Fuga: Melodies of Steel Reviews

I did a thanos playthrough and the game called me a monster for it.

A wonderfully artist and amazing games, nothing super hard rpg wise but the story, characters, music, and everything just made this a joy to play!

i made a guy get a mental breakdown over his dead kid sister within the first hour 10/10, would kill nazis with laser weapons again

[b]Score: 7/10[/b] [list] [*][b]Art[/b]: The game features beautifully drawn characters and environments. [*][b]Music[/b]: The soundtrack is one of the highlights of the game, with excellent compositions that enhance the atmosphere. The vocal tracks, in particular, stand out and elevate the emotional impact of certain moments. [*][b]Great number of CGs[/b]: There is a generous amount of CG illustrations, adding depth to key moments and making the story scenes more visually engaging. However, unfortunately, there are no animated cutscenes [*][b]Story[/b]: While the plot is serviceable, most events are narrated too quickly, often through a narrator instead of in-depth character interactions. This weakens emotional moments, reducing their impact. [spoiler]The plot twist is interesting but suffers from the same rushed storytelling, making it less impactful than it could have been.[/spoiler] [*][b]Dialogues[/b]: Conversations between characters are often too simple and lack depth, except for a few standout moments. This makes character interactions feel less engaging than they should be in an emotionally driven game. [*][b]Extras[/b]: The game includes a variety of additional content, such as character profiles, endcards, illustrations, collected comics, and character event scenes. These extras add a lot of value for players who enjoy exploring more about the characters and the world. [*][b]Battles[/b]: Combat becomes repetitive over time, and since there's no option to skip fights, this can make gameplay feel tedious. While the boss fights are decent, they don’t stand out as particularly memorable or challenging. [*][b]Soul Cannon mechanic[/b]:[b] [/b]One of the most interesting mechanics in battle is the Soul Cannon, a powerful attack that comes with heavy consequences. Its usage can have a significant impact on future battles, making it a compelling, high-risk decision that adds weight to gameplay choices. [*][b]Mini-games[/b]: There is a dungeon mini-game where players collect materials to upgrade the tank and its rooms. Initially, it’s simple and enjoyable, but as new levels are unlocked, it gradually becomes repetitive, much like the battles. [*][b]Saving[/b]: The game only offers automatic saving, which is frustrating for completionists. [spoiler]This makes it unnecessarily difficult to recruit all characters for the final battle. After finishing the game, players can restart from Chapter 7 with the necessary data to achieve the true ending, but this adds an extra 5–6 hours of playtime. A manual save or better auto-save system would have solved this issue.[/spoiler] [*][b]Longer than it should be[/b]: The game would be better suited as a 10–12 hour experience, but its structure stretches it to 20–25 hours, making it feel longer than necessary. [/list]

Completed the game, played on the SteamDeck. Hard to put down... did not find it particularly hard. It was challenging enough that I could not relax and make mistakes, but forgiving enough that I never really really struggled. Got to the true ending... couldn't stomach to use the Soul Cannon. Strongly recommend and will definitely be getting Fuga 2

Gorgeous art direction, fantastic soundtrack, great characters, actually interseting game mechanics for a turn-based RPG. Highly recommend

With 51 hours on record, Of course I do, FUGA has it all, the well-written and interesting characters, the charming artstlye, the iconic soundtrack and endlessly thrilling yet simple and intuitive turn-based combat, what's not to like? Heck what's not to love? Weather or not you're a beginner or series veteran you'll find something in FUGA to latch onto.

It's a pretty simple game loaded with charm. Love the setting and the characters, and how all the mechanics feed into each other. It's also not overly challenging, nor overly easy. I feel like I've earned every win.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel is really an interesting game, and I just wanted to share my thoughts on it. The story hits hard right from the start. It's not every day you come across a game where kids are on a tank, going to war, and each of these little heroes has some pretty serious moral dilemmas. It’s not just “let's save the world together” — there are themes of loss, sacrifice, and you're constantly worried about each character because you know every choice they make comes with a price. The gameplay is great! It’s that classic turn-based tactical combat, like old-school RPGs, where you have to think a few steps ahead. The *Soul Cannon* mechanic is really cool. At first, you think it’s this overpowered weapon, but when you use it, you pay a heavy price. And that really makes you think, is it worth it? You’re always on edge, trying to avoid mistakes because you can lose not just the battle, but important characters too. Also, the visual style really stands out. It’s got that anime aesthetic, but with these darker tones that highlight the contrast between the childlike characters and the harshness of war. It’s kind of like *Valkyria Chronicles*, but even more emotionally charged. The music doesn’t let you down either — it either calms you or ramps up the tension exactly when it’s needed. I’d say it’s one of those games where you can easily sink 20-30 hours into it, thinking it’s all going to be simple, but then you realize you’ve been emotionally invested in every battle and every decision. If you love tactics and a good story, this is definitely worth trying.

TL;DR This game is designed to play again with a new game + so don't feel the need to hammer yourself to pieces in the hard battles or try to upgrade everything. You literally can't max everything in one go, so just do what feels right. It took me about 15 hours to get through the campaign. (This includes time I played the demo that's not included in my total playtime stat). I approached this game blind, and not realizing I've played other games by the same developers years ago on the Nintendo DS set in the same world. These games share the writer and composer with FUGA. The world, characters, and story are what drives this game. At several points it made me legitimately emotional as things developed and we learn more about these characters and the struggles they endure. Gameplay can be a bit... repetitive? I'm a big fan of turn based strategy games but I usually that entails maneuvering and planning ahead where this is more, shuffling your crew. A different experience from say X-Com or Fire Emblem were you have to worry about an entire battlefield as opposed to focusing on a single unit. Get attached to the crew, they're all lovely. I'll be moving on to the sequel for sure.