Fate/Samurai Remnant
Developer(s)	Omega Force[lower-alpha 1] Kou Shibusawa
Publisher(s)	Koei Tecmo
Director(s)	Ryota Matsuhida
Producer(s)	Tomohiko Sho
Artist(s)	Rei Wataru
Writer(s)	Hikaru Sakurai Yūichirō Higashide
Composer(s)	Keita Haga Daisuke Shinoda
Series	Fate/stay night
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows
Release	September 28, 2023
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Fate/Samurai Remnant^{[lower-alpha 2]} is a 2023 action role-playing video game co-developed by Omega Force and Kou Shibusawa in cooperation with Aniplex and Type-Moon, and published by Koei Tecmo.^[1] It is an entry in the Fate series, and was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows.^[2]

Gameplay

Fate/Samurai Remnant lets players play as Miyamoto Iori. The combat is hack and slash style with some similarities to musou gameplay, but it falls under the Action RPG genre with dodging and looking for openings as an important element.^[3] It features a wide array of stances, which the player character can switch between on the fly. Iori uses dual katanas, a widespread weapon for Samurai during the Edo period. Players can give commands to their servant, launching special attacks and combos. In certain situations, the game allows for full control of Iori's servant, as his weapons can't be used against other servants.

The game is open-world and allows for exploration of recreated districts of Edo, such as Yoshiwara, Kanda and Akasaka.^[2]

Plot

Taking place in 1651, in Keian era Japan, a Holy Grail War wages during the Keian Uprising. A long time has passed since the end of the turbulent, blood-soaked Sengoku Period, and Edo has settled into peace. But a secret battle arises, fought by masters and the heroic spirits or "servants" they summon, which include historical and legendary figures such as Miyamoto Musashi and Jeanne d'Arc. Miyamoto Iori, a young man from Asakusa, finds himself tangled in the war to secure the "Waxing Moon Vessel", a wish-granting object.^[2]

Characters

Miyamoto Iori (宮本 伊織, Miyamoto Iori)

Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi

Saber's Master. Iori is the adopted son and disciple of Miyamoto Musashi. He is a ronin living in Asakusa, Edo, who studied the Niten Ichiryu style of swordsmanship, but Musashi passed away before he could teach him the secrets of the art. Still seeking to master the Way of the sword, he spends his days training while making ends meet.

Saber (セイバー, Seibā) - Yamato Takeru (ヤマトタケル, Yamato Takeru)

Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura

Yamato Takeru, the legendary hero, tragic prince, and conqueror of many lands throughout ancient Japan. Outcast by her family, friendless, and bereft of her lover, Takeru slaughtered people, kings, and even gods as she continued along her path. After her long journey of conquest, her loneliness growing with each battle, Yamato Takeru's spirit became a white swan, soaring through the heavens.

As a Heroic Spirit, Yamato Takeru was granted the protection of water, and controls watery torrents. She also wields the Noble Phantasm, Sword of Heaven: Amenomurakumo-no-Tsurugi, an aspect of the divine sword that emerged from a great serpent's tail. After fighting in a multitute of battles, she became determined to destroy the Waxing Moon.

Zheng Chenggong (鄭成功, Tei Seikō)

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno

Archer's Master. He is a general, also known as Koxinga (国姓爺, Kokuseiya), who is highly respected by the Longwu Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. He is the son of a Ming merchant and a Japanese mother.

Both a military commander and a Magus. Courtesy name Mingyan, art name Damu, he was a child of mixed blood born to the Chinese Zheng Zhilong and Japanese Tagawa Matsu. Because his family helped raise Zhu Yujian, the Prince of Tang, to the throne of Emperor of Southern Ming, he was given the imperial surname "Zhu" and thereafter referred to as Koxinga, meaning "Lord of the Imperial Surname."

Archer (アーチャー, Āchā) - Zhou Yu (周瑜, Shū Yu)

Voiced by: Kensho Ono

A general from China's Eastern Han dynasty. The Servant Zhou Yu is a mix of both the historical person and the fictional version from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, though his mind is based more on the historical one. As such, he feels like his Servant abilities associated with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms are a bit overpowered and given to him for no reason, though he doesn't reject them.

Chiemon (地右衛門, Chiemon)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto

Lancer's Master. Chiemon is a survivor of the Shimabara Rebellion led by Amakusa Shirou Tokisada. If the Edo period can be defined as a time of peace after the Warring States period, Chiemon is someone discarded by that era.

While he is a survivor of Shimabara, Chiemon was in fact not a soldier in the rebellion. He was far too young to fight, being only a young child at the time. He saw his mother be captured by soldiers while his father was viciously struck down trying to protect him. Afterward he was taught Magecraft by Mori Souiken.

Lancer (ランサー, Ransā) - Jeanne d'Arc (ジャンヌ・ダルク, Jan'nu Daruku)

Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto

The original Jeanne d'Arc has no "alternative side" to her. When summoned in Edo, it was not some sort of mysterious power that drew out a new side of her, but rather the hatred residing in the heart of her summoner that stained Jeanne d'Arc's mind. Because of this mental defilement, and the forceful way in which she was summoned, her abilities were severely weakened. That, however, was precisely why a second-rate Master like Chiemon was able to bind her and make her follow his orders.

