FUGA: Melodies of Steel is a very unique game to say the least. Developed by CyberConnect2, the game is the third video game entry within the Little Tail Bronx series that began way back on the PlayStation with 1998's Tail Concerto.
Similar to CyberConnect2's other well known series .hack (which Tail Concerto may have a connection to), the game is split into three parts, with the original FUGA serving as an intro arc to the overall series. Despite being a part of Little Tail Bronx, FUGA actually takes place roughly 700 years prior to Tail Concerto and Solatorobo on the DS, and is a perfect introduction to the series as a whole! But simply stating what FUGA is does not do the game any justice.
FUGA is much more than what it appears to be at face value, and those willing to set forth on this journey will be met by hard decisions, and a linear gameplay loop that becomes strangely addicting. While FUGA may be an RPG at its core, it is nothing like the two games that came before, nor is it comparable to the .hack series. Instead, FUGA keeps an identity of its own, while being a part of a greater overall plot, and that works to the game's advantage.
The Story:
Fuga takes place within a world inhabited by humanoid creatures resembling cats and dogs, known as Felineko and Caninu, and the story begins during a time of war. An evil empire, the Berman Empire, attacks a small village called Petit Mona and enslaves its entire population. Unknown to them, however, a small group of kids manages to escape during the attack and is led by a mysterious voice to a massive tank. This tank is known as the Taranis, and upon entering its control room, the entire vehicle springs to life. Shortly after, the voice is heard through the radio, directing the kids back to their hometown to fight back. Ultimately, the Berman Empire proves no match for the Taranis, but it is already too late: everyone is gone, and the kids are left homeless.
With the young Malt taking charge, the children continue to pilot their newfound tank across the country, battling the Berman Empire. With a strange weapon known as the Soul Cannon at their disposal, the group hopes to save their parents and bring peace back to their land. Sadly, using the Soul Cannon comes at a deep cost, forcing the children to make the difficult decision to use it only if there is no other way out.
The Gameplay:
FUGA: Melodies of Steel's gameplay is broken up into four main parts which alternate throughout the entire adventure. Each part is key to survival, but "checkpoints" allow for another chance if things go awry.
Battles -
Turn-based battles are front and center in FUGA, with most of the game consisting of the fights themselves. It's a linear story that pits our young crew against enemy after enemy, and losing means restarting from the last intermission (more on that soon). A timeline at the top of the screen displays the turn order for each member of your tank's crew, along with the enemies, and strategically setting up attacks or delaying them becomes key to surviving.
On your side of things, the tank has three different weapon types, distinguished by red, blue, and yellow colors. These weapons have distinct properties that make them more effective against specific enemy types, but which kid is operating them also matters. Every crew member has a specified weapon they will command, but only three sets of two-person pairs are allowed in battle at a time. The "leader" of each pair determines which weapon is being used, while the "support" character provides additional buffs. Kids can be freely swapped around during battle as their weapons or support skills are needed, but there is a three-turn cooldown between each swap.
To survive each fight, players need to strategically look at their characters, pair them in ways that suit the situation, and always aim for weaknesses. Hitting a target's weakness will delay their action (which is displayed by clock icons), while some attacks and skills have the ability to chip away at an enemy's armor. On the flip side, you also have the ability to use a turn to put up defenses, which is equally vital for survival. Other characters can still attack while you are defending, but using the correct character to defend is also a very important decision. For instance, if an enemy is weak to a cannon attack (yellow), you do not want your cannon user to be the one defending here; it is a waste of a turn. Similarly, if an enemy is about to be delayed by the next attack, then it is also pointless to defend because the enemy is about to lose its turn anyway.
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Everything about the battle system asks you to plan your attacks and strategies; simply trying to brute-force your way through will result in failure. Simple mistakes can be life or death, and failing to recognize the tools available to you is the worst thing you can do. As the kids level up, new skills and abilities become unlocked, but they require SP to use, which will make you second-guess if an attack is worth using. Of course, limited-resource items allow you to recover health and SP throughout the game, but sometimes these items are best saved for when they are truly needed. Thankfully, one character's support ability lets normal attacks recover SP, so that's always an option as well.
Additionally, characters can team up to use special attacks, but these require the kids to be in a good mood and for a gauge to be built up in battle first. These skills are best used when the going gets tough, and they can be a real lifesaver when utilized properly. On the other hand, kids in a bad mood will perform poorly in fights in general, and getting hit too much can even knock them out. Those who have been injured will need to be healed during the intermission, which is the next major part of the game.
Intermissions -
Intermissions are the "free periods" within FUGA and typically occur at the start of a chapter, at key mid-points, and right before a boss fight. They serve as checkpoints to reload to if your team is defeated and allow you to prepare for upcoming battles. During these segments, players control one of the children from a 2D perspective, walking around the tank to use various facilities.
Within the tank, you'll find an upgrade station to enhance your weapons and armor, beds to gain extra EXP and heal injured friends, a farm to gather resources, a scrap fishing area for even more resources, a mess hall for food buffs, and an area that lets you enter mini-dungeons for, you guessed it, other resources.
