Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 Review – Steel Solid Conclusion

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 Review

It’s been 4 years since Fuga: Melodies of Steel was released. It’s crazy enough that the world got a spiritual successor to Tale Concerto and Solatorobo, two very niche PS1 and DS games. And it’s almost as crazy that that spiritual successor would get a full trilogy of JRPGs to tell its story. Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 is upon us, and it is the narrative conclusion of that trilogy.

The Fuga games are about a war-torn world, inhabited by anthropomorphized dogs (who look like anime foxes). Our protagonists are a group of children who hid inside a massive tank, called Taranis, while their home was invaded. They use this tank to battle the invading Berman army across their country, Gasco, in hopes of finding their families. The games are direct sequels to one another, and there’s really no reason to play Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 if you haven’t played 1 and 2.

Play the Other Two First

This review will give you an idea of how all 3 games play and look, but this third game’s story directly follows the characters and events of its prequels. There are story recaps of Fuga 1 and 2 in Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3’s main menu, but they’re just a refresher for players who have already beaten the first two games. Fuga: Melodies of Steel 1 and 2 are available on all consoles and PC, and are often on sale.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3’s structure has a linear progression. The story is mostly told through lengthy visual novel-like sections. The meat of each chapter is a combat area with a track that the party advances from node to node on. Nodes each have a turn-based battle, sometimes followed by something else, like healing or story events, followed by more battles, usually leading to a boss. On some of these nodes, the characters get to explore the interior of the Taranis, which acts as a hub area.

Same Great, Turn-Based Combat

Combat remains the same as past Fuga games. It’s turn-based, with the player controlling 6 characters assigned to different sections of the Taranis. The characters have different attack and support skills. The turn order is displayed at the top of the battle screen. Player actions can delay enemy attacks, which can be key to victory. Different characters have different weapon types that are more and less effective on different enemies. The player has three attacking characters, but they can be substituted for a paired supporting character that might have a different skillset, more beneficial to the situation. It’s a great combat system that remains the core of the gameplay.

For reasons I won’t share, the Taranis is now the Omega Taranis! It has some new RPG mechanics surrounding it. There is a skill tree full of unlockable Taranis abilities. There’s also a shop inside that sells rare crafting materials. Some level nodes are Power Spots, which have further unlockable Taranis abilities. There are also optional assist events that allow players to recruit side characters for help in battle. The conditions for recruitment are usually based on how well the player scores in a chapter, so these side characters offer an incentive to replay and collect. I also really appreciated the in-depth Kemonopedia, which keeps track of characters and events across the Fuga series.

Reasons to Keep Playing

Although the Fuga games are linear to the point of literally being on-rails, there have been some additions to Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 to give it some more options and replayability. There are optional paths in most areas. Chapters can be replayed to check all paths and collect all bonuses. There are 8 different endings to unlock, and 19 “secret events”. There’s also a new option called Fast Mode that lets players skip combat sections if they choose. This can be turned on/ off at any time. Fast Mode, combined with the ability to replay chapters, gives the player a lot of freedom for how they’d like to pace their experience with the narrative. Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 feels like there’s more to do, and a lot more incentive to find/ unlock everything.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 is a gorgeous game. It has a similar graphics style to a Vanillaware game. There’s a lot of still art, and very little animation. But the results look fantastic. The anime furry world helps to differentiate it from other JRPGs on the market. The score is orchestrated and has a whimsical and adventurous tone. It suits Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 perfectly. I completely forgot that the game’s setting is a French language speaking country, so the game is voiced in Japanese and French only. The voice work in both languages sounded great. Japanese felt more natural to me because it matched the anime visuals, but I applaud the developer for taking the time to make a French audio track.

Excellent Conclusion

I really enjoyed Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3. The combat and narrative are great. This was a satisfying conclusion to the tale of the children of the Taranis. The writing has also gotten better as the Fuga games progressed. There’s an excellent focus on character, and the heavier narrative moments hit hard. It’s strange to play a JRPG with no world exploration elements, but Fuga: Melodies of Steel 3 offers the most options and replayability of the trilogy. The Fuga games have continually improved, while keeping the same core mechanics. This final game is the best of the trilogy, just don’t play it until you’ve beaten the other two.

***PS5 code provided by the publisher***