Unlimited Blade Works~
Oh, I admit it, I was waiting with bated breath for Mirror Moon’s Unlimited Blade Works patch. The irony is that the day it came out I had to return to work so I wasn’t able to play it right away, go figure.
LOL DRAMA aside, leaked beta vs final version, they did a good job. Takajun and all the rest of the Mirror Moon staff have my utmost respect and admiration. they really went all out on this one and you can tell. I’m only the slightest bit miffed that they didn’t include a walkthrough and instead gave a flowchart, but really, who cares? it’s not that big a deal. The official patch is seriously badass and the added voices are a big plus. Plus, if you die, you get a taiga dojo, and that’s almost worth it. No downloadables, but I have a very upset Rin.
Oh Nestor, you beast~
If the Fate arc was about Saber and the servants, then Unlimited Blade Works was about the humans involved; Shirou, Tohsaka, Shinji, etc. Definitely character development throughout the whole arc, though to me it got strained at points. Archer reveals himself to be the bastard I knew he was “You’re a total failure. How’s that working out for you?” and is awesomely GAR. Shirou, despite being a tool, actually starts getting better towards the end. Tohsaka is appropriately cute, too.
There’s one point where the arc diverges and Tohsaka asks Shirou a question that (i believe) ties strongly into the Heaven’s Feel arc, which is still untranslated. I’m eagerly awaiting that arc, mainly because it revolves around Sakura (she makes my heart go pitter-pat) and also because it’s supposed to be the longest arc in the game. Kind of hard to believe, but the longer arcs are more rewarding to me. They explain more about the (lol) Nasuverse.