Now I've been put off watching fate for ages because the watch order appears extremely daunting. And it is and that's why I never knew how to get into it fully.

p.s( heres the video i used https://youtu.be/9IIsNMHqwfU)

but ultimately I skipped fate/zero and went into the original fate stay/night which, don't get me wrong, is an excellent anime but is nothing compared by its predecessor, unlimited blade works

Unlimited blade works is an alternative route to that of the original and is one of 3 total routes. Animated by studio ufotable in 2015 it is arguably one of the most beautiful animation I have ever watched in my whole lifetime. Nearly everything about this show was perfect, the pacing the action balance everything. I also loved how in this show, Shirou was portrayed as a strong, male protagonist which isn't something we see at all in the original fate stay/night series. I actually found Emiya Shirou quite annoying in the original series. Character development is something we see little of in the original 2006 fate stay/night, but is something we see heaps of in UBW. For Emiya to fight his former self and to develop himself as a mage enough to stand on the same level as Gilgamesh shown just how much he changed from that weak boy we saw die in episode one.

I felt the (spoiler) romance between Shirou and Saber was extremely rushed. You don't get that feeling at all in unlimited blade works as the relationship between Tohsaka Rin and Shirou builds delicately over the course of the show and even in episode 26 we get an epilogue and look at their life after the holy grail war. Albeit many members of the fate community said the ending of UBW was bleak as anything but I don't really see it that way. We did see Emiya and Rin ended up together but no romantic elements (like cmon, not even a kiss after 26 episodes? pffft) but I still found it extremely enjoyable.

As well as the unlimited blade works series adaptation there was also the studio deen version. This offers a slightly different storytelling experience but does not go deeply enough into the character development. Also to say its animation is far outclassed by that in unlimited blade works but still offers a shorter path for those who wish to skip this alternative which I absolutely DO NOT recommend as this is my favourite one so far.

It's got to that point now that it's one of my favourite shows of all time and I'm getting extremely invested in the absolutely huge fate multiverse because of how well the characters and stories are presented. I must say it's weird how its set up with no sequels,only a single prequel and instead multiple versions of the same story with certain parallels. But I can't complain, it gives different characters otherwise hidden, a spotlight and allows us the reader to explore that character further than it would have been allowed without the alternatives.

Overall, just watch UBW, I don't even think you need to watch fate zero(heard it's good) or the fate stay/night, just give this a shot, and I promise to god you will fall in love with it.