Emiya Shirou. Ally of justice. Entered into the fifth holy grail war, he resolves to save as many as he can. He is a sword, forged through cursed flames. It’s no surprise when he summons a servant of the Saber class. Yet, instead of a blade he summons a swordsman, one clothed in black. A blade cannot change, but in the right hands it can be shown the proper path…
I should preface this review by saying that I read this fic before it even was on this site so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
When I originally finished A Different Path I asked the person who had recommended it to me if he had any idea what happened. He said no but that he loved it anyway... and at the time I had mixed feelings about it. It was true for me too but it also hurt my pride to be completely stumped.
I spent more time than would have been a "good idea" (especially when I liked the series already) but I got a general idea of how the many pieces come together. To give a sense just how expansive the story was, I was reminded of Fate/Hollow Ataraxia.
The premise of that side story was that Rin accidentally used a spell to retroactively make every single possible event that could have happened in the Holy Grail War occur. To put it simply, A Different Path packs as much into it as possible without detracting from the story or being too difficult to understand. It plays to its strengths in a way it's hard to imagine possible.
Overall this story is amazing if you have way too much time on your hands or you're fine enjoying a story without thinking about it too hard. If an overanalyzer like me read this today (when I don't have an much time) it'd have been frustrating -hence the 4 stars- but I loved it and there's a high chance that you will too.
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