FGO Lostbelt 7: Nahui Mictlan Clear!

It has been almost a year and a half since Lostbelt 7: Nahui Mictlan was released, and I have finally cleared it. It took me about the same level of procrastination as I had with finishing LB6. Surprisingly, I was able to complete this singularity over a weekend, despite being at a low point in my frustration with FGO’s absurd gacha systems. Nevertheless, I am genuinely impressed by what LB7 had to offer. I initially assumed LB6 would remain the peak of the Lostbelt arc in terms of Nasu’s writing, despite its flaws and structural baggage. However, LB7 ultimately feels like the stronger of the two, delivering comparable writing quality in a leaner and more efficient narrative structure.

LB7 serves as the penultimate chapter of the Lostbelt arc, where Chaldea confronts the final Crypter and prevents his attempt to bring about world-ending consequences within a Mesoamerican Lostbelt. While its Mesoamerican setting lacks the mainstream appeal of LB6’s Knights of the Round aesthetic, Type-Moon and Lasengle still manage to make LB7 a memorable culmination of Chaldea’s conflict with the Crypters.

With Tezcatlipoca, the Mesoamerican god of strife playing a significant role in the narrative, the battles stand out accordingly. If LB6 is remembered for its extremely punishing final boss encounters, LB7 instead delivers a prolonged series of high-intensity final boss tier fights, including the infamous ORT encounter, which will easily remain one of the most memorable challenges in the game.

Going in, I expected LB7 to be a weaker experience, partly due to its unusual presentation, such as the initial impression of “gun-toting dinosaurs” in its setting. However, upon completion, I found myself genuinely impressed and satisfied. This likely stems from having lower expectations compared to LB6, which I may have overhyped in advance.

Despite my mixed overall experience with Fate/Grand Order, stories like LB7 are precisely what have kept me engaged with the game for over nine years, despite my absolute despise toward its gacha systems. Interestingly, my completion of LB7 coincided with my playthrough of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, which made me wonder whether both works draw from some shared thematic or mythological inspirations beyond the surface-level “dinosaurs and sci-fi” presentation.

Given the overall quality of LB7, I would be interested in writing a more complete analysis later, as among the Lostbelt chapters, this one stands out as a peak in both narrative and gameplay execution, whereas the others tend to excel in only one of these areas.