War, War never changes

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 is set one year following the events from the original game from Cyberconnect. Taking place in a world modeled after France crica WW2 the anthropomorphic dogs (Caninu) and cats (Felineko) are still at war with one another. The game begins directly after the events of the first, where are ragtag group of young children have used their tank the Taranis to defeat the enemies giant tank known as the Tarascus. The kids return home so that their government can dissect the Taranis and learn its many secrets, but while investigating half of their group is trapped in the Taranis by some mysterious figure who has stolen it. With no other choice the remaining kids load into Tarascus that they just beat in combat to give chase and rescue their friends.

MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $39.99

Fuga 2 is a tactical RPG in nature and all combat will take place in three main stations on the Tarascus tank. Each station can be piloted by two of the kids, which will be important to help synergize your team later in the game. During combat, a turn order timeline is displayed at the top of the screen. Weapons are color coded into red (cannons), blue (machine guns) and yellow (grenade launchers) which makes it easier to figure out enemy weaknesses, this is important because when an enemy is attacked with their weakness it will push them back further in the timeline, thus delaying their ability to attack.

A lot of Fuga 2 is like the first game, so much so that this almost feels like it could have just as easily been DLC for the original. Navigating the world for instance is one area that didn’t change at all, players are still presented with what is essentially a map that has the path that will be taken. Displayed on this map are various combat encounters, loot, and other items; players will have to decide which route is safest for them and their team. Will you go down the more dangerous path with 4 combat encounters and no healing, or take the safer route because once you decide on a patch you must follow it to its conclusion or your destruction ie game over. While I didn’t mind this type of navigation in the original, I was hoping the sequel would allow for a better look at this game’s world other than the view from the highway.

Intermissions makes a welcome return to Fuga 2, in-between combat encounters players will reach these sections and be able to walk around the tank and speak with the various children. Players have their choice of controlling any of the 12 kids available and from here can cook meals for buffs, ‘dust’ fish off the back of the tank for new loot, and even explore dungeons. While the first had some exploring mechanics as well the sequel takes it a step further with the mini dungeons that can be explored, the issue with them is they just feel tacked on and don’t really add anything to the overall experience other than just having something else to do. Talking to your fellow tank mates though is extremely important as it’s through these conversations that players will create links between kids. These links carry over to where they are equipped and will buff combat abilities in new ways or even provide a new attack all together, so if you don’t do anything else during these downtime sessions, I would encourage players to speak to their tank mates.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 provides another dark look at war and its effects on those who are waging it. Just like in the first there are some very dire consequences to using certain abilities in game, thankfully the developers have added another option which will only disable instead of destroying, which is nice but still feels bad to use either weapon. (Im being vague on purpose but if you played the original you know what I’m talking about) While I loved this game almost as much as I enjoyed the original, I just can’t shake the feeling that this didn’t do enough to be a full sequel, so much of it is so similar to the original. It doesn’t mean Fuga 2 isn’t great though, the story is just as moving as the original and the relationships players will be stewards over with these kids is one of, if not the best thing about this series.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.