Fuga: Melodies of Steel
2021
Audio: French, Japanese · Subtitles: Spanish, Portuguese, German, Korean, Russian, French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, English
- role-playing (rpg)
- simulator
- strategy
- turn-based strategy (tbs)
- drama
- warfare
- single player
The story
Fuga is set in a war-ravaged world where a village is destroyed by the fascist Berman Empire. Eleven child survivors band together after the attack and board a gigantic tank known as Taranis - a relic of an ancient but technologically-advanced civilization - in order to travel across the dangerous landscape and rescue their families who were taken prisoner. The Taranis houses a super weapon called the Soul Cannon which is capable of immense destruction at the cost of a crew member's life, with the main characters having to choose when and whom to sacrifice in order for the group to reach their destination.
What it’s like
Hand-drawn anime character portraits sit over painted, muted landscapes of scorched fields, grey skies and ruined villages, with a palette of ochre, rust and cold steel. The tank Taranis is the centre of the frame, a lumbering, ancient machine that feels heavy in the hand as it crawls across the overworld. Eleven child survivors travel together through a war-torn country, and the score is melancholic and orchestral, swelling in quiet moments and dropping out when the stakes sharpen. The pace is deliberate: long stretches of conversation, crew-management and map travel, broken by turn-based battles where positioning and timing matter. Its vibe is wistful and heavy, a slow, sorrowful journey with flickers of hope, best suited to a rainy evening or a patient, unhurried session. Violence appears in battle and in the war's aftermath, and the central mechanic involves a crew member's death, so the drama lands as grief rather than spectacle; there is no gratuitous gore, but it is not gentle. It is for players who want a sombre, character-driven story about young people facing impossible choices, with a strategy layer for those who enjoy careful planning.
More games like Fuga: Melodies of Steel
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Fuga: Melodies of Steeland we’ll explain which ones fit you.
