Chen Hang kept playing and, gradually, he found real enjoyment in the game.
Having already watched the drama 'Fate/Zero', he felt a natural sense of immersion with the characters and setting of this game.
The prologue ended quickly... along with the trial usage of Red Archer.
Then came the main storyline.
The prologue had taken place from Rin Tohsaka's perspective, showing the day she summoned her Servant.
The main story, however, played out through Shirou Emiya's point of view.
His friend Shinji Matou, the temple caretaker Issei Ryuudou, the adorable underclassman Sakura Matou, and the goddess-like Rin Tohsaka at school—
From Shirou's angle, all of them felt just a little different.
At this point, Chen Hang had already been playing for two hours.
Between manageable combat and fast-paced storytelling, he had to admit—it was fun.
Compared to passively watching a drama, actively participating in the Holy Grail War gave him a much stronger sense of immersion.
Finally, after Shirou's day at school, witnessing the battle between Red Archer and Lancer, getting killed, and being revived by Rin using a magic gem, he returned home—only for Lancer to attack again.
Forced into his family's shed, and for reasons not yet explained in the game, Shirou summoned Artoria into the battle.
The background music "Glory of the King of Knights" slowly swelled.
That same girl from the trailers, from the game's opening—the one he had waited so long to meet—looked through the screen, her dignified gaze meeting player Chen Hang's from across the digital boundary.
His breath caught.
"I ask of you... Are you my Master?"
"Am I speechless because it's so sudden and I don't know what to say? No... It's because she's too beautiful, and her presence has taken away my words..."
Shirou's inner monologue echoed.
Then the background music faded, and the CG ended—
The player was now controlling Artoria.
She gripped her invisible sword, assuming a stance against Lancer.
Chen Hang began following the tutorial, guiding Artoria through combat.
The scene more or less followed the choreography from the original game and anime.
But since Shirou couldn't supply her with mana, every basic attack drained stamina, and Chen Hang found the battle especially frustrating.
Sure enough, thanks to Shirou's incompetence as a Master, Chen Hang whiffed a few special sword techniques. Artoria ran out of stamina.
The Lancer NPC, not being some dumb AI, immediately struck—
Three hits. Shirou, dead.
Then Artoria was also killed, with no mana supply.
"GAIAAAAAAA!!!!"
Chen Hang let out an inhuman scream in his room as he watched Artoria fall in battle.
He was furious.
Losing as Red Archer was one thing—that was on him.
But this?
Who makes a character spend stamina on normal attacks?!
And it was Artoria, no less!
"You useless piece of trash, Shirou! Can't even supply basic mana—how are you the protagonist?!"
Staring at the "Not enough mana / insufficient level" warning next to Artoria's Excalibur skill, Chen Hang felt like crying.
Only one thing to do: restart.
On this replay, a pop-up appeared: Skin Shop Available.
The price? Not that bad. Totally optional.
Skins were cosmetic only—whether you dressed Artoria in her default armor or a swimsuit, her stats remained unchanged.
Of course, later in the game, Jing Yu had even added something wild—a genderbent Gilgamesh skin. You could literally pay to put the game's final boss in a dress. Clearly added to satisfy certain fans' "preferences."
None of it affected gameplay. Just vibes.
Chen Hang, naturally, bought in.
No hesitation.
Especially that skirt skin for Artoria.
"Jing Yu, you damn genius—you really know us drama fans too well."
Sure, Artoria's fanbase was mostly male.
But deep down, weren't they all princesses too?
This was the joy of gaming: dressing up your waifu. Even if it didn't change the plot, it changed everything about the feel.
Would you rather see Artoria fight in a black stockings-and-skirt combo, or that clunky full-body knight armor with the neck collar?
Exactly. Heaven and earth.
Official Skins = Forever God Tier.
Later on, the game introduced its leveling system.
Character strength could be boosted through side content—optional but helpful.
As a world of mages, 'Fate/Stay Night' included map-based exploration: secret treasure locations, side quests that gave bonuses. Not essential, but if you were struggling, they helped.
And "not essential" meant just that.
You could skip all of it and still beat the game—it'd just be hard.
Think 'Elden Ring'.
Some players got destroyed by bosses—crying on forums about one-shot kills.
Others?
Started as a naked "Wretch" class with only a club, no armor, and beat every single boss in the game without leveling up once.
Grinding? What's that?
If you could hit the boss hundreds of times while dodging every single attack in return, you'd win.
