Depends on what's more important to you: original airing order or concept relevance & character introduction. Personally I've always decided to watch large franchises like Fate in release order to make it as simple as possible. But after catching up on everything I'll admit that I missed some stuff that I only realized later after a 2nd watch of everything.
Going by the dates listed on MAL, here's all the entries in release order:
2006, 01, 07 - Fate/stay night [TV]
2010, 01, 17 - Fate/stay night TV Reproduction [OVA]
2010, 01, 23 - Fate/stay night Movie: Unlimited Blade Works [Movie]
2011, 08, 14 - Carnival Phantasm [OVA]
2011, 10, 02 - Fate/Zero [TV]
2011, 10, 28 - Carnival Phantasm: Illya-jou [Special]
2011, 11, 26 - Carnival Phantasm EX Season [OVA]
2011, 12, 31 - Fate/Prototype [OVA]
2012, 03, 07 - Fate/Zero: Onegai! Einzbern Soudanshitsu [Special]
2012, 03, 25 - Fate/Zero Remix [Special]
2012, 04, 08 - Fate/Zero 2nd Season [TV]
2013, 07, 13 - Fate/Zero Cafe [Movie]
2013, 07, 13 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya
2013, 09, 27 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya Specials [Special]
2014, 03, 10 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Undoukai de Dance! [OVA]
2014, 07, 10 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei! [TV]
2014, 09, 26 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei! Specials [Special]
2014, 10, 05 - Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works Prologue [Special]
2014, 10, 12 - Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works [TV]
2015, 04, 05 - Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2nd Season [TV]
2015, 07, 25 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei Herz! [TV]
2015, 07, 25 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!: Mahou Shoujo in Onsen Ryokou [OVA]
2015, 09, 25 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei Herz! Specials [Special]
2015, 10, 07 - Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works 2nd Season - Sunny Day [Special]
2016, 07, 06 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!! [TV]
2016, 09, 30 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei!! Specials [Special]
2016, 12, 07 - Ken to Mahou no Logres: Inishie no Megami x Fate/Extella [Special]
2016, 12, 31 - Fate/Grand Order: First Order [Special]
2017, 07, 02 - Fate/Apocrypha [TV]
2017, 08, 26 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai [Movie]
2017, 09, 24 - Fate/Apocrypha Recaps [Special]
2017, 10, 14 - Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower [Movie]
2017, 12, 31 - Fate/Grand Order: Himuro no Tenchi - 7-nin no Saikyou Ijin-hen [Special]
2017, 12, 31 - Fate/Grand Order: Moonlight/Lostroom [Special]
2018, 01, 25 - Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan [OVA]
2018, 01, 28 - Fate/Extra: Last Encore [TV]
2018, 01, 31 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya Movie: Sekka no Chikai - Kuro Sakura no Heya [Special]
2018, 07, 29 - Fate/Extra: Last Encore - Illustrias Tendousetsu [TV]
2018, 12, 31 - Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zepplin Grace Note - Hakamori to Neko to Majutsushi [Special]
2018, 12, 31 - Manga de Wakaru! Fate/Grand Order [Special]
2019, 01, 12 - Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven's Feel - II. Lost Butterfly [Movie]
2019, 06, 14 - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya: Prisma Phantasm [Movie]
2019, 07, 07 - Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zepplin Grace Note [TV]
2019, 08, 04 - Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia - Initium Iter [Special]
2019, 10, 05 - Fate/Grand Order: Zettai Majuu Sensen Babylonia [TV]
2020, 08, 15 - Fate/stay night Movie: Heaven's Feel - III. Spring Song [Movie]
2020, 12, 05 - Fate/Grand Order: Shinsei Entaku Ryouiki Camelot 1 - Wandering; Agateram [Movie]
2020, 12, 31 - Fate/Grand Carnival [OVA]
2021, XX, XX - Fate/Grand Order: Shinsei Entaku Ryouiki Camelot 2 - Paladin; Agateram [Movie]
2021, XX, XX - Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya Movie: Licht - Namae no Nai Shoujo [Movie]
XXXX, XX, XX - Fate/Grand Order: Shuukyoku Tokuiten - Kani Jikan Shinden Solomon [?]
