Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works: A Spoiler Free Review
Continuing into the other route of Fate/Stay Night, I found myself at Unlimited Blade Works. Compared to Fate/Stay Night, this route is much more in line with Fate/Zero in how it executes plot points. What this means is that this route was a significant improvement over the original.
Unlimited Blade Works follows the early parts of Fate/Stay Night so it may feel like a case of deja vu at first, but quickly, this route solidifies after a key choice that changes the entire outcome of the story. Compared to Fate/Stay Night, this story is handled much better.
After a silly start, Unlimited Blade Works rears its ugly head with much more mature themes and a deadlier battle royale game than before. And don’t think that the rules created from the offset of this deadly match-up can remain static. This hunt for the grail involves the same servants brought fourth in Fate/Stay Night, but this time the focus is much more on Archer and his master, the queen of Tsunderes herself, Rin Tohsaka. Thanks to protagonist Shiro not suffering from severe Chronic Hero Syndrome, the plot is able to evolve at a much more healthy rate.
Of course the hate sink known as Shinji rears his ugly head and his role is still vital to the story of Unlimited Blade Works, but for those who put up with his antics, one will find some hints that I assume will become more relevant whenever Heavens Feel, the third route of Fate/Stay Night is available. Fan favorite Sakura has a lessor role this time around, despite being one of the only reasons that Fate/Stay Night was not completely terrible (in my opinion of course) Saber returns as herself, and this time is not held back by an idiot master.
My only complaint with this route of Fate/Stay Night is how the ending is handled. A stellar story that seems to have no stop to the adrenaline suddenly makes a sudden brake at the end and stops abruptly. But do not let this one issue stop you from enjoying this route of Fate/Stay Night. And remember, never listen to mongrels.
