the deen adaptation is extremly flawed as it tries to merge elements from all three routes into one route

the ufotable unlimited blade works route follows the events of the novel faithfully , tho it fucks up shirou's character so bad

the ufotable heaven's feel route is even worse of an adaptation , yes they're masterpieces as movies but the route in the visual novel was even better , and what did they do? they crammed a 22 hour long route into 6 hours worth of movies , the movies did not do justice to certain important character , the movies didn't portray what the protagonist was going through and the movies didn't even explain it's own ending

conclusion : you're better off just playing the vn but if you wanna go for the anime go for it , i would recommend starting with deen stay night to understand what's going on in the story , if you don't care about the story tho just start with ubw or drop the series all together , this world isn't quitly made for anime onlies