I won't bore anyone with my explanations of which order I think is best, cuz I feel that might be a but subjective. But you can DM me if you want to hear my take on it.
That's, like, the worst watch order IMO. Start with the mediocre one and then go with the prequel that will spoil the other two? Could you elaborate?
That's the release order and it won't spoiler anything.
If you're going to use release order as your guide, why the release order of the adaptations and not the order of the originals?
And though people who watched Zero first can easily overlook this, it will spoil the backstory of at least two characters that was originally meant to be a huge surprise in Heaven's Feel.
That's, like, the worst watch order IMO. Start with the mediocre one and then go with the prequel that will spoil the other two? Could you elaborate?
That's the release order and it won't spoiler anything.
If you're going to use release order as your guide, why the release order of the adaptations and not the order of the originals?
And though people who watched Zero first can easily overlook this, it will spoil the backstory of at least two characters that was originally meant to be a huge surprise in Heaven's Feel.
Yes, I'm sorry. I'm wrong
Happy now?
Have a good day
Rudolfpikel said: Just go with whatever order you want. There's no right order to watch anything, and unlike stuff like Monogatari, Fate doesn't really have a universally agreed upon watch order. If you're really dedicated to getting into the franchise, then I guess you can follow the advice of the diehards who have already and undoubtedly will continue to just tell you to play the visual novel, but in my personal opinion, I think your order is your best bet to getting the most out of Fate. Fate/Zero is without a doubt in my mind the best part of the series, and if you like Zero, you'll likely have some appreciation for UBW and even more so Heaven's Feel, whereas if you start with anything else, you might well be turned away from the series and miss Zero which is a damn shame.
This is not completely accurate. There is at least one consensus: the proper order for Fate/Stay Night routes is Fate > UBW > HF.
There are variations to this. You can skip Studio Deen's Fate/Stay Night or read the VN instead. But if you're gonna watch or read Fate, it's better as the first one. UBW is, in a way, a bit of a sequel to Fate (I'm talking about the Archer thing) and HF just can't be the first: HF 1 even skips the part of the story that repeats in the three lines, so you wouldn't understand a thing if you started there.
You can put Zero wherever you want, though I think the overall experience is best if you watch if after HF, because HF has a lot of surprises that aren't surprising at all if you already watched Zero.
That's, like, the worst watch order IMO. Start with the mediocre one and then go with the prequel that will spoil the other two? Could you elaborate?
That's the release order and it won't spoiler anything.
If you're going to use release order as your guide, why the release order of the adaptations and not the order of the originals?
And though people who watched Zero first can easily overlook this, it will spoil the backstory of at least two characters that was originally meant to be a huge surprise in Heaven's Feel.
Yes, I'm sorry. I'm wrong
Happy now?
Have a good day
[EDIT]: I'm actually not happy. I sincerely wanted to understand why is that your preferred watch order and you didn't really give me a reason. (Isn't that the whole point of this thread?) Of course, if you're happy that's fine. You're not required to answer.
ummm, u on ur own on this one, yeah u shouldnt walk to the receptionst desk of hell without knowing what it is, i just hope you can make it out alive
I am the handle of my mop
Rags are my body, and detergent is my blood
I have scrubbed over a thousand floors
Unknown to sick leave
Nor known to pay
Have withstood abuse to sweep many
surfaces
Yet those hands will never hold money
So as I clean, Unlimited Maid Works
I am the handle of my mop
Rags are my body, and detergent is my blood
I have scrubbed over a thousand floors
Unknown to sick leave
Nor known to pay
Have withstood abuse to sweep many
surfaces
Yet those hands will never hold money
So as I clean, Unlimited Maid Works