What Hooked Fate Creator Kinoko Nasu on Genshin Impact
Fate/stay night mastermind Kinoko Nasu is hooked on Genshin Impact — and in a rare interview with Famitsu and Denfami Nicogamer, he spells out why the game commands his respect.
File this under creators geeking out over other creators: Fate/stay night writer Kinoko Nasu has fallen hard for HoYoverse. In a rare interview with Famitsu and Denfami Nicogamer, and in a joint chat with Honkai: Star Rail producer David Jiang, Nasu laid out why Genshin Impact (and now Star Rail) won him over. Coming from the guy who gave us Saber and Rin Tohsaka, it landed as both a fan confession and a craft note.
From skeptical to sold on Genshin
Nasu admits he didn’t buy the hype at first. His hang-up was basically: can something this unapologetically otaku actually go global? Then he played Genshin. The polish, the story work, the sheer amount of care in the details flipped him from skeptic to admirer.
As I kept playing, the passion and technical craft behind it came through, and it felt like they turned otaku dreams into reality. It made me want to shout 'thank you' into the sky. That company line 'Tech Otakus Save the World' isn’t just words.
He keeps coming back to the same point: HoYoverse’s team isn’t just talented; they’re visibly, relentlessly passionate. For Nasu, Genshin became proof that a proudly otaku sensibility, backed by real tech, can travel worldwide.
The Klee moment
Because he’s Nasu and he can, he also used the opportunity to pass along a note from a friend whose entire motivation to play is that Klee is cute (even if she’s not exactly meta). Nasu jokingly asked the HoYoverse side to buff Klee. The creator of Fate lobbying for Klee is a very specific kind of hilarious.
Star Rail is his current comfort game
Genshin got him through the door, but he’s also deep into Honkai: Star Rail now, and he talks about it like a model for how to build a long-term RPG. He praises the storytelling and world-building, but more than that, the structure: there’s a clear story roadmap, regular updates, and a world that expands in ways that feel planned rather than improvised.
It reminded him of what he tried to do with Fate/Grand Order: make a long-form experience that keeps players engaged without grinding them into dust. He also singles out the art direction as a standout. Going back to Honkai Impact 3rd, he says the vibe he got was a team making what they genuinely love — and Star Rail continues that energy.
A neat full-circle moment
The Jiang conversation wasn’t just mutual praise. Jiang mentioned he grew up on Nasu’s work. So you’ve got the Fate writer, who helped inspire a generation of developers, now tipping his hat to HoYoverse for pushing the medium forward at global scale. That’s a nice loop.
If you want to revisit where Nasu’s mainstream anime moment hit, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.