First; to clarify what I meant about it standing up now. That wasn't really meant to be an insult to it, more a compliment, but I easily see why it appeared that way (I worded it badly). In other words, when you look other stuff from 04-05 or before there was a fairly distinct lack of production quality, certainly compared to how newer vis novels tend to incorporate better musical scores, animated scenes, more cg work, more diverse choice paths, ect ect. In other words, what I *meant* to say is that even now, Fate dosn't feel dated. It stands way above the stuff that came out around its same time. What I mean by the second part, about it not really standing up now, is that even your run of the mill stuff has production value on par to it now, when before that made Fate special. Make sense? If not, meh, don't worry about it.
In general, while the story is absolutely excellent, I 100% agree on that, it just grated my nerves in too many areas to have really liked it. I don't like fatalistic idealism, and this story is dripping with it. I obviously liked it; I spent 25 or some odd hours finishing it; but there were just too many "oh fucking bullshit. No one, anywhere, for any reason, is EVER going to act that way, or do that" type moments. In other words, the story suffered for me because I find the characters completely unrelatable, and so while I still enjoyed it, and do get why everyone loves it, there are just some really glaring moments where your forced to think "god that is just awful writing" that kept breaking my immersion in it.