Questions about light novels

[u/UnknownAtaraxia]

So I'm currently reading through fate zero then going to watch the anime, I already played Fate stay night and hollow ataraxia vns, OG tsukihime, and Mahoyo, plan to read Kara no kyoukai.

But I was curious about the other fate spin-offs, so my questions are

1: do you need to read some of them before others, like for example El melloi the 2nd before Fate Strange Fake

2: in the case of like Fate Apocrypha is it better to read only the ln because I've heard people say the anime is bad, what other ones are like that.

3: Is it good to read the lns then watch the anime adaptations so I get both the narrative and visual sides of it. I personally think vns are great because of the reason of having a novel but also visual elements to truly immerse yourself into the world.

4: relating somewhat to 2 is there a order you recommend for spinoffs, I figured I would read Kara no kyoukai and play Kagetsu tohya first before getting into fate spin-offs but I figured I would read prisma illya and fate strange fake because those I've been told are ready good.

[u/KnightGamer724]

1. Fate, as well as Tsukihime really, expand outwards from the source material. So if you go in publication order you should be fine. In your specific example, the El-Melloi II books will make Fate/Strange Fake more fun, but you don't need either story to make sense of the other. There are very few stories besides FGO and the Fate/Ex that require more homework than FSN.

2. LN or Manga for first viewing for Fate/Apocrypha. The anime has it's moments, but for me it's a background viewing thing. Music's good, I like the English VAs, and it isn't great at telling the story... Again, it works as a "I want some Fate while I do some chores"

3. Honestly, yes. I fucking love the Fate/Strange Fake adaptation, but I would not show that to anyone who hasn't read the novels. They show a lot without explaining a lot.

Then you got the Lord El-Melloi II anime that just skipped arcs and ended in a weird spot... I do like the new stuff we got though.

1. Doing the 4 pillars (which you only have KnK left) then doing basically whatever afterwards is fine. I do recommend the Fate/Ex content and the FGO content to be some of the last things you tackle, but again, just default to publication order if you need help picking. This franchise loves its callbacks.

[u/UnknownAtaraxia → u/KnightGamer724]

By Fate/Ex do you mean Extra/Extella, I was going to wait to play Extra record until I did the 4 pillars because I saw Arcueid and I think Alice in the trailer. So I figured there might be lore there but is there anything else important before playing the extra games.

[u/KnightGamer724 → u/UnknownAtaraxia]

Yeah, Fate/Ex is a less common but still used shorthand for that whole subseries. Unlike the other Fate spinoffs besides FGO, you want to do these in relative order.

Arcueid and Alice, I mean, Lewis are likely to be just cameos, if the original game is anything to go by. You should be fine for now regarding Extra Record... Unless the Monster is in the game, IYKYK.

Having KnK knowledge is more important for the original PSP game. In that, we had the Aozaki Sisters in charge of our levelling up, and they had some fun banter. Plus, Touko is great with KnK knowledge. 

^{Also, don't get me wrong about Fate/Extra Record, cuz like, I pre-ordered that Physical Collectors edition, but you'll probably want to play the PSP version at some point to go into Fate/Extra CCC, which hasn't been confirmed for a remake and I'll be lowkey shocked if it actually does get one. Fate/Extra CCC Foxtail is a manga that plays with cancelled concepts from the original CCC release, and is also really good}

[u/UnknownAtaraxia → u/KnightGamer724]

So I should play the original fate extra on psp before the remake, I was told there is a patch I should have for it though what exactly is it. 

But anyways read KnK then fate extra is alright and nothing else really.

[u/KnightGamer724 → u/UnknownAtaraxia]

You don't need to play PSP Extra before Record, just play it before CCC. You'll have a smoother transition, IMO. Otherwise it'd be like playing Resident Evil 2 Remake then going into OG RE3. 

There's the Perfect Patch that adds subtitles to battle dialogue and corrects some lore to be the current standard. If you know where the retro game talk is, you can find it pretty easily.

[u/Global-Elevator7394 → u/KnightGamer724]

I'd add that it's probably best to leave Strange Fake as the very last, because it refers to pretty much everything from the rest of the franchise. It's a love letter to the Nasuverse as a whole. 

[u/KnightGamer724 → u/Global-Elevator7394]

I'd say one of the last, since FGO is even more of the love letter while it continues to create new lore. 

But yeah, I used to have a list of "Near Side" and "Far Side" Fate spin offs to get into. Basically how much they tied into FSN proper vs Stood Alone vs tied into the other properties in the franchise.

[u/ZacTheLit → u/KnightGamer724]

Strange Fake also references F/GO in several ways which isn’t true for the latter sans a single event that’s 2 years out from NA

Reasonably there’d be more to get out of consuming F/GO to some degree first then Strange Fake

[u/Southern-Ebb-8229]

Basically, just read whatever you think is interesting.

1. No most spinoffs are standalone if you know the basics from FSN or FGO. Even if Flat appers in both Elmo and FSF, both series will catch you up on what you need.

2. You can read it and then watch the anime. The anime is just very condenced.

3. Yeah, reading it and then watching it is the best way to experience it. The animes can't really replace the original IMO.

4. In terms of reading order, I would read KnK first before any other spinoffs. KnK is a more foundational work for TM, so it would help explain a lot of other stuff more than say reading one of the spin-offs like Prillya. A lot of what Nasu writes is just picking an idea he introduced in KnK and fleshing it out (for example, heroes and society in FSN).

[u/Delisches]

1. Not really, but I would recommend Strange Fake last as it has a lot of fanservice referenes

2. I would do the source first. The anime is not the worst, but also not as good as the source (as most TM anime are)

3. I would say so yes, the anime often skip a lot of the explaining

4. No, only the subseries of the Ex or Extraverse has its own order, same with the Melty Blood games. Just go with release for both

[u/RindouNekomura]

1. Read them in whatever order you want.

2. Read Apo light novel.

3. Nah. But do as you please.

4. (point 1) Play Fate/Extra - Extella titles in release order.

[u/HedonisticTenderSoul]

1. You need to read FGO. A lot works post-2015 is based around FGO. Even Fate/Strange Fake is riddled with FGO references left and right in the novels. You read FGO, you basically know 99% of what's out there.
2. LN
3. Yes.
4. Your order is fine. FGO content you should tackle as soon as possible because it's the one with most lore.