Yui Shousetsu (由井正雪, Yui Shōsetsu)

Voiced by: Mutsumi Tamura

Rider's Master. Yui Shousetsu is a fierce, young warrior with tied-back hair. Because Iori had become a Master, Shousetsu thought it best to eliminate him at once, but instead departed with Rider upon judging that Iori's life was not worth taking because he knew nothing of the Waxing Moon Ritual.

Shousetsu is actually a homunculus, a man-made being of inborn innocence created as a result of Mori Souiken's forays into Western magecraft. Unable to accept the iniquitous nature of the world of man, she chose to join the Ritual in order to right those wrongs.

Rider (ライダー, Raidā) - Ushi Gozen (丑御前, Ushi Gozen)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu

Though initially tricking her master into believing her to be Minamoto-no-Raikou, her True Name, which she kept hidden even from Shousetsu, was Ushi Gozen - the terror of the Heian period who was said to have been killed by Minamoto-no-Raikou. Minamoto-no-Raikou was a demon child born in the city of Heian. Her demonic aspect has detached and become an independent entity named Ushi Gozen, child of Gozu-Tenno. Wishing to fulfill Shousetsu's desire to set this crooked world aright, Ushi Gozen summoned the divine messenger in Asakusa. Letting her wild instincts rise to the surface, she began to rampage across Edo in the name of righting the world.

Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro (土御門泰広)

Voiced by: Satoshi Mikami

He is the current head of the Tsuchimikado house and an onmyouji descended from Abe-no-Seimei. According to Yui Shousetsu, he organized the Waxing Moon Ritual and presides over it as an observer, but secretly was also a participant in it, holding Command Spells as Caster's Master. Referring to the Waxing Moon as the "omnipotent wish granter," he curried favor with the Shogun's council of elders to earn their endorsement of his using the whole of Edo as the stage of the Ritual. The particulars of what this entailed, however, are unknown.

Caster (キャスター, Kyasutā) - Hieda-no-Are (稗田阿礼)

Voiced by: Anri Katsu

Hieda-no-Are was said to have helped compile the ancient Japanese record called the Kojiki. Due to his extraordinary memory, he was tasked by O-no-Yasumaro to memorize various literary texts. He is, however, a figure largely shrouded in mystery. It is not known for certain whether he was a man or woman, or even if he really existed at all.

Seen at Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro's side. Speaking sarcastically to Tsuchimikado, he showed no signs of obeying him, treating him instead as nothing more than a simple collaborator. It seems his abilities are somehow related to the creation of the Waxing Moon Ritual.

Dorothea Coyett (ドロテア・コイエット, Dorotea Koietto)

Voiced by: Aya Hirano

Assassin's Master. A young woman from another country who came to Japan aboard a galleon. She is the first daughter of a Swedish nobleman, Fredrick Coyett, and is a Magus who belongs to the Clock Tower.

While she is set to inherit the magical affairs of her family, her brother is supposed to inherit the business front.

Assassin (アサシン, Asashin) - Kouga Saburo (甲賀三郎, Kōga Saburō)

Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa

A man cursed by the god Ibuki. A descendant of the Kouga clan, he was a mysterious man possessed of several strange abilities. He once traveled to the underworld beneath Mt. Ibuki and returned as a demon.

Takao Dayu (高尾太夫, Takao Dayū)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu

Berserker's Master. A courtesan at Miura-ya, a brothel in Yoshiwara. She is said to be one of the most beautiful women in Edo and attracts many men including feudal lords. "Dayu" is the highest rank of courtesan, and she is one of the three most popular Dayu.

Learning of the Waxing Moon Ritual, Dayu concluded that she could use the wish to help the people of the Edo slums. With this in mind, she approached Tsuchimikado Yasuhiro and requested to be allowed to participate despite having no magical ability. Yasuhiro agreed to her request, making it conditional to her acting as his subordinate, and grants her Command Spells.

Berserker (バーサーカー, Bāsākā) - Miyamoto Musashi (宮本武蔵)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura

A Berserker-class Servant who works with her Master, Takao Dayu, from their base of Yoshiwara.

Her True Name is Miyamoto Musashi, which is a shortened form of Shinmen Musashi-no-Kami Fujiwara-no-Harunobu (新免武蔵守藤原玄信). She is Miyamoto Iori's teacher and the founder of the Niten Ichiryu style. As opposed to the male Musashi that Iori knew, however, this Musashi comes from a world where she was born as a woman. Her sharp swordsmanship and wild nature, though, are just as Iori remembers.

Development

On December 31, 2022 Type-Moon & Aniplex announced during a special television broadcast on BS11 that a new role-playing video game entry in the Fate/stay night series was in development at Koei Tecmo.^[1] Gameplay of the game was leaked a day ahead of its formal showcase at a Nintendo Direct on June 21, 2023. Shortly after it was announced that Omega Force would be leading development alongside Aniplex and Type-Moon. The creator of Fate/stay night, Kinoko Nasu, would be aiding as supervisor, with veteran Fate series writers Hiraku Sakurai, known for Fate/Extra and Yuichiro Higashida, known for Fate/Apocrypha, writing the game. Music would be composed by Keita Haga, known for his work on Tsukihime and Melty Blood, as well as Daisuke Shinoda, known for Wild Hearts.^[2] The opening animation sequence is produced by CloverWorks.^[4]

In an interview with 4gamer, the director of the game, Ryota Matsushita, mentioned that the development of Fate/Samurai Remnant started at Omega Force in 2018, and that the idea was spurred due to Koei Tecmo CEO Yōichi Erikawa being a fan of Fate/Grand Order.^[5]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website