Not as good as the first but still good.
The game systems didn't change much aside from the empathy/resolution system and proper shops but it didn't need much massive change really. Bigger letdown is the game feeling a lot easier. Maybe the automatic soul cannon countdown during bosses made them wanna compensate but I guess they overcompensated and ruined the tension.
Since there's not a war going on anymore, the story's shifted a lot, the thematic focus feels very heavy on revenge and its consequences, plus the way the kids have grown since the last game. Since there's less antagonists, it does wind up feeling repetitive chasing after the same ones, but I do like the main antagonist of this game. There's a bit more overt references to Solatorobo too without feeling like they're just there to remind you of it.

I have a love/hate relationship with both Fuga games so far. They're great, have undeniable passion put in making it, and can be a masterclass in artistic flair and writing when it want to... It also has an gameplay that overstays its welcome (it's not bad, just a tad unbalanced), can be quite trope-y at times and has some plot twists that actively make the story worse than not having them at all...

Other games I have similar pet peeves with (no pun intended) usually fall into the "underwhelming" category at best, but for some reason I can't outright say the game about Fuga. For me those are great games, even if they don't fully live to their potential.

Por favor, respeten el tiempo de los jugadores.

Pros:
- El sistema de combate es sólido, pese a que acaba cansando al dejar de introducir novedades demasiado pronto.
- Los social links siempre son un plus, aunque aporten muy poquito en este juego.
- La microgestión del tanque es entretenida, pese a no ser muy compleja.

Contras:
- Es repetitivo hasta decir basta. Soy un masoca por terminarlo, pero el juego podría haber durado la mitad. La fórmula del juego no introduce nada nuevo después de la primera hora.
- No interesa ni un mínimo su historia ni sus personajes, simplones a más no poder.
- Es bastante feote, y el diseño de los enemigos es simplón.

Fuga 2 took everything about Fuga 1 that I disliked and kept it while making other elements of the game worse. The story in Fuga 1 wasn't great but it was servicable, it may be non-existant in 2. The miserable mechanics in the first such as: no manual saves, no healing to full after chapter complete, characters stay injured and depressed until intermissions, and overwhelming combat encounters way early in the game so that you never feel adequately powerful all return.

The thing that got me to stop, a trooper as I usually am, was when I was hit for massive damage by the boss of chapter five and was forced to load a character into the Soul Cannon to be used as a win condition. Knowing what I know about the first game, this is how you gimp yourself of the true ending. In Fuga 2 if you go below a certain HP threshold, this happens automatically. I really, really, really, REALLY dislike this mechanic and after it happening I immediately alt f4'd and moved on. I consider myself patient, but I didn't want to have to micro-manage my HP as hard as I was going to going forward. Part of the JRPG/Tactics charm is hedging your HP against the enemy, that doesn't exist in this game. I was hit for a massive amount of damage by the boss with no indicator, and boom, sacrifice of a party member that significantly dampers my chances for success going through the game. That's bad game design... IMO.

Maybe I'm a stick in the mud or "too young" to understand how unforgiving older games were, but this is a new game, this is a new generation of gamers. It's not fun to the player to penalize them to the degree this game does with its lack of save states and frustrating Soul Cannon mechanics. I enjoy Souls games, I beat my face against a wall playing Sekiro... but I knew that I could lose and get back up again. Here lies Fuga 2, frustrating and a complete unimprovement from its oddly refreshing predecessor.

The sad thing is I liked the risk this game takes with one of its characters early on and there is some serious sauce to the art, the music, and the Slay-The-Spire esque presentation of its routes, but to quote Boygenius: "The way I am, I'm not strong enough to be your man."

I guess if you're into it... play Fuga 2, however I just couldn't keep going on. There are games out there that have me interested far more. Space for the Unbound, Okami, and Street Fighter 6 on my radar to tinker around with until FFXVI.

I'm real glad this was on Game Pass again.

Man kann das Tutorial aus Teil 1 überspringen! Genial!

Im Prinzip wie Teil 1 nur gefühlt etwas mehr Story, die keinen interessiert und einem schwächerem Soundtrack.
Und der hat Teil 1 für mich so besonders gemacht.
Der actiongeladene Soundtrack bei Kämpfen nur um dann beim Endboss einen Chorgesang abzufeuern war einfach geil.
Das ist hier glaube ich nur 1x in der Intensität passiert.

- 🐱 🐺 🦊 -
Personalmente me gusto mucho el primer F.u.g.a pero al mismo tiempo quede cansado de su gameplay, y en está nueva entrega me peso el haber jugado el primero pq el gameplay es practicamente el mismo, es demasiado repetitivo, es de los pocos juegos que me han logrado cansar con su formula. Artisticamente me parecio igual de lindo pero sus personajes está vez los sentí menos carismaticos.
lo poco que pude jugar de su historia no me llamo nada la atencion y me hizo más cansado el intentar jugarlo.

I absolutely adore the first Fuga game. It's not amazing, but it's a very cozy experience that really scratched an itch for me. It appealed to a lot of things I enjoy in games and was such a unique and fun experience that I gave it a pass on a lot of its shortcomings.

