In an interview with Famitsu, developers from Koei Tecmo and illustrators Takashi Takeuchi and Rei Wataru discussed the early development and character designs of Fate/Samurai Remnant. In the discussion, Takeuchi revealed that Tamamo Aria’s inclusion was because they wanted to debut the Tamamo Nine characters one at a time in various games. [Thanks, Famitsu!]
Kou Shibusawa, a producer and creator at Koei Tecmo Games, wanted to make a Fate game with Type-Moon due to his love for Fate/Grand Order. He is a big fan of the Shimosa chapter. Takeuchi stated that a Shimosa-like setting would be ideal if Type-Moon and Koei Teco would make a game together, so they created Fate/Samurai Remnant with Shimosa as the foundation.
Since the game takes place during the Edo era, Wataru had to design the Masters to fit into that worldview. For reference, Wataru was the artist in charge of the manga adaptation of Shimosa. He stated that designing Iori was very difficult and that he initially looked like a Warriors character with a fancy outfit. But the development team wanted him to look like someone who’d fit in with the scenery of Edo, Japan. Saber, too, was a challenge for Wataru. Her concept was a black-haired Artoria, but he included elements from other Saberfaces. In the end, Saber has much sharper features than the original Artoria.
Yet another character that Takeuchi and Wataru remember having difficulties designing was Archer. He reveals his True Name quite early in the game, but he’s a character that fans of Dynasty Warriors should be familiar with.
The inclusion of his character was to make fans feel like, “Ah, yes, I’m playing a Koei Tecmo game.” When Shidzuki Morii (Archer’s artist) gave Takeuchi the design, Takeuchi was surprised. This is because the version of Archer that appears in Dynasty Warriors isn’t this young. But he thought that this sort of juxtaposition was very Fate-like and approved the design.
Fate/Samurai Remnant is available on the PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.
