Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 picks up a year after the original game, where your band of furry fighters defeated the Berman Empire throughout the course of that adventure. If you’re like me and aren’t familiar with the original story, there is a helpful story recap that will get you up to speed on the essential characters and events through animated slides. As for the story in Melodies of Steel 2, the same gang of Children return once again as a new evil force takes hold of the Taranis tank and wreaks havoc across the entire realm – all while most of your friends are still imprisoned within that enemy tank.

The plot itself is pretty simple, and like the original – the characters take precedence over the narrative. The Children themselves remain adorable to look at, but there’s a lot of inconsistency between the many protagonists that form the entire crew. Most of them are returning characters from the original, but you will also find new crewmates including but not limited to Vanilla who will play an integral role in the journey. Malt is the eldest in the gang and assumes the role of the leader of the crew, and his character arc is pretty compelling in comparison to the other children – most of whom have annoying quirks and little in the name of actual personality.

"Conversations between the children are also pretty uninteresting and littered with hammy dialogue, and the atmosphere is established through descriptive paragraphs – and all that comes together to make a story that’s interesting on the whole but fails to keep you captivated on a moment-to-moment basis."

In addition to this, the writing doesn’t feel natural as the style resembles more of what you’d find in a novel than a video game. Conversations between the children are also pretty uninteresting and littered with hammy dialogue, and the atmosphere is established through descriptive paragraphs – and all that comes together to make a story that’s interesting on the whole but fails to keep you captivated on a moment-to-moment basis. Part of this can be blamed on the over-reliance on anime caricatures, but couple that with a pretty slow start to things – and the story department definitely leaves something to be desired.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 shares a lot of similarities to the original in terms of gameplay, and players will be once again controlling a battle tank as they make their way through arenas filled with enemy presence. Battles take place through a turn-based combat system where strategy and judicial use of resources is key to survival. The tank has three separate turrets, each manned by a crew member.

Each of the members has access to one of three weapon types (grenade launcher, machine gun, or cannon) alongside a slew of special abilities, and you have to juggle between different character combinations to be the most effective for any given enemy type. Choosing the right weapons for the right enemy also results in delayed status effects on enemies, which give you more opportunities to whittle down the health bars. For instance, aerial units are most vulnerable to machine guns while bigger ground troops are best dealt with using grenade launchers and cannons – and so on and so forth.

"Battles take place through a turn-based combat system where strategy and judicial use of resources is key to survival."

Melodies of Steel 2 re-introduces the Soul Cannon mechanic which helps in adding a lot of tension to crucial boss battles. You see, the Soul Cannon is a powerful weapon that takes the soul of a soldier to unleash a devastating attack upon the enemy. In fights where your enemy is using the Soul Cannon, you need to take it out before a set number of turns else you run the risk of failing the fight entirely. And once you get a hold of that weapon, you need to keep your HP in check since the Cannon will automatically start its countdown if you reach a set critical level – which will eventually cause the battle to fail.

Sure, there is a bit of added frustration with the Soul Cannon constraints – but the game combats it with the Managarm which is another powerful weapon that’s available for use once per level. It knocks out a soldier for the entire duration of the level, but you deal a ton of damage to all the enemies in the arena as a result. Using it isn’t recommended unless absolutely necessary since you get robbed of all experience points after using the Managarm – so it’s more of an assist mode for those struggling to make it past certain sections.

Getting used to all these mechanics certainly has a learning curve, but it isn’t too steep such that it ends up being a frustrating endeavor. And once you get the basics down, it really feels good to absolutely obliterate the opposition with special attacks and careful usage of the right weapons. There are a ton of options at your disposal, and choosing the wisest of the bunch results in better combat ratings which net you more experience points for each character.

"Getting used to all these mechanics certainly has a learning curve, but it isn’t too steep such that it ends up being a frustrating endeavor."

Each level consists of multiple paths to the objective, and there are points where you can choose between a safer option or risk engaging in more battles for better rewards by going with the normal route. You can also call Airship Support now to bomb certain enemies beforehand, buy crucial resources during mid-mission, or transport your tank to an alternate route which adds more flexibility and freedom of choice to the combat proceedings.

There are multiple Intermission areas between levels, which act as checkpoints to save your progress in the event that you fail a battle. This section allows you to take direct control of the Children, and navigate the ship to upgrade its arsenal or interact with crewmates. Forming meaningful relationships with your crewmates unlocks Link Attacks, which are powerful special moves that can be activated during battle to unleash some devastating blows to the enemy. But the conversations or Link Events that cause these bonds to get stronger are once again filled with uninteresting dialogue that makes getting through them an absolute slog. As such, I found myself skipping through these conversations as fast as possible which is a shame because it could have been so much better if carried out with quality writing.

