Setting The title takes place in a
post-apocalyptic world, though presenting a less serious take on the genre, compared to the harsher representations seen in role-playing games such as
Final Fantasy VI or
Fallout, or films such as
Mad Max or
Nausicaa. The environment of
Metal Saga seems to be relatively unscathed, with a generally healthy ecosystem and no apparent areas of
radioactive contamination, perhaps since the apocalypse (referred to as the Great Destruction) happened in the first place in an attempt to destroy humanity to actually save the planet. Rather than focusing extensively on mutants and ruffians, many of the enemies encountered are merely machines gone haywire. As a result, scavenging such machines and using scavenged parts to build equipment appear to be common activities. Additionally, the game includes a good dose of militaristic qualities, with most of the game's battles being fought from within
tanks, or other tank-like armored vehicles. In essence, the game has very little storyline and mostly non-linear gameplay. Like its predecessors, one may choose to take on whichever informal
quests one wants, or none at all, but cannot choose to slaughter the entire population of a town on a whim. The title features more than half a dozen possible endings, several of which can be obtained less than an hour into the game. One ending can even be obtained minutes into the game, making it the shortest possible RPG.
Characters Players can organize a team of up to four characters: the main hero (the "Hunter"), a
Mechanic, a Soldier and a mechanized dog. Players are free to choose their own party from the available characters and to switch between them during the game. There are two mechanics in the game, three fighters (one of these is hidden, and can only join during the later parts of the game) and four dogs. Most of the characters in the game have some unique dialogue and further story development during certain side quests. During the game, players frequently have the option to purchase home furnishings and gifts which can be sent to both playable and non-playable (female) characters. These generally have no effect on gameplay. The playable characters are: •
Syu (his name is not mentioned in the English version): The Hunter of the group, and also the main character. •
Misha (called
Mika in the Japanese version): One of the Mechanics in the game, she can repair vehicles. She is Kiriya's little sister, although not blood-related. •
Kiriya: The second Mechanic in the game, he can repair vehicles. He is Misha/Mika's big brother, although not blood-related. Kiriya's real father is the Disassembler, one of the bounties the players fight during the game. If the player defeats him with Kiriya in party, a chain of events will occur, with Kiriya finding a picture of him as a young boy with the Disassembler, Kiriya leaving the party and going back to his home, and rejoining the party upon visiting him in his room. •
Charlene (called
Shirley in the Japanese version): One of the Soldiers in the game, she specializes in firearms and can wield guns that other characters cannot use. •
Rashid: The second Soldier in the game, he specializes in melee weapons and can wield swords and other cutting weapons that other characters cannot use. •
Alpha: The third and hidden Soldier in the game, she is a cyborg. Alpha cannot wield any weapons, but can use its internal weapons system to devastate almost any opponents encountered. If she dies in battle a certain number of times, she can be brought to Dr. Palm to be manufactured into a powerful tank part. Furthermore, there are four different breeds of dogs, each with their unique combat and non-combat abilities, such as beam weaponry and medical kits. The breeds are
Shiba Inu, (nicknamed as
Shiba)
St. Bernard, (nicknamed as
Bernie)
Boston Terrier (nicknamed as
Terry) and
Tosa.
Synopsis While the game is mostly non-linear with multiple endings, the primary plot arc is revealed by travelling from the east side of the map to the west, culminating near the final fortress-city of Hell's Keep located in the western desert. During the journey, the protagonist, a newly-starting hunter (default name "Syu", though only mentioned in the Japanese version), encounters a legendary Hunter "Scarlett", who assists him with one of his early bounties and introduces him to bounty hunting. He also meets Rosa Beldaire, a wealthy
heiress who collects tanks and becomes Syu's rival, and a mysterious man named Alex who, along with his cohorts Bonnie and Clyde, appear to be searching for something among several ruins in the world. After reaching the frontier town of Alice One in the central region of the map, Syu's father Eddy, a famous bounty hunter, puts Syu in contact with Leon, a researcher who has discovered evidence of a pre-Great Destruction facility codenamed, "
Ziggurat". Visiting Leon's office later results in Syu finding Scarlett searching Leon's room for information, but she accidentally injures Syu's arm in the encounter, requiring him to receive a cybernetic replacement. After the player visits a certain number of cities, Leon is attacked by Bonnie and Clyde, who ransack his house; he informs Syu that they took his information on Ziggurat, and gives Syu the facility's location near the city of Hell's Keep, in the world's western desert. Syu travels to Ziggurat, revealing it to be a massive
missile silo containing an intact
ICBM from before the Great Destruction. Eddy, who arrived prior, reveals that Alex is attempting to re-activate the facility and launch the missile, but he has been injured fighting the tower's defenses, and tasks Syu with finishing the job. Fighting past Bonnie, Clyde, and the defenses, Syu encounters Alex, who reveals he is actually an android built by "Noah", the
supercomputer which caused the original Great Destruction in an attempt to destroy humanity to prevent an ecological disaster. Alex explains that, after Noah's defeat, he was given the directive to finish what Noah had started, and that he intends to launch the intact ICBM and start a nuclear holocaust; Syu defeats Alex and destroys the missile as it is launching. Afterwards, Syu, his team, and Eddy return home to recover, where Syu may choose whether to continue bounty hunting, or retire, though afterwards he may elect to continue their adventures. ==Development==