Fate/Grand Order

I am one of the suckers who has spent far too much time on this game. I played it relatively soon after it launched in 2017, but I deemed it as a convoluted, laggy mess. I returned to it in 2018 but eventually stalled on it again. This wasn't helped by the game's engine, which remained laggy with mind-numbing loading times even after a year. My SR gacha luck was also garbage.

However, I would come back to this again in 2019 and manage to finally get in a groove for finishing the rest of the game's main story. I grinded my heart out, and throughout the rest of 2019 and some of 2020, I would manage to get a sizable library of characters without spending a single penny on the game. Neat!

But was it worth it?

To answer this question, I have to remember why I started playing FGO in the first place. One of the dudes I was following on Tumblr at the time, who I was keeping up with mainly for Touhou related reasons, decided to jump on this game. I wanted to give it a shot as well, since I had a passing interest in some Fate characters. I liked their character designs generally, and I thought the variety in designs of FGO was nice (even despite the many character clones i.e. Saber).

It's for similar reasons why I would end up staying with this game. I thought it might be fun to play alongside some people in the community. Though another important note is that they finally fixed the horrible engine! For a small period of time, FGO gave me some dumb goals to work toward. I'm fully aware that I can download a literal png file of the character I like if all I want to do is stare at them. However, anyone who has spent a serious amount of time unlocking something in another video game should understand the similarities. These characters are more than collector cards, after all. They function as actual characters in the game, meaning you can make use of them for practical gameplay situations. It's comparable saving up a crapload of money in Gran Turismo to buy one of the really expensive cool cars. It takes forever to build up all the money for it, but it sure feels good once you have it!

Unfortunately, unlike Gran Turismo, you never actually know if you're going to obtain a character from the gacha, even if you have a sizable amount of gems saved up for it. This is the main plight of the gacha genre, where I'd much rather have the option to unlock a character through normal means rather than either getting lucky or spending real money.

Before I destroy my reviewing career any further, I should mention that the foundational gameplay mechanics of FGO aren't bad on their own. It's a strategy game where the game deals out possible methods of attacking, and you have to manipulate your servants' abilities to try and make the best of it depending on the situation. It's simple, though many possibilities arise when you add in all the different characters, abilities, and extra stats to the mix.

The greater meaning of this game is to make your characters stronger, and the amount of convolution and methods this game gives you to do that is astonishing. It's too much for me personally, though I can't deny that I've spent stupid amounts of time grinding out materials just to level up specific skills on specific characters. This is the eternal flow of progression with this game. Why are you making your characters stronger? To make it easier to farm materials to make my other characters stronger. If you want those numbers to go up, you'll have to lose a significant amount of your humanity mindlessly pressing buttons and farming materials. In that regard, FGO is a game that objectifies you. It's ultimately pointless, but then again, aren't all video games?

Contrary to belief, no money in the world will spare you from this game's eternal grind. If you're looking to waste your time, FGO is here to provide you with that service. Ultimately, the intention is to fill a void. As long as you have some kind of community to latch onto while playing it, then it might be worth fiddling around with. Though I assume most Glitchwave users don't have any sort of attachment to Type Moon releases, so there's no real reason for them to bother with this game. It's a cute little strategy game, but it's nowhere near worth the time investment based on gameplay alone.

Side note: some of the story stuff in this game is fun (especially the dumb events) though it usually just feels supplemental to the grind. Nothing particularly worth seeing, so if it's story you're after, you'd be better off reading a real visual novel. Or if you have an interesting in the FGO characters alone, you could look up character interactions from various events on youtube. Valentine's Day events exist for a reason!

Side side note I'm sorry if you read this whole thing, this is my worst review by far lol