It was punishing—but some could do it.
'Fate/Stay Night' followed a similar design philosophy. Jing Yu refused to make the game too easy.
But if you were good enough, you could skip all the upgrades and bulldoze through the story.
On November 1, the launch day of 'Fate/Stay Night', there wasn't much buzz in Jing Yu's fan groups or on gaming forums.
After all, how much can you play in one day?
Each of the three story routes, plus the side quests Jing Yu added, just completing one took at least two days.
And there were plenty of traps in the game.
For example, during a battle with Rider, Shirou—still a regular human—had the option to use a Command Seal to summon Artoria.
Some stubborn players refused.
They wanted to solo Rider as Shirou.
This could easily eat up hours—
Sure, if you had god-tier dodging skills and punched Rider a few hundred times while taking zero damage, you could technically beat her.
But even if you won?
A cutscene would force you to summon Artoria anyway.
Mandatory Command Seal consumed.
Players who won that fight and then saw the cutscene:
"...So I did all that... for nothing?"
Many players spent all of day one just grinding Artoria's route.
Meanwhile, first-day sales numbers dropped.
'Adventurer' sold 300,000 copies on Day 1—objectively a solid launch.
After all, a good start was half the battle. It was a strong showing.
But when 'Fate/Stay Night' also reported about 300,000 copies sold, matching 'Adventurer'?
Many in the Great Zhou gaming industry were stunned.
"This game... sold 300,000 copies on launch day, too?"
Promotional hype had been strong—but so what?
Sure, 'Fate/Zero', the drama had been a massive hit.
Sure, the game had buzz.
But who would go from watching a free drama to dropping over 100 yuan on a game?
The publishers didn't buy it.
Okay, calling the drama "free" was a bit of a stretch—TV subscriptions still cost money. But still, a drama was a drama. To most fans, a game adaptation was nothing more than a side-product.
100+ yuan for a virtual product with no physical form—not a figure, not merch, not clothes?
Who'd buy that?
The entire industry had pegged 'Fate/Stay Night' as a "just-for-fun" project—a 'Fate/Zero' drama tie-in. Nothing more.
And yet, it matched Rainbow Star Game's two-year AAA production 'Adventurer' on Day 1?
"Is this a joke?"
On November 2, both games continued being played.
Some high-spending, fast-clearing players had already reached late-stage Artoria route content.
They'd gone through Shinji Matou's betrayal, the brutal fight with Rider, escaped the Einzbern mansion, fought Illyasviel and Berserker, faced off against the magus and Master Caster at Ryuudou Temple—
And finally—
After a long series of battles and side content, players had grown stronger.
Illya and Berserker's bond had been explored.
Rin and Sakura's twisted sisterhood had been laid bare.
Shinji Matou—once again—was hated by all Fate fans.
Then, after the fight with Gilgamesh, Shirou stepped forward to protect Artoria, taking a sword blow head-on.
And then—
Artoria embraced him.
"I finally understand… Shirou, you... Are my sheath."
Her eyes softly closed. For the first time, a smile appeared on her lips.
Legendary CG Unlocked.
After two days of no-sleep grinding and a bit of microtransactions, Chen Hang saw that scene—and his eyes welled with tears.
"It was all worth it."
The story caught him off guard.
That Artoria would come to love this fragile boy…
He never would've believed it before launch.
But after experiencing the entire journey, it made perfect sense.
Sure, you could roast Shirou for being weak.
Or idealistic.
Or for his "hero of justice" nonsense.
But when he stood in front of Gilgamesh to protect Artoria—
When he confessed his feelings after recovering—
He was a hundred times better than your average trash protagonist.
"This is it!"
So Artoria really could fall for a boy named Shirou Emiya.
Before launch, no one imagined this could happen.
'Fate/Zero' had established her as someone who would never love again.
But now, with this creator's new direction, she could—and she did.
Chen Hang took a deep breath.
"Master Jing Yu, you're a genius."
This—this was the kind of story players wanted.
A girl cursed to eternal unrest for a fallen kingdom—
If she couldn't have peace, at least let her fall in love once.
The game even expanded on Artoria's backstory. Combined with 'Fate/Zero', it formed a perfect arc.
November 3.
After many hardcore players pushed the Artoria route to its climax—
The game finally exploded in the 'Fate/Zero' fanbase.
Even fans who had no interest in games—
When they saw forums flooded with 'Fate/Stay Night' story posts—
They couldn't stay on the sidelines anymore.