Anyone here watching this fantastic anime?

Nope. Played the game, know the story, had the movie for the fancy explosions. No need to spend more time on it.

Watching it. Thought would be same as the original but it seems it follows a different route than first time around (and all fancy newish artwork etc).

Yes, the original FSN anime years back was *really* bad, and is not worth watching at all, mostly because it's so low-budget and it's done by Studio DEEN, who are known for being shoddy. In addition the original anime series used the "Fate" route which is the "normal" route you need to complete in the game before doing the other two (UBW and Heaven's Feel).

Also to remember, there was an "Unlimited Blade Works" movie a while ago, also done by DEEN, and it was also terrible, basically it tried to squeeze the entire UBW story (approximately 100 hours in the game) into 2 hours, so yeah it's like a train-wreck on fast-forward. Don't watch it.

This adaptation of UBW is actually really good and high-budget, and it's paced very well, it's done by ufotable which are probably the best anime studio around these days (also funded by Sony Aniplex). Ufotable also did the anime "Kara no Kyoukai" and "Fate/Zero" (the prequel to FSN), which all take place in the Type-Moon universe. The anime is going to be at least 22 episodes I believe.

themoreyouknow

I disagree. The movie was a terrible mess with plot holes big enough to sink the Titanic, true, but that was only true if you hadn't played/read the game/visual novel. If you have, you already know the story and need not be told about it again, so all I wanted to see were the animated fights. Whoa, Rho Aias, cool. And that's all the movie had, IIRC.

Rather than "don't watch it", I'd say "don't watch it if you haven't played the game".

BTW, I heard they're making a new Heaven's feel movie, no doubt followed by a new 22 episode Heaven's feel series. They're stretching this whole thing as much as they possibly can. I'd really dig a new series on an original scenario though, such as Shirou agreeging to an alliance with Shinji and seeing where it goes from there, but I don't want more of what I already know.

Except for animating the game's bad ends. Generally speaking, I'll dig anything that involves Shirou dying horribly. I hate that guy.

EDIT: Also, wishlist entry

Actually, if you want well-animated fights, then the new UBW definitely has them, ie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghp8-KKdwNc

I just don't have the free time to justify watching 22 episodes of stuff I already know. Same reason I didn't watch Zero or Game of Thrones.

I hardly watched anime anymore, I stopped about 5 years ago for several reasons (very limited internet being a major one). Nowadays I just read a fuckton of manga, some light novels, and the ocasional visual novel. Fate is easily my favorite one among the few I played, I even got a physical copy this summer while in Japan :)

I haven't watched any Fate anime yet and I don't think I'll play the VN.

I'd like to see Ufotable's versions soon, though.
In what order should I do it, however, to avoid getting spoilers (Zero is a prequel of Stay Night) and to get the best experience?

Well it's easy, first Zero (technically Zero is a prequel to UBW not to FSN) then UBW, then the Heaven's Fell movie once it's released (Note: Heaven's fell is an alternate story, not a sequel to either FSN nor UBW).

Thanks, but.. uh.. isn't FSN story part needed at all, then?
I read that it would have been good, if not for Deen (in the past some said to watch FSN first anyway, and then FZ).

Theoretically Fate Zero is a prequel of all three (FSN, UBW and Heaven's Fell) as all three are "alternate" stories taking place at the same time with the same characters but different plots. (If you want to keep it "vague" and spoiler-less you could say that : FSN focus on Saber and Shiro story, UBW focus on Archer and Rin story while HF focus on Illyasviel story)

But practically Fate Zero is closer in plot and "mood" to UBW than it is to the original Deen's FSN and IRC Ufotable has said that UBW was meant to be the direct sequel to Zero.

Out of curiosity how different are the three alternate stories?

Honestly, you should probably see the first Fate/Stay night anime. It is not very good, and it includes some stuff from other scenarios that could be considered spoilers, but it is the prologue. Most other stuff will assume you already know the characters and such.

Unlimited Break Works has an "episode 0" that last 40 minutes, that (according to my friends' tales) follows the game's prologue really well. If so, you should start with that before the main anime.

After that... I can't say for certain. I'd go with Unlimited blade works, the second scenario, and then Heaven's feel (if already available when you actually watch it). Fate Zero is a precuel, but it was meant to be read (the novels) after having played the game, so it will include tons of spoilers that should normally be told during the main story. I'd advise you to leave that one for last.

If after that you want more, go with Carnival Phantasm, it's a really funny take on the whole lore. And you have the magical girl Ilya spin off, I've read the manga and found it surprisingly interesting.



Long/pretentious explanation:
The first scenario, Fate, is basically an introduction. It tells a story of how things would normally go as well as setting heroes and Shirous beautiful ideals. The second one, unlimited blade works, is a pure shonen action fest that challenges what a hero really is as well as Shirou's ideals. The third one, Heaven's feel, it's quite the drama and explains all the underlying questions you have been building about the holy grail war. The third one is where Shirou dies most, so I like it a lot.

Short explanation:
It changes which girl you bang.