The other children can also be found around the tank. Talking to them spends your free time points to advance your relationship. This not only unlocks story scenes but also improves how well the kids work together in pairs and buffs their support skills. While their support level will also go up during natural gameplay, talking to them is the fastest way to strengthen their bonds.
Each intermission gives players 20 points to spend on activities, and picking and choosing what is needed is very important. Each kid will have a request to complete to put them in an even better mood, but fulfilling these requests is not required and can sometimes cause you to miss out on what is truly needed at that time. Again, prioritizing how to spend your free time is crucial; focusing on the wrong things will likely result in your defeat. Thankfully, intermissions serve as checkpoints, so players can assess the situation and try again if they fail.
Dungeons -
Dungeons in FUGA are not what one might expect. Instead of being stages to go through with the standard tank battle gameplay, they are actually 2D side scrolling puzzles that reward players with EXP and resources. Some dungeons appear during the main story, but they can be revisited during intermissions as well.
The main gameplay in dungeons is pretty straightforward. You pick three characters to send in, walk through doors or go up elevators to pick up blue items, and pick up red pieces of ammo to shoot at things. Pots can be broken with ammo, but shooting enemies will also reward you with items. Sometimes these enemies can't be avoided and block your path, while others have attack patterns that let you run past. The idea is to save your ammo for what's needed to advance, then come back through and clear out the enemies you missed. Picking up all items and killing all enemies is required to perfectly clear a dungeon, and the bonus rewards and EXP are worth doing so. Mess up and use ammo on something pointless before you get more, and you'll lock yourself out of 100%ing the dungeon.
Dungeons end once you find the key and open the treasure chest, or if you give up or are taken out by an enemy or trap. If that happens, you just missed out on rewards that might have really helped you out.
Choosing Paths -
The final part of the gameplay loop is none other than choosing your paths. In FUGA the tank is always moving forward, and there is no stopping it. Each chapter lets you stop by a town for resources (which is a menu), but once in the actual chapter it is GO GO GO GO GO! The tank moves along, enemy icons are battles that can have multiple waves, item icons give you items, heal spaces recover HP or SP, dungeons are dungeons, intermissions are intermissions, and that's about it. Branches in the paths will ask if you want to take the safer or harder routes, and your rewards are given to you based upon your choices.
Due to how important resources and leveling can be in FUGA, picking the harder route will always be the "better" option if it's doable. These fights provide superior rewards and allow you to get stronger faster, but you always have to weigh your options before jumping in headfirst. If the previous battles left your resources too thin, then perhaps taking the safer route is better. Of course, playing it too safe will cause you to miss out on tons of resources, which can actually make the game even harder in the long run. This is where the dreaded Soul Cannon might be required, which is something you truly want to avoid.
The Soul Canon -
While I didn't mention it under the Battle section, the Soul Cannon is also a key part of combat that some players might have to use. It's a last-resort attack that will instantly kill any boss, but it comes with the devastating price of losing one of your teammates forever. You see, it's a device that needs the life energy of someone to activate it, and doing so will kill both parties involved: the enemy and the user.
This is an option for those who reach the end of a chapter and cannot beat the boss, but it also means obtaining the true ending will become impossible. It's best to avoid using it, but it also becomes an important part of the overall gameplay loop, as New Game Plus does exist.
New Game Plus -
In New Game Plus, everything from the previous run carries over, giving players a chance to do better. They can tackle weaker enemies with their stronger weapons, focus on becoming closer to other characters, and use time to get more resources as needed. This allows those who had to use the Soul Cannon to try the entire game again without making those sacrifices, and achieve the true ending as well.
Of course... there is one other option if need be.
Fast Mode:
Fast Mode isn't your standard gameplay feature. This is an alternate save file that can be created from your main one at any time, transforming the game into a visual novel. The tank will automatically run over all enemies in its path on the map, and boss fights can be won with the press of a button. It allows you to speed through the entire game within 5-10 hours, with the exception of building relationships and dungeons, though you can technically skip these as well by simply refusing to do them.
It lets everyone complete the game in no time, but it also takes away from the core gameplay. It's an option for those who want to use it or for anyone wanting to quickly pick up anything they might have missed, but it does remove the actual fights.
Should you play it?
FUGA: Melodies of Steel isn't like other RPGs on the market. There is no exploration, no level grinding, and you basically spend the entire game inside of a tank. While it lacks other RPG standards, it more than makes up for this with its solid gameplay, great cast of characters, and interesting story that leaves you wanting more. It has a learning curve players will need to overcome, but once you do, the game becomes extremely addicting and trying out different character combinations is a lot of fun. While the gameplay might not click for everyone, those who enjoy deep strategics turn based battles will find a lot to love here. If this sounds like a game you'd enjoy, then do yourself a favor and check it out as soon as you get the chance.
VERDICT: Essential
Reviewed on PlayStation 5
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