo period of Japan. Several decades have passed since the end of bloody war, and an age of peace has taken Japan into its grasp. Miyamoti Iori is a samurai tasked with ensuring that the laws are upheld but seems strangely out of place in this peaceful era. Now a war between Mage Masters and ancient heroic spirits known as servants has broken out, and Iori finds himself in the midst of a battle he never wanted.

Fate/Samurai Remnant is the next entry into the Fate/ series and takes the series in a new direction again. For those familiar with the Fate/ series, they’ll know this is incredibly commonplace. Each game in the series seems to explore a new style of gameplay to suit the narrative they are attempting to craft. Coming off the back of a Warriors style game in Fate/Extella, Fate/Samurai Remnant aims to take the good hack n’ slash aspects of the Warriors style and apply them in a far more action RPG environment with light Monster Hunter elements. A relatively unique take on the style leads to an action-packed and wildly enjoyable experience.

Fate/Samurai Remnant aims to define itself as a completely unique game within a somewhat overcrowded market of games that occur in the world of Ancient China and/or Shogunate era Japan. Looking to define itself against the likes of Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors, they’ve adopted a far more action RPG style of combat loop, rather than the traditional mowing down of thousands of irrelevant soldiers. In doing so, it takes the successful parts of the Warriors combat structure, with a special attack (in this case called a Valor strike), simple light into heavy combos, and light magic elements.

Risking losing itself by oversimplifying, Fate/Samurai Remnant uses an extra stance system to add a unique flair to each encounter. As well as the addition of a core Servant and an additional allied Servant, all with their own unique abilities. As well as the ability to sub out for the Servants and fight for a short time period as the vastly more powerful characters. Add in a ‘shell’ gauge, which acts as a protective shield for tougher monsters and bosses, that you need to play around strategically with openings, Fate/Samurai Remnant turns the idea of what can be done with a Warriors gameplay basis and creates a powerful new system akin to Action RPG titles like Final Fantasy XVI and Tales of Arise.

The Shell gauge itself will likely be the most divisive aspect of gameplay. Introduced in the tutorial boss, this mechanic will separate those who enjoy the combat from those that don’t. Up until the very late game, you will be unable to damage enemies with their shell up. Even moreso, you will be unable to land any hits on them whatsoever. The game encourages you to play slower and more strategic. Catching moments of opportunity where the enemy glows white. When this happens, you can strike and cause damage. You can also use your Servant abilities to temporarily stun the enemy, or when you unlock riposte, you can also riposte to stun. As you progress through the game, the shells will become both harder and easier to break. You’ll unlock more abilities and ways of breaking the shell, but in turn they’ll become much bulkier with fewer moments of opportunity. For some players it’ll be reminiscent of games like Toukiden, where you have to break down an opponent's shell before you can actually do any substantial damage. For those who endeavour to understand how to play around this mechanic, you’ll be heavily rewarded with learning how to almost completely mitigate the shell gauge and burn through it. For some, this may not be worth the upwards of 20-hour learning curve.

The combat is where Fate/Samurai Remnant shines, but it can only do so because of the tight world design and strong story that accompanies it. You play as Miyamoto Iori, a man who people often comment on being born in the wrong age. An age of peace being wrong, can only mean one thing. That this Samurai who is constantly insulted for being weak, is secretly hiding a beast beneath that is waiting to come out. Iori is a mild-mannered, strong-willed and straight forward-thinking man of upstanding morals. Somehow with being as much of a plain protagonist as he seems, there is incredible depth to the character and how he interacts with the world around him. Stuck in a Holy Grail style ritual, he begins to bond overtime with his Servant, Saber, as well as strike up alliances with other masters and servants through the ritual.

Whilst always bordering on the ridiculous, the story never blows away into complete anime territory. Fantasy is filled with the amazing, and beyond some wildly ridiculous powers by the ancient spirits, there is a certain level of humanity to the game. The world doesn’t simply ignore these bizarre happenings. People are commenting on the random fires, the emergence of monsters (and in turn, people attempting to keep people oblivious to the existence of monsters).For the history buffs, they’ll also get a kick out of trying to work out which each Heroic Spirit/Servants’ background is. There is a touch of love and worldly understanding with each one, and a reflection of the mythos surrounding those ancient heroes. Miyamoto Iori himself being a real-life figure in Japanese history, being the adopted son of legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Blending history and fantasy leads to a strong story with enough twists and turns to keep it fresh, without being offensive to the legacies of these heroes.

The interesting decision to make the entirety of the game happen within the city of Edo. Every area is reflective of a small part of the city, be it shrines, streets, or ports. Even a brothel district is included and has a massive impact on the gameplay as a whole. Running the risk of feeling samey, there is enough variety in walking through the areas, doing the different local tasks and the selection of enemies that appear to make it feel relatively fresh and consistent. Lacking dramatic battlefields, Fate/Samurai Remnant opts to keep the idea of a place to protect at the forefront. Iori doesn’t want Edo ruined. He wants peace for everyone and must work to keep this world we are exploring safe. His world. This doesn’t mean that you don’t end up fighting giant snake gods and destroying whole areas of the world. Which remains destroyed. The game reflects the progress of the conflict constantly, and if you don’t complete all tasks, you might lose access to that area.

Which leads to my major gripe with the side content. In particular, the Digressions which serve as side missions. Whilst they are weaved into the overall story well, and there are major benefits for completing them. 90% of them are progress-gated, but not in the traditional way. You’ll unlock more digressions as the main story progresses. But progressing too much will completely lock you out of them. The game warns you that progressing the story will cause some digressions to become unavailable. But 99% of the time, you’ll progress the story, unlock digressions and if you don’t do them immediately, they’ll be locked out. I understand the need for keeping the world feeling tight, concise and progressing. But the digressions become more of a ‘Sub mission’ than a side one. Something you HAVE to do, rather than something you can choose to do. There is no problem in creating flashbacks, and interestingly some digressions are actually that. It would be beneficial not to have so much of the important content locked out behind wanting to focus on the story. Being punished for playing the main story is a strange way to go about things.

Fate/Samurai Remnant is an incredibly unique direction for the Fate series to take, and one that benefits highly as a result. A tight if somewhat straight forward combat system is enhanced by adding elements to create a need for skillful control of it. Strong characters, a careful care to not overstep into ridiculous territory, whilst remaining faithful to the history of the characters. Easily the best entry into the series, it shows a way of doing a slightly less traditional Warriors/Action RPG cross-over in a way that is enjoyable, tasteful and doesn’t overstep its bounds. An incredibly solid thirty-hour experience.