With this love of the first game in mind, I had really high hopes for Fuga 2. I followed development religiously and I am fairly confident saying it was my most anticipated game of 2023. The game finally released, and I had a great time with the beginning of it.

As I played more, though, my enthusiasm began to falter a little. I felt like this game had so much potential and, while it was a huge improvement in most aspects over the first game, that passion I had while playing the first game wasn't being recaptured. The story was good, but I felt like it wasn't reaching the heights I had hoped for it.

By the time I reached the finale, though, I was really feeling it again. There were some really nice character moments that pulled me right back in, even if the story was a little all over the place towards the end. Maybe it's just because it had been a while since I'd played, but I felt myself really falling back into the Fuga feeling I loved so much, and my little complaints all fell away like they did in the first game.

I really love both Fuga games, and this game is a pretty huge improvement in most ways over the original. I highly recommend both, even if they're not something everyone is going to enjoy as much as I did. Can't wait for the third game!

Like the first one but better.
The game felt not easier, but more convenient with the addition of leader skills, and stronger consumable items, which you can buy. I still found myself closer to a game over more often in this game than in the first, though I can certainly blame a lot of that on trying really hard to play fast, that is what the game wants you to do, judging by the ranking system (as well as the new soul cannon mechanic).

I didn't expect to beat the game in four days, it just happened to me.
I actually still haven't 100%'d the first game... I should get to that.

Well I think it was better then the first game. (a little bit)
Music and art are great.
Half of the story is better then in the first game, the actual plot hooks are there to keep you playing.
But later writing gets stupid and generic, all stakes and character writing disappear without a trace.
Instead of characters talking you have to listen stupid narrations. To the point where cool lore dump is summarized in 2 sentences. "Kids watched a video. It talked about XXX in great detail" This is total absurd.
Also Vanilla writing is just awful, I'd load her in soul cannon to not read that. (A total waste of her character and design in a later part of the game)
I think in the next game they should cut soul cannon, reduce the roster and have an actual character writing instead of turning every character to "GAMBATE" machine.

Like the first game this one REALLY overstays it's welcome. 2 last chapters have no right to exist, just let me fight the final boss, legit WTF.

Final verdict: CC2 should make the game shorter next time and fix their writing. (maybe gameplay aside from fighting generic enemies with bloated HP over and over could help)

Un juego que continúa la tendencia del primero, ampliando y expandiendo sobre sus propias bases y variando elementos dramáticos que ya estaban en la primera parte. La estructura del juego no cambia, pero el añadido de los dirigibles, un arma extra, la alteración del cañón de almas y los encuentros con personajes, además de los eventos de empatía, permiten un juego extra le añaden no solo más dinamismo a la parte jugable, sino que hacen el juego más rejugable (a falta de jugar un New Game +). En todo caso, sí me parece que la historia pierde un poco fuelle y es menos compacta que la primera, aunque sigue siendo bastante potente hasta su tramo final. Los que disfrutaron mucho con la primera parte van a tener una experiencia casi idéntica con esta segunda.

Everything from the already stellar first game, polished to a mirror sheen and amplified to 11. I am absolutely biased considering my investment in the Little Tail Bronx universe, but Fuga 2 feels so truly realized and confident in itself that any minor nitpicks I have (which I do) are null and void because this game is just so goddamn good.

The core gameplay is sped up and refined, quality of life tweaks cutting down on the tedium from the first game, new mechanics deepen the strategic choices, and the story, while predictable, is told perfectly in both narrative and gameplay. Fuga 2 is a monument to ludonarrative harmony, and it should go down as one of the best games of 2023.

Please play the Fuga games. Support CyberConnect2. There really isn't a lot of companies out there doing it as good as they are.

Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2 é um jogo que surpreende, superando completamente as minhas expectativas. Quando me deparei com o primeiro jogo, decidi experimentá-lo por curiosidade, e acabei ficando completamente encantado e envolvido com todo o game, apesar de tê-lo julgado superficialmente como apenas mais uma coisa de "furry" kkkk.

Como entusiasta de jogos, era óbvio que eu não poderia deixar de jogar sua sequência. No geral, Fuga 2 mantém muitas semelhanças com seu antecessor. O grande destaque de Fuga, em minha opinião, é sua história incrivelmente envolvente, que me cativou do início ao fim. No entanto, não posso dizer o mesmo da jogabilidade, que, embora seja muito boa, acaba se tornando um pouco repetitiva em certo ponto do jogo.

Apesar disso, a jogabilidade consegue encontrar um equilíbrio perfeito entre momentos de gerenciamento de bases, afinal você vai parar diversas vezes para gerênciar seu tank e passageiros e seu combate estratégico, o que demanda habilidade, até mesmo dos jogadores mais experientes.

PRÓS
- Personagens cativantes
- Narrativa bem construída e executada
- Batalhas emocionantes e estratégicas
- Mecânicas de gerenciamento excelentes
- Diálogos que prendem a atenção

CONTRAS
- Batalhas um pouco repetitivas