Also worth noting is that you get a select number of Action Points for each Intermission, and everything from interactions to upgrades to farming and fishing for resources costs a point – which forces you to be tactical in prioritizing what to do now and what to leave for later. However, you can undo these decisions by choosing to restart from Before the Intermission after a game over if you’d like to re-evaluate your choices.

Apart from the Intermission, players can also take part in Expeditions which are mini-dungeons that are filled with all sorts of traps and valuables. The side-scrolling exploration and combat are pretty primitive in nature, but it’s a fun little distraction that keeps things fresh and breaks the rather monotonous flow of story and combat while also providing you with precious resources to constantly upgrade your weapons and tank facilities.

"Many of the assets and UI elements are almost identical to the original, which wouldn’t matter all that too much if you’re jumping in for the first time – but it would stick out to those who have spent dozens upon dozens of hours in Melodies of Steel."

In between tackling levels, you will be visiting settlements where you can choose to shop for resources or talk to NPCs who will give you helpful tips for upcoming battles or just engage in simple conversations that always end with a dialogue choice. You get to choose from Empathy and Resolution, and these choices will get stacked against one another and eventually unlock your Leader Skills which are special buffs that are randomly activated during battles.

Speaking of the presentation, Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 features the same cute and cuddly visuals that we saw in the original. Many of the assets and UI elements are almost identical to the original, which wouldn’t matter all that too much if you’re jumping in for the first time – but it would stick out to those who have spent dozens upon dozens of hours in Melodies of Steel. The somber music tracks also make a return, which helps create a soothing and melancholic atmosphere as you fight these gargantuan mechs in battle.

In conclusion, Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 can best be described as more of the same – so if that description excites you, this sequel should be right up your alley. On the other hand, if you didn’t have a good time playing the original, it’s unlikely that Melodies of Steel 2 will change that viewpoint. But looking at it in a vacuum, Melodies of Steel 2 is a surprisingly solid tactical RPG that strikes a good balance between accessibility and skill. The story is hampered by weak writing and inconsistent characters, but apart from that there isn’t much to complain about.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

As a sequel to the 2021 tactical RPG, Melodies of Steel 2 sees Malt and friends returning to their home town one year after. After half of them become trapped, Malt embarks on a journey with newcomer Vanilla to save them. The same gameplay elements apply, as you assign characters to different weapons, take different routes in battles and can sacrifice a character to power the Soul Cannon.

The Managarm is a new weapon that causes severe damage but can only be used once per battle and knocks a character out. There are also Airship Services for resupplying at waypoints or bombing enemies, Expeditions to look for materials to upgrade the tank, and much more. Stay tuned for more updates on Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 in the coming weeks.

https://twitter.com/Fuga_CC2_en/status/1656513315827507202

Other new titles include Ravenlok, Cococucumber’s upcoming action RPG. Available May 4th for consoles, PC and the cloud, it sees players fighting to liberate a fantasy world, solving puzzles and banishing evil with a sword and spells. On May 8th, Weird West: Definitive Edition goes live for Xbox Series X/S, bringing tons of quality-of-life improvements to the base experience.

Shadowrun Trilogy goes live on May 9th for PC and collects all three of Harebrained Schemes’ titles – Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Shadowrun: Hong Kong – in one package. On May 11th, CyberConnect2’s Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 goes live for PC, consoles and the cloud, offering a new turn-based strategy experience with a new story.

The following titles will also be leaving Game Pass on May 15th, so play them now while you can:

• Before We Leave (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Hearts of Iron 4 (PC)
• Her Story (PC)
• Umurangi Generation: Special Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Airship Services can resupply players at blank waypoints on the map. They can recover your HP and SP or bomb enemy waypoints for safe passage and free XP. Perhaps the best function is Transport, which places you on a different route to gain rewards and avoid threats.

Meetups, as you’d guess, are about meeting different people. Depending on the choices made, you’ll avail of various bonuses. You can also venture on Expeditions to investigate ruins. There are monsters and traps, but also items to expand on facilities in the tank.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 is out on May 11th for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. It’s already gone gold en route to release.

Set one year later, the sequel sees half the children trapped inside the Taranis. Malt and his friends, with new character Vanilla, must try and save them. Like the first game, you can sacrifice a character and fire the Soul Cannon to deal massive damage.

