Things FSN does better than Tsukihime:
-Better graphics. Definitely. Character and background art is sumptuous, special effects look better, and everything just moves more smoothly.
-Better music. "Emiya" is a kickass fight theme, as is "All the Evils of the World." The vocal songs are good, too. (If only I knew Japanese.)
-Better humor. Let me be honest; Tsukihime's attempts at humor were, for the most part, very weak. This was somewhat remedied with Kagetsu Tohya, but nothing made me laugh out loud. There were a few scenes in FSN that made me laugh my ass off. And the "Tiger Dojo" segments are a lot better and funnier than the "Ciel-sempai" segments.
-Better fight scenes. I actually like how Tsukihime's action sequences were low-key; it fit in better with the psychological horror that game was going for, but the fight scenes in FSN are definitely more epic. I crave to see some of the scenes in animation. (Too bad I have no interest in the anime.)
-Zouken = most diabolical Type-Moon villain yet. Seriously, this guy's more twisted than Count Frollo was in the Disney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and that's not a small feat by any means.
Things Tsukihime Did better than FSN:
-Better characters. I love the characters in FSN, but nobody is as memorable as Arcueid or Akiha. And, I do like Shirou (especially in the UBW route) but I found Shiki to be a more likable protagonist.
-More concise plot. None of the routes in Tsukihime are as long as the routes in FSN, but they were plotted more effectively. How many times in FSN does Shirou make food for the girls and shoot the breeze? Those scenes were filler. Tsukihime, in comparison, has less filler and more good stuff.
-Your Mileage May Vary, but FSN is not as dark as Tsukihime. Again, YMMV; a darker plot doesn't necessarily mean a better plot, (and believe me, I hate the "Twue Aht Is Angsty" trope as much as most other people) but when Tsukihime was being serious, it really got your attention. FSN isn't without its depressing moments, (Sakura Matou, anyone?) but it never gripped me by the balls the same way Tsukihime did.
And now for some bulleted thoughts on FSN.
- Why is Archer such a popular character? He's an asshole! Maybe not to the same degree as most of the villains, but he's not a very pleasant person, either. Besides, if anyone is truly "GAR" in this game, it would be Shirou, Tohsaka, and Saber, in no particular order. Still, I liked how Archer made fun of Tohsaka. (Also, "GAR" is a stupid meme, and I'm never printing it again.)
- The Fate route is my least favorite. Why? Because Shirou believes in what my psychology textbook calls, "Benevolent Sexism." You know what I mean, "Girls should be girly! They're much too delicate to be partaking in battle!" Yeah, this, coming from a guy who could get his ass handed to him by Saber in a millisecond. Other than that, I actually liked Shirou; not as much as Shiki, but he never got on my nerves outside of his anti-feminist views.
- I didn't use the voice patch on my install (probably because it's all in Japanese, and I wouldn't be able to understand it), and as such, I do have certain voices for some of the characters. In my mind, Archer sounds like Patrick Seitz, Souichirou sounds like Kirk Thorton, and Kotomine sounds like, are you ready for this? I picture Kotomine sounding like Vincent Price. Trust me, it fits perfectly. (Oddly enough, Patrick Seitz voiced Souichirou in the anime and Kirk Thorton voiced Kiritsugu) (RIP Vincent Price, but I know Maurice LaMarche can do a near-exact impersonation of him . . .) And I keep picturing Caster sounding like Kate Mulgrew for some reason . . .
- Go back to my list of cute anime girls. Looks like I do have a German girl on there now. However, Ilya has got to be the most evil cute girl ever. You don't wanna fight her because she's utterly kawaii, and yet, she will hurt you in really nasty ways if you don't resist. My gawd; I've become morally conflicted while playing a computer game!
- My favorite route was UBW, mainly because Shirou really came onto his own there. Also, it's the basis of my favorite relationship in the game. (girly voice) Shirou-kun and Tohsaka-chan are sooooooo cute together! (normal voice) I like seeing a romance done right in a game.
- Heaven's Feel was my second-favorite route, losing to UBW only by a hair. This route had the highest stakes, and was certainly the most dramatic, but Shirou wasn't quite as awesome, I thought. On the plus side, HF did a great job deconstructing the character of Sakura.
- I discovered the Realta Nua patch . . . several weeks after I started playing the game. Most of the RN-exclusive images are locked on my game because of this, but I did see the true ending. The song that played at the last scene was beautiful.
- Shirou does say "People died when they're killed" and so does Tohsaka! Then again, translation hacks are technically fansubs, and the context of the line is something like, "People die when you mortally wound them; that's the way nature intended it." Of course, fantards love to drop context out of memes.
I'm now replaying the game, (And by replaying, I mean, "set the game on auto-read, leave the room, and only click on the correct choices") so that I can unlock the RN images and music. Although the action sequences with the RN patch are more . . . visual now. It's hard to describe, but there's more visual effects now. Also, stick around, I have other things to say about Type-Moon.
