The Fate series today is an incredible media monolith, but it owes much of its success to the visual novel that started it all, Fate/stay night. The unique setting, combined with the appeal of crossing over heroes from history and mythology, propelled its popularity. This eventually led to multiple anime series, video games, and novels.
Like many visual novels, Fate/stay night has multiple routes that lead to different stories and endings. Each route has a different heroine, as well as a different Servant around which the plot unravels. While all three routes provide intriguing and compelling stories, there is always discourse over which route is the best. Here's a look into each of them.
3 Fate
Fate is Fate/stay night's first playable route, and it must be completed before the player can go through the others. Fate focuses on exploring the general premise of the visual novel: Seven magi come to the city of Fuyuki in order to compete in the Holy Grail War. To do so, they summon Heroic Spirits, souls of legendary figures from history and mythology, to serve as their Servants in battle. When every other Servant is defeated, the remaining Master and Servant will achieve the Holy Grail and receive a wish.
Characters
Saber is the main heroine of this route as well as the Servant protagonist, alongside Shiro Emiya. Shiro Emiya, a normal high school student with a rudimentary knowledge in magic, accidentally summons Saber, unintentionally entering himself into the Holy Grail War.
As the two of them struggle against the other Masters and fight to survive the Holy Grail War, the two of them become closer and learn about each other's motivations and backstories. Though this route mainly focuses on Shiro and Saber, Rin Tohsaka and Ilyasviel von Einzbern also figure as major characters.
Importance To The Story
Fate is an important introduction to the visual novel. It explains the core setting and background of the story, and it fleshes out Shiro and Saber, two of the most important characters who play a role in each route. However, many of the other characters are not as developed in comparison, and some characters, like Archer and Caster, do not see much of the spotlight.
The route also lacks a lot of key information revealed in the other routes, making it seem a bit shallow when it comes to the story's lore. Nevertheless, Fate remains a serviceable story that is as enjoyable as the other routes. It also has the happiest ending in comparison to the other routes available to play.
2 Heaven's Feel
Heaven's Feel is the third playable route in the series, and it can only be played after beating the all other routes. Compared to the other two routes, Heaven's Feel is a much darker story that draws on elements from horror and suspense genres.
Characters
Sakura Mato serves as the heroine of this route, and as one of the only surviving Servants, Rider acts as the Servant protagonist. The story generally revolves around Sakura, a supporting character that had not played a role in the other routes, as well as her family. Her abusive brother Shinji Mato plays a large role, as well as her grandfather Zoken Mato, who only appears in this route.
When the Holy Grail War is derailed by a mysterious shadow that is powerful enough to defeat several Servants, the remaining participants find themselves forced to work together in order to stop it. Many of the Servants are defeated very early on, which means that the story mostly revolves around the remaining human characters, including Shiro, Rin, Sakura, Ilya, and Kirei.
Importance To The Story
Through its plot, Heaven's Feel explores a lot of the background, hidden details not covered in the first two routes. The origin of the Holy Grail War and the true nature of the Holy Grail are uncovered in this route, making it a great source of lore for fans.
However, while Heaven's Feel does explore the backgrounds and motivations of the surviving Masters and Servants, it does so while also getting rid of many of the other interesting characters that make Fate/stay night so compelling. Still, Heaven's Feel is a great story that makes good use of tense situations to fill its readers with suspense.
1 Unlimited Blade Works
Unlimited Blade Works is the second playable route in the game. It is an alternative retelling of the first route Fate, derived from a choice that Shirou must make near the beginning of the visual novel. This small change radically alters the events of the Holy Grail War, so the two stories still feel quite different even if they generally cover similar plotlines.
Characters
Rin Tohsaka acts as the heroine of this route, and her Servant Archer acts as the Servant protagonist. In general, Unlimited Blade Works as a route is more focused on character development, with underutilized Servants like Caster, Assassin, and Lancer all getting to take center stage. In fact, the Servants that the series is so known for generally take this spotlight in this route.
However, the main focus of the story is between Shiro and Archer, with their clashing ideals forming the main theme for the route. The two of them have a relationship that is antagonistic, yet in a way it is also like that of a master and student, as Shiro finds himself unintentionally learning from the skilled Servant. In a way, Unlimited Blade Works reveals more about Shiro than Fate does, and could be considered his personal route.
Importance To The Story
Unlimited Blade Works is the most combat-heavy of the three routes, with many intense battles happening throughout the story. It features Shiro at his absolute strongest, as he masters his magic in a way that he never achieves in the other routes. By the end of the story, he is able to use his powers to their fullest, even managing to use the power that gives this route its name: Unlimited Blade Works.
While the ending is not as satisfying as the other routes, the story itself is incredibly exciting and full of interesting plot points, making it the best route out of Fate/stay night's three options.