However, the sequel mixes things up by randomly selecting a child to sacrifice, so you’ll need to finish a battle before the countdown can complete. There’s also the Managarm, which deals significant damage once per battle but results in a character being knocked out.

For those who haven’t played the first game, Matsuyama said a “digest movie” would be included in Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 to get them up to speed. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

先日、全てのプラットフォームでマスターアップが完了したことをご報告します。

2023年5月11日には全世界同時にリリースです。

“希望と絶望のRPG”の第２幕を心ゆくまで堪能してください。

（絶望成分がちょっと多めですが）

『戦場のフーガ2』公式PV #戦場のフーガ https://t.co/8KFzvKkacX

— 松山洋＠サイバーコネクトツー (@PIROSHI_CC2) April 11, 2023

『戦場のフーガ2』単体でも当然遊ぶことは出来ます。

タイトル画面に“これまでのあらすじ”があって『1』のダイジェストムービーが観れるようになっています。

が、やっぱり始まりの物語である『戦場のフーガ』を遊んでいるほうがより楽しめますよ。https://t.co/1V0BzVCNqj

— 松山洋＠サイバーコネクトツー (@PIROSHI_CC2) April 11, 2023

In addition to the Standard Edition, there’s a Deluxe Edition. It includes downloadable items, in-game bonus items, sleepwear for the cast, a digital art book and a digital soundtrack. You also get Dummy Energy for the Managarm (which allows for firing it once without requiring a character’s life) and a Dummy Soul for the Soul Cannon (letting it fire without sacrificing someone).

The story sees the previous game’s children returning home after the war. However, after half become trapped inside the Taranis, it’s up to Malt and newcomer Vanilla to pilot the Tarascus and save them. Gameplay-wise, skills from the previous game have been revamped while new ones are available for more strategies. There’s also the Judgment System, where one’s choices affect the story, and the Airship System, a new way to progress through battle routes.

Stay tuned for more details on skills in the coming months. CyberConnect2 also confirmed that the first game crossed 150,000 downloads worldwide.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 is set one year after the previous game’s True End, with Malt as the protagonist again. The Taranis has seemingly gone berserk, and it’s up to Malt and the survivors to rescue their friends. They’ll use a new tank, the Tarascus, to achieve this, and it has some new weapons.

The battle system and controls are being improved, while Turbo Mode will be available from the start to speed up progress. You can also look forward to branching paths and the “judgment system,” where choices can affect the story and character relationships.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC this year. A free demo for the previous game is currently available.

The release date, latest trailer, and newest information for Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 will be announced on January 26: https://t.co/vkzeixYtig

Gematsu page: https://t.co/yb3tbnrAfx pic.twitter.com/81eUsIFyId

— Gematsu (@gematsu) January 3, 2023

ANGER FOOT

There might be plenty of first person shooters coming out in the near future, but we doubt many of them will be as gleefully weird as Free Lives and Devolver Digital’s Anger Foot. There’s a lot of fast-paced running and gunning here, of course, and that’s looking suitably exciting, but Anger Foot’s USP is the fact that kicking enemies is just as central to the gameplay. Combining your movement, fast-paced shooting, and kicking action might come together very well in what’s looking like a very intriguing game.

Set one year later, the survivors face a new terrifying dilemma. The Taranis, the massive battle tank from the first game, has gone out of control with several children trapped inside. Using the Tarascus, the remaining survivors embark on a mission to save their friends. Of course, given the themes of revenge, as seen with returning protagonist Malt breaking down at the end, it seems there are darker events in store.

Offering a “ramped-up battle system” and “brand new event system,” Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 promises an even bigger scenario than its predecessor. Development is already 60 percent complete so expect more details on a release date in the coming months. Check out the official website here in the meantime.

Along with an improved battle system, new weapons, and better controls for “speedy and intuitive tactics”, Turbo Mode is available at the beginning. Airships are now a thing and branching paths promise more flexibility. There’s also a “judgement system” where one’s choices affect the story and can even alter relationships between characters. Items can also be purchased with in-game currency.

The story takes place one year after the first game’s True End and players with save data for the same will receive a bonus in the sequel. Malt is the protagonist once again and there seems to be a revenge element at play. Along with double the scenario volume as the first game, the Soul Cannon returns, and this time it has two barrels.

Stay tuned for more details from tomorrow’s anniversary stream. The original Fuga: Melodies of Steel is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. A demo containing the first three chapters is also available to try for free.