Thanks to CyberConnect2 for the review code

Title: Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2
System: Steam (PC)
Price: $39.99
Release Date: 05/11/2023

---

Story

Taking place a year after a fierce battle that split the continent, the hero children from the first game are invited to check out the Taranis in the new capital. But when a strange force kidnaps some of the children into the Taranis, it’s up to Malt and his remaining crew to board their former enemy Tarascus to chase after the tank!

Just like the first game, Fuga 2 really has an intense hook with its story, and while the first one ultimately felt a bit safe near the end of the game, it still had a lot of shocking moments and an overall tale that was still very captivating and worth playing through to the end. While there is a recap of that first game here in 2, it still is a good idea to play the original before going into this one, since 2 follows directly from the true ending of that game, and the recap doesn’t explain everything from 1 as well as it should have.

Sure enough, the plot here in 2 is gripping as well. Fuga 2 isn’t afraid to go in some bolder directions that even tie into the gameplay, and the fact the game as a whole is ramped up difficulty wise from the first game also makes climatic bosses and key battles feel super tense. Even if you avoided using the soul cannon in the first game, the sequel finds ways to push it on you by making it a punishment for failing in battle. Nevertheless, the plot was very engrossing and a worthy followup from the first one, which is a pretty tough thing to do when everything about Fuga 1’s plot was able to wrap up very nicely!

My only real gripe about it, as spoiler-free as I can say is that some events in Fuga 2 do feel like they make certain moments in Fuga 1 have less impact than they did in that game, and whether that’s to build up for a crazier Fuga 3 remains to be seen. Still, you’ll have a fun ride here, if you liked the first game’s ride.

Presentation

Similar to the first game, with a very charming art style and well done character portraits. Key art is impressive throughout the game and just like the original you can view it from an in-game gallery, with the end of chapter cards also being done by guest artists, also like the first game. I did notice how some of the character art will animate now in conversation, but it still manages to be a very minor change. 3D segments in the tank and dungeons look just as fine as before, though now the game as a whole runs at a much nicer 60FPS, compared to the original game’s 30, and you can use a turbo mode to speed up the game between battles and make the flow go a lot faster. For a turn based game like this I didn’t find the framerate difference to be too vital, since the first game was a magnificent experience even at that original framerate, but the extra performance boost really makes the art shine here, and I found it neat that the original game got a similar update for that.

The music is yet again incredible, and while some aspects are reused from the first game, a bunch of compositions here are brand new, and still just as magnificent as stuff from the original Fuga. Even the new vocal songs here continue to be incredible works from Lien, and I was thrilled to see them kick in during intense boss fights. Banger soundtrack all around that perfectly fits the tense vibe of the game and the dread that the harsher battles inflict on you.

The voice work is also just like it was before, with French or Japanese voices, featuring basic voiced lines and phrases with only key scenes or paragraphs being fully voiced and narrated. Yes, just like in the first game, the Japanese VAs are the ones performing the french dub, and it still sounds just as odd as ever if you are remotely familiar with the language, but it still has a good charm to it like in the other Little Tail games.

Gameplay

Fuga 2 brings back the excellent strategy gameplay I loved oh so dearly from the original, and most of it manages to be the same as it was in the first, but more refined. A lot of QOL tweaks have been made, and even backported to the first game, which helps to sharpen up this combat system. You still have the three weapon types (Cannons, Machine Gun, Grenade), and the aspect of using skills and link attacks to take down waves of enemies as you progress through each chapter. Pretty much a lot of what I noted in the first game about that core combat system carries over here as a result.

You also have the return of intermission segments every now and then, which is where you go to upgrade parts of the tank, check on other characters and build relationships to increase your link attack power. Most of the same things you could do in the first game return here, though now you have the option to answer a few quizzes every now and then for extra experience, and generally if you got the hang of it in Fuga 1, you’ll get the hang of it here.

Like in the last game, paths during the chapter are branching, with some routes offering harder enemies than the other, and more rewards for managing to survive them. However, since you’re playing as the Tarascus this time around, you have a few new tricks up your sleeve, with the Managarm being the first one you gain access to. This is a weapon that will work in a pinch and will obliterate most enemies with ease, but will also completely knock out a child and prevent you from gaining EXP from the fight, so this is pretty much only worth using if you’re literally about to die to a very tough enemy.

