How To Get Into Fate Before You Pull For Saber In Honkai Star Rail

With last weekend's bombshell reveal of the Fate Stay Night collaboration in Honkai Star Rail, one common question has resurfaced: How to get into Fate?

The Fate series is a dauntingly massive one- from the original Fate/Stay Night's multi-branched visual novel to its various anime adaptations, to even its massively successful gacha game, there's been so many raging arguments about how to get into Fate.

Instead, I'm going to select a few common options and rank them for you, so you can decide for yourself:

How To Get Into Fate

Route 1: The Visual Novel

This should be a no-brainer. Fate/Stay Night started as a visual novel and attained cult status this way, so obviously you should start here, right? The visual novel has three routes, which you must play in sequence: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel. That's a lot of Saber content, all readily purchasable on Steam, too.

Admittedly, there's a bit of a problem with recommending the Visual Novel when it comes to approachability. Look, the genre isn't for everyone- as much as you can huff and puff and say people should learn to take it slow and just overcome their reservations, the fact of the matter is people are going to bounce off the visual novel simply because static images and text aren't going to be as exciting as doomscrolling their phone.

That being said, this is the most pure experience. Every other attempt to get in has adaptation problems- someone somewhere will always have something to say about how anything else handles the source material. Heck, even the Steam version is arguably "imperfect"- being based on a port of the game that removed the sex scenes.

Route 2: Unlimited Blade Works (Anime)

The most annoying people in your life will tell you that if you want to get into the anime, you should start with Studio DEEN's adaptation of the Fate route. Sure, Unlimited Blade Works is the second route from the visual novel, and the anime follows that path. But it's also not all that different, and covers the basics of the Holy Grail War fairly well. Plus, it's made by pre-Demon Slayer Ufotable, and looks absolutely gorgeous for it.

Personally, this is my recommendation for the best way to get into Fate- it's a really good story, it's available on Crunchyroll and it doesn't feel visually dated. It's also the specific part of Fate that Honkai Star Rail is collaborating with, so you're more likely to understand any specific callbacks because they'll come from here.

Route 3: Fate/Zero

I personally disagree with starting with Zero. As a prequel to Fate/Stay Night, it is chronologically earlier than the visual novel, but has that element of needing to understand where those characters end up to appreciate their role in Zero.

That being said, if you've been sold on Fate as this brutal all-out battle royale, Fate/Zero is the purest example of that. Its atmosphere is dark and brooding, and the focus across a wider cast leads for some genuinely cool setpieces. It's to the point the term "Zero Secondary" exists- a derogatory for those who see the goofier side of the Fate Series and complain it can't be more like Zero.

If you're the type that uses the phrase "Lore accurate" unironically, you can start here. Note that only Saber appears in Fate/Zero- if you want to learn Archer's deal you're better off starting with Unlimited Blade Works. Note that Fate/Zero is also on Crunchyroll, so it's easily accessible.

Route 4: Emiya Gohan/ Carnival Phantasm

Despite being separate series, I'd actually throw them in a list of how to get into fate for the same reasons because they're a celebration of the weird side of Fate that tends to get lost. As gag and slice-of-life spinoffs, these have almost nothing to do with the Fate series overall. Heck, Carnival Phantasm has Tsukihime characters in it.

Still, if you need to be eased into the less savory parts of the Fate universe, this is just a fun, lighthearted way to get into Fate. Emiya Gohan in particular is especially weird because characters seemingly remember the things that happen from the Fate series- Saber is wary around Caster, and Archer is still Shirou's greatest hater. In a sense it almost makes you wanna get into the other series to see what exactly is the deal there.

Be warned, though- neither series is currently available on Netflix or Crunchyroll, so you may need to put some legwork into tracking it down

With that in mind, that's my recommendations for how to get into Fate. I'm a big proponent of not forcing watch orders on people- consuming media should be fun, not a chore with pre-requisites. That being said, if you wanted to get a handle on what Honkai Star Rail is likely to throw at you, these are pretty much the best ways to do that.