Saber/Metrics

With Heaven’s Feel’s thesis now firmly stated, the route really kicks into gear, scattering the pieces across the board, clarifying the stakes, and showing what will be required for Shirou to achieve a victory now that he’s rejected his previous set of ideals. It’s cool, it’s messy, and—most importantly—Nasu finally does right by Illya and turns her into a fully-fledged character.

Content warning for: suicidal ideation

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Light And Darkness” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

We were skeptical about the hype, but on this episode of the podcast, we both have to admit that Heaven’s Feel is delivering on its promises. Day 9, specifically, is arguably the most important day in the entire visual novel, and we spend a whole lot of time talking about why.

Content warnings for: sexual abuse and suicidal ideation

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “A Demanding Heart” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

We’ve made it to the last route. The route where, hopefully, everything will come together. The route that F/SN fans have been hyping up for quite a while. Will it live up to the hype? Who knows, but the stuff we’ve seen so far gives us some reason to hope…and also a few reasons to be wary.

Content warning for references to and brief descriptions of physical and psychological abuse

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Diver - Diver 2” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

Content warning for brief mentions of sexual assault

Unlimited Blade Works has limped to the finish line. Did this route justify being completely separate from the Fate route? Is Shirou really going to avoid becoming Hero Emiya? And what’s up with Sunny Day being labeled the “Good” ending and Brilliant Years is the “True” ending? Our answers to these questions are…complicated.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Brilliant Years” from Fate/Stay Night Arrange Album [AVALON]

Hey, Illya finally gets a great scene with character development after what seems like forever! Granted, it involves her dying, but we’ll take what we can get. Also: Archer commits even more betrayal.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Lorelei” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

Today we bring you this very special episode of Saber/Metrics, recorded entirely within Sierra’s bedroom. Thankfully, the gods of timing smiled upon this face-to-face recording session, because this set of days featured some of our favorite writing in the game so far. Remember that absolutely abysmal date Shirou had with Saber back in the Fate route? Well this time Rin’s coming along, and it goes much better.

As mentioned at the end of the show, if you’ve have money to spare and enjoy the content we’re creating, please donate what you can toward my friend Melissa for her gender-affirming surgical needs. I’ve also saved the link as a pinned tweet on my Twitter profile.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Feelings That Won’t Disappear” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

On this episode, we discuss the mixed bag of events featured in Days 6 - 8. On the one hand, Caster is a pretty cool villain, Archer makes a great foil for Shirou, and Rin and Shirou’s conversation on the roof is one of the most genuinely sweet things in the entire VN so far. On the other hand, Nasu makes Shinji even worse than in the Fate route, seemingly just to give Shirou additional motivation.

CW for sexual assault

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Spirits Collide” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

With the Fate route now behind us, we can finally move onto what is perhaps the most well-known of the F/SN routes: Unlimited Blade Works. This is the first route that Sierra and I ever saw (and the only one we were familiar with from start to finish), and we’re excited to see if the new context of the Fate route will change our previous impressions of UBW. I’m getting a little ahead of myself though. On this episode, we cover days 3 - 5, which establishes how the split occurs and what the new status quo will be. We’re also relieved to find that UBW Shirou is so, so much better Fate Shirou…even if he is still a big dummy.

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Sonic Barrage” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

We’ve finally reached the end of the first route of the game, which means it’s finally time to talk about the big picture for a bit. We discuss whether or not the Fate route accomplished what it set out to do, how the ending made us feel, and what we hope to see in the future routes.

Content Warning: During a couple parts of the story summary, one character makes threats of sexual assault against another character.

We discuss the sex scene from 1:21:42 - 1:26:44

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “Sorrow” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST

We have arrived at the first sex scene of Fate/Stay Night. Is it as bad as we feared? Well…yes and no. It’s complicated. On this episode, we learn Saber’s identity, get kidnapped by Illya, fight Berserker, make a sacrifice, and get our final lesson from Rin.

We discuss the sex scene from 43:49 - 1:13:51

Opening music: “THIS ILLUSION ~Fate Version~” from Fate/Stay Night Original OST
Closing music: “The Legend Revived” from Fate/Stay Night [Realta Nua] OST