Which may not sound like a big deal, except that Fuga 2 is much, much tougher than the original game, delightfully so in most ways! Enemies are more defensive, they have more counter techniques, and a lot of them won’t hesitate to inflict bad status conditions on you. Even the safer routes can give you trouble, and there’s now New Game Plus exclusive routes with far nastier enemies to fight against, which will put up a good fight even with a properly leveled team. Considering how the combat loop remains just as fun as ever, being on your toes a lot more makes battles even more fun, and also helps to give repeat playthroughs some challenge even in the earlier chapters, thanks to these sealed routes.

Every now and then during a chapter, there will be spots to call an airship and buy supplies mid-route, or spend money on air raids that target upcoming enemy formations, but these are rather pricey, and usually when I called upon them I had little funds for anything else until the next time I gained enough materials to sell off. Still, using the occasional air raid is very handy if you’re wanting to squeak by a route with as little conflict as possible, and I found it to make chapters a lot better on a replay, instead of having to fight weak enemies over and over on each NG+ to get to the new stuff.

While the devastating Soul Cannon also makes a return, it was fairly easy to avoid it in the original game, and that was mandatory to nab the true ending. Likewise, the same is mostly true here, but now you have the AI of the Tarascus in control of the cannon, and he will force a countdown if you suffer too much damage during a boss fight, and this time, you can’t even pick the kid to sacrifice, as it will be random. Thus, your best battler could be randomly pulled away from you if you mess up too much! There is a way out of this though, as if you pray to the reactor several times in a row during an intermission, it will quiet down and not kick in when you’re at low health, but doing so will cost you activity points before the boss fight, so there’s still some risk to this if you needed those AP to improve your characters.

The biggest addition to Fuga 2 by far however, is the judgment system. Now instead of your responses and actions to characters being means to build relationships, (though that still is a big factor of the game too, as it’s how you improve link attacks) answering in certain dialogue scenes will raise your morality toward a certain side of Empathy or Resolution. This ends up adding a bit more variety to the game as a whole and thus can affect the ending by adding an extra epilogue if you favor one heavily over the other, making new game plus a lot more viable to go through this time around, since you’re gonna need it if you wanna see every outcome this game has to offer.

There are even a bunch of events that randomly occur depending on who’s alive in the party in certain chapters, how much empathy/resolution points you have during those moments, and they all help add a lot more character inbetween the main story bits, and seeing characters actually react to the loss of their comrades this time around if one ends up being cannon’d is a very meaningful change.

Also returning are the dungeons, an aspect of the first game I found pretty weak, since they only just started to get interesting in the final chapter. Here in Fuga 2, they’re still rather simple with the same goal of solving rooms in a certain order to get the most treasure at the end, but now the dungeons introduce elemental attributes to your toy bullets, now requiring you to think a bit more and use an electrical shot on a switch, or burn up roots covering up a wall every now and then. I found myself messing up a lot more in these dungeons compared to the first game’s set, and even the enemies and obstacles are nastier to deal with this time around, so it definitely continues the increased difficulty, and once again leads to another layer of fun in a game filled with variety, albeit variety we’ve mostly seen several years ago.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The excellent combat from the original has been refined with some handy QOL, and the new mechanics like the morality system really add some extra layers to the really fun gameplay. The plot manages to be engaging and very good despite having to follow up on a rather conclusive ending, and the story really makes this entry feel like a good stepping stone to whatever the third game will be, for better or worse.

Still, this is a wonderful tale that I’m happy to see progress more and more, and the gameplay refinements make it a worthy followup and a very fun play! New Game Plus being more meaningful this time around is a great incentive for replays, too, along with the new Turbo Mode to speed up the pacing. Of course, due to being so reliant on the first game’s plot, I can only generally recommend this if you’ve played and enjoyed the first game, which thankfully got some of the QOL from this sequel in a recent patch, so my 2021 game of the year is even better, and this game keeps the dark fun going.

Fuga 2 is still an excellent pickup and a great RPG, but as an iterative sequel, it doesn’t manage to have the earth shaking “wow” factor that first game had, nor will anything in Fuga 2 surprise you that much if you completed Fuga 1. Still, I’m definitely curious as to how on earth they can make a third game like this without things starting to get stale, and if the momentum will continue to hold up when that comes. Here’s hoping the trilogy ends on a high note!

I give Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 a